I Sold Another Book(ito)! “Pie Contest in a Box”
It is with joy and a true sense of wonder (mixed with smug satisfaction that my pig-headed notion that this was a genius idea proved correct) that I announce the sale of my “Pie Contest in a Box” to Andrews McMeel for publication spring 2011. Thanks to Jean at Mansion Street Literary Management for waving her magic wand to make it happen and to Aurel de st Andre for the beautiful prototype design.
Cheers,
Gina
“Pie Contest in a Box” contains:
Pie Contest Handbook
- Introduction: Why Pie Contests Matter Today
- The History of Pie (from ancient Egyptian and Greek pies to legendary Midwestern state fair pie contests)
- Anatomy of a Pie Contest (instructions for how to organize; suggested pie contest themes, such as Heirloom Family Recipes and Ugly1960s Jell-O Pies)
- Rules for Contestants (no store-bought crusts)
- Rules for Judges (you must taste with an open heart)
- Categories of Pie (berry, fruit, nut, cream, savory—with criteria for judging each type)
- Varieties of Crust and Special Dough Treatments (leaves, latticework, etc.—with criteria for judging each type)
- Pies by Season (summer peach pie, fall apple pie, and so on, with descriptions of the merits of different types of fruit—best kinds of apples for baking, etc.)
- Profiles of Pie Contest Winners with Prize-Winning Recipes and Tips
- Advice for Pie Judges (eat a little protein before the contest, as you don’t want to start hungry – it’s all about pacing)
- Pies in Literature, Song, and Folklore (poems, lyrics, superstitions)
- Sheet to Track Pie Contest Entries (name, type of pie, designated number)
Numbered Pie Toppers on toothpicks (so judges don’t know whose pie is whose)
Pie Scorecards (rating taste, texture, crust, filling, appearance, creativity)
Pie Judge Badges
Prize Ribbons for Pie Contest Winners
Le Tigre – I’m So Excited (KCRW)
According to this article in Salon, New York University has acquired the papers of feminist, activist, and Bikini Kill and Le Tigre lead singer Kathleen Hanna for its Riot Grrrl Archive. Pretty mind-blowing. I love this video — watch it to the end.
Project Sprout: Year Two (the vision thing)
Yesterday a postcard arrived from Monument Mountain Regional High School’s Project Sprout. On one side were photos of the kids working in the garden and constructing the farm stand and on the other, the following elegant thank you note. I had nothing to do with any of it beyond being a “garden mom” schlepping Annalena to and fro. Makes me a little weepy to see the summation of all they’ve accomplished this year. These teens are so hardworking and smart. There is hope.
Dear (handwritten names),
The holidays are a chance to reflect on the year. For us this means remembering all of the classes we taught in the garden, from pre-K through 12th grade, and working with a special needs group on a weekly basis throughout the summer in the garden. It also means remembering donating 200 lbs of organic produce a week to people in need around the Berkshires, and working with our food service program to serve our food in the three cafeterias of our district three to four times a week. It means laughing about how nervous we were the first time we presented at another school, and smiling about how many other schools we have inspired since then. But mostly, it means remembering working together, with students, teachers, and community members, to cultivate our 12,000 square foot vegetable garden and heirloom fruit orchard.
The holidays are also about thinking of all the people who lent us a helping hand throughout the year. We know that without your tremendous support, none of what we just mentioned would have been possible. Thank you, and have a great holiday.
Sincerely,
(handwritten signatures of 25 students)
Season’s Greetings from the Berkshires
Dearest Blog Reader,
Part of me feels like I should apologize for sacrificing my blog to Twitter and Facebook and “real” life, but I’m not going to because this is my blog, a space I carved out to be low pressure and duty free. These are busy, happy days. I count my lucky stars on many fronts. Eventually I’ll return to words here, but for now will let these snapshots tell the tale of this winter Sunday. Wishing you and yours the best this holiday season.
Love,
Gina
P.S. I tagged this post both Berkshires and Mexico in reference to the Mexican tin ornaments on our Christmas tree.
Video of a Dog Welcoming a Soldier Home
Posted in honor of Veterans Day. Click here to see more moving videos of dogs welcoming soldiers home from war.
My grandmother Mae was a nurse in France during WWI. The soldiers called her “Slim.”
Shaker Cow
Holstein cow at Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, MA
Our Apples: After the Leaves, Before the Snow
I’d never heard of “stick season” before we moved east. I keep doing double-takes as I enter our driveway because the unpicked apples look like ornaments.
WBCR to Hold Fundraisers to Help Secure Its Future
Photo by Nichole Dupont
This article is reprinted (reposted) from the Advocate Weekly with kind permission from the author.
Thursday, September 17
By NICHOLE DUPONT
Berkshire Community Radio has been providing its listeners with some of the most innovative programs and music on the air. Now WBCR is asking the community to provide something in exchange.
On Sunday, Sept. 20, author and social commentator James Howard Knustler will give a talk titled “Living in the Long Emergency” at 7 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. Tickets are $11. Additionally, on Friday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m., the “anti-corporate pranksters” known as the Yes Men will screen their film “The Yes Men Fix the World,” also at the Mahaiwe. Tickets are $15. [G.H. note: the screening is co-sponsored by the Berkshire International Film Festival.] The proceeds from both events will go directly to supporting the basic operating costs of WBCR, which relies solely on volunteers for its programs and upkeep.
Local attorney Paul Rapp, who is president of the board of WBCR, said this volunteerism is the pride of the station.
“The station is all volunteer; there is no paid staff,” Rapp said. “We’re listener- and programmer- supported. In this way, we are absolutely independent. We have a no corporate underwriting policy. That way, listeners know that the station is not influenced by anyone but the programmers.”
This fierce sense of independence has defined the station from its first broadcast from the top floor of Fairview Hospital in 2002 to its strong presence in the Berkshire community today. In fact, according to Rapp, WBCR is awaiting approval by the Federal Communications
Commission of a full-power license that will be valid for three years.
“This means that we need more transmitter space, so there is a constant need for money,” he said.
In addition to the FCC license, the station is in the process of finishing a new studio and establishing a new media library to support its 80 (and ever increasing) locally produced, locally sponsored programs.
One such programmer, Luci Leonard, will be the first to speak up for the efficiency and advocacy of the station to its listeners.
“WBCR is a community,” Leonard said. “We are not trying to be corporate; besides, this area cannot afford to be corporate.”
Leonard, who is a nurse and community health worker, hosts a gospel hour on Sunday mornings as well as a community health outreach program on Thursday mornings. She said she did not anticipate her involvement in community radio until she noticed that something was missing from the airwaves of the Northeast.
“I grew up in Alabama. Listening to gospel radio is how you prepared for the day,” she said. “When I first moved up here, I was looking for a gospel station to listen to. I had no inkling to be a radio programmer.”
Leonard’s desire for gospel music has transformed into a passion for radio. She hopes to mark her two-year “anniversary” with WBCR with a gospel concert to benefit the station.
“This is an outlet for the community and for the programmers,” she said. “It is almost a guarantee that after the ‘Healthy Connections’ show, the guests on the show will get several calls. Some even have people waiting for them when they get back to the hospital or the therapy office, wherever they’re from. It is such a resource.”
While programmers like Leonard provide listeners with both bodily and spiritual resources, WBCR isn’t all serious. There are many young programmers, too. Among these are Annalena Barrett and Hannah Talbot, the teenage hosts of the ‘Funky Cheese Shack,’ which airs Fridays at 4:30 p.m. The bubbly, sometimes cryptic high school sophomores have been covering a wide range of topics from decapitation to overbearing parents since the seventh grade.
“We tried to plan our first show,” Barrett said. “And it turned out to be the worst show ever! Now we talk about school a lot and just random things that happen, funny questions nobody would ever really ask.”
It is hard not to laugh during the action-packed, almost manic nature of the FCS girls.
“Mostly we make fun of each other and play some cool music,” Talbot said. “And we end up having a lot of our friends on the air because they come on the bus with us.”
While Barrett and Talbot appear nonchalant, draping over their production chairs with their laughter punctuated by moments of serious conversation and Jackson Five ballads, they are well aware of their public presence in the community.
“This is my extracurricular activity,” Talbot remarked. “The radio excites us; sometimes we’re just jumping out of our chairs.”
“It’s just what we do,” Barrett chimed in. “It’s been the most fun I’ve had.”
That seems to be the consensus for many of the programmers at the station, as well as the listeners. As WBCR extends its reach as a high-power station and continues to maintain a live stream on the Internet, programmers and volunteers will need more from the community to keep shows such as “Democracy Now,” “Splatto Festival,” “Gospel” and the “Funky Cheese Shack” on the air. Fundraisers and community involvement are the keys to this endeavor.
“We are a family,” Leonard said. “We are just trying to keep it afloat and do our thing for the community.”
For more information on WBCR and its upcoming events at the Mahaiwe, visit berkshireradio.org.