Most people think Thanksgiving is about turkeys, but I must tell you in all love, that is not.  It’s all about the pies.

At least, that’s how it is in my house.  Yes, we’ll be having a beautiful turkey raised by a neighbor, and some amazing sides including collard greens and sweet potato balls rolled in pecans.  But the true star will be the pies – real pumpkin pie (made form our own pumpkins this year – what a treat!), pecan pie, and a cranberry caramel tart.  I searched and recipe tested for years to find a pecan pie recipe that 1) did not include corn syrup (disgusting!) and 2) didn’t have a gooey filling with a mere sprinkle of pecans on top (also disgusting).  Below is my tested and true recipe – may it bring joy to your table this holiday or in the future.  Blessings on your Thanksgiving, friends – may we all remember to be grateful, and not just run around like nuts.

Splendid Pecan Pie

1 pie crust

1 cup dark brown sugar or maple syrup (I use the latter)

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup cream

2 tbsp cornstarch or kudzu root powder (found in the asian food section)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups pecans (a mix of nuts is also lovely)

optional: if you really want to go crazy, add 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a 9-inch pie pan with your pie crust, prick the bottom with a fork, and put it into the fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes. I’m serious about this – if you don’t, your crust will fall and we’ll both be sad.  Bake your crust for about 20 minutes, or until it’s barely lightly golden.  Turn the oven down to 350 degrees F.

Pour the butter, sugar, and cream into a metal or glass bowl that will comfortably fit on top of a small saucepan (it should cover the top of your pot, but the bowl should not be touching the bottom of the pot).  Put 2 inches of water into the pot, place the pot over low-medium heat, and put your bowl on top to create a double boiler.  Sift in the cornstarch, and beat with a handheld beater (or a vigorous whisk) over gentle heat until the mixture thickens and is free of lumps.  Remove from the heat, and add in the vanilla and beat in the egg yolks one at a time.  Stir in the pecan nuts and scrape into the pie shell.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the filling only jiggles in the center a teeny bit, and the whole top is golden and glorious.  Let sit a few minutes before serving.  Serve with chipped cream or ice cream as desired.

Adrie’s favorite Thanksgiving tip: any leftover pie makes an excellent once-a-year breakfast the next morning.

Bring on the gratitude, I say.

I wanted to take a moment to say how I got started with gratitude Friday, since a few of you have asked.  Last winter, during a particularly rough patch with Ella, I read an article in the wonderful Yoga Journal about keeping a gratitude journal as a way to open your heart to gladness, even a way to battle depression.  I think my simultaneous reactions were “Wouldn’t that be nice!” and “No way this will work, no way it can be that simple.”  Well, I decided to give it a try, even though I’ve never successfully kept a journal.  You would think I would learn, eventually, that the simple things are always the ones that work.  Long story short, I still keep that journal, I love it, and it provides a wonderful antidote to stressful or gloomy times.  I discovered Gratitude Friday posts on Shelley’s blog a few months back, and thought it would be a perfect extension of the journal.  So here we go!  (One of my favorite things about listing gratitudes is that, even when it’s hard to start, soon they come pouring out.  It really is an amazing exercise.)

This week, I’m grateful for all of you who’ve joined us for the Ten Steps.

Grateful for the community we live in, our neighbors and friends (old, new, and ones we haven’t met yet!)

Grateful that we get to go visit family next week for Thanksgiving – my favorite holiday!

Grateful for Bill McKibben’s Hundred Dollar Holiday, which I just finished reading.  It has a totally fascinating history of Christmas – not what you’d expect at all .

Grateful for the chance to make our special cranberry-pecan sourdough, pumpkin tarts, and cranberry-caramel tart next week.  Yummy!

Grateful, always, for the chance to work with my hands and my heart.

Grateful that we (and our animals) are all healthy.

Grateful for the chance to dance in the living room with my girl.

Grateful for the chance to count my blessings.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Because there’s always more to be grateful for.

This morning, we have an email in our inbox from a very experienced, long-standing New England farmer who suffered terrible crop losses this year.  So bad that he’s asking us to provide him with Early Riser corn seed for next year, which we’re going to do our best to get him.  This year, with the bizarre weather patterns, was so bad that here in MA, Governor Deval Patrick filed for (and received) federal disaster relief funds for farmers in 12 counties, including our own Hampshire County.  If you aren’t concerned about climate chaos yet, talk to a farmer.  We have a bumper sticker from the American Farmland Trust that reads “No Farms No Food,” but perhaps what we really need to remember is, “No Farms, No Food, No People.”

So where’s the gratitude, you may ask.  I am, and really the whole PVHG team is, so deeply deeply thankful that we got a harvest this year.  Some farmers did not, or lost entire portions of their crop.  We didn’t have a stellar year, but considering the conditions, considering this is our first year growing many of these crops, considering what our brothers and sisters and friends all around us are suffering through, we are blessed beyond belief.  I know we are all anxious to get our hands on these beautiful grains, but let’s be patient as the corn finishes drying in the field.  We wanted so badly to get all of you your shares by Thanksgiving, which won’t be possible, but today I am reminded to be to be thankful that we have a harvest to share.