Barb, you've just given me a great laugh (sorry - laughing with you, not at you) and you've made me glad that I went with the vodka pastry... It really was super easy, but I had to dust it and the rolling pin with flour to get it to do right.

Why do they make it look so easy on TV?? Maybe it's NOT really pie pastry they're using..

Hope the rest of your dinner turns out fabulous!

Beth

425 for 16 minutes? I fail at pastry, but that sounds like a long time to me.

Sweetie, next year, make reservations. Or plan the meal around things you do love to cook. Or delegate! Either in pieces or altogether! Why are you "supposed" to cook a meal you don't even like? Why not smile and say, "While I enjoy the concept of Thanksgiving, there is nothing about cooking the meal that I enjoy. I happily abdicate to whichever of you lovely relatives would like to host the meal next year. And if none of you wants to do it, we shall make reservations at a lovely restaurant where we can all fell like celebrating and where someone else can cook!"

We have to do enough things in life we don't enjoy without volunteering to add more to the list!

Oh, barb5, I am so sorry about your pie.
Who expects this of you? Can you "just say no?"
Buy a pie. Buy the whole meal if you wish.
Serve spaghetti. Whatever.
It's about the blessings and the people, not all that stress.
Change the tradition!

(((BIG HUG)))

Deanna (who thinks you deserve a nap! or a drink. or a drink and a nap!)

Poor Barb!

What about if next year you have everyone bring a dish? That's how we do it in my family. I am making the green bean casserole and a pie, one of my sisters is making the turkey and another pie, the other sister is making stuffing and sweet potatoes, her daughter is making rolls, and dad is bringing wine.

If your family doesn't go for that sort of thing, just make it easier on yourself by getting some simple tried & true recipes here. There are some great ones that will come out wonderfully and take a lot of pressure off.

And buy that pie crust...they're really not too bad!

Barb, I am so sorry for you and wish you weren't so discouraged. You need to buy the red box pie crust like I do next time, if there is one. I just don't enjoy baking and only once in my life struggled with a pie crust, never to try again. If somebody is going to the store tonite, buy some more vodka and drink the stuff that you saved for your Dad. You need it more than he does.

Good luck with the rest of your day and night and I hope you can make this your last Thanksgiving as the hostess. Not tomorrow, but maybe sometime in January can you offer to host Easter or something that is easier - just plop a ham in a pan and call it dinner - and then suggest that since you did Easter who would like to do Thanksgiving? There is too much pressure for Thanksgiving dinner for someone who doesn't really have the heart to do it.

You're a sweetheart to do it year after year when you don't enjoy it. I bet the rest of your meal will be fabulous!

I tried making pie crust too, for my chocolate pie. I usually make the vodka pie crust, the only one I've ever had any luck with. Didn't have any vodka though & didn't feel like going out. First time I've ever tried the food processor to make it, & in trying not to over work the dough, I left several rather large pieces of butter in it. The dough worked wonderfully, but shrank terribly when I baked it. Haven't tasted it yet, but at least it is just for the 4 of us. I've learned that for family dinners to buy my pie crust. If there is one thing I've learned, when I'm feeding family, if it can go wrong-it will. Still, I think generally, family is so glad to be together they don't really notice mistakes.

I'm perfectly capable of making pie crust, but this year decided to do butter pecan ice cream in the little ice cream maker. Much easier!

Sorry for your disaster but 16 min. at 425 is just way, way to long.

Barb, next time just use a store-bought pie crust, and save yourself all that stress. When I lived out west, I always made my own pie crusts and they always turned out perfect. I had an old recipe of my mothers that used vegetable oil in the crust, and the crust turned out flakey and flavorful.

When I moved to the south 30 years ago, I got out my tried and true crust recipe and the results were similar to what happened to you when you tried to roll it out. I've repeatedly tried to make that recipe over the years, always with the same dismal results...... I figured the humidity or something here was ruining the texture, so I finally gave up trying to adapt the recipe to the climate and bought my first Pillsbury pie crust. I've been a Pillsbury fan ever since, saving myself the stress and disappointment of another failure. No one cares anyhow, as long as the filling is great, no one needs to know that the crust isn't homemade!

So sorry about your mishap.
I finally quit drinking all the vodka and used some to make a pie crust last night. I used lard and butter and followed the directions. I put it in the refrigerator overnight and brought it out this morning. I let it sit while I left the ingredients for my pie to warm a bit.
It was a really easy dough to work with.....directions do say to use up to a 1/4 cup flour to roll it out on. It didn't shrink and it came out looking good.
The taste test will be tomorrow.
(I made a pumpkin/cheesecake pie. Cheesecake on the bottom and the pie filling on top.)

