My Little Life On The Prairie: I Am Also Thankful For Pie

I have had a thankful song in my heart for days now. I am strongly desiring the holidays to have true, deep, heartfelt meaning. In my opinion it is a tragedy to allow tradition to become so routine that we lose sight of the purpose. Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? Christmas? Is it about eating turkey? Getting gifts? Decorating a tree? May it never be. However I see that for many in our society it is "just tradition." And what grieves me even further is the rise in stress and anxiety for so many that this Season brings. I have been carefully guarding my heart from this tragedy by meditating on the blessings in our lives. Every one of us that lives in the United States is blessed. Even the poorest of our society are rich compared to the impoverished in other countries. I had a half a day last week where I mourned and angered over the economy's affect on our mutual funds. And then I got over it because at the end of the day there are two major points to consider: #1 I cannot change it and #2 I am lavishly blessed.

LAVISHLY BLESSED.

So this year The Prairie Daddy and I are talking about how to teach The Prairie Kid the true meaning of the Season. And the best example to follow in how to live our lives is the example of The One who this is all about...Jesus. Jesus gave Himself. We have decided to find ways to give of ourselves this Season (more on that in other posts if I feel lead). I am hopeful that tomorrow we can share our lives and hearts with others in a way that breaks through the routine of tradition. I pray and hope that in addition to turkey we can really be thankful in the core of who we are for what we have been given.

Do I think we have to cast out tradition in order to accomplish this though? Nope! I think that the Lord is honored by thankful hearts accompanied by a feast. I think it comes down to our hearts and our motives! I am very much looking forward to turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and rolls. AND PIE!!! I am a sucker for pie!

My family has a recipe for Cranberry Pie that I have shared with my in-laws. Every year now I make this pie to bring either Thanksgiving or Christmas. I actually don't even like it but I am not a big cranberry fan. However it is a hit with those who do like cranberries and I really enjoy making it.

I make a huge mess when I make pie crusts, so I have to "gear up" for the disaster. After lunch today I had prepared myself and bravely entered the kitchen. Once the crusts were assembled I could have fun with the fillings since they don't have the same "a
tornado tore through my kitchen" affect that the pie crusts have.

Here is a picture of the Cranberry Pie in progress (and the huge mess my crusts made. Like how I blamed the crusts and not myself?)

This is the filling before the topping was put on

And then you smooth the topping over the berry mixture

And wah-lah, a beautiful pie every time

Here is the recipe:

Cranberry Pie

Mix together 2 C. whole fresh cranberries, 1/2 C. sugar, 1/2 C. pecans (cut once) and place in an ubaked pie shell.

Then blend 1/2 C. sugar, 1/4 C. melted margarine and 2 T. melted shortening, 1 egg and 1/2 C. flour. Spread over top of cranberry filling.

Bake at 325 for 45 mintues.

And then I made a new recipe...

Pumpkin Eggnog Pie