I am thankful for pie

Obviously, because pie is awesome. I hear about this great place called Dangerously Delicious, and it's all pie. I haven't been but it sounds pretty spectacular and came highly recommended by a fellow cook. I'll have to go there soon, nothing like warm pie on a winter evening. Any guy friend of mine reading, this would be a great date.
Speaking of pies, dessert was my responsibility for Thanksgiving this year. I ended up making two Pumpkin Pies, two Pecan Pies, and one Apple. On a side note I was watching When Harry Met Sally last night which is awesome because I always say "Pecan Pie" the way Billy Crystal does in that scene with Meg Ryan. Back to my pies, they turned out great but no holiday is complete without a little drama. Pecan Pie, for those of you who don't know is very watery before it bakes. Although I use the same recipe for my Pecan Pies I do tend to change up my pie dishes. I only have one decent pie dish so when it comes time to bake a lot I buy the pie tins from the store. Well this year I must have purchased a pie tin that was a little more shallow than usual because as I was loading my Pecans into the oven some of the sugary goodness spilled over. It sounds silly to say but my mom and I weren't too concerned about it and left it alone. Thirty-forty minutes later, I open up the oven to a massive cloud of smoke. My dad claims he couldn't see the kitchen from the living room but he tends to be a little dramatic (read very dramatic). I don't know what the chemical process is that takes place when something bakes but I can tell you that sugar continues to burn and burn...which now seems like common sense, oops. Once we removed what had turned into a black chunk of sugar moon rock and fanned out the kitchen, we were good to go. Another side note, our fire alarm did not go off which is pretty scary, I think the house would burn down before we'd get a chirp out of that damn thing.

So aside from a little bit of smoke, the rest of the pies turned out fine and drama free. I think I may have made the crust a little too thick with my Apple but my mom and I are big crust lovers. Crust is, after all, the secret to a great pie and it just so happens I have a great recipe from a friends grandmother. If you're curious for it shoot me an email and I'll send it to you, you've got to work for it.

I would be proud to partake in your Pecan Piiiie...

Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes

I actually made these a couple weeks ago. I was pretty excited to post about it but ADD kicked in and I forgot, my bad. Despite the late post I can still taste the buttery cinnamon filling, and let me tell you it was delicious. The brown sugar that makes up the cinnamon swirl sort of caramelized on the pancake making a... crème brûlée layer on the top. The cinnamon was great but I think that little bit of a crunch is what made it. No one likes a soggy pancake so it was nice that even after they sat for awhile they still maintained that sugary crunch. The recipe I found suggested a cream cheese topping but I think I mentioned before, that’s just too much for breakfast. With butter and syrup these cinnamon swirl pancakes didn’t need anything else. I would definitely suggest this recipe.

As you can see my swirl is a lot thicker than what they used in the recipe. I wonder how a thinner line of cinnamon would change it. Also I really messed up on the first attempt at a spiral, the cinnamon was still too wet from the melted butter so if you try this recipe, let it cool down before trying to pipe it on the batter otherwise it kind of goops out of the bag.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so I will of course be making some desserts. If I can remember I will try to take some pictures tonight on the pie process, I’m making two pecan pies, a pumpkin and an apple. Also on I received an order for a sheet cake to be completed by Sunday so look for pictures on that too. I will be a busy baker this week, have a Happy Thanksgiving!