I, too, am pie-crust challenged. I cook, I bake, but I can't do a simple pie crust. Last Thanksgiving I tried 2x and then both went in the trash. I ran out and bought Pillsbury's pie crust dough. Then I made this apple pie:

This year, I too am trying Martha's recipe. We'll see... What can I say... I'm obsessed with getting it right. But I'll have a Pillsbury's ready to whip out if needed.

It sure doesn't seem like it's rocket science.....

Bonnie

The pumpkin pie recipe might have said 425 for 16 minutes then turn down to maybe 350 for another 35 minutes or so. That is the way most pumpkin pies are baked. Sorry you had such problems. I always make my own pie dough. I make big batches and most always have some in my freezer. Hope the next time it turns out well. Just use simple ingredients.

Sue

OH Emm Gee. When I got to the picture of the burnt pie crust I completely lost it! hahahahahha!!!!!! Thanks for the laugh!!!!! Too damned funny!!!!!!!!!!!

Barb, I hope you day has gotten better try not to stress too much. Like you said this time tomorrow you can get back to normal.

Im not ashamed to say I use the red box pie crust also. I only make a pie about once every 5 years and could never do the pie crust thing so I gave up. Before my mother passed away and we had to go the big family thanksgiving my sister always asks me to bring pies. She knew I hated to make pie so in about 1980 I started buying pies at Marie Calendars in October when they had their big pie sale. I wrapped them in foil and froze them until thanksgiving I donÂt care much for pie and really didnÂt care if they were good or not but everyone always said they were good. I even got smart enough to take the out of the aluminums pans and put them in a glass pan. Easy to do when they are frozen.

Claudia

Put a "crisp" topping on the filling and call it a day!!
Apple crisp is better for you anyway, and if it's pumpkin, call it "pumpkin chiffon."
Store bought crust rocks!!

I'm glad to see I'm not the only "pie crust impaired" person on this forum, your pictorial is hilarious.....

We have frozen Tenderflake pie crusts in Canada and they are great.......I thaw them out ad then I actually roll them out to remove the preformed lines around the rim and put them in my pyrex plates and put my thumbmarks around the rim and then use an extra crust to do appliques with my cookie cutters.

You guys are sweet. Thank you.

My evening is having a happy ending. DH has been away for the past 3 days working on a big project. When he called to tell me when he was getting in, I told him the story of the pie crust and that this Thanksgiving there will be no pumpkin pie.

Well, he got home safely. After long hours of travel, he stopped to bring me these. I am married to the nicest, kindest, sexiest man there is. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
{{gwi:2086674}}

If you had facial hair and a deep voice and external plumbing instead of internal, odds are you wouldn't feel this awful pressure to cook things you don't necessarily think you're good at, just to please other people. I'm sure men must have these crazy unrealistic expectations of themselves in other areas, but there's something about feeling as if you fall short when it comes to nourishing people that is like a bullet to the heart. I so very much empathize with your despair, Barb. There probably aren't many of us here who haven't felt it. Or continue to.

If it really means a lot to you to produce a wonderful holiday meal--and you're not just reacting to other people's expectations of you--take the great advice you've been given. Even old pros who can turn out perfect piecrusts in their sleep have the occasional failure. I absolutely second the advice to keep store-bought crusts as a backup. And also, don't wait until The Big Day to try making pastry. Practice when the spotlight isn't on, so if you screw it up, it's not a catastrophe. You learn better when you aren't frantic and panicked and can actually think.

One day I woke up and had what felt like a major revelation: It's only one meal. No matter how bad something comes out (and it's usually just one dish that flops, not all of them, unless you're really having the day from hell), it's only one dish in one meal in a whole lifetime of them. People in many places in the world would be glad to have it, burned bits and all. Everyone else will forget your scorched piecrust by Friday. Or they'll laugh about it with you. Even if they laugh AT you, so what? They probably can't make perfect pastry either.

Tender, flaky hugs to you. Happy Thanksgiving. Breathe.

Oh, that is so sweet!! Bet he's one of those guys who will give you a foot rub too.

To all of you like myself, who have tried and failed and still want to persist, the vodka crust really does work! Even with too much salt in it - I baked the trimmings and it's a little salty but still good. Easy!

I guess we were cross-posting while I was off checking on my roasting pumpkin. Obviously you don't need me to tell you what's important. The roses are beautiful. Who cares about pie?!

From your photos I can see a couple of things to do differently if you decide you want to try again sometime.

1. You need a little flour between the dough and the wax paper.
2. Free the dough from the wax paper several times during the rolling-out process. I can see from the creases in the dough that the wax paper got in the way.
3. Pâte sucrée is really more like a cookie dough than like regular pie crust dough. 425° is too hot for it, especially in a glass pan -- although I'm surprised it got completely black!

