happy thanksgiving!!

i made my second apple pie of the thanksgiving season last night.  doesn't look as good as the first one i made, but i'm hoping it will taste better since i sliced the apples thinner this time.

this is the recipe i use. (i can't find the original website)  the best part is the homemade crust...

i also made some homemade cranberry sauce out of fresh cranberries and jalapenos from my sister's boyfriend's recipe:

Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
1 bag frozen cranberries
2-3 jalapenos whole
(you can chop up one if you like it spicier)
1 cinnamon stick
½ c sugar
Water as needed

In a small saucepan on high heat, combine all the ingredients and fill with water just to
the top of the cranberries. The ice will melt and create more water so don’t add too much
(you can always add more later). Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to low, stirring
occasionally. Continue cooking until it reaches a sauce-like consistency. (Feel free to
add more water if it seems too thick. It usually takes 20-30 minutes to reach the right
consistency so if it seems like it’s happening too fast add more water.) Remove from
heat and put in a heat-proof container. You can keep the whole jalapenos and cinnamon
stick in the cranberry sauce until ready to serve. Serve at room temperature.

Brett's notes:  When I did it I bought fresh cranberries (they sell bags tis time of year) and followed the directions on the back of the bag for how to make sauce out of them (water and sugar), and added the jalapenos and cinnamon as appropriate.  I'd say definitely add 1 jalapeno de-seeded and chopped into the sauce when you start it.  I think if you use fresh cranberries it only takes 5-10 mins, per Larissa it looks like frozen may take longer.

and then i also made two pumpkin pies this season out of an actual pumpkin i cut up and pureed myself.  after spending all the time to puree the pumpkin i found out that "field" pumpkins aren't the ones that go in pies.  but i used it anyway and think it still came out great.  the first pie i did have a small "pie" pumpkin i had used as decoration that i pureed as well.  it was definitely easier to puree and much smoother than the field pumpkin, so in the future i will only use those pumpkins.  i found a maple pumpkin recipe here that i used.  i also made a homemade graham craker crust from this recipe.  in this photo you can see i burnt the crust :(  i blame it on being lazy.  i also didn't crush the graham crackers enough as i would have liked since i was short on time.  the first one i made was better, but i didn't take a photo.