Thanksgiving!!

OK....clearly I can not be trusted. I keep promising to update the blog regularly, and quite obviously I have not been doing that!! BUT....Thanksgiving is, in my opinion, the BEST food day of the year. There is no way I could forgive myself if I didn't put up some recipes in honor of my fav food holiday!!

So, I'm starting with pie. Thanksgiving is one of the few times a year I eat pie, although I make it alot!! And please, please, please do not buy a pie at the grocery store! For the love, save your friends and family from the horror of pie made at way ahead of time and sitting around near the produce department. I know there are some people in most of our families that we aren't SUPER fond of, but you don't want to give those folks any reason to talk bad about you, right??

I'm putting up my fav pie and crust recipes!! You can make your crust ahead of time and freeze it to make life a little easier, although it is a SUPER simple to make! So here goes! I'll try (I give up on promising!) to put up some side dishes and finally the turkey recipe later this week!!! Gobble, gobble!! (That always makes me think of Adam Sandler.....let's eat turkey in my big brown shoe) :)


Pie Crust

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold water

Mix shortening, flour, and salt together with a fork or a pastry blender until very crumbly. Add as much water as needed to hold together, and mix lightly with a fork. To double this recipe, use 1 cup shortening, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup cold water.

Roll gently, one crust at a time, on a floured surface, to about an inch larger than pie plate. Fold carefully in half. Lift to pie plate, and unfold. Fit into pan. For a single-crust pie, trim with a small knife to about 1/2 inch beyond rim. Fold up, and pinch so edge of pie is raised from rim. For a two-crust pie, trim bottom crust to edge of rim, fill, and top with crust about 1/2 inch larger than rim. Tuck top crust under bottom along rim. Seal with floured fork.

***Don't worry about it looking PERFECT! I like it when it looks homemade. :) Everyone will appreciate all your hard work that way!!

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Pie Crust
4 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
Pinch of salt
One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie dough to a 13-inch round a scant 1/4 inch thick. Fit the dough into a 9-inch glass pie plate and trim the overhang to 3/4 inch. Fold the dough under itself and crimp decoratively; refrigerate the pie shell for 10 minutes.

Line the pie shell with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake in the center of the oven until nearly set, about 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake until the crust is pale golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves and salt until smooth. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, then the cream. Working near the oven, pour the filling into the crust. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the custard is set. Let the pie cool on a rack.

Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly and 1/2 of the sugar and butter syrup. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the other 1/2 syrup over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

**Tips: For preparing the apples...I use my veggie peeler for the skin. I also cut the apple in half and use the melon baller to remove the core. Works perfectly! Also, soak your apples slices in Sprite to keep them from browning. To make a lattice crust, I roll my dough out into a circle. I use my pizza cutter to cut the lattice strips then starting on one side weave them together! It is a little labor intensive but you end up with a BEAUTIFUL pie! If you don't feel like messing with it just cover it with a whole crust and cut a slice in the top to let steam escape!!

OK....so this last pie is NOT really Thanksgiving-y, but it is SO STINKIN DELICIOUS I just couldn't leave it off!!! This is for all my down home folks!!!

Banana Pudding Pie

Crust:
50 vanilla wafers
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/8 tsp sea salt
5 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp powdered gelatin
1/4 cup cold milk
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
1 vanilla bean, pod and scraped seeds
1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh whipped cream
5 Tbsp caramel sauce, plus extra for garnish
3 medium bananas, sliced

For the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Crush vanilla wafers and toss with brown sugar, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, and sea salt. Stir in melted butter and vanilla extract and press mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For the filling: Chill a medium bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice water and set aside. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks, cornstarch, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and sea salt together until very thick and light in color. Set aside. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup cold milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Bring heavy cream, remaining 3/4 cup milk, and vanilla bean to a boil in a medium pot. Remove from heat, slowly whisk cream mixture into reserved egg mixture, pour back into pot, and stir over medium-low heat until it reaches a boil. Pour into chilled bowl, remove vanilla bean pod, and stir in gelatin mixture, butter, and vanilla extract. Let cool and fold in whipped cream.

Spread caramel sauce over crust. Line with 2 1/2 bananas and top with pudding. Chill for 2 hours. Decorate with remaining banana slices and caramel.

And by popular demand....LAURA :) Sorry it took so long!!

Creamy Blueberry Pie

3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter

Combine 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and salt. Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla stirring until blended.

Place blueberries in pastry shell, and spoon sour cream mixture over berries.

In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour. Cut in butter or margarine with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles course meal. Sprinkle this mixture over sour cream mixture and berries in the pie shell.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 to 55 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Enjoy!!