You really can't beat the Pillsbury pie crust in the box (I know, I know, those of you who make crust don't agree...). Quite frankly, most people don't even like pie crust!

I am making the pie recipe that is on the can of of Libby's Pumbkin (with a Pillsbury Pie Crust). My MIL was practically annoyed that I would do this instead of buying a pumpkin pie from Costco (which would probably be cheaper!).

PS: My SIL only agreed that I could make the pumpkin pie as long as I brought Cool Whip (no real whipped cream please!).

I usually make great piecrust, but I always keep Pillsbury piecrust in the freezer just in case. I have been down with a bad back this year, so we used the Pillsbury for the pumpkin and cherry pies. I will be skipping some of the extras, not a lot of dips, cheeses and veggies this year. Turkey, stuffing, yams,green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy with two kind of pies for desert. I am delegating some of the jobs to daughter and granddaughters this year. It's time they learned to do some of these things, anyway.
Donna

Awww...I'll take roses over pie any day!

Sometimes you just have to figure if they're never going to post photos of your fabulous pies at your memorial service, it's not worth the aggravation and to find yourself a good bakery.

I feel that way about making bread and rolls. Yeast hates me. I could get advice and recipes from the great bread makers here and attempt to bake a decent loaf of bread. Or I could decide that the pride I'd get from producing it would not outweight the aggravation of the wasted time and ingredients if it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to look and taste.

Why not delegate some of the cooking chores to the other relatives or simplify your expectations?

Three roses from a thoughtful husband trumps any pie, any day. A good reason for giving thanks.

I'd still be interested in hearing suggestions of what others might have done (besides buying premade) in case any of us ever want to be as brave as Barb. So using her recipe (without vodka) what could have gone wrong with rolling and putting in the shell?

Bless your heart! I know it wasn't funny for you, but as I clicked on this thread as my sister was working on the pie crust for her pecan pie. I showed her your pics and now we know why she uses Pillsbury Redi-crust. We had a wonderful laugh. Your hubby is super! Roses! What a sweetie!

I had the same suggestion as some of the above posters: Drink the vodka! Tell Dear Old Dad to bring his own. LOL

You can let the dough warm up a bit before you try to roll it out. I use the Rose Levy Beranbaum receipe (I like the one with cream cheese best) and it always works.

Natesgramma, see my post above.

I'm so glad to see the roses. Now that's what matters - having a spouse who puts things in perspective and doesn't think piecrust is the be-all and end-all.

If making good pies is important to you, practice in August and stash some pre-formed shells in the freezer.

And if you realize they really don't matter all that much, there are a million other sorts of desserts to make or perfectly good commercial bakeries to buy them from. Just tell yourself you're helping the local economy.

You'd be surprised what people expect or don't. This year it was just DH and me for dinner. I fully expected to make pumpkin pie . . . until he said he really isn't that wild about it. It only took me 39 years to learn that fact!

Carol

Thank you Christine, I'd missed your post. I had to look up pate sucre to see what the difference was from pie crust.

It's the morning after, and I am thankful for all you good people who took the time to post and get me through a bad moment. I learned from your posts, and I laughed with your posts. Most importantly, I found out that even on a cooking forum, not everyone makes the perfect, flaky, homemade pie crust. Thank you for telling me that I am not alone.

I am through with pies and pie crusts. This year will have been the 20th year of trying, and it was the worst yet. It is time to move on.

I am a market gardener, and I grow wonderful organic strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and rhubarb. When I bake with the fruit, I do a crisp, a cobbler, or a tart. DS has a love of pumpkin pie, and I think my efforts are emotionally entwined with being the "good mother", but I am going to find a good bakery next year. You are all right- there is more than one way to skin a cat (that is a horrible saying isn't it?)

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. You all helped make mine a good one. :)

Barb, if I were a guest at your house, I wouldn't care about eating pumpkin pie...I'd be heading for your crisps, cobblers or tarts you made with your great organic berries! You've got a great talent growing organic berries for the market. You've got a great hubby, too. (My DH saw the roses in your picture, and commented they were nice roses, so I told him about what happened to you and what your hubby did. My DH said, "Score some points for him!"

Sally

Absolutely. Crisps, cobblers and tarts are all wonderful.

I have to put in a plug for a new cookbook, one of the best I've ever bought, because it sounds like it's right up your alley.

Take a look sometime at Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Screiber and Julie Richardson. You won't be sorry.

Carol

Barb, what a great thread this has been. Thanks for sharing the ups and the downs and make sure that DH of yours gets a great big CF group kiss! I prefer a crisp to a pie any old day....truthfully. Pies are OK but not near as good as a crisp, bumble, betty or pudding!

PS: I gave up on pie crust a long time ago....