he Apple Strudel Dilemma

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

During the fall, after the harvest time, there was always an apple strudel bake-off contest in the Lilliland marketplace. The contest was very popular and everyone looked forward to tasting the delicious apple strudel. Many people outside Lilliland thought that all apple strudel tasted the same, but not the people of Lilliland who were very fussy about one of their favorite baked good, the strudel.

The professional bakers of Lilliland were allowed to enter the contest and they were always walking off with all of the prizes. The housewives of Lilliland cried "foul" since the professional bakers were very hard to compete against. The professional bakers had the best selection of apples and all the other ingredients needed in apple strudel recipes, plus better baking ovens. They also had the whole year to practice in making apple strudel.

There was a debate as to whether only amateur bakers should be allowed to enter the contest so that the professional bakers would not always win. But every time the argument was advanced, the decision was for everyone to wait until next year. The housewives of Lilliland decided that this was going to be their time to win the bake-off prize.

A few weeks before the contest, all of the wives got together and developed a plan to win first place. The plan was that they would hire a baking consultant from Vienna to advise them on the best way to prepare and bake apple strudel. The consultant was the best apple strudel baker in all of Europe, if not the world.

The day of the contest came. Everyone turned out to watch and see who was going to win first prize. Most of Lilliland thought that it would be the professional bakers because they always won.

Lady Angela of Alpine Castle was to be the judge with Baron Von Lodge. The baking was competed and the tasting by the judges began. After the tasting, a winner would be chosen and announced to the audience.

The winner was one of the housewives of Lilliland, Mabel Diescher. She was the first woman to win and everyone was very happy for her.

When Mabel Diescher was asked what she thought she did to win, she replied that it was a new secret ingredient.

It turned out that the secret ingredient was just the right pinch of cinnamon in her apple strudel.

Everyone had a good time and went home very happy in Lilliland.