Community Corner

A Sweet Slice of Life in Irvington

Irvington hosts its annual pie baking contest.

Apple apricot, chocolate pecan, raspberry, peach creme and even "garlicky tomato" pies filled a long table in Irvington's farmer's market on Wednesday afternoon.

There were 13 entries in all, three of which would be chosen as winners in the adult category and one among the kids' pies. 

Community staples Andy Lyons, director of the Irvington Historical Society, Raina Kor, principal of the Main Street School and Arlus Howard, an actor currently starring in the hit AMC series "Rubicon," served as the contest's judges.

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"I love to bake," said Kor, an active member of the Irvington community despite not living in the village. "Every year at Christmas time I bake cookies for all the kids and a cake for each teacher."

Though the pies were distinct in texture, taste and appearance, they had one thing in common: they were each baked with at least one ingredient purchased at the Irvington Farmer's Market.

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"We're hoping to encourage people not only to gather at the market to socialize, but also to visit the vendors and buy things," Connie Kehoe, an Irvington trustee, sad. "I always set aside $85 in cash to use at the market each week; when I think of how I would have spent that at a supermarket, it always turns out my purchases are fresher and healthier."  

Both the judges and contestants took the competition very seriously, with the judges refusing to let on their preferences as they sampled small bites of each.

"I can't talk about it," Howard said in a tone eerily reminiscent of his enigmatic intelligence analyst TV personality.  "So much is put in the appearance of a pie, but there more to it than how it looks. There are some really creative and delicious ones here."

Eight-year-old Noah Heller, whose apple apricot pie took the kids' competition, followed a recipe that had more meaning than anything he could have printed out from epicurious.com.

"My mom and aunt made a cookbook for my great grandma Pearl when she was 90," Heller said, as he accepted his prize. "Now she's 93; I love my great grandma Pearl and this recipe came from that cookbook."

Among the adults, the third-place winner was Cathy Hansen for her "garlicky tomato tart." Palma Anncchiarico took second for her "great grandma's apple pie," and Joy Mandel won the competition overall with her apple pie with cheddar cheese crust.

"I have made this pie for the last 18 years," Mandel said. "My kids love it and even eat it for breakfast."

As the judges deliberated, farmers market organizers opened the table to the long line of hungry customers who had waited patiently--some for hours--to partake of the homemade deliciousness. All proceeds of the pie sale went directly to the "Friends of the Irvington Farmers Market."

"The only unfortunate thing about the event is that Amy Sherwood couldn't be here," Kehoe said. Sherwood, who works in Kentucky, wasn't able to get to New York on Wednesday. "She organized  everything."  

 


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