Nothing goes better with autumn family gatherings than a delicious pie featuring your favorite harvest flavors–unless it’s a melt-in-your-mouth pork tenderloin. Fortunately, the fall edition of the “Country Kitchen” is packed with award-winning pork and pie recipes from some of the best cooks in Alabama.

From Joan McCrary’s chewy Honey-Crunch Pecan Pie to Pat Randle’s fruity Blueberry Banana Cream Pie, Friends & Family brings you some of the best desserts ever to be served in a crust. These pies are a sampling of the entries from the Alabama Farmers Federation’s 1999 Heritage Cooking Contest. Mrs. McCrary’s creation earned her first-place honors and $150 while Mrs. Randle claimed second place and $100. Also included is Sandy Buckner’s third-place Cherry Surprise and a few of the other 28 sure-to-please county winners.

If sweets aren’t what you had in mind, though, the “Country Kitchen” also includes the winning recipes from the Alabama Pork Producers’ Pork Cooking Contest.

A festive Southwestern-Style Pork Chops dish earned Renee Neal of Cullman County top honors in the contest, which included 18 county-level winners from around Alabama. Mrs. Neal said her family really likes Southwestern cuisine, but she couldn’t find a Southwestern pork recipe she liked. Finally, she began experimenting with some of her favorite ingredients like jalapeno relish, sour cream, cheese and onion. The result, her prize-winning Southwestern-Style Pork Chops, has become a family favorite. As the first place winner, Mrs. Neal took home a $500 cash prize. Dianne Nall of Monroe County claimed second place and $300 with her Bourbon Pork Tenderloin, and third place honors and $100 went to John Fincher of Mobile County for his Marinated Smoked Pork Tenderloin.