Irene Houston, 78, practiced her art more than 50 years before winning the Great American Pie Contest with her apple pie at the 2010 Northwest Montana Fair.

She entered her first pie ever last year and knocked off stiff competition.

"There were a lot of pies entered," Houston recalled.

When the sampling was finished, the judges gave Houston's classic apple pie 95 out of a possible 100 points. They loved her pie filling with just the right proportion of sugar to other ingredients along with perfectly distributed venting in the crust.

"I couldn't believe I won," she said. "I just use the recipe in my Betty Crocker Cookbook. That's exactly what I used."

Although Houston never entered a contest before, she would hardly qualify as a novice at baking. She began polishing her cooking skills after getting married to Charles "Chuck" Houston in 1950.

The two moved to the Flathead Valley in 1952 when her husband finished his military service then came home to the Flathead to work at his parents' milk plant, the Meridian Dairy.

"It was on the corner of Meridian and Second across from Peterson School," Houston said.

As a new bride, she was impressed by the pie baking skills of both her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Houston said her own just didn't measure up to theirs.

She faced the same difficulty as most other novice pie bakers.

"Pie crust is difficult for everyone," she said.

Most people over mix and end up with a tough crust. Houston summed up the secret to better pie baking in three words: practice, practice, practice.

Her family served as her guinea pigs as she followed that advice.

"I kept giving my flubs to my family," Houston said with a laugh.

Her family included her now late husband Chuck, her late son Wayne and son Jeff Houston, who still lives in the Flathead Valley and operates J & J Decorating. Both sons were active in 4-H and rode horses, winning many blue ribbons.

As a family, they maintained a large garden where they raised lots of vegetables that they also enjoyed entering in the fair. Houston never entered her pies in any contests until 2010 when she received encouragement from two separate sources.

She said a man who mows her lawn refuses to take any money. He does accept her baked treats including cookies and, his favorite, apple pie.

"He asked me ‘Have you ever entered a pie contest? Your pie crust is out of this world,'" Houston recalled.

She also baked pies for fellow members of the Alpine Weavers and Spinners Guild when it was her turn to make dessert. Along with her baking hobby, Houston spins wool into yarn on a replica of an antique spinning wheel built for her by a friend.

She was part of a spinning demonstration at last year's fair.

"Two gals I spin with walked down to the pie building and saw the contest," she said. "They said ‘You ought to enter that contest.'"

Both had tasted Houston's to-die-for pies. The chorus of encouragement was too great to resist.

Since the featured pie for 2010 was apple, Houston cornered some of her neighbor's transparent apples. These apples have a tart taste perfect for pie.

Houston then flipped open her well-worn 1956 edition Betty Crocker Cookbook. Her more than half a century of crust and filling practice turned out a pie of such flaky perfection that she was crowned Great American Pie baker for 2010.

The looming question: Can she remain the reigning champion this year?

She intends to try if she finds some fresh pie cherries for this year's selected variety. According to Houston, many people have home pie cherry trees but they often get worms if they don't spray them.

"No one wants wormy taste in their pie," she said with a laugh. "We'll see what I can find."

Rules require that bakers make a two-crust, 9-inch pie from pie cherries and submit the recipe for use in a future cookbook. Entries must arrive between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, for judging that takes place at 2 p.m.

According to the pie score card in the fair premium book, flavor counts for 40 percent while fillings, crust and appearance each count for 20 percent. In each category, judges use the following standards.

•Appearance: Even, brown color; perforations well distributed for escape of steam.

•Fillings: Adequate in amount; uniform in texture.

•Crust: Tender, flaky and crisp.

•Flavor: No distinctive flavor; good proportion of sugar to other ingredients; flavor of fruit should be predominant; not too highly seasoned.

Pie practice pays sweet premiums for 2011 with $350 for first place, $200 for second, $100 for third or $75 for third and fourth places. While experimenting, they shouldn't find it hard to find volunteer judges.

Houston said she hasn't found many people who don't love pie. It's like summer fairs in that regard.

"It's kind of an American tradition," Houston said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com .