Thanksgiving Pies And The Wine
I bake pies, lots of pies for Thanksgiving. Not just for me but for some friends as well. For my family it’s just a pumpkin and pecan. I am also making sweet potato, pumpkin and apple for friends. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without pie, it’s a staple and everyone loves it.
A very Happy Thanksgiving to everyone that celebrates the holiday and to all that don’t I hope you have a wonderful day also. The holiday season officially starts after Thanksgiving and it’s a very short time until Christmas. Have a wonderful day with friends and family and enjoy a fantastic meal, there is so much to be thankful for and on this day we want to remember just how lucky we are to have each other, delicious food on our table and the warm home that we live in,
Sweet Potato Pie
I use Joy the Bakers recipe for the sweet potato pie. If you have never had one you should try it, it’s delicious. I actually prefer to pumpkin pie. Joy’s recipe is fantastic. I made a couple of very minor changes to Joys recipe, I bake the sweet potatoes until they are very soft and caramelized, then I process in the food processor until they are silky smooth. She uses two 5 oz cans of evaporated milk, I use 5 oz of half and half and 5 oz of heavy cream. I also omit the coriander. It’s very similar to Meta Givens Pumpkin pie rccipe which is what I use for my pumpkin pie. NOTE: The baking time for the sweet potato pie was different than that in the recipe. Joy has you bake at 450 for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 325 and bake for 1 hour. well my pie was completely baked in 45 minutes and my oven temperature was accurate. Every stove varies so this doesn’t mean it will not take an hour for your pie but mine did not.
Pecan Pie
I also make Pecan Pie, I posted the recipe last year so click on the link to see the recipe. It’s tooth achingly sweet but that is the way pecan pie is and it’s absolutely delicious.
Here is my favorite recipe and at least for me it’s no fail pie dough or pastry whichever you would like to call it. It’s from the master, Julia Child and is simple and foolproof. She uses butter and shortening, all purpose and cake flour. I like to use leaf lard instead of the shortening. I gave instructions if you want to use a food processor, for me it’s by hand only for a flaky pie crust. I like to use the food processor for tart dough (pate sucre’)
Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom
Juilia Childs Pastry Dough
Makes enough dough for a double crust 9 inch pie
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tsp salt
6 oz cold unsalted butter cut into tbs size pieces
4 tbs shortening or leaf lard cold
1/2 cup ice cold water
You can make this either by hand or in the food processor. To make by hand, put flours, salt, butter, lard or shortening into mixing bowl, use pastry cutter to combine until it resembles pea size crumbs. Add water mix with fork, gather with your hands, divide dough into a 2 discs and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
In Food Processor, add the flours, salt, butter and shortening or lard into the bowl of the processor. Pulse a few times until the mixture resembles pea size crumbs. Add the water and pulse a few times until it becomes a cohesive dough. Divide dough into two discs and wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Apple Pie
For the Thanksgiving meal I feel like picking a wine is like a crap shoot. There is such a variety of dishes how do you pick something that compliments the meal? I know with poultry or fowl you usually pair white wine but I like red with my meal. I purchased a variety of wines but the star of the show for the meal will be 2010 Christian Bernard Fleurie Select Block Gamay – Beaujolais I got a magnum. I feel that it will not compete with the meal but compliment. Hope I’m right. I can’t take credit for picking out the wine, my friend and owner of Gnarly Vines in Brooklyn is the expert and he guides my choices. Excuse the messy table I quickly shot a pic of the wine before it went into the wine cooler. What wine are you serving with your Thanksgiving feast?
Thanksgiving wine
apuginthekitchen 
Oh my goodness, Suzanne, each of those beauties is a masterpiece! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Thanks so much Cynthia, you have a wonderful holiday. All the best to your beautiful family.
Gorgeous pies! Pie making for us tomorrow. 🙂 Can’t wait.
I am making the pies today, the photo’s are from last years pies. I made the dough on Tuesday today bake them all. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Thank you! You as well. 🙂
I will have to give the sweet potato pie a try since pumpkins are not easy to find! They all look wonderful!
Sweet potato pie is wonderful, for me the key is to oven bake the sweet potatoes and then whiz in the processor so they are ultra smooth. Thanks so much and hope you enjoy.
love that you turn to Julia for your pie crust 🙂 Looks like your feast will end well.
We will be drinking bourbon highballs if I have anything to do with it 😉
A bourbon highball sounds great! Thanks Liz, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Happy early Thanksgiving!
Same to you, enjoy the feast!!
The pies look magnificent and I know first-hand they are to-die-for delicious. What a feast. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks Azita, if you want a piece of pie just stop over either tomorrow or the day after, there are always left overs. Happy Thanksgiving.
Those pumpkin pies look beautiful! I am definitely excited for pie! 🙂
Me too, I love pie and especially these Thanksgiving treats. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving.
Hope you and your family enjoy your time together. Love, Maria
Sent from my iPhone
Thanks Maria, you and all the family have a fantastic holiday.
Your friends and family are SO lucky! Your pies look amazing!! 🙂
Thank you, I love baking. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Oh yum! I will be making my pies today! I hope mine come out as great looking as yours!
