Preparing for the Feast

I'm starting to get excited about our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow! This morning I've been making my grocery list for my contributions to the meal. I'm most excited about the pies. I think I'll make three: pumpkin, deep-dish apple, and cherry. I've gotten out my Mommom's pie pan for the pumpkin pie, I think. Using her pan will surely impart good karma to my pie-baking endeavors. I'll use the beautiful blue pie pan my brother gave me some years back for the cherry pie. And I think I may use a casserole dish for the apple. A deep-dish pie, I learned this morning, is baked only with a top crust--no bottom. The recipe won me over for giving it a try, though. There's cheddar cheese in the crust (yum!), and raisins and brandy in the filling (in addition to other tasty ingredients). I'll just be using Joy of Cooking recipes for my pies. Of course this doesn't have the same romance as using an old family recipe. Alas. But I've made Joy of Cooking pie recipes before to much satisfaction, especially for some great blueberry pies. Hmmm. I do have blueberries from this summer still...