Tart Cherry Pie

Cherries are one of my favorite fruits and cherry pie is one of my favorite Thanksgiving pies.  Growing up when mom would make extra pies to feed everyone it always seemed there was never enough cherry pie!

INGREDIENTS
2 cans red tart cherries in water
1 1/2 c sugar
5 tbsp corn starch
pie shell and top crust

Drain cherries, saving the juice.  Mix sugar and cornstarch together so there are no lumps.  Pour mixture into juice in a saucepan and cook, stirring constantly until the sauce is thick and clear.  Cool for about 5 minutes then add the cherries and stir.  Pour into a pie shell and top with the crust.  Put a whole in the center of the top crust to let the steam escape.  Bake at 425 for 40 minutes or until the crust is done.

Traditional Granny Smith Apple Pie

It's not Thanksgiving with out mom's traditional apple pie! Mom prides her self on stuffing her pies with more fruit than the usual bakery restaurant bought pies so you can always tell her apple pies based on the big domed top crust.

INGREDIENTS
8 to 10 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
sugar
cinnamon
pie shell and top crust

INSTRUCTIONS
Put a little water in the bowl with the apples and sprinkle a little sugar and some cinnamon over the top.  Mix well.  Put into the pie shell and put the top crust on.  Crinch the sides closed using your thumb and first two fingers or a fork. Put a small hole in the middle of the top to let the steam escape.  Bake at 350 about 50 minutes or until the pie crust looks done -- slightly golden and flaky dry.

Thanksgiving Pecan Pie

I absolutely love Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving!  My husband is allergic to walnuts and pecans so I don't ever cook with them any more. So Thanksgiving is one of the few times a year I can indulge in my love of these nuts as my mom, Jeanine, the 'traditional' partner of Creative Tradition, usually bakes them. She uses the recipe on the back of the Karon corn syrup and uses Grammy's Pie Crust though it would still taste yummy if you used a store-bought graham cracker crust.

We usually half slices of pecan pie as it is very rich. And well, it's Thanksgiving!  If you take half slices of pie you can taste every pie and not feel guilty for eating 4 full pieces!

Karo Pecan Pie

INGREDIENTS
1 c Karo corn syrup
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c sugar
2 tbsp margarine or butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c pecans
1 unbaked pie shell

INSTRUCTIONS
Stir together the first 5 ingredients, then add the pecans.
Pour all into the pie shell and bake at 350 for 50 – 55 minutes.
Serve with whipped cream.

Real Pumpkin Pie

A family favorite at Thanksgiving is mom's famous pumpkin pie. We never were allowed to carve pumpkins for Halloween.  We could pick out our own pumpkins and put them on display at the front door. But after Halloween, before they rotted, mom would cut up the pumpkins, roast seeds, and boil the pumpkin flesh in preparation for Thanksgiving pumpkin pies.

I've had bakery restaurant pumpkin pie before and it was good, but the pie filling was so mushy.  Using real pumpkins and not canned gives a better texture and very fresh taste.  It is more work but definitely worth it!

INGREDIENTS
2 c pumpkin
3/4 c sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c whipping cream
1/2 c milk
1 unbaked pie shell

Combine pumpkin, sugar, and spices.  Blend in eggs, cream, and milk.  Stir until well blended.  Pour into pie shell and bake at 400 for 40 to 45 minutes or until a knife in the center comes out clean.

Mom's Blue Ribbon French Glaze Strawberry Pie

This strawberry pie is special. It's not your average grocery store or bakery pie.  It's refreshing, vibrant, and delicious.  It's my favorite desert, which says a lot growing up with a baker who makes 8 pies for Thanksgiving, never mind her cakes or cherry cream cheesecake.

For years my mother, Jeanine Bass, submitted her strawberry pie into the Orange County Fair.  Every year she won a blue ribbon and usually the best in category.   At the fair, most pies would be on display missing a small sliver that was tasted for judging.  That wasn't true of my mom's strawberry pie. They were half eaten, the judges just couldn't stop with a little taste! One year, our lives got more complicated with kids and activities so she wasn't able to submit a pie to the fair. That year no blue ribbons were awarded to the fruit pies... everyone missed her amazing strawberry pie.

One of my childhood favorite memories of my mother baking her pies was hoping that she didn't use all of the glaze. If we were good and helped her in the kitchen making the crust or stacking the berries she would give us a bowl of fresh strawberries and the left over glaze to dip them into.

Grammy's Pie Crust
Makes 1 covered pie or two single pies.

INGREDIENTS
3 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup warm water