Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Holiday Hysteria and Christmas Catastrophe: A Word about Planning Ahead and Pie Crusts

I like to bake pies for Thanksgiving. Really, what’s not to love? The sweet and spicy aroma of pumpkin pie? Delicious!! The smell of toasted coconut and the magic of watching powder mix and milk slowly turn into pudding on the stove? Scrumptious and satisfying.

What?! You guys don’t have coconut cream pie on Thanksgiving?! But that’s a mainstay tradition in my family . . . with a back story, of course. I used to think pumpkin pie was just full of everything disgusting. And then one day, I just liked it. As for apple pie, I like all the ingredients independent of each other. Apples? Yum. Cinnamon? Yum. Brown sugar? Yum. All of that together? Um, no thanks. I think it’s the mushy apples that get me. Because I was difficult opinionated, my Mom started making coconut cream pie for me. Now, I can’t imagine a Thanksgiving without it.

So making pies is awesome. However, making pie crusts is the opposite of awesome. I have faithfully used Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust that you just have to roll out. So easy, right? And I know that I am not the one who’s all about cheating their way out of making pie crusts. So anticipating the public’s demand in planning ahead, I went to the grocery this Saturday to buy the highly coveted pie crusts. Two weeks before Thanksgiving.

When I arrived at refrigerated case, I started to break out into a cold sweat. No. Effen. Pie crusts.

WTF?!

How is two weeks before Thanksgiving not enough time to buy pie crusts?! Seriously?!

When I went to the checkout line, with my piecrust-less cart that screamed DEFEAT, I didn’t even wait to have the clerk ask me if I found everything alright. I blurted out something about how is it two weeks before Thanksgiving and you are out of piecrusts. Being in his early twenties and taking for granted the magic of the holidays, he mumbled, with this totally bored and condescending look, something like they had been selling a lot lately.

The bagger said there were some in the frozen section.

On the outside, I politely declined. But on the inside, I was declaring if I am going to cheat on making piecrusts, I am going to do it the right way, for Christ’s sake!

In the end, my Mom found them at another store. So either the people at Kroger didn’t buy enough or I need to buy piecrusts when schools supplies make their debut on the shelves: July.

So how are your plans coming along for the holidays? Making any headway? Falling behind? Frustrated? Let’s hear it!

7 comments:

purplume said...

You are the second person this week that has mentioned Pillsbury pie crust to me.
I love the crust best on a pie. It makes me wish I still ate pork because I love lard for the crust. But I don't eat pork so I make my crust with olive oil. Pie crusts are one thing that tastes better with whole what flour. I use spelt and love that with pie you don't worry about it rising or not. The filling isn't as important to me.

But as I have made clear to my husband I don't make any commitments regarding Thanksgiving until I complete Nanowrimo. I expect to finish by Saturday.

Kim Murray said...

I commend you for even trying to make a pie. We buy our pies from GFS!

Fiorella said...

Every Mommy knows that the secret to a quick shopping trip is actually knowing where everything is at your favorite store: you know the blank feeling when you "run in" for a few items at an unfamilar store and it seems like it takes an aeon to get done? Anyway, why, at holiday time, do the stores decide to move all the holiday items like piecrusts, condensed milk, canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce, away from their normal locations to a random "end cap" that leaves you circling and seething as you search for your holiday staples? When you do eventually find the "holiday cheer" display, you have wasted so much time that the last thing you feel is cheerful...!

Anonymous said...

I have the easiest and BEST pie crust recipe in the world. You can find it here:

http://lessonsinlifeandlight.wordpress.com/recipes/desserts/orange-crumble-top-pumpkin-pie/

Erin Janda Rawlings said...

Purplume, I totally agree with you. The crust is the main actor and the filling is the supporting actor.

Kim, I know. I am crazy. I should just buy the pies already. Or at least the pumpkin ones. Because it has been my experience that the crust of the coconut cream pie is soggy in store bought pies.

Erin Janda Rawlings said...

Fiorella, that EXACT thing happened when I went to buy the canned pumpkin for the pies. I was completly focused in finding my pie-baking needs and could NOT find the pumpkin. It was moved to this random location with only a certain brand of evaporated milk. So I had to go back to the baking aisle and get the brand I wanted. I was not cheerful.

Erin Janda Rawlings said...

Lessons, thank you so much for the recipe. I can't wait to check it out!