As I type I have pies in the oven. I hope they look as good as last years. Happy Thanksgiving, have a wonderful holiday!
Look at how absolutely perfect your pies are…. and the perfectly scalloped edge… They’re beautiful…and I bet just as delicious. Happy Thanksgiving Suzanne!! <
Thank you so much and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
That apple pie is just beautiful!! Happy Thanksgiving to you Suzanne!
Thank you so much and Happy Thanksgiving!
That smooth topping does it, these pies look incredible 😀
Delicious! Happy Thanksgiving!
Cheers
CCU
Thanks Uru, Thanksgiving is my favorite food centered holiday, I have a lot of fun making all this food.
those are some beautiful works of art Suzanne. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks so much, they were a lot of fun to make! Happy Holidays!
Wow, all those pies look amazing. You are making a lot of pies! Pecan pie was always my favorite growing up. You are right, they are insanely sweet but SO good and pecans are my very favorite nut. They are addicting when they’re roasted, yum! I’ve never actually had a sweet potato pie if you can believe it. I’m sure I would love it though. Happy Thanksgiving Suzanne!!
I believe it, up until a few years ago I had never had a sweet potato pie either Nothing though can compare to that gorgeous chocolate ginger spice Mousse tart you made. It’s spectacular. Thanks so much Brandi and a very Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Than you and the same to you!
Happy Thanksgiving Suzanne! Thanks once again for all your tips and recipes – I’ve enjoyed reading about every one of them and look forward to putting some on the table for our little celebration here in Oz! 🙂
I hope you have a wonderful celebration, let me know if you make any of the recipes from here. Have a great time and thank you!
Suzanne, your pies are gorgeous! Happy Thanksgiving, and hope you have room for some savories! 😉
Thanks Christina, always room for the savories. Happy Thanksgiving.
Wow! You’ve been BUSY! Those all look absolutely gorgeous. I’d love a bite of your sweet potato pie 🙂 I only recently tried sweet potato pie and fell in love. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks so much Kate, you and your beautiful family have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sweet potato pies are the best!!
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed all the delicious food in the world, including these pies!
Thanks Pamela, hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
The pies look lovely. I hope you had a magical day with family and friends and enjoy your rest today. 😉
Thanks so much!
Gorgeous pastry edges, Suzanne! Mine NEVER look that good. But I’ve never tried to make my own pastry, either. I love to cook, but baking gives me fits. You make it look easy! Salud!
Thank you so much!
lovely pie Suzanne, way to go!
Thank you so much.
We do have lots for which to be thankful, especially your guests and family! Those pies are truly beautiful. What a gift you have for working with dough! I hope you had a wonderful holiday!
Thank you so much, I love baking and working with dough. You are so right, there is much to be thankful for. Happy Holidays.
Holy shmoly! These look wonderful. My mom’s pecan pies were always in high demand at Thanksgiving, so the photo of that one brought back some nice memories 🙂
Thank you, my Mom’s pecan pie was always so delicious and a favorite. I disliked pumpkin pie until I became and adult now I love it. Thanks so much Susan.
I’ve never had sweet potato and because you say I should, I will! It looks fabulous Suzanne, as does your pie crust. You are very sweet to bake all those pies for your friends. Hope you had a great time with your loved ones!
I’ve never had a pecan pie or sweet potato pie and can’t really imagine what they taste like but I can tell you that your pies look amazing and so neat and professional!
Oh both are wonderful. I love both pies. Thank you so much. The sweet potato is creamy and sweet and the pecan is very sweet and buttery and the pecans on top are so delicious.
I agree! Picking wine for the meal is a crapshoot, so I just serve each guest what they like to drink (if possible). Somebody brought a bottle of Beaujolais this year, which I love, but we never ended up opening it for the meal. I still have it, so guess I’ll just have to drink it this weekend, maybe 🙂
It really is unless you are a real wine expert. I got a beaujolais to go with the meal. I bought a lot of wine, which I will be drinking through Christmas. Love that!
Your pies are stunning, Suzanne! I’m especially fond of sweet potato pie. I hope you enjoyed a delicious, relaxing Thanksgiving celebration. Wishing you a beautiful holiday season ahead!
Thanks so much Hannah, I hope you had a wonderful Hanukkah/Thanksgiving celebration and Happy Holidays!
I love baking pies too! Yours look gorgeous!! I will have to try out your sweet potato pie and the crust. I don’t know if I would find lard? but I do use a mix of shortening and butter. Cake flour is a new twist for me, I’m anxious to see how it turns out!!
Thank you so much, the sweet potato pie is wonderful, I hope you like it if you make it, I only use leaf lard if I have it, if not shortening works just fine and that is what Julia uses in her recipe. The cake flour makes the AP into pastry flour which I never buy, it yields a very tender pie crust. Thank you and let me know if you try it.
These pies look perfect Suzanne! Pecan is my favorite by far!! And I saw the sweet potato pie on Joy the Baker, but didn’t try it. But you’re nudging me to get going with your recommendation!
Thanks Rhonda, its a good recipe. I made a couple of changes and the pies turned out perfectly. Thank you!
Yum. This one is worth a repeat. Hugs!
Ha a blast from the past. Thank you so much Teagan.
Happy thanksgiving!