Pretty as pie

Our Thanksgiving tablescape

To the victor goes the spoils and the spoils this Thanksgiving were pie.  After the long-standing, annual defeat to Battle Pie, I finally finally finally have conquered baking pie - the whole damn thing - from scratch.  <Graciously bows to the crowd.>  For Thanksgiving this year, I baked a rum custard pie, bourbon pumpkin pie with pecan streusel, and a sweet-as-Texas-fall pecan pie (no corn syrup, yayz).  Nevermind that the plebes that came over for dinner, with their deadened taste buds, couldn't distinguish the pumpkin pie from the pecan pie because of the pecan streusel topping.  Nevermind that the crowd favourite was the custard pie, that one that required the least amount of work for both the crust and the filling.  Thanksgiving dessert, consider yourself vanquished.

We were also incredibly lucky to have Siri come back for Thanksgiving, her first time back home since June.  I've missed my sister a lot and despite her onesie-wearing, last-minute packing ways, she's grown up a lot since moving out to the Northwest.  We had heart-to-heart conversations about work, career, relationships, friends, and hobbies late into the night while working on the puzzle she bought me for my birthday last year.  As close as my sister and I are, we have very rarely had heavy talks, which she typically reserves for my parents, and for once, she didn't rag on me for taking things too seriously.  Adorably, she also made a video compilation of our Thanksgiving which you can find here.

This year boasted our most "classy" Thanksgiving table we've had since I put my foot down and decided that we were using real plates, cloth napkins, and silverware.  No hen party streamers and sparkly boas for our table this year.  Instead, I went with a more demure green and white theme, accented with classic pillar candles and scented pine cones.  What was funny was that my mother remarked on missing all the glitter, glam, and cheesiness that I typically bombard the table with.  Well, there's always Christmas.

PS - Links to the pie recipes here as well as a fantastic all-butter crust recipe complete with step-by-step photo instructions: Rum custard / Bourbon pumpkin / Pecan / All-butter crust