Thanksgiving 2009: The Pies Have It

It's a good thing that I'm still working on the Thanksgiving posts because I'm not cooking Christmas dinner this year. I'll be tackling hobby number two, sewing. I will certainly be in the kitchen New Year's Day, maybe New Year's Eve. Anyhoo. I tried to complete this post earlier this week, only to realize that I'd uploaded the pictures to the other blog's library. Grrr.

So here it is:

Again my sister-in-law's sweet potato pie ain't no joke. It really is the best sweet potato pie you'll ever taste (even without my secret ingredient). I've blogged about this before, but I'm holding to my promise to blog about everything I made for this year's meal.

Here are the sweet potatoes. These are hot from the oven. Yes, oven. Repeat with me, "Roasting intensifies flavors and brings out the natural sugars." Remember that the next time you are getting ready to boil a vegetable ...

Beat these with the paddle attachment. Add your butter a tablespoon at a time.

Add the sweetened condensed milk and sugar. Yes, this pie uses both!

Hook it up with spices and flavoring.

I add the eggs last. As usual, I lightly beat the eggs first.

Pre-made crusts this year :-( Not at all what I planned, but I found myself taking many a nap when I should have been cooking.

No shots of the finished pie. Know that it was delicious!

Pie number two was Cook's Illustrated's Apple-Cranberry Pie. I first made this in 2007. This year's was not as good as that one, but it was still good enough for me to compulsively eat pie for breakfast. That's really sad, I know. Santa is bringing me a new workout game for my Wii as punishment.

Start with cranberries, cinnamon, sugar and orange juice.

Heat it until it's the proper consistency. I didn't let mine cook long enough.

Next up? Apples!

Peel, core and slice. I sliced these a tad too thin. Toss with cornstarch, sugar and cinnamon and microwave. Yep, you microwave these before putting them into the pie. It keeps you from getting that big gap between the top crust and the filling when the pie is done.

Here's my little helper, Livvy.

Let's assemble, shall we?

Now for the apples.

Now for the top crust. There are a few steps here. First, how are you going to vent the pie? I let Livvy go to town with my pie crust cutters. The design below is her artistic brilliance. After you get the crust on, brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

See all the leftover cutouts? We put those on foil and put them in the oven for a snack. I forgot they were in there. By the time the timer went off to rotate the pie, they looked like chocolate cookies!

Here's the pie:

Tools of the trade:



-Maybe I'll have this filled in by the end of January!

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year 2009

I know. I promised sort of real-time Thanksgiving blogging. People, it was just too hard! Now that I'm reviewing everything, I'm happy to say that I may be able to piece together some video for dressing! (It's the little things.) Anyhoo. Thanksgiving was great! We were still cooking Saturday night. (We got to critical mass on Thanksgiving and decided to call it a night.)

Okay, to the subject of this post, my Christmas colors. Y'all know I love a good tree and table setting. This year, I'm going with pink and silver. I actually decide my colors about a year in advance; I get inspired as I put the Christmas decorations away. I'm already feeling purple for 2010, but that means I'd have to buy ornaments. We'll see.

Here's the tree ...

Now you know there has to be a matching holiday table.

Here's the place setting. That charger is so not centered. Gotta remember to fix that. I'm in love with those glass charger (Williams-Sonoma after-Christmas clearance, plus 40% off.) Placemats were scooped at Dillard's years ago on sale. I remember being peeved because the napkins weren't on sale. The runners are from Target. Christmas decorations are all about sales and carrying your vision across multiple stores!

Can't leave the buffet out!

Yes, I know I'm in desperate need of more pink stuff. It's surprisingly hard to find. I've spent many a Valentine's Day and spring sale looking for pink dinnerware, accent pieces, etc. The vase above is from a coworker. When she gave it to me (I think it was still hot outside), I knew I could at least attempt pink and silver without anxiety. Looking at it reminds me I never filled it. Gotta work on that too.

I like to get the most out of my holiday stuff, so the tree went up Thanksgiving night. (I had help from a little elf.) I think I had the table and buffet done by Saturday.

My Summer Table

Happy summer! So yeah. I tried this post before. The difference is I have finally, after years of searching, found my chargers! You may not be impressed, but this find at Z Gallerie made my day.

I hope you are enjoying your holiday!

Christmas Morning

It's 3:47 Christmas morning. My pound cake has been in the oven for a little over 30 minutes and I think I'm sleep walking or sleep blogging. The cake is a do-over. When the efficient, energetic me got in yesterday after two rounds at Target, a trip to the bank and Home Depot after a 5 a.m. rise to make dressing and sweet potato pie after having stood on my feet for four hours welcoming Christmas shoppers the night before -- I set the oven to 200 degrees. ( How's that for Faulkneresque?) Two hours later, I wondered why I didn't smell cake throughout the house. After adjusting the temp, it still didn't come out right. Since it was for someone else's Christmas dinner, I had to make it again.

This is the most requested thing I make. It's not baked crack like Cakeman Raven's red velvet cake in Brooklyn, but it is the best damn pound cake I've ever had. It is unbelievably moist with this crust that just gets better the next day. I thought about getting the new Nordic Ware Anniversary Bundt pan for it, but it would ruin the crust to serve it upside down. I might get the pan anyway. Who am I kidding? Of course I'm getting the pan. I haven't made a Bundt cake since high school.

I digress. People have tried to recreate my pound cake because I won't give out the recipe. The funny thing is, I'm not even a big pound cake fan. Give me a cake with some icing. I only bake this cake for others.

I sit here now half dazed, not quite sleepy enough to go back to bed and not awake enough to really cook anything else. The last time I tried to cook in this state, I got a little too careless with my knife skills. I know the next items on the docket should be the red velvet cupcakes and dinner rolls, but they will have to wait. I think I'll watch A Christmas Story.

I haven't completely figured out my own Christmas menu. I have a Cornish hen and lots of fresh veggies: Brussels sprouts, potatoes, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, beets and butternut squash. I'm not quite sure about what I want to eat or how to prepare it.

Back to the cake:

I cream the butter and sugar forever. I use the time to gather the other ingredients and prep the pan.



Each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one.



This is a no-holds-barred pound cake. Look at how thick the batter is! I've seen recipes that have called for cake flour instead of AP. If you want a lighter cake, make a different type. This is one tradition I will not break.



The batter is four pounds! It won't move unless you move it.



Look at the top.


Heaven in your mouth!
Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• NordicWare Angel Food Pan