Holiday Baking…The Quick and Easy Version

There are days when I feel like the hours and minutes are flying by.  How did it become December already?  And yet, just a few months ago I was so sick I thought it would never end.  We had a very small Thanksgiving dinner this year.  My amazing husband cooked most of the meal.  I mustered up the courage to make the pumpkin pie (which might I add seemed to have turned out really well since it was GONE and my dad didn’t have an opportunity to taste it).  I used this amazing recipe from Williams-Sonoma which took little in the way of effort or time.  I adapted it just a bit.  In other words, I used canned pumpkin (as opposed to cooking a fresh one) and a store-bought pie shell instead of one from scratch.  It still turned out fabulous (if I may do so myself).

The other day I used a Deep Dish Pie Shell from Marie Callender’s for our Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie.  I can count on my hands the number of times I’ve attempted to make a pie crust. It’s difficult.  Really difficult.  Most of the time I just use a pre-baked pie shell.  I recently had an opportunity to try out Marie Callender’s Pie Shells.  You can find them in the freezer section at your grocery store (although I had to go to a few different markets because they were sold out for Thanksgiving).  You get two deep dish pie crusts for approximately $3.00 and they taste really good.  I like that they don’t fall apart (like mine do) and they’re just super easy to use (thaw for 10 minutes and bake).  The crust comes out crisp and flaky and made for a nice contrast with my spiced pumpkin pie.  The pie crusts are made from Marie Callender’s legendary pastry pie dough made with pure vegetable shortening and quality pastry flour.  If you like home-baked pies without the hassle of making a pie crust, I highly recommend checking them out.

Marie Callender’s also offers Fruit Pies, Thaw and Serve Pies, 2 lb. Cobblers for those of you who don’t want to bake.  They’re available in the freezer section at your local grocery store.  I would check the site to find out if they’re available (they’re not available in Southern California).