Thanksgiving eve

I now have 52 Thanksgiving eve's under my belt.  Of course, I only remember the last 40 or so, but I have many great ones.  Be prepared to be lulled to sleep, or maybe even laugh, or say, hmmmm. . . that's what happened that time.

My pumpkin pie is in the oven.  When I make pumpkin pie, I make it from my roasted pumpkin that was a tribute to harvest, and Halloween before it hit the oven @400 degrees F until soft and able to be peeled.  Then I make sure it's drained, like yogurt, add a bunch of ingredients, etc.  But let me tell you, confessing that I cannot seem to make a decent pie crust was crushing.  Aunt Janet called me one day to get my recipe.  She said mine was like her mother's.  Oh nuts!  It's confession time for sure. . . it's Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust. Why struggle when experts have perfected this art, and my filling can be showcased as heavenly, and beyond compare?  Well, that's one of my secrets.  Another family sharing is my original apple pie.  Harriet Lea taught me how to make my pie.  Use Rome apples.  They get soft during baking.  You only need about a 1/2 cup of sugar, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, some lemon juice, a little salt, and some flour.  Then you pile in the apples.  Use too many so there is a big pile in the plate. Another confession. . .  I usually forget to put the butter pats on the filling and I wind up trying to stick them thru the steam slices in the top crust.  It's become a ritual, forgetting the butter.  After you put the top crust on and seal the edges and cut slits for steam on the top, use either an egg wash, or a milk bath on the top crust and put it in a 400F oven for 15 minutes, letting the top "set".  Turn the oven down to 350F and bake for another 45-50 minutes.  Don't forget to put foil around the edges if it gets too brown, and make sure you put foil on the bottom of the oven 'cause this baby is going over, I guarantee that!  Now, isn't that an easy recipe to follow?  But I have pie stories to beat the band, don't I?  Oh you might not know, or remember. . .

How about the time I didn't make apple pie because Carl wouldn't go to the store for me to buy Rome apples?  He said he wasn't falling for that trick.  He'd get to the store and there would be 4 kinds of Romes and he'd for sure get the wrong ones.  Not totally unreasonable after the great "wet mozzarella" debacle and the clam sauce drama, but he could have asked.  And I was out of time.  So, no apple pie that year.

What about the time I did make the pies and someone broke a glass right over them as they cooled on the counter?  No apple pie that year either.

Then there was the time Daddy hid the pie, and I didn't find it until it was growing on top of my China closet. . .. oh joy.

But I'm making pie this year.  Pumpkin for John and the "Apple Pie of Emeril's eye" recipe winner of 2001.  It has a crumb topping with pecans and caramel.  It's deadly good.

And I'm going to miss my family this year as I have opted to stay home with just my husband, but I need some quiet this year.  I am searching for my blessings.  And I hope my baby grandson Dominic is watching over us all, and wishing he could be with us too, but realizes that basking in the glory of God is way better than any pie Grandma can make.

Let it be.