Thanksgiving

I was, no I still am, so proud of myself for completing 3 pies in 3 1/2 hours on Thanksgiving day. I'm a slow, drawn out baker and I tend to not completed what I start. But I popped up early that morning determined to get three pies knocked out. It required a lot of thought and planning, which is what I love about baking. I had already made my crust and froze them.

First up was the chocolate custard tart from The Craft of Art and Baking. I was worried at first because the word custard freaks me out. If you cook it too long the delicate texture will curdle and the texture will be like scrambled eggs. If it comes out too early then you've got a runny mess that doesn't slice well. I baked it a little longer than called for, but once the center was set I pulled out a perfectly cooked custard tart. It was dark and rich and one of the best chocolate desserts I've ever had. Next was the apple pie. I used the recipe from Bon Appetit's November 2010 Apple Pie with Oat Struesel.

I loved rolling the oats into the pie crust and the crumb topping was better than a regular pastry crust...in my opinion. It was fun too! Last I made Ruby Bowman's pumpkin pie, which I wrote my very first blog post about. I put too much sugar in it this time, but loved cutting out fall leaves and placing them around the edges. After all my hard work, I caught the tail end of Martha Stewart's Thanksgiving day special where she showed how to correctly crimp a crust. It was a great "Aha!" moment...about three hours too late.