Heated Rivalries
Well, the change would last for approximately one fast-paced, heated weekend. The Medell family, from the neighboring farm, stomped onto Nana Liliwen's front steps demanding she take them on in what would become the greatest pie-baking battle the Pond ever did see!
You see, rumors flew left and right of the incredible
Anseni Pumpkin Pie recipe Nana Liliwen was best known for, and this family wasn't going to just take that lying down. No way! There was no way this recipe could even come close to rivaling their historic family recipe! They were issuing the challenge, and Liliwen wasn't backing down without a fight.
Delicious Battlefield
Offering her own kitchen as the battlefield of choice, some accusations flew of Liliwen claiming a home-field advantage, but the opposing family head quelled those notions quickly. There was nothing to worry about, after all; if their recipe stood up to Liliwen's, the theater of battle would make no difference to the end result. Thus began the bake-off of the century!
After a solid afternoon of impromptu baking, the two families met the evening with tables stacked high with incredible pies. The wave of pumpkin spice scent which blew across the land that day drew spectators from all across Brightfield; practically the entirety of the land arrived at Lilipond Acres in one grand commotion to see the results of this grand battle.
PIE FIGHT!
The taste testers stood before the tables, beads of sweat dripping down their foreheads. Not only was the wall of pie immense, but so many variations on each pie were produced — how would they keep track of them all? Could they really taste every single one, and still provide a true judgement?
Bite after bite, the judges found themselves less able to focus on their duties, falling prey to an aura of delight, giddiness, and mischief. Two of them locked eyes for a moment. Then locked eyes with another, and another. Smiles crept across their faces as they dropped their utterly professional demeanors and began grabbing fistfuls of pumpkin pie, and did the unthinkable.
SPLAT! The first impact was met with shock from the crowd. The second drew a second appalled gasp. The third, now that one was kind of funny! Before long, the taste-testers made an announcement to the whole crowd:
They're all the best pies ever!
What began as a dignified contest of the culinary arts quickly devolved into a community-wide food fight as globs and chunks of delicious, delicious pie flew through the air. Many of these flying pie bits found eager mouths, snatched directly from the air by hand or maw — any leftover would carry on to the next target. By the end of it all, there stood the warring families before their well-fed community, with no true winner being declared.
This isn't over!
What should have been a one-off competition to prove pumpkin pie supremacy ended up kicking off something far greater — the Medell family makes its return every single year, like clockwork, to kick off yet another bake-off, to prove once and for all who the region's greatest pie-makers are.
Then, without fail, the bake-off draws to a close exactly like the first of its kind. Likewise, without fail, the family returns again the following year to seek a different outcome.
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