Pie anyone?

Pies intimidate me. Most recipes I've read for pie crusts usually include strict directions like "use COLD butter," and "For the love of God whatever you do DO NOT let the butter/lard warm up or your crust will FAIL, and you will FAIL, and you will be an utter disappointment. " 

Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but still, scary stuff. So when I offered to make desserts for Thanksgiving, and my husband made it clear that pies were the "traditional" requirement, I knew I needed help. Buying pie crusts would have been the smart thing to do, or better yet, a gorgeous $5.99 pumpkin pie from Costco that could easily feed 20 people, but I am not smart. So I turned to Zoe Francois, who I swear I would trust with my life, and certainly with my baking. Sure enough, she promised THE BEST APPLE PIE EVER, on her blog. And it was. It really, really was. 

I doubled the recipe because I was actually making three, count 'em, three pies, one of which was a double crust apple pie. For the pumpkin and pecan pies I used other recipes for the fillings with Zoe's crust recipe.  

This looks like a mess, but it's actually an amazing chocolate pecan pie from Paula Deen. I cut the sugar in the recipe in half, because, you know, it's Paula Deen, and I used orange juice instead of the bourbon. I would also recommend melting the chocolate first rather than leaving it in chunks like she recommends.

I don't even like apple pie, but this one is truly successful. It seems like you can't really over bake it, but don't test it. 

Luscious brown sugar pumpkin cream pie from Martha Stewart.

At the last minute, I decided the pies weren't enough so I made some bars. I wanted to use a can of organic butternut squash I had, so I put a few recipes together, tweaked them to my taste, and made some bars that turned out to be the run-away hit of the day.

For Friday's breakfast, I made simple sour cream muffins with a little sugar and cinnamon on top. Also a big hit.

Today I ran to Costco on the way back over to my sister-in-law's and picked up a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. I'm tired.