Pasty Competition at Library

Another fun thing that has happened since publishing The Fowlerville Chronicles is how "infamous" I have become, especially in the area of helping out with events around town. I love everything that I've become involved with, and Saturday was no exception. The finals of the pasty competition -- semi-finals being held previously at each of the five Livingston County libraries -- was conducted at the Fowlerville Library this last Saturday. I was one of three judges given the opportunity to check out the tasty concoctions of the five contestants. The biggest thing I came away when it was all said and done, and the winner had been announced? It was difficult to make a choice. Each pasty was definitely delicious and unique in flavor, creativity was amazing (with the winning entry having U.P. on the top of the meat bun, made out of some of the extra crust), and each contestant was so enthusiastic, of course I wanted everyone to win. Following is a picture of the contestants. Cindy Salfate (second from the left) represented the Fowlerville Library. Well . . . drumroll . . . the gal in the middle won. Her pasty was a traditional upper peninsula pasty recipe, the crust was super flaky, and the ingredients were loaded with flavor. Afterwards, we spoke with her. She and her family happen to have pasty-making parties with friends and families were a large group gets together with all of the ingredients, spends the afternoon or evening putting them together, and then all leave with a supply of pasties for their family. What a great idea! Congratulations to our winner -- and thank you to the Fowlerville Library staff for asking me to help judge. I had a blast!