Turkey Day? I prefer Pie Day!

Happy Turkey Day everyone!!!! Thanksgiving has been, and always will be, known for family and food...lot's of it. Some people reserve pies at the local bakery weeks before the big day, others purchase them when they buy their giant turkey. I, like many others, bake and bake and bake some more.

Because the oven was consumed by the bird all day, I opted for baking my pies yesterday. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I made a traditional pumpkin pie. The recipe calls for Libby's 100% pure pumpkin, found in a can. This is not to be confused with Libby's pumpkin pie mix. Even though the pumpkin is from a can, I still consider the pie from scratch. Baked with a crust I made form scratch, it turned out as the perfect Turkey Day treat.

Pie number two was apple, of course! Instead of a simple classic apple, I chose an apple pie with a twist: Cider Infused Apple Pie. The recipe called for pre-cooking the apples beforehand in a pot with apple cider. By doing this, the apples not only absorbed the flavor of the cider to bump up the flavor of the apples, but it also shrinks the apples some, thus eliminating the space between the filling and the top crust that usually occurs. This apple pie has to be one of the best ones I have ever made. The filling did not overflow and spill out, leading to clean-cut pieces.

Overall, a fantastically successful Thanksgiving. Great food, good company, perfect pies. I hope your day was just as great. Happy Pie!

Pie will always be better than finals

I haven't baked in a couple weeks. School has been crazy, professors cramming all sorts of things in before the death that is finals week. Well I'm not done yet. My school is on trimesters. We have three 10 week terms when most schools have two 18 week terms, or something. While all my friends back home are getting ready for the short little break for Turkey Day, I'm getting ready for a nice long 6 week break from Turkey Day all the way until New Years.

Finals start on Sunday, so to prepare for this, I made pie. Duh! Brownie Pie to be exact. Shared it with the quad and a couple others for a little study break time. It was to die for!! I'm sorry, but I didn't take any pictures of the deliciousness, but take my word for it, it looked amazing. It is made with a graham cracker crust, which, I think makes it. The brownie part, all made from scratch, has a rather rich, chocolaty taste which makes the pie perfect with vanilla ice cream!

I have to get my pie skills ready for the upcoming week. I believe I have 4 or 5 pies to make. Not all for Turkey Day, but I don't mind, 'cause in my family, I'm the best pie person we've got!