The Importance of Pie Weights

Only 24 days until CHRISTMAS!

And that's all that really matters in my world.

Yes, yes, Thanksgiving was lovely. Daniel and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a married couple and in our new house. Daniel roasted a 12 lb. turkey, made garlic mashed potatoes and green bean casserole while I was in charge of the stuffing (which we do not stuff into the bird carcass for various reasons which Daniel will be more than happy to go into should you require further explanation), and the pumpkin pie. Because I married a foodie, the term "convenience food" is near to taboo in our household. I suggested maybe, possibly, perhaps, using a bag of that nifty Pepperidge Farms, already seasoned, ready to go, stuffing mix, and got a look of incredulous horror.

So, we got loaves of bread, no, not Wonder Bread, the locally baked artisan bread, let it dry out, cubed it and then mixed it with sauteed celery, mushrooms and onions, rubbed sage, dried marjoram, poultry seasoning, fresh parsley, and fresh thyme, salt, pepper, and chicken stock. Chicken stock from a box! Sometimes a line simply has to be drawn. Then I spooned it all into our slow cooker (aka: crock pot) and let it go on low for about four hours.

Verdict: Very, very tasty, but slightly drier than I would have personally liked it. And I think the bread could have been cubed a bit smaller. So, next year, smaller cubes and more chicken stock.

Pumpkin pie. Gotta have it, right? Now, when it comes to pie, I do say no to those horrible refrigerated pie crusts that taste like cardboard. Sorry, there's just no substitute for homemade pie crust. And despite being a mild culinary disaster just waiting to happen, I have made my fair share of pie crusts.

One year, Jennifer and I made a shit load of apple pies over the holiday season to sell to people who hate making pies (everyone!) and I was mostly in charge of the crust creation. I've even made pumpkin pie before as well as elderberry and grape (it's an Erie thing) pies. Yet, somehow I have managed to avoid "par-baking" or "blind baking" a pie crust. All recipes I've ever used, just call for dumping the uncooked pie ingredients into the uncooked pie shell and popping the whole thing into the oven. Which, honestly, seems like the way to go.

In an effort to make a pumpkin pie that wasn't printed on the side of a can or involved evaporated milk, I decided to make this pie:

A half-recipe of your favorite pie crust, chilled
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk 3 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup drained candied yams from 15-ounce can
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon table salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out dough on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to make 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang all around pie plate.

Working around circumference, ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch beyond lip of pie plate. Fold overhang under itself; edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Using thumb and forefinger, flute edge of dough. Refrigerate dough-lined plate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Remove pan from refrigerator, line crust with foil and fill with pie weights or pennies. Bake on rimmed baking sheet 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, rotate plate. Bake 5 to 10 more minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp. Remove plate and baking sheet from oven.

Make the filling: While pie shell is baking, whisk cream, milk, eggs, yolks and vanilla together in medium bowl. Combine pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in large heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring to sputtering simmer over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer pumpkin mixture, stirring constantly and mashing yams against sides of pot, until thick and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Whisk in cream mixture slowly, until fully incorporated. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl, using back of ladle or spatula to press solids through strainer. Re-whisk mixture and transfer to warm pre-baked pie shell. Return pie plate with baking sheet to oven and bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees. Continue baking until edges are set (instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 175 degrees), 20 to 35 minutes longer.

Transfer pie to wire rack and cool to room temperature, 2 to 3 hours. (The pie finishes cooking with resident heat; to ensure the filling sets, cool it at room temperature and not in the refrigerator.)

As you will have noticed, unlike the famous pie recipe that includes evaporated milk, this pumpkin pie requires a par-baked pie crust. WTF? Okay, fine.

The directions were explicit and I followed them exactly...sort of. I had no idea what pie weights were. You may be wondering how a person can reach the age of 33 without ever having come across pie weights, but there you have it. So, where the recipe directs the pie maker to "line crust with foil and fill with pie weights or pennies", I thought, "pennies. okay, I can do pennies". Having no inkling as to the purpose of pie weights, I dug in the bottom of my purse and found a handful of pennies, dimes and quarters and tossed them in the foil lined pie crust thinking I had nailed it!

FAIL.

As some of you may already know, pie weights are these little ceramic balls which ensure not only even baking of the bottom and sides of the pie crust, but also prevent it from bubbling and from shrinking. Having since done some research, people also have used dried beans or rice or stones in lieu of tiny ceramic balls like these. Also, crucial to the success of pie weights is filling (or nearly filling) the crust with pie weights. A smattering of a few coins is pointless. Needless to say, my crust shrank like nobody's business.

But, I soldiered on and completed the recipe - even the fine mesh sieve step, which is a HUGE pain in the ass but made for a really smooth silky pie filling.

The pumpkin filling entirely engulfed the pie crust, but I baked it according to the recipe anyway and it actually came out tasting really really good. The crust, even though it shrunk, was flaky and buttery and the pumpkin pie filling was WAY better than the evaporated milk version.

VERDICT: Delicious pumpkin pie recipe, but DO NOT underestimate the importance of pie weights.

Note to Self: Ask Santa for pie weights.

These Times, They Are A-Changing

This year was a turning point in Thanksgiving traditions. I didn’t go anywhere. I stayed home. With Daniel. We cooked and laughed and lounged around and it was relaxing and completely stress-free. It was a first.

It was also the first year since I can remember where my mom’s side of the family didn’t get together. Aunt Susan and Uncle Herman decided to migrate to Florida a month ago and are hibernating there until Spring. Aunt Linda, Uncle Keith and Cousins all went to Los Angeles to visit Cousin Kaitlin for Thanksgiving. Uncle Tom, Aunt Becky and Cousin Claire all stayed home in West Virginia. Cousin Jason was working. Cousin Robert is missing. Sister Bethany stayed home in New Jersey and fasted. And Mom and Grandpa went to Perkins for Thanksgiving dinner.

It feels weird…and a little sad.

On the other side of the family, there used to be upwards of 25 people gathered at my Nana’s for Thanksgiving dinner. This year there were 8.

I don’t know if having close extended families is unusual or not, but I’m used to every aunt, uncle and cousin getting together at nearly every major holiday (including the 4th of July). And while I really despise traveling over the holidays, still there’s lingering nostalgia for the way things used to be. Even if I’m not a part of it, I still want everyone else to continue the family traditions. Silly, I know.

My immediate family includes just me, my sister, and my mom and we all live far away from each other, which kinda sucks in the family holiday traditions department. But what can you do? People just don’t stay put anymore. Things change. Traditions evolve. And there you have it.

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

Thanksgiving weekend.
Not a "major" holiday for me. Really the only thing I like about Thanksgiving is that it signals the official start of the Christmas season and I can now revel in Christmas merriment all I want without reproach.

Thus, Thursday morning consisted of going in to work. Yes, I worked on Thanksgiving. Didn't bother me, so please don't let it bother you.

Thursday afternoon I went for a hike at Edwin Warner...which was surprisingly populated. Apparently I wasn't the only one not slaving away in the kitchen preparing a Thanksgiving feast. I did however try to make a pie. Tried. To make a pie. A chocolate pie. To take to Kelly's for dinner that evening.

I don't know what gets into me sometimes. I am old enough and self-aware enough to know my limitations. But somehow I always delude myself into thinking I can successfully create complicated recipes. The first thing that went wrong was the pie crust. Which kind of surprised me because I have actually made pie crust before (just ask Jennifer) and it turned out fine. But for some reason still unknown to me, the pie crust failed miserably. When I pulled it out of the oven it had melted into a gloppy puddle of butter and flour. It was truly disgusting to look at. Meanwhile, I had started to make the chocolate filling (again, from scratch) and the recipe called for self-rising flour (I don't even know what that is much less actually have any in my pantry), so I used plain old flour. But then there was a problem with the eggs. The eggs needed to be separated. Naturally. The yolks to be used for the chocolate filling. The whites to be used for the meringue topping. Those obstinant little fuckers refused to separate for me and I ended up with thick yellow ribbons in my whites and filmy white snot mingling with my yolks. It was at this point when I discovered the failed pie crust that I gave up with a grunt of disgust, threw everything into the trash bin and hurried my incompetent self off to Kroger to buy a pie. Kroger, of course, was closed...as was Publix...and Harris Teeter. Thank god for Wal-Mart! Not only were they open, but they had a perfect looking frozen chocolate pie. Excellent.

Off to dinner at Kelly and Matt's with frozen chocolate pie in tow. Dinner was fun. The alcohol flowed freely, the food was yummy (especially Kelly's Pillsbury crescent...er...ameoba rolls). Between dancing toddlers, potato-covered racks, stories of overflowing hot tubs and leather tassels, and structurally unstable seating there was much raucous laughter. I think we kinda scared Daniel but he was a good sport and unexpectedly found a kindred "partner" in Matt. Hee.

So that was my Thanksgiving.

Black Friday was not Black for me. I gave up shopping on Black friday years ago. It's just not worth it to me. The crowds completely irritate and stress me out. So, instead I went to the spa for a facial and a manicure. Ahhhhh. Lovely. Friday night Kelly and I went to the TPAC to see Anuna. Anuna is a celtic vocal group from Ireland. Amazing voices. Beautiful and haunting performances. You should look them up. They have a CD out called "Celtic Origins" I think.

Saturday I went back to the spa for a massage and an eyelash tinting. Call me frivolous but I so needed it. The massage was blissful and the eyelash tinting was something I hadn't heard of til recently and wanted to try. I now have dark dark eyelashes and no need to wear mascara...until it wears off in a month...although I can totally see me becoming addicted to this treatment. Saturday night was spent with friends, conversation, and Thanksgiving leftovers.

I had ambitious plans to decorate my apartment for Christmas today, but got a late start on the day and then got busy cleaning and doing laundry and have decided to save the decorating extravaganza for next weekend...if I can wait that long. We'll see. In the meantime I will be listening to Christmas music non-stop except when I am watching my Netflix Christmas specials! Thanksgiving is OVER - so back off! I'm entitled to my Christmas music! :)