My Thanksgiving Story

I was hoping to have more time to write recipe posts, especially with all the cooking I do for Thanksgiving, but with special orders and my own family visiting from out of town, I fell behind.


I spent the day before Thanksgiving baking pies like a mad woman, and also various breads, rolls, and breakfast treats for my customers' visiting family members. Thanksgiving day I was a little stressed out about the turkey and didn't get it in the oven until almost 10:00. Now, if you know me you'll know my story from last year (we ended up with a 54 lb bird...ahhh!), but this year the local guy who raises one for me made sure to set aside a hen (as opposed to the notoriously large toms), so I estimated its weight at about 27-30 lbs. Still pretty dang big! I hadn't been too worried about it, but when I placed it in my roasting pan...well, it didn't fit. I tried to rig foil to catch any drippings from the extended legs, but ended up setting off the smoke alarm and filling my house with a rather uninviting smell as the legs dripped steadily onto the bottom of the oven (not the intended makeshift foil pan). So, I had to take the whole thing out of the oven, wait for my sweet step dad to deliver a slightly larger pan and then transfer the awkwardly heavy bird into the oven again. By this time I was certain we wouldn't be eating until 5 or 6:00.


Maybe because I never stuff my birds, and maybe because of the freshness (it had been sacrificed the day before), it was looking pretty toasty about 2:00. When I went to baste it (every half hour), I thought I should check and see where it was at. The thermometer steadily climbed past 180 degrees! Ahhh! I switched off the oven and let it sit, a little worried it might be dry or overcooked by the time my guests arrived and we were able to carve it. Homegrown birds are more fatty than store-bought varieties, and I always soak it in cold water (with a little kosher salt in it) from the time we receive it until it goes in the roasting pan, to help with any potential "wild" flavors. When my dad carved the bird an hour and a half later it was still steaming hot, and was moist and succulent, creating a fabulous pan of drippings for our traditional Madeira gravy. My brother-in-law, a vegetarian, couldn't resist the delicious gravy (I did make some rather blob-like vegetarian mushroom gravy for those who don't eat meat...), and ended up having a small piece of turkey as well. Hey, if there's ever a time to eat a sustainably raised turkey who had a very happy life, my Thanksgiving table is the place!!


Turkey story aside, we can move on to the most important course...dessert! I baked several pies for our family this year (along with the special orders for other people). We had classic Pumpkin Pie, Double Crust Apple Pie, Dark Chocolate Cream Pie, and Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie. All of the pies were fabulous, but it was the pecan one that vanished first. The following recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart, and is guaranteed to be gobbled up in a hurry!

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

1 9" unbaked pie crust
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
4 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tbsp dark corn syrup
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (grade B if possible)
2 tbsp bourbon
1 tsp vanilla
approximately 2 cups pecan halves
1 egg yolk

Place the rolled out pie crust in a 9" pan and crimp the edges. Place in the freezer as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk together the sugar, butter, eggs, corn syrup, maple syrup, bourbon, and vanilla. Lightly stir in 3/4-1 cup pecan halves. Pour into the chilled crust.

Arrange the remaining pecan halves over the top of the pie. Whisk the egg yolk lightly, adding a few drops of milk, if desired. Using a pastry brush, paint it over the exposed pastry. Carefully transfer the pie to the heated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake about 1 hour. It will still look runny but will set up as it cools. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.