Giving Thanks...for Pie!

This year, I hosted Thankgiving at our house. It was a seriously low-key event since only my parents joined us. But the six of us had a nice time and ate extraordinarily well. I even managed to roast a decent turkey this year...an improvement over my last endeavor a few years ago. But, of course, I didn't take any pictures of the bird. That's because my specialty when it comes to things like Thanksgiving is pie.

I learned to make pie when I was a preteen living in England, so I have a somewhat British style of doing things. Although I always forgo the lard that I learned to make pie crust with (this year, I used just butter as an experiment, but I usually use shortening), but I still use my hands to "rub" the fat into the flour mixture. I don't know that this is any more efficient than any other method, but I like to get my hands dirty. After learning that way, it feels like the "right" way to make pie crust.

Of course, I had to make the obligatory pumpkin pie. When we were given the opportunity to make whatever we wanted one day in "Cooking", I made a pumpkin pie. They don't have pumpkin pie in England and although I made one fit for a magazine cover, the teacher gave me just 8 out of 10 for mine. I doubt she knew what to make of my flat-centered, shiny creation. I hope she would have seen fit to grade this one higher.My other standard for the holidays is an apple/cranberry pie. I often just throw in some whole berry cranberry sauce, but this year, I opted for fresh cranberries instead. Yummy! I started out with heaps of apples and cranberries.And because I'm just that way, I had to cut cute little apples out of the top and attempt to make it all artistic.It sure looked pretty, but I also learned that cutting such big holes in your crust makes the apples on the top dry out. Good thing I put so many apples in!Yes, we ate dinner before diving into the pies, but really? Who cares about turkey and stuffing??