Life of Pi(e)

This was the year my dear, departed mother-in-law Marion saved Thanksgiving. What is the iconic meal without homemade pie? I'd picked out a new recipe for pear-cranberry pie with an oatmeal-streusel topping. Shaking my head sadly at the instruction to use a storebought pie crust, I made the "never-fail" pastry from THE TASTE OF HOME COOKBOOK. Pulling it out of the fridge after its thirty minutes of chilling, I rolled it out energetically. The rolling went fine; flipping it into the pie plate did not. With a single word unprintable here, I gathered it up to try again. Chuck said, "Stand aside. I'm going to channel my mother." He took the rolling pin and began to move it back and forth. I said, "No, no...that'll make the pastry stick." Undaunted, he kept at it with the gentlest of pressure. Marion's spirit did the trick. And the best part of Thanksgiving was preserved...pie for breakfast!