Hello my Foodie Friends! We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! The Reardon family did some reminiscing this past weekend about Thanksgiving past. My wife Paula brought up a story about our time together before kids. That is when our one baby was our dog Bogie. He was named after Humphrey Bogart and he loved to roam between our house and our neighbors next door. This was before invisible fences and we didn’t have the money for a regular fence. Bogie was a German Shepherd/Black Lab mix puppy when we rescued him. His color was pure black and he grew very fast to100 lbs of muscle. He was the happiest dog in the world and loved by both our family and our friends next door Ron and Deedee, whose children were now grown. Bogie could make anyone feel like they were his favorite person in the world! He would go over to visit Ron and Deedee who were passionate foodies every day. He always came back carrying leftovers which were usually a big steak or ham bone. They loved him as much as we did. Bogie would however, test your love from time to time by taking food that wasn’t offered to him. There was the Halloween party that stopped dead in its tracks as all of our guests watched in amazement as Bogie took an entire pizza down the hallway and quickly devoured it. He never took from Ron and Deedee until his thievery reached legendary status on Thanksgiving 1989. There was a knock on our door and it was Ron. He had his head down and in a sad voice he said; “John, Bogie stole two of the mincemeat pies I had baked for Thanksgiving”. I responded to Ron with a mixture of denial and embarrassment; “are you sure, how do you know”? Ron said he put his pie on the roof of his Lincoln Continental in the garage to cool. When he opened the garage door to go out he forgot to close it. When he came back, there were no pies. However, there were paw prints on the hood of his beloved Lincoln. Those prints then headed in the direction of our house. Ron and I then found the empty, perfectly cleaned, pie tins. I apologized and offered to pay for the pies but Ron laughed and told me not to worry. He said he would have to think of a new place to cool his pies and remember to close the door next time. Although it has been 27 years since this happened, Ron could tell this story like it happened yesterday. We still love to go over their house and have a cup of coffee and talk about Bogie. Where did we find the dog after his caper? He was curled up by Paula’s legs in the kitchen sleeping it off. We did get the recipe for the Mincemeat Pie: Mincemeat Pie For mincemeat 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and finely chopped 2/3 cup golden raisins 2/3 cup dark raisins 2/3 cup dried currants 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 2 oz shredded beef suet (1/2 cup) 1/4 cup brandy 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh orange zest 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg For pie Pastry dough 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 to 8 tablespoons ice water Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) until most of mixture resembles coarse meal, with the rest in small (roughly pea-size) lumps. Drizzle 4 tablespoons ice water evenly over and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in a food processor) until incorporated. Gently squeeze a small handful: It should hold together without falling apart. If it doesn’t, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) after each addition until incorporated, continuing to test. (Do not overwork dough or it will become tough.) Turn out onto a work surface and divide into 2 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather each portion of dough and form it, rotating on work surface, into a disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour. 1 large egg, lightly beaten 2 teaspoons granulated sugar Accompaniment: whipped cream or premium vanilla ice cream PREPARATION Make mincemeat: Stir together all mincemeat ingredients. Chill in an airtight container at least 3 days. Make pie: Put a baking sheet in middle of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining piece chilled) on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch round and fit into a 9-inch glass pie plate (4-cup capacity). Stir mincemeat, then spoon into shell. Chill pie while rolling out top. Roll out remaining disk into a 10-inch round on lightly floured surface. Cut into 10 (1-inch-wide) strips with a fluted pastry wheel or a knife. Arrange strips in a lattice pattern on top of filling and trim strips and edge of bottom crust, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Seal edges and crimp decoratively. Brush lattice and edge with some of egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until pastry is golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour. (If pastry rim gets too dark, tent with foil.) Cool 2 hours before serving. At CTTC located in the Compliments to the Chef Plaza, we carry everything you need to make your favorite pie this season; including cooling racks (versus the Lincoln Continental!). Keep your pies safe! Remember my friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen”. Enjoy the holiday season baking and making forever interesting memories. Take Care, John and Paula