"The Pie that Killed my Mixer." Also, "Monsters."

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Only one more holiday till this baby gets here... about 5 weeks and counting!

Thanksgiving was lovely. Pop smoked the turkey on Wed, and then Mom and Pop brought over a few side dishes and an apple pie. New was asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and a cranberry orange compote. I also made a caramel cream pumpkin pie (http://www.bhg.com/recipe/caramel-cream-pumpkin-pie/).  Sadly, it wasn't worth it. Making the meringue topping took 25 minutes and burnt out the motor on my hand-mixer! Sometimes you just can't mess with a classic. I preferred Mom's apple pie.

He's not getting ready to eat it... he was helping me swirl the topping!

I got a lovely pie crust recipe out the pumpkin creme pie ordeal however.  It has vodka in it (a great excuse to go get you some hard liquor) instead of water to cut down on the chewy gluten that forms when flour and water mix. It was really tender and very hands-off (you mix it in the food processor and then barely touch it to form a ball. But once you pull it from the fridge to roll out, you better move fast. I think I rolled that crust in under a minute! I'm sure I looked hilarious - like one of those zippy tv clips in FFwd.
Here's the recipe if anyone is interested. This will be my go-to easy crust of the future. And did I mention it has vodka in it?

It's called Gesine's Pie Crust (from BHG, click on link above to the pie recipe. Crust recipe is at the bottom).

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He's gonna grow up to be a Ghostbuster

I'm posting a few house pics here. It's awesome having a basement to send the kids down to play in. But, apparently they are at a very imaginative stage because monsters are a very real problem in our basement. I need to get me some monster spray and go down there a few times a day to clear em out. Because maybe then, the kids would actually take advantage of this wonderful space.

Truth be told though, the kids have beat me to the punch. The other day I forced them downstairs to play, despite their monster protestations. Suddenly it was quiet and I heard the Legos being pushed around and Sophia seriously directing her brothers. 

Usually I outlaw toys on the stairs, and I started to object as Matthew began placing Legos on the sides of the stairway... until I heard what their purpose was. They were setting "monster traps." Sophia and Xavier were building the devices under the stairs and Matthew was carefully placing them. 

The "trap" factory. And general favorite hangout.

And left, you see the very "scary basement. It has been a bit of a problem that Xavier likes to use the ash from the fireplace to "cook" with in his little kitchen...

 Finally (see right) we get to have our books out! Thanks to Pop, who is loaning us his bookshelves until they find a house where they will have the space to display his library.

AND... come and visit us! There is another large bedroom to the left of this pic. And a full bathroom!

 Upstairs living room. In need of wall-hangings. Can't wait to get our Christmas tree!