I know this is a blog about serving and fine dining, but I have to pay homage to my roots, and they lie in pastry.

I met my husband in the winter of 2008, and by the summer of 2009 we had launched a farmer’s market stand selling pies every Sunday. I was intent to pick fresh fruit every week, make pie dough from scratch, and turn the two into a delicious business.

In that year, and over the course of my life, I’ve hand-made over 500 pies. I have diced butter, formed fluted edges, pitted cherries, baked custards, crumbled streusel, woven lattice, watched fillings bubble, and cooled off every type of pie you can imagine.

And I still feel as if I know nothing.

BECAUSE PIE DOUGH IS A CRUEL MISTRESS.

No matter how much I bake, I will never truly master the basic chemistry of pie dough. It makes sweet love to you one day, producing a beautiful dessert worthy of cherub sighs, and then refuses to call you back the next day, producing a pile of crap that looks like Cupid’s diaper.

If you feel you finally have it down, then guess what? Your kitchen is 1 degree hotter than it was last time, and pie dough don’t play at 72. Or your flour was off by 30 grams -- pie dough wants you to suck a fat one. It is exacting and exhausting.

Please know that I spent several years in pastry departments, and I have nailed things far more difficult. Crème brulee? For rookies. Croissants? I had them WHIPPED. Danish? I can braid like a pro. Pie dough is a fickle bitch and I can’t figure it out. I’ve chilled the mixer parts, relaxed the dough, and I’ve even gotten it drunk with vodka. Some days my sweet nothings work, and some days the crust melts in on itself in the oven and ends up looking like a Salvador Dali painting: The Persistence of Pastry. YOU CAN'T SATISFY PIE DOUGH EVERY TIME.

Please, if you are celebrating with family this Thanksgiving, and someone brings a homemade pie, know that that shit was not easy. If your aunt always hits a home run with her pumpkin pie, ask her about her tricks. Because guess what? I have no secrets to share. That part in all the food blogs where there’s a handy little bulleted list of tips isn’t coming, y’all. To learn how to make a great pie you have to make dozens of pies, and even then, there are no guarantees. PIE DOUGH IS DIRTY AND WANTS YOU TO HIT IT AGAIN. With all that being said, it is sooooo worth your time and effort, because when it’s good, it’s unforgettable. Enjoy the pics of my better efforts, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!