I like to do my pies and cranberry sauce the day before so that everything is nice and set for Thanksgiving dinner. We’ve been making pumpkin pie from fresh sugar pumpkins for awhile now but don’t have a standard recipe for that. This is one we’ve made before and enjoyed. The pecan pie is a keeper. I’ve tried several and this is by far the best. I’ve been making this cranberry sauce since the early 90′s and I adapted it from one in Southern Living Magazine at some point. Jason won’t hear of trying anything new and since I love this one I have no complaints. Yesterday’s schedule included several errands, cranberry sauce and two pies.

Pecan Pie

3 oz unsalted butter

¾ cup packed dark brown sugar

¾ cup corn syrup

½ cup golden syrup

3 large eggs, @RT
2 T bourbon

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ teaspoon table salt

1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans

2 cups toasted pecan halves

blind-baked crust

Preheat oven to 375F. Melt butter and cook until brown, whisk in brown sugar and syrups until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in eggs, one at a time then bourbon, vanilla and salt. Stir in chopped pecans. Transfer pecan halves to the crust and pour over syrup mixture. Reduce oven temp to 350F and bake 45-55 minutes until set- slight jiggle is done.

Pumpkin Pie

15 ounces puree pumpkin

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 cup heavy cream

1 T brandy

¾ cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp table salt

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp cloves

1 blind-baked crust

Preheat the oven to 325F. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, egg yolk, clream and brandy. In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, pepper and cloves then add this to the large bowl and whisk to combine. Transfer the filling to the crust and bake about an hour until pie is slightly jiggly in the center but set.

(If anyone knows why WordPress double spaces my recipes and how to fix that I’d LOVE to hear it!)

I also prepped my turkey brine first thing this morning (leaving out the Wild Turkey) and set it out on the step to chill. This is our second year with a CSA turkey. We pick them up the day after slaughter and rinse daily, cover with a damp towel and store in an ice chest with icepacks. Thanksgiving eve with submerse the turkey in brine, 12 -24 hours is all you need. I add the Wild turkey and then pour in the brine and add enough water to cover. The next day, drain and rinse before cooking. The drippings will be too salty for gravy so be sure and make turkey stock ahead of time to use for that.

Turkey brine-

2 cups kosher salt

1 cup sugar

2 cups Wild Turkey (for 14-16 pounds)

water to cover

To roast- mix butter and herbs de Provence, spread underneath turkey skin, roast at

350F until temp reaches 160F. In the oven, start the turkey breast side down for the first hour, then flip and finish cooking right side up. Tent the turkey with foil until the last 45 minutes of cooking. When done, let stand, tented with foil, 30 minutes before slices so the juices can resorb into the meat.

This year we’ll be cooking our turkey on the Green Egg for the first time. I went out today and picked up a vertical roaster and a heat diffuser for the purpose. I can’t wait to see how it turns out! It’ll also make cooking tomorrow much easier since I won’t have to pre-bake my stuffing and rolls and reheat them while the turkey rests.

I had a bit of pumpkin pie filling that didn’t fit in the crust so I made us a little sneak preview with the leftovers. We crumbled amaretto cookies on top and it was quite tasty. I also made a quick creamed turkey with the turkey legs and wings I’d used for stock.