The Curse of the Thanksgiving Pies

Mom arrived today, and since my cousin wants to have dinner early tomorrow, we decided we'd better make pies tonight. I conceded the fat-free half & half thing... although, I will say, the pumpkin pie doesn't seem to be quite the appropriate color that I think it should. We'll just have to see how it tastes tomorrow.

The apple pie went in first, as it needed the highest temperature to begin with (and gets turned down to the same temp as the others during baking). After the pie had been in the oven for some time, some juices began to bubble up, and Mom realized she hadn't put any flour in the mixture... which meant it was going to be extra-juicy, and gunk up the bottom the oven. Argh.

The pecan went next, and we noted that, in spite of using a standard-sized pie plate, it seemed a bit full. I should have known right there... The folks left just apple pie came out of the oven, and things seemed under control -- I just had to wait for the pies to finish baking, and take them out to cool. No biggie, right? Five minutes after they left, the pecan pie starts puffing up to the point that huge chunks of it are dripping off the plate. After seeing one whole pecan (fully coated with Karo syrup and gook, of course) slide off, I decided that done or not, the pecan pie had to come out. So, that one may be a bit gooey still in the middle.

I got it out just in time, though, because as soon as I repositioned the pumpkin pie in the center of the oven, the crap at the bottom started to catch on FIRE. Don't worry, the house is still standing... but I felt the safest thing to do was turn the oven off for a few minutes while the goo on the oven floor carbonized and burnt itself out. Good God, do I have a mess to clean up.

But, so long as the pies don't taste like my entire house smells... it should be fine.

Now, on to the cranberry sauce.