thanksgiving

to can or not to can? that is the question

by Patricia on November 4, 2010 · 8 comments

behold, the pumpkin.

A few years ago, I decided I needed to make a pumpkin pie using an actual pumpkin. Do you get these kinds of urges? I get them all the time. Like what’s the best kind of pie crust? How do you make brown sugar? And what would happen if I substitute a little butter with bacon fat in some chocolate chip cookies?

So I did it. I bought a sugar “pie” pumpkin. When I got it home, I realized I had no clue where to begin. So I consulted books and the internet to figure out what to do with the thing. And then I made a pie. A pie that will live forever in my memory.

While I do still use canned pumpkin, it has become a tradition of mine to make at least 1 pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin each holiday season. And since I buy one or two pie pumpkins as decorations anyway (they’re just cute), the pumpkins do double duty.

So if you have a sugar pumpkin in your decor, consider using it to its full potential.

Now let’s purée some pumpkin.

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black friday

by Patricia on November 27, 2009 · 6 comments

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Peek-a-boo. After a few days away, this evening I was back in the kitchen making pie crusts for our belated Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. By the way, I found leaf lard! (and there was much rejoicing).
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happy thanksgiving

by Patricia on November 26, 2009 · 0 comments

cow

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Flipping through the last issue of Gourmet, I was on the hunt for pie recipes. While I did find a couple of pies, I was distracted by a few of the side dishes (the photos in Gourmet are always so lovely… and distracting). You see, I am a sucker for sweet potatoes. From the marshmallow topped Thanksgiving staple to simply roasted in the oven and everything in between (unless it comes from a can. If you are eating sweet potatoes, or yams for that matter, from a can… we need to talk). So when I saw the simple baked sweet potatoes with acorn squash, I stuck a bookmark on that page and went back to my pie search.
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