Related to Pies only because it is a Holiday Recipe

While visiting family in a neighboring state over Thanksgiving, my sister shared with me her wonderful homemade turkey stuffing dressing recipe. As usual, I have changed the recipe to my liking and I am willing to share that with you.
So get ready to enjoy a very ‘lite’ dressing. It comes in two parts because it is a recipe for homemade Poultry Seasoning and then the Stuffing. Don’t you just love knowing exactly what is in the products that you feed your family? There is a huge advantage in knowing every ingredient. And this was so easy to do. I made this up and stuffed my turkey with it.

Poultry Seasoning
2 Tbs. Parsley Flakes
2 Tbs. Salt
2 Tbs. onion powder
1 ½ tsp. sage powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
4 bay leaves finely crushed
½ tsp. black pepper
Just mix these items together and put them in spice container for later use.

Very Lite Stuffing
Saute together in 6 quart pan:
2 Tbs. butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
Then add and mix thoroughly
1 cup water or broth
9 cups dried cubed lite whole wheat bread
2 Tbs. Poultry Seasoning

Pie Night Tradition

It has become a tradition at our house to have Pie Night. In the festivities of the holidays we love to gather friends and family around and that always includes eating. In years past, on Thanksgiving we prepared all the wonderful foods and feasted to our hearts content. But when it was time to bring out the pies, we found that they just didn’t look as appetizing as the night before because we were so satisfied with the turkey and potatoes and all the traditional delicacies. We discovered that the best time to enjoy those wonderful pies was the night before and just stretch out the season of the festivities. With a light supper planned and executed, we place the beautiful pies out and thoroughly enjoy them tasting a bit of everything because they are the main emphasis of the meal. We invite friends and family over and totally indulge, sometimes finishing up with games and sometimes just visiting with wonderful people while enjoying the sweet pies of the season. This tradition is being exposed to more and more people as our children host their own Pie Nights in different states. One guest commented, “Why haven’t we done this all our lives? This is great!”

Don't throw that pumpkin away!

Fresh Pumpkin Puree
If you want a wonderfully mild flavored pumpkin pie try using a fresh pumpkin. For your pumpkin pie, boil up that pumpkin. I do this a day or two before I want to actually make the pies and refrigerate the pureed pumpkin in a covered container or freeze it in 3 cup portions.

Cut a 10 inch diameter pumpkin into about 4 inch squares and place the pieces into a large pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat and let it cook on low for about 1 hour. Pour the softened pumpkin into a strainer to cool and to drain off the liquid. When the pieces are cool, scoop off the meat of the pumpkin with a serving spoon, separating it from the tough skins. Discard the skins and drain the pumpkin again. Then puree it with a hand blender or other tool. If more juice separates, drain it off. It is now ready to be used but can be put into an air tight container and refrigerated for a couple of days before using or it can be frozen.

I make the pies up weeks in advance and have them frozen, ready to pop into the oven for my festivities. You might add some pie crust cut outs to the top for decorations. It is a beautiful pie with a delectable taste. And it makes the final hours of preparation for company so much easier.

Enjoy the fruits of the season--then some for later

Take a look at how flakey this pie crust is. And my husband made this pie all by himself!

Fall time brings a heightened awareness of the luscious fruits available to us. And fruit means pie making. Just last night I had two people come up to me while at a gathering and exclaimed with pure delight, “That pie was so good!” I had given a couple one of my famous frozen pies from out of my freezer, ready for baking. I love to pull those out of my freezer and have a pie ready to share or gift to a dear friend. Another individual had made her first pie ever from scratch, using our wonderful recipes and the secret ingredients that are hidden in each luscious recipe. She said her husband got upset each time he would find a small sliver of it missing for fear the peach pie would disappear on him.
This type of greeting or experience isn’t too uncommon for me. After teaching a class on pie making, I would have people come up to me in stores and claim that they had never made a more flakey and wonderful pie. One man said that his family had never had so much fun baking together. A new tradition was established in their home. A woman who had made pies more than half her life said she loves this new recipe and way of freezing pies for advanced preparation for an event or holiday coming up. Comments like these encouraged us to publish our recipes. I had created a ‘pictorial demonstration’ that provides a visual step-by-step process that you can use to learn to make delicious homemade pies from scratch. When my husband, who is not one confident in the kitchen, proof read my instructions, his comment was, “I think I can do that.” He was right and he did make a wonderfully delicious Mile High Apple Pie all by himself. Now it is your turn. Just try it.

Let me share with you how we put to use all the wonderful apples that seem to be falling off the trees in this season. You might have an excess of apples and want to save some for pies a few months from now. This is the perfect recipe:

Amazing Apple Slices—Ready for Anything
14 cups peeled, cored, and sliced (Jonathans, Granny, or other cooking apples)
2 cups sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cloves
½ cup THICKGEL or corn starch
2 Tbs Fruit Fresh or lemon juice
Place apple slices in gallon size freezer re-sealable bag.
Mix dry ingredients together then pour it over the apples in the bag.
Add the lemon juice.
Rotate the sealed bag so the spices and juice are well distributed over all the apples. Set out on the counter and rotate several times.
Put the apples in the freezer until ready for use in an apple crisp, apple pudding, or apple pie.

This recipe and many others are found in our book, "Pies: You Can Do It Too --Trade Secrets of the Pie Lady" by Joyce Clifton

Welcome to Grammy's Pies!

Pies tell the story of our family. When we celebrate, it is with a pie. When we have worked together, it has been with pies. When my husband was asked if he would like a piece of pie, his response used to be, "Yes, and I will take mine round, please." We enjoyed birthday pies and anniversary pies. Pies get served all year round at our home.

Years ago my husband received a pie, all for himself, for a Father's Day gift. He loved it! But he loved sharing it even more. He took the whole pie and a hand full of forks and sat on the family room floor. Of course, the kids knew something fun was going to happen. They joined him on the floor, then the game began. He handed out the forks and told each one they could take their bite right out of the middle of the pie and it could be as big as they wanted, with one condition; not one crumb could fall. Now that was a challenge to some pre-teen and teen age children, to see who could get the biggest bite onto their fork and not spill. We found out who had the biggest mouth and we also found out that some had bigger eyes than their mouth could accommodate. It was more fun than we could ever dream. Just sitting around with one pie and a bunch of forks in hand.

We have stories of eating and making pies in cities all over the United States and blue ribbons to show for it. There is nothing better than the aroma and esthetics of a baking pie. It is the smell of home. My daughter recently stated, "Mom, I know why you don't have candles burning in your home. You make your home smell good with the authentic and real experience attempted by the candles."

We want to share our experiences with you.