The Nostalgia of Pie and Thanksgiving

The holidays are a special time for me, especially Thanksgiving. Like most people, the holiday season puts our minds into a different level of awareness. During these times I have a distinct feeling of nostalgia and tradition as well as a warm sense of family. The idea about everyone being together is important for family ties and this bond is solidified during the holidays. As a child I remember shopping with my mother at the market and helping her choose the Thanksgiving turkey. I always looked for the largest one because to me, the bigger the better. My favorite part about Thanksgiving was, and still is, the desserts. I remember visiting our local bakery and choosing which pies to order for "turkey day" as my mom called it. I would walk up to the large rounded glass counter at the bakery and put my face on it with hands stretched out to both sides peering at all the tasty treats. I wouldn't necessarily drool, but my mom would always apologize to the baker and wipe smudges left behind by my hands and face. As a tradition, we always had the bakery prepare two pecan pies, two pumpkin pies and one pecan-caramel pumpkin pie which was, and still is, my all time favorite. One of my earliest memories is from Thanksgiving. I have an image of my father cutting into a pumpkin pie and putting a very large dollop of homemade whipped cream on top and setting it in front of me. I don't remember eating it, but I do have the image in my head and can still recall it to this day. I always put a much too large gob of whip cream on my kid's pie slices as a result and I know they appreciate it because their eyes always light up. In a way, this is a small holiday tradition because we normally don't eat too much pie during the year except at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Rich Coffman is a blogger on the front range of Colorado. His favorite pie shop is Indulge Bakery in Lafayette, Colorado.