SaS- Thanksgiving pie!

Yes, I'm actually blogging today!  It's time for SaS with my sissy!  So get out those Thanksgiving Day family sweet treats and link up over at the Tank!  If I can do it, you can too!  Plus I want everyone to give my sissy lots of baking ideas, beans how I'm living with her and all now!   

Growing up, nothing said Thanksgiving like my mom's lemon pies.  Yes, I said LEMON PIES!  I know right!  Most people have pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie or apple pie and the weirdo southerns down here even have pecan (pronounced peCAN not pecon) pie.  But not the Best family.  Nope, we had lemon pie.  It was, and to this day still is my FAVORITE pie.  And my favorite part of Thanksgiving.  Okay, my favorite part right after the ham rolls we have for breakfast and the stuffing and gravy!  Oh man, I do love Thanksgiving.

picture provided by Google images

Mom would start baking days in advanced.  She always made like 6 lemons pies.  SIX!  Two to take with us to granny's house and four to stay home for our family.  Then she'd turn around and do it all over again for Christmas.  I kid you not.  We love us some lemon pie!  Not lemon meringue pie, just lemon pie.  We top ours with Cool Whip!  I'm so excited Thanksgiving's right around the corner!  

I took over making the lemon pies about 4 or 5 years ago.  Mom just isn't able to make them anymore.  I do a great job at making them, except for that one mishap where I forgot the lemon zest!  (Yeah, my family will never let me live that one down).  I have to admit, they just weren't the same.  I remember the first year I made them myself.  As usual I waited to get started until the very last moment and didn't realize I needed something to zest the lemons with.  So William and I made a Wal*Mart run at about 2 o'clock in the morning to go buy one.  When I finally got home and started making the pie I realized I had forgotten the eggs.  It's moments like this we tend to remember the most.  (I'm not a baker, so how was I supposed to know that eggs went into pies)?  Seriously!  So I had to go back to Wal*Mart since nothing close to us was open.  I swore I'd never make another lemon pie as long as I loved.  But here we are, 6 years later, and I will be making my family's favorite lemon pies!

 

Lemon Pie         

1 large or 2 small boxes of Jello Lemon Cook and Serve Pudding  (pie filling)

(You will need the ingredients listed on the box)

1 lemon

1 Frozen Prepared Pie Shell 

(I like to use Marie Callender's)

1 8 oz container of Cool Whip

 

                          picture provided by Google images

First bake your frozen pie crust according to the directions.  You can make your own crust from scratch or use the refrigerated Pillsbury kind.  But I love the Marie Callender's brand!  (Yum)!  Set aside to cool.

Prepare lemon filling according to box directions.  While whisking, add the juice and zest of one lemon!  (The pie filling takes a really long time to thicken).  Your arm will fill like it's going to fall off!  I kid you not!  Well, maybe not if you only make one pie?  Let me know how that works out for you?  The more lemon juice/zest you add, the tarter your pie will be!  Don't be afraid to make it tart, you're going to top it with Cool Whip!  We like to top our individual slices just before eating!  It's really that easy.  It will look just like the picture above!

 picture provided by Google images

Seriously, I cannot wait until Thanksgiving now!  I have so much to be thankful for.  Most importantly my family!  I can't imagine my life or the holidays without them.