Pumpkin Pie

This post has nothing to do with Alex...but I am excited and wanted to share. Some of you know that I used to make a bunch of pumpkin pies (from scratch, with fresh "real" pumpkin and homemade crust) every year around this time. I kept one for myself and gave the others away. Few of you; particularly those who had the pleasure (or misfortune) of living with me know how much I sinned when I made the pie crust...I love homemade crust but for some reason I never had much luck with making it look pretty...and it typically took me several tries before it was usable...Things would fly out of my mouth that would even surprise me...my blood pressure would go up through the roof and I was not the most pleasant person to be around (to say the least). I was fortunate enough to (for a time) have lived with ladies who are amazing cooks and bakers and during that time I even had a next door neighbor (who practically lived in our house) who once upon a time was a pastry chef. Needless to say, during those days, after a few failed attempts at the crust I would then beg, plead and make bribery deals in order to get someone else to make all the pie crusts. Jason (the next door neighbor) was typically my victim. He liked my chocolate chip cookies so he would trade me his pie crust for my cookies. I had not made pumpkin pie for for past 2 years...for high risk pregnancy and new baby reasons. This year I decided to make 1 pie; since I don't really know that many people here yet to be giving pies away...nor do I have the time to make all those pies..and I wanted to work on the crust. I know...It's like I like to torture myself...not like I don't have enough going on...This year I got the Williams-Sonoma pie crust mix to make the crust with instead of mixing all the dry ingredients myself. I don't know if I did something different to the dough or if the mix and the specific instructions that go with it are just that amazing BUT I made the crust no problem and it turned out great the first time around! No issues! And it tastes amazing! I even cut out some cute fall leaf designs and decorated the rim of the crust! I'm getting some more of this stuff! Steve loves pumpkin pie but apparently never had homemade pumpkin pie...and our parents are coming over this Sunday so I wanted the pie to be a success and I think it is! Steve already asked me if I can make another pie when this one is gone...I have lots of pumpkin left that I am going to freeze but before I freeze it all I may make another pie or two. It takes a while...so we will see if I can find the time. Regardless, I am excited that I finally got the crust down! Thank you Williams-Sonoma! (By the way - the stuff on top is a pecan crumbly topping. First time I've made it.)