After 5: Al Roker headlines homemade pie contest in Branson

Seems Al Roker can't get enough of our "neck of the woods."

The NBC "Today Show" weatherman will be in Branson April 24-25 to judge a pie contest by cooking aficionados nationwide.

Roker returns to the tourist Mecca where in 2004 he filmed The Food Network special "Al Roker's Country Fest."

"He is familiar with Branson, and he likes Branson," says Kathleen Bullock, the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce's tourism development director.

The chamber and its convention and visitors bureau counterpart aided the Ozark Mountain Spring committee in bringing Branson the Great American Pie Show contest featuring the celebrity judge. Bullock says Mary Kellogg of Branson's Titanic museum was instrumental in securing Roker.

Organizers are cooking up a weekend of culinary delights at the Branson Convention Center, packaging Taste of Home magazine's Cooking School with the Roker pie show. Taste of Home, publisher of cookbooks and magazines and host of 300 cooking shows annually, also is familiar with Branson, having conducted two days of cooking schools at Silver Dollar City a year ago.

"We feel that the demographics of those who frequent Branson relate well to those of Taste of Home," says Sandy Bloom, the cooking school's executive director, via e-mail. "It is an opportunity to bring our show to an additional destination point and provide an additional activity for those who enjoy visiting (Branson)."

Pie craze

With five days to go, organizers had collected 560 pie recipes. The scheduled deadline was March 13.

Twelve finalists chosen by a testing panel at the magazine's test kitchens will be invited to Branson to present their pies to Roker and other judges.

Winners in four pie categories - fruit, nut, refrigerator/freezer and pudding/cream/custard - will be announced during the Taste of Home Cooking Schools. First prize earns $2,500 cash and a four-day/three-night Branson vacation for two.

Meanwhile, exhibits will offer cooking products, samples and prizes. The theme of Branson's Taste of Home Cooking Schools, led by culinary specialist Martha Schwend, is Easy Breezy Spring Made Easy.

About 2,000 people are expected to attend each day, organizers say.