LEWISTON — Hester Gilpatric of West Minot is no stranger to the ways of apple pie.

In fact, she’s quite proud of her own recipe, and her vinegar pie crust. It is, she said, her husband’s favorite.

But she has something new for him to try, an upside-down apple pie dripping with sugared pecans and glaze.

“I looked and said, ‘Oh, that’s not my pie crust,'” she said. “It’s not what I’m used to. But it was beautiful.”

She made it Saturday afternoon for the first time as one of the desserts featured at the Taste of Home Cooking School at Lewiston Middle School.

Her pie, along with a truckload of household cooking gear, groceries and gift certificates, was given away to one of the 800 people that crowded the middle school auditorium to see how the apple pie and nine other desserts, entrees and salads were made.

The show was presented by the Sun Journal and by Taste of Home Magazine. The magazine is one of the top 25 consumer magazines in the nation, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, with more than 3.2 million subscribers in 2012. 

The magazine sponsors the popular school, bringing its staff, recipes and giveaways to 300 communities each year. Saturday’s show was hosted by culinary specialist Cheryl Cohen.

Cohen, a former cooking school instructor and kitchen manager, started with the Taste of Home as a backstage volunteer — just like Gilpatric.

“We actually sponsored one of the schools years ago,” she said. “It just looked like it would be fun to do. So years later, I just applied.”

Cohen, of Dover, Ohio, said she’s one of nine culinary specialists the magazine employees. She’s scheduled to host 18 shows this fall, about two each week over three months.

“You need to be culinary to do it, in one way or another,” she said. “You have to like to be on stage and in front of people. You have to like to have fun, and to travel. It’s just a fun job to have.”

Cohen made most of the dishes onstage in front of the audience with help from a team of local volunteers. The dishes included a lower-calorie chocolate coffeecake, steak and blue cheese bruschetta, cinnamon rolls, short ribs, tostadas and chicken salad.

Everyone who attended walked out with a goody bag containing a magazine of all of the night’s recipes, coupons, gift certificates and other prizes. Door prizes ranged from measuring bowls and knives to sweatshirts, flower arrangements and gift certificates to Hammond Lumber, Agren Appliance and Hannaford. Everything Cohen prepared Saturday, including Gilpatric’s upside-down apple pie, was given away as a door prize.

Most of the people attending Saturday came for the show, a chance to sit in the audience and watch experts make some tasty meals in a few easy steps.

Cathy Campbell of Portland is a fan of the magazine.

“I like it a lot,” she said. “It’s very folksy. I don’t use it every day, but I’ve saved some of the recipes and I use them over and over again.”

Jennifer Soucy, 20, of Lewiston, said she lives at home. She doesn’t cook — yet.

“My mom cooks,” she said. “But this is good for me. Not only to learn how to cook, but learn enough so you don’t make the same thing every day.”

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