It took me about seven hours to make the nine pies we need for Thanksgiving this year. We’ll be enjoying caramel apple, cranberry-apple, chocolate hazelnut, pecan, s’mores, butterscotch, pumpkin, apple, and vanilla cream pie…but definitely not all at once!
As I always do the day before Thanksgiving, I spent the better part of today making pies. One for each member of the family, as is our tradition:
This year’s pie lineup:
Chickadee did actually pick her pie this year, but I think pumpkin pie is the only one she really knows by name…I hope she’s happy with her choice!
Yes, I know there’s still technically a little over a month left in summer. And, yes, I know that it could be pretty hot in St. Louis for at least a good month after that…you just never know!
But, Moose goes back to his school tomorrow, and the rest of us will be back to school not too long after that. So, tonight was the end of the summer Markel family feast!
BLTs (with avocado for those so inclined) and corn on the cob for dinner:
And a root beer float pie for dessert!
It’s been an amazing summer, so a special dinner was required to cap it off!
Today was the Pi Day to end all Pi days…not only 3-14, as the case is every year, but 3-14-15, the Pi Day that math nerds will have to wait another 100 years to see again. Of course we had to do something special!
We made do-it-yourself mini English muffin pizza (pies) for dinner, with a French Silk pie for dessert. And, as an extra special treat, we had (not quite) Moon Pies with lunch. Such a fun and delicious holiday!
(And in case you were wondering, I made Turkey and Bunny calculate the area of our French Silk pie, now that they know that the area of a circle equals pi times the radius squared, and it came out to 63.585 inches squared!)
Last year, I heard about “National Pie Day” at the last moment, so I just made a quick fruit pie for dessert. I thought I’d have a little more fun with it this year…in addition to a French Silk pie for dessert, we had a Chicago-style pizza (pie) for dinner. It’s always fun to have a themed meal!
Next up is Burns Night on Sunday…I really love any reason to celebrate!
We had our standard Thanksgiving feast today: turkey and gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, green beans with almonds, and rolls. I did add brussels sprouts for the first time, since they’ve become the children’s favorite vegetable, but that was the only new addition.
We had a record seven pies for dessert after our annual family viewing of Holiday Inn. Frankly, I can’t believe anybody had room for dessert, but we managed to put a dent in them. There’s still plenty left, though, for more desserts the next few days, and our traditional pie for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving!
I think I’ve gotten pretty good at setting a festive table. I especially love the addition of the Lego turkey…it’s so us, and so fun!
I hope your Thanksgiving was as happy and full of love and laughter as ours was!
As is our tradition, I made seven pies today…one for each member of the family:
Here’s the pie lineup:
Technically, Chickadee still can’t choose her pie flavor, since she doesn’t really have a favorite yet, so she was assigned pumpkin. Maybe next year she’ll pick her own!
(Not to be confused with Pi Day…we have to wait almost two more months to celebrate that one!)
I almost forgot to share our fancy Christmas dinner! I didn’t have a theme this year…I just wanted to try something new. So, I chose a pork crown roast with pan sauce. I’ve been told that it was very good, even though I thought it was dry. We also had roasted carrots, parsnips, brussels sprouts, and potatoes, plus my “famous” stuffing and cranberries.
For dessert, we had a rustic apple-pear pie with French vanilla ice cream, and cream puffs. We were supposed to have a croquembouche, but it kept falling down, so we “just” had the cream puffs, instead!
Next year, I might just make a rack of lamb!
The table:
The feast:
Just desserts:
In case you hadn’t heard, I made six pies this year…one for each family member that could actually ask for a variety. (Poor Chickadee didn’t get her own request, but she didn’t seem to mind!) Ryan picked caramel apple, Turkey asked for pecan, Bunny wanted butterscotch, Moose requested S’mores, Ladybug chose pumpkin, and I made my favorite “wassail pie” for myself!
This was a very special Thanksgiving, because we had china on our table for the first time. The children were so excited to be using something that belonged to their great-grandmother, so I made it a little extra special and added our champagne flutes for their sparkling grape juice. This is by far the prettiest table I’ve ever set…I love having a piece of family history!
