The Real Pie Day

We had two family dinners on Thanksgiving, neither of them at my house. My contribution consisted of pies: a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie.

Making pecan pie comes naturally. My mom didn’t often bake, but when she did, pecan pie was one of her go-tos. She always said that it was simple to make but impressive in its presentation. It seems fancier than it is, in other words.

Pumpkin pie is pretty simple to prepare as well, especially when you rely on canned pumpkin. I’ve started from scratch by cooking the actual pumpkin once or twice, and it’s worth doing for the experience, but the end result is not noticeably better for all the trouble and mess, at least to me.

Holiday pies and other baked goods are omnipresent on Instagram and Facebook pages, but I’ve resisted posting my creations this year, except to accompany this post. Some years ago, when my generation began joining Facebook in order to keep up with their college-age or twenty-something children, such posts became a meme. Early on, I posted a photo of the pies I’d made for Christmas, and my daughter commented something like, “Facebook used to be for us to share social events and parties. Now it’s for our mothers’ pie pictures.” Which I thought was funny.

By this time, my generation has pretty much taken over Facebook. Not only pie pictures, but memes about the good old days. Remember when Hershey bars cost five cents? Remember record players? Remember Jello salads? Who still has an eight-track tape player? I may post the occasional pie photo, but I resist answering or reposting those nostalgia questions. Just reading them makes me feel old.

Tell us about your Thanksgiving. How was the company? More important, how was the food?