Who will bake the pie???

Don't let the subject line worry you - our household is taken care of for this year. In fact, the pie is in the oven baking as I type this. However, about 20 minutes ago as I stood in the kitchen whiskingwhiskingwhisking... I did find myself wondering, "Who will bake the pies when I'm an old lady?"

Does this have something to do with pregnancy (aka. crazy-ass hormones) and the hyper-sentimental flashes it imposes on one without notice? Is it because Thanksgiving is perhaps my favorite holiday since I enjoy the one day per year entirely focused on Good Food and Hanging Out With Those We Love? Or is it because I make a really mean pie, and, while Trader Joe's and Whole Foods do decent store-bought versions (Colin and I have tested them both while shopping and he, in particular, whole-heartedly approves), would hate to see my legacies forgo the challenge of rolling and whisking and baking - but not for too long! - their own pumpkin pies every year? Did that last run on make sense? It was intended to be overly dramatic. :)

In any case, I quickly realized that I don't have much to worry about. As I slid in the pie in the oven, I could hear Christopher madly rolling and sifting and mixing in his play kitchen, just as he'd helped me do minutes before closing his bedroom door for a daily dose of Rest Time. And really... any store bought creation will taste completely fantastic if good people are seated together at the table.

There will be pie. Not to worry.

Here's the recipe that I return to every year. It's from the Williams Sonoma Pie and Tart cookbook given to me by my Aunt Jenny at my bridal shower. She is the Pie Queen in our extended family and it's been far too long since I've tasted one of her blueberry pies. No canned pie fillers here, people. And it's worth it, too. All the delicious flavors and the pleasure/satisfaction/fun of doing it all from scratch.
Williams Sonoma Spiced Pumpkin Pie

May your turkey be delectable and not dry (ours will be BBQ'ed - perhaps in the snow?!), may your stuffing be flavorful (ours will be of the cornbread variety with pecans and cranberries), your potatoes as sweet or as buttery white as you wish (ours will be garlic, per Mike's annual plea), and your veggies most perfectly roasted!

Happy Thanksgiving from us!

Check ups and Dinovember

First off - I'm sure many of you have seen this, but I still had to share:
DINOVEMBER
So. Awesome.

Also, I've been getting a lot of medical attention around here recently, and not because Baby #3 is due in March (apologies to anyone who's just now hearing the news in such an unpersonalized way... ah, blogs).

The Fisher Price doctor kit is experiencing a high level of interest these days and, my goodness, I have such thorough care providers! They prod a little sharply sometimes and use very odd instruments depending on the "test", but they do have excellent bedside manners and the exam table - our living room couch - is comfy enough to fall asleep on during the appointment. (Actually, that's what happened yesterday afternoon.)

- My eyes and ears and nose get a very close look, sometimes with an otoscope and at other times with a magnifying glass designed to get a good look at bugs.
- The stethoscope listens to my heart and also listens to my belly for the baby (aww).
- I get shots (of what, I'm not sure) in my legs, arms and belly.
- My blood pressure is checked several times - on my forearm - and is usually pretty close to accurate with a diastolic reading of "it's 78, Mama." Today at my midwife appointment, I was 104/68. Pretty close!
- Temperature is taken, a small firetruck might be lightly rolled over the forehead for good measure (surprisingly relaxing), and sometimes a child-sized power drill is used on my knuckles.
- To round out the check up, there's the Play Test in which I am asked to toss a small football back and forth to see how well I'm Playing. Happily, I've passed that one every time.