Pie... and a triumphant return...

Ok, so I think we can all agree that my wildly optimistic "I'm going to post a picture EVERY DAY" plan was a colossal failure... in fact, it was such a failure, that I felt like I had to wait until a day when I had something REALLY REALLY good to make up for it.

Fortunately, yesterday was such a day.

Our Thanksgiving involves a lot of stuff... there is the sweet potato casserole with candied pecans on top, delicious stuffing with nuts and sausage and apricots, creamed spinach, creamed onions, 3 kinds of cranberry salad (with the pros and cons of different permutations of cranberry being hotly contested by different branches of the family), of course the turkey... and then there is pie. I got to make 2 this year... everyone wanted pumpkin, but we also decided on lemon meringue, just to shake things up- turned out, it was a hit! Its light and refreshing and just the thing after stuffing yourself with 10 different forms of potatoes.

Here they are, in all their glory:
The pumpkin pie, though, I was pretty excited about. I adapted the recipe a couple of years ago, and have been making it since- its a little non-traditional, which you can see because its the pie in the foreground...

Pumpkin-Ginger Crumble Pie
1 9inch pie

Filling
2/3-3/4c sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
1c sour cream
3 eggs
1.5t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t ginger
1 can pumpkin (not pie mix, normal plain pumpkin)

Topping
2-3T butter
about 1/2 packaged crushed Anna's Ginger Thins or other ginger snap type cookie
1/8c oatmeal
1/8-1/4c nuts
a glug of maple syrup

Mix together all filling ingredients, bake in preheated 375 degree oven for an hour. after 30 min add crumble topping. its done when a metal knife comes out clean.

The filling is nice and light, but the crumble topping really gives it a kick!