Everyone Likes Homemade Pie
“Once my friends and I rented a cabin in Lake Tahoe, CA, for the Thanksgiving weekend. We love to cook whenever we’re together, so this was going to be great.
“We made a fantastic meal and four pumpkin pies. The pies were individually decorated with special pastry cutouts in the shapes of leaves and pumpkins, all very elaborate works of culinary art, and we had a big batch of homemade whipped cream on the side.
“We gathered ‘round with our mugs of hot cider to admire our work — and finally it was time to dig in.
“Around the circle, there was one disappointed face after another. Something was terribly wrong. Somehow we’d forgotten the sugar! NOBODY LIKES HEALTH PIE ON THANKSGIVING!! It was so sad.”
Hell-Bent on Tradition
“One year, we thawed our family turkey by floating it in a foil pan in our indoor pool. That same year, the oven burst into flames and trashed the kitchen. Undaunted and hell-bent on tradition, we ended up taking the individual dishes to several different neighbors’ houses to finish off, then we brought it all home to our beautifully decorated (and smoky) house for the meal. I don’t know how my mother handled it. I would’ve just gone out to dinner or ordered pizza!”
