Inspiration for winning ‘Waitress’ pie: vacation memories
Clarksville woman says she’s a ‘cooking/baking contest junkie.’
To get audiences in the mood for the upcoming production of “Waitress,” the Victoria Theatre Association and Fox 45 recently hosted a “Baked from the Heart” pie contest.
In the Broadway musical, which will be on stage at the Schuster Center June 25-30, the lead character, Jenna, selects names for each of her pies inspired by her emotional state. For example, there’s the “Almost Makes You Believe Again Pie” and the “Key (lime) to Happiness Pie.”
Local pie entries had to include a personal story symbolizing the baker’s emotional tie to her pie, as well as a creative name. Examples? “Mom’s “Wake up and Smell the Coffee” pie or Grandma’s “Must Have Every Thanksgiving” pie.
The winner is Jennifer Nystrom of Clarksville who named her pie “Key Lime and Coconut Day at the Beach.” She’ll receive four tickets for opening night and her recipe will be included in a cookbook being sold to audiences at each performance.
Area finalists also included a “Lumberjack” pie from Mandy Smith of Kettering; a “Missing My Momma Pie” from Mary Alice Heinrichs of Celina and “Mom’s All American Pie” from Toni Scearce of Dayton.
Mini-pies — salted chocolate caramel pie and apple pie — will be sold during intermission at the Wintergarden during the show’s run.
Entering the contest
Nystrom learned about the contest on Facebook.
“I’m a cooking/baking contest junkie!” she admits. “I see a contest and my adrenaline starts flowing and I immediately start planning what I can enter!”
In this case, she wanted to create a pie that reminded her of one of her favorite family vacations.
“One year for Christmas, when my children were all teenagers, we took a family cruise to the Bahamas,” Nystrom explains. “What great memories we created! One of our favorite days on the cruise was the day at the private beach. The kids went snorkeling, beach combing and eating all the delicious food served at the beach picnic.”
During that trip, her family spent a day at Key West. “This is where we all fell in love with Key lime pie!” she says. “Coming from the Pacific Northwest, Key Lime pie was not often served. I had to come up with a pie that paired key lime and coconut to get the full impact of a perfect day on a Caribbean beach!”
Nystrom says she’d wanted to see the movie or play because of the subject matter, but hadn’t had the opportunity. “I’m a member of the American Pie Council and when the show debuted we were all excited because we love all things pie!” she says. “I compete every year at the National Pie Baking Championships so I especially wanted to enter the ‘Waitress’ contest!”
Now she’s looking forward to the opening night of “Waitress” where her she and her pie will be honored. “I love to share my baking and for it to be acknowledged is very gratifying.”
NYSTROM’S WINNING “KEY LIME AND COCONUT DAY AT THE BEACH” PIE
PIE CRUST
2 ½ cups all purpose flour. 1 teaspoon salt.
2 Tablespoons sugar.
¾ cup (a stick and a half) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into ¼ inch cubes.
½ cup of all-vegetable
shortening (8 Tbsp)
6-8 Tablespoons ice water.
Mix flour, salt, sugar together, using your fingers mix in the butter and shortening until it resembles sand slowly add water 1 Tbsp at a time until it forms a dough. FILLING
4 cups apples — peeled, cored,
and diced
2 cups fresh blueberries Juice of ½ a lemon
3 cups of water
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Place fruit and lemon juice in a bowl and toss.
Place the water cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a pan bring to a boil. Cook for 2-3 minutes add fruit and cook for 5 minutes.
Cool and put in crust. add top crust brush with egg wash and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting