Thanksgiving Streusel Pie “Two-Fer”: Pear-Apple Pie & Bing Cherry Pie

Dec 21, 2014

I love pie. Pie is the best. But for a holiday where pie plays a major role, I don’t really love Thanksgiving pies.

Thanksgiving’s a big deal in my family. We always come home. We get together not only all day on Thanksgiving, but pretty much every other day that weekend. We play football. We play cards. There are glorious sunsets. There is SO much food. This year I think we actually set a record.

Every year I make a fruit pie or two, because pumpkin, German chocolate, and chocolate chip pie are just not for me (though I love me some pecan from time to time). There’s usually a pear-apple, pear-banana, or some similar combination. This year I was really at a loss for what else to make, and then my mom found a frozen bag of dark cherries.

After looking up a number of recipes on Pinterest, I had to basically make up the recipe and hope it would work (I had visions of it just being this giant pool of juice, the soggiest pie ever). It was actually super simple and so easy to throw together. The cherry pie ended up being my favorite, and I had it for lunch, dinner, breakfast the next morning, and the tiny sliver that was left the next morning as well. This pie is my everything. I have no idea why, but it’s amazing.

The pear-apple is a recipe I made up years ago and make all the time. I love the texture and sweetness that the pears add, and almond extract, ginger, and cardamom pair (ha, pear) particularly nicely with pears. It’s an oldie but goodie. And both pies barely have any added sugar, so you don’t have to feel an iota of guilt for having a big slice for breakfast as well.

Caramel Pear Pie with Oat Crumble

Dec 14, 2013

Apparently, making some kind of pear pie is becoming my new Thanksgiving tradition. My family always has so much food that I just try to fill in gaps or find something a little interesting to contribute.

Last year I wanted a fruit dessert, since we had so much rich stuff. I made my healthy apple pear pie with streusel topping, which was exactly what we needed in the midst of all the sweets.

This year I didn’t really have anything specific in mind. Then, I ran across this recipe from A Cozy Kitchen and knew that I had to make it right away. While I don’t really get that excited about caramel, I absolutely LOVE pears and any kind of crumble topping.

What’s really magical about this pie happens while it bakes. What starts as a simple streusel topping—oats, sugar, spices, butter—turns into a golden melt-in-your-mouth crust when the caramel bubbles up and marries up with the streusel.

Seriously, it’s amazing. On the whole, the pie was just a TAD sweet for me. I prefer something mildly sweet but not too rich, but for a Thanksgiving treat it was great!

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

May 5, 2013

To me, pecan pie is one of the most awesome traditional Southern foods. And maple BOURBON pecan pie???

Well, that takes things to a whole different plane.

I love pecan pie (in really small amounts!). And I love a good whiskey. Or a sometimes a not-as-good, if we’re talking cooking. And pie in general. That’s really good, too.

Good ol’ JD…

My mom found this recipe in a magazine a while back, and we finally got around to trying it for Thanksgiving last year. It was so good that I made it again for the Night to Be Much Observed this year, and it got rave reviews. The maple adds a little extra sweetness and the bourbon adds a smokiness and depth—all topped off (or bottomed-off) with my Aunt Kristy’s awesome whole wheat and oil pie crust!