Pies to judge, pies to eat, minor celebs to oogle (yes, I know the word is actually 'ogle') and a silent auction -- it's our annual autumnal rite, the Malibu Pie Festival.

I'm entering, as usual, an apple pie. (Full disclosure: blue ribbon in '06, 3rd place in '07). As usual, I bought the fruit at See Canyon at the Santa Monica farmer's market. They've got varieties of apples I've never heard of, apples so fragrant, apples so oddly shaped, apples with flavors so rich and complex that supermarket apples will never be anything more than fourth-rate.

The church that throws this shindig each year doesn't host a pie contest web site, so here's the info from the LA Times. I'll be the one hovering anxiously around the judging table, trying to read lips.