The Great Pie Debacle of 2014

We survived our first Thanksgiving on the west coast – or more accurately, our first Thanksgiving without our parents celebrating with us. I was more than a little afraid that I would turn into a homesick basketcase but we were lucky enough to have Andrew’s younger sister Sydney here with us which made for a really fun time together. And goshdarnit, we pulled off a delicious and cozy Thanksgiving dinner: maple roasted brussel sprouts, stuffing, herb gravy made from scratch (courtesy of Sydney), homemade rolls (courtesy of Andrew), sweet potato souffle with toasted hazelnuts, a quorn roast (our faux turkey), cranberry sauce and of course pumpkin pie for dessert.

However, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a culinary mishap or two. Let me set the stage: a freshly baked marionberry pie is cooling on the kitchen counter, its delicious aroma wafting through the house. Full of anticipation of the glorious baked goodness, I naively assume that our four-legged roommates will understand just how much this pie means to me and abide by house rules of not stealing things off counters.

This was my mistake.

I clearly did not give thought to the fact that one of those four-legged roommates was also anxiously awaiting the chance to dive into the deliciousness. I walked into the kitchen and  heard a wild shriek/scream … which I then realized was coming from me, as a I stared down at the ruin of berry guts and pie crust on the kitchen floor. I will probably never know how many guilty parties were involved in the Great Pie Debacle of 2014 but am 99.99999% sure that Annie pulled that pie down and Ella swooped in to help her clean up the evidence. What the little thieves didn’t realize is that the pie was H-O-T so they couldn’t really eat it …. payback’s a female dog, isn’t it?

I was so upset that the pie was no more, I could only stand there in shock while Andrew and Sydney cleaned it up off the floor, and Wally did everything in his power to prevent them from doing so – darting in to grab as much pie crust as he could before it disappeared. Annie, either guilt-ridden or upset that she didn’t get as much pie as she wanted, offered to bake another one but I declined (she always confuses the salt and sugar).

I believe this all could have been avoided if we had not watched the National Dog Show.

Seeing a hound win again gave them all big heads and an attitude of superiority. Their conversation to each other probably went like this:

Annie: I’m pretty sure mom baked that pie for us. We should eat it.

Ella: Of course she made it for me, I mean us! The only thing I can’t figure out is why she put it up on the counter and not in my food bowl ….

Annie: Oh that’s easy! Mom totally put it on the counter out of reach on purpose. They’re training me to be a human and walk on two legs – this just gives me practice at standing on my back legs and using my front legs like arms. They’ll be so proud of me!

Despite the shameful pie incident, we had a truly lovely holiday together. We all enjoyed a fabulous food coma, good conversation and cozying up on the couch with the four-legged criminals (yes…. I know … the dogs ruin my pie and I punish them by snuggling on the couch – what can I say but it was Thanksgiving and I’m a total softie). While we certainly missed the rest of our families, Andrew and I were very grateful to have Sydney here to celebrate the holiday. Hope you all had just as wonderful of a Thanksgiving (minus the pie business – I hope you didn’t have to deal with any canine disasters!)