Thanksgiving is Near!

One week left before the best holiday for us Nom Nom lovers. And whats not to love? Its an official day of feasting. A day to celebrate what you have, not what you want. A day to overindulge, get your 2000(+) calories in one giant meal, and then sleep the rest of the day away in the La-Z-Boy while watching football. Its a day for things that you won't touch the rest of the year, like whole turkeys, pecan pies, candied yams, and gobs of butter on your biscuits. And for my little family, this Thanksgiving means a lot to us. This year has been a year of ups and downs, as my husband said "We made it, even though there were dark days, there was chaos, and it seemed impossible. We're here, we're together, and in a few weeks, it will all be a thing of the past." And isn't that the truth? In just a few weeks, my world will be turned on its head again.
So, enough about the personal stuff. I'm ready to get my hands in some flour and make some home made dough for my pies. About 5 years ago, a friend of mine planned a huge Thanksgiving dinner for us couples that didn't have family close by. We had probably 4 couples there, and 3 kids. Each couple was given a responsibility. One had turkey. One had appetizers and stuffing. One had sides. And one, us, had pies. We were new to the group, and when I asked what pies they wanted, I was told pumpkin, pecan, apple, and cherry. I stressed. To me, pie is something that only tastes good if its home made. And I had 3 days notice. Coring and chopping apples, stemming and pitting cherries, baking down and pureeing a pumpkin... those took time! And I had a full time job! We showed up maybe 30min late, but we had 4 home made steaming pies for everyone to enjoy. My dear friend looked at me, astonished, and said "I expected you to buy them!". Oh no my dear..... Never going to happen!
Instead of sharing basics right now, I'm anxious to share my cherry pie recipe. It's always a hit, and in a pinch I have used canned cherries and pre-rolled dough(shhhhh, don't tell!) and it turned out pretty good too. In my defense, I was newly pregnant, with a rambunctious small child running around, a full time student, and had to make 5 pies for 13 adults. Anywho, below is my Cherry Pie FILLING Recipe. Before Thanksgiving, I will share my Apple and Pumpkin pies as well. Lastly, I will share a FRUIT pie crust recipe.

Nommy Mommy's Super Cherry Pie

• 2 (16 ounce) cans tart cherries, drained (NOT PIE FILLING) OR 4 cups fresh cherries, pitted and stemmed
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• red food coloring (If desired)
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Directions

1. Place bottom crust in pie pan. Mix cherries, sugar, tapioca, extracts, salt and food coloring if desired; pour into the crust. Dot with butter . Top with a lattice crust, or solid crust slitted. Bake at 375 degrees F for 55-60 minutes.

And, if you ever have an issue on over browning on crusts, be on the look out for my upcoming picture tutorial on crust tenting! I'll even show different methods, and rate how they stack up against each other.