7 comments 30 October 2008

What I was up against:








What the Judges saw:












The Judges:











Sorry, no prize. But let us all remember
that the judges were not Food Industry Experts, nor were they Foodies or Pie Connoisseurs, so I don't feel that bad.

6 comments 29 October 2008

If I were born ten years later I likely would have wound up with an ADD diagnosis (Attention Deficit Disorder), not to be confused with ADHD which adds hyperactivity to the mix which was not at all my situation. In life I always seem to be racing the clock. Sometimes it is self imposed due to procrastination, but mostly it is just how I roll (I cannot resist the temptation to use some wannabe hip-hop slang and I mean no disrespect in doing so). Anway, the point is I tend to move from one thing to another so quickly that I sometimes miss things. Most often I get what I need out of the conversation/television show/book/magazine/fill in the blank. Sometimes I miss and miss BIG.

Recently at work I skimmed an e-mail (I get at least 40 relevent e-mails a day, so I do this for efficiency sake). The Executive Secretary to our Agency Director sent out an e-mail reminding staff of the upcoming Charitable Contributions Campaign where all employees have the opportunity to donate to a charity for a whole year and it's deducted from your pay, pre-tax sort of a thing. Each year there is apparently a kick-off celebration where you can eat donated pumpkin pie (my original interpretation), admire carved pumpkins and eat green things (in honor of "going green"). So when our Director sent a follow-up e-mail with a plea and then the Secretary sent yet another follow-up with yet another plea, I bit and said, "Hey if you haven't had any volunteers for the pie donation, count me in."

T
he next thing I got was a thank you for entering the upcoming Charitable Contributions Contest! WTF?! I didn't recall anything about a contest? I thought I was baking a pie to donate. Now I need to bake TWO pies, both identical (one for the judges and one for display!)? This is like a real contest (albeit for San Mateo County Employees only)! The fun didn't stop there. A day later an e-mail went out to all 850 Human Services Employees and said, "Come taste a sure to be award winning pie baked by Amy Kaiser..." And if that were not enough another one went out a couple days later saying "Also, just a friendly reminder to come taste a sure to be award winning pie baked by Amy Kaiser..." The pressure!!!

So here I was at 7:30 trying to make sure Elliot was asleep, cooking dinner so my dear husband and I can toast his Mom's 60th Birthday, and baking TWO pies for a contest tomorrow. I have never baked two pies - yikes! I encountered a bit of weight issue as I p
ut both pies on a cookie sheet which caused the cookie sheet to dip in the center and the pie filling leaked and made ugly pie! They might taste OK, but they are not my finest works. Wish me luck!


P.S. I am too tired to even proof read this, so it is what it is.

1 comments 01 October 2008

  • Woke up to a singing baby boy
  • Tried to rationalize with a hungry boy
  • Gave temper-tantrum boy his medicine
  • Packed the car
  • Drank coffee while driving the bear to school, me to work
  • Hit traffic
  • Dropped bear off at school, set-up his breakfast, kisses goodbye
  • Arrived late for work
  • Got a desperately needed car wash during lunch (no longer would the washer fluid clean the shat off)
  • Left work early (few meetings today = a lot of work done in less time, that's my justification anyway)
  • Drove the hungry bear home
  • Fed the hungry bear dinner
  • Let the hungry pug out to go potty
  • Fed the hungry pug dinner
  • Gave the tired bear milk
  • Laid the sleepy bear down to sleep
  • Checked e-mail, facebook, etc.
  • Cooked dinner with Hubbie
  • Decided not to wash any dishes
  • Wrote this post
  • Off to shower, watch some tube and hit the hay