TWD: Thanksgiving Twofer Pie, Or "Why I'm Thankful That Nobody Was Really Counting On This To Be The Thanksgiving Dessert"

I have no cooking or baking responsibilities this Thanksgiving. My only job is to show up with my family at my parents' house 1000 miles away, which is a Herculean feat that requires the planning of a small-scale military operation. Common sense told me that I should have been spending any extra time that I had over the weekend packing lollipops and Dollar Store surprises in the carry-on bag to pull out when Elizabeth starts kicking the seat in front of her on the plane. Besides, I knew that if I made this pie, we wouldn't have time to eat it all before we left, and seeing as it's not freezer-friendly, most of it would go to waste. But despite all of the compelling reasons that I had not to make this Thanksgiving Twofer Pie, I did it anyway, because I am stark raving insane a committed TWD-er.

This is the second time I made Dorie's Good For Almost Anything Pie Crust. The first time was for the peach galette, and it was amazing. This time, I accidentally started making the recipe for a double crust, but I just went with it and figured I'd freeze one of them. The dough came together fairly easily, just as it did the first time.

After inventing a whole new shape while trying to roll a circle of rugelach dough, I asked Jacque for tips on how to roll a dough circle, and she was kind enough to leave me a really helpful,really detailed comment with some great pointers. And, as you can see, they helped a ton! Thank you, Jacque!

Much more circle-ish:



While the mixing and the rolling went well, the whole pre-baking thing really tripped me up. I followed the instructions, covered the crust with foil, weighted it down, etc. And yet the edges of my crust seemed very "post-baked" after the pre-bake:



I could not envision a scenario in which those edges would not be downright charred after another 45 minutes in the oven, even at a relatively low heat oven. When it came time to bake the pie, I tried to cover up the edges with foil for part of the bake time


but it really didn't do a whole lot of good.

Moving on to the pie fillings. I've got to say, there is no better way to stock your bar than to join an online baking club. We live a tame life around here. I might order a glass of wine with dinner, David will have a beer when he watches the game or order a bourbon out at a restaurant. So our bar is not particularly well-stocked, and I don't tend to have whatever liquor I need a teaspoon of for these various recipes. I'm always tempted to go knocking on the neighbors' doors, in the great American "may I borrow an egg?" tradition, to see if I could borrow a shot of Chambord. Shake things up a little bit. Anyway, I'm sure that I could have skipped the Meyer's that was part of this week's pumpkin filling:



But I splurged, because rum seems like a nice basic liquor to have around, and I figured that even if I use two teaspoons of it every year to make this Twofer Pie, I should still have plenty left over for that island-themed party I'm planning for 2024.

I made this pie in fits and starts throughout the day. I did the pie dough when I woke up and the pumpkin filling later in the morning. I figured that I would be able to do the pecan filling, and then assemble and bake the pie, at my leisure later that afternoon after running some errands. But the day got more complicated when my son started complaining that his ear hurt, and since I was worried about him flying with an ear infection, I scrambled to get him an appointment at the after-hours pediatric clinic. Instead of just waiting until after his appointment to finish the pie, I tried to horseshoe in the pecan filling in a 3 minute window that I had. In my haste I tried to cut through some frozen butter, but when the knife slipped, I cut my thumb instead. David was raking leaves, so I stuck my head out the front door and said "Hey, I just almost cut my thumb off. Can you please come inside?" He has heard some variation of that sentence so many times since we've been married, that if you witnessed his reaction, you might have thought that I had just said "Hey, dinner's ready. Can you please come inside?" Cool as a cucumber. All I could think about was that the last time I cut my finger (it was an onion that time) I spent four hours at the ER, and it wasn't even a Saturday night. No, my pie would never get baked if I had to go to the ER. I suddenly felt overwhelmed by the competing medical emergencies, the stress of trying to get out of town, and my unfinished pie. All I could think to do was sit down right there in the middle of the kitchen and have a good cry, when suddenly, I remembered my Doctor's Choice Advanced Wound Care Skin Closure Kit^®

.


I've lived with myself for long enough to know that I should never take to the kitchen without a couple of these puppies at the ready. Just one minor home procedure later, David was off to get the boy some ear relief, and I was back to my pie!

I filled it up -- there were a few breaks in the dam:



I think I was so shaken by the knife injury and the subsequent DIY surgery that I forgot to sink my pecans into the syrup as Dorie advises. This step was clearly not simply for aesthetics -- keeping the pecans submerged in the syrup appears to prevent them from burning. I learned this the hard way, because all of my exposed pecans burned. I ended up just picking off and eating the burned ones, but there were so many of them that by the time I was done, I was left with something that most closely resembled a Thanksgiving One And a Halfer Pie.

My finished pie (before I raided the burned pecans):



And a unit of pie best classified as a "slice":



Almost turns you to stone, doesn't it? It was edible, but this pie really didn't work out for me. The crust was overdone and not as flaky as when I made it for the galette. Half of my pecans were burned as well, and the pumpkin part was just barely set. I don't know where things broke down exactly, but break down they did. The house smelled amazing while this was baking, though, so it was worth all of the hubbub just for that! And I am sure that many of you knocked this one out of the park, so I can't wait to hear about how great this pie is when done right! Thanks for this great holiday pick, Vibi of La Casserole Carree!

I hope that you all enjoy a special day with family and friends on Thursday, and I hope for your sake that you don't get stuck sitting near us on the plane. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!