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Chill, Pilgrim: This Dessert Is As Easy As (Turtle) Pie

Photo by MICHELLE BAKER

Pecans, caramel, chocolate and bourbon - how can you go wrong with a turtle pie this holiday season?

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By GREG and MICHELLE BAKER

Tribune correspondents

Published: November 7, 2008

OK, be calm. It's going to be all right. There are 18 days left until (gulp) Thanksgiving!

Really. We're here for you. We do this every year - you know, cook the big meal for the entire extended family. Heck, other families even hire us to cook their Thanksgiving feasts. So we'll guide you through this. Just take our hand. Thanksgiving recipe rescue is here.

First and foremost, you have got to make a plan. Who's attending? Who's expecting what? Who's picky? Write it all down. Once you have the list together, throw it away. Yep; in the trash. Burn it if you have to.

Hey, these people are coming to your home for a free meal. Family or not, your kitchen should have a strict "no complaining about free food" policy.

Second, think about what YOU want. Do you want an all-day-cooking kind of feast or a done-in-about-an-hour feast? Make a budget and stick to it. You don't need five kinds of sweet potatoes just to please everyone. They can deal with one.

We, personally, love spending all day in the kitchen. We drag in Greg's mom to help clean green beans, Aunt Jackie to mash potatoes and Uncle Dave to pour more wine (Hey, that is the quintessential key to not freaking out over the fact that brother Tom will only eat corn and turkey).

On the other hand, some people are disgusted by the thought of spending an entire day in the kitchen, such as our beautiful, super-intelligent editor, Kim. Just the mere thought makes her gag reflex spastic. By the way, did we say she was beautiful? (Wink; wink).

Either way, we have come up with inexpensive, easy recipes for everyone to follow. We'll showcase one every week before Turkey Day so you can just focus on the fun and the family, which is really what Thanksgiving is all about.

First up: dessert.

Dessert is probably the one thing most people buy premade. Try making your own this year. It really is easy, and you can't buy Michelle's famous (yes, famous) turtle pie, a Baker family Thanksgiving tradition.

Every year, this pie is gobbled down by the Baker clan as quickly as it's sliced. Pecans, caramel, chocolate and bourbon - how can you go wrong?

TURTLE PIE

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted but cool

3 large eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 heaping cup pecan halves

1/4 cup semi-sweet morsels

6 cubes caramel, sliced into fourths

1 unbaked pie crust

3 tablespoons bourbon (the good stuff ; giving up one shot for the pie isn't going to make or break your alcoholiday, now is it?)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine corn syrup, brown sugar, salt, butter and vanilla; mix well. Add slightly beaten eggs and blend well; stir in pecans. Pour mixture into pie