Bake Off and The Martha Stewart Show

Here we go! The whole reason we came to Orlando. Pillsbury set up 100 individual "kitchens" in one of the ballrooms. The room was roped off in a few areas, one for press and one for family. We all tried to get good positions to take photos as we waited for the grand parade where all the participants march in to the competition.

 This was their work space. A little counter top with a cabinet, oven and stove. Pillsbury went out and bought all the different utensils that each contestant needed to make their creation.

 Mom as she marched into the Bake Off.

 Right after it began! She had to bake her recipe in a four hour time frame and she was asked to bake it three times.

 A picture they took before the competition.

I stole this picture from Pillsbury since my pictures were so far away.

A food blogger tweeted this picture to my brother during the competition.

 The Pillsbury President made the rounds, and she kept asking us if we were having fun watching them bake.

 A half hour in, Martha Stewart arrived. She always had a large following around her. I used to really like Martha Stewart up until this trip. That is all I will share about our encounters with her... :)

 There she is again. She stayed in the Peabody as well so we had frequent Martha sightings. In fact I had called Brett after the competition and was telling him about her, only to look up and she was walking right past me, three feet away. Awkward!

Since the Bake Off was so long, we did other things to entertain the kids. We shopped a little and of course had to see the famous ducks.

This is Donald the duck master. No I am not kidding, that is really his name and what he does. He is the keeper of the ducks, and let me tell you, these ducks get the royal treatment. When they arrive at the fountain they roll out a red carpet and have a stair case to hop into their marble fountain. Here is a You Tube video I found of the ducks in the Peabody Hotel in Memphis (a sister hotel to the Orlando one). Their duck palace that they sleep in Orlando is worth $100,000. Seriously, it is crazy!

 I headed back at the end of the competition to scope out the other competitors food. Here are the desserts!

 These were appetizers. 

Here is moms!

After the competition we had some down time and got to enjoy the swimming pools. After swimming my mom and  I attended a celebration dinner, to celebrate participating in the Bake Off.

It wasn't a formal dinner, but set up more like a night club, so people could drink and dance and let loose.  

They had a live band, and lots of different foods to try.

We left early to explore the hotel more and take pictures. Look at how huge those mirrors are. Can you see the people next to the table. The pots on the table are bigger then they are!

Then we discovered Althea Harper was at the dinner. She was the runner up in Project Runway season 6 and the designer of the apron the contestants wore. 

She was so kind and was totally willing to sign mom's apron and take a picture with us

The next morning we woke up bright and early for Martha Stewart's show. They set up the entire studio in one of the ball rooms, which was pretty impressive.

Mom got to sit really close with all the contestants.

Mom didn't win, but it was still a cool experience. This is my only blurry photo I have of the million dollar winner with Martha. Her winning recipe was pumpkin ravioli with salted whipped cream, which was a dessert.  

Of course I had to make it to see how good it was, but I think I am biased towards my mom's recipe.

We are so proud that mom was in this contest. Pillsbury told us they had over 10,000 recipes that they narrowed down to 1,500. Those 1,500 they baked and voted on, narrowing it down to the top 100. Her recipe was one of the top 25 desserts in the country. Good job Mom, we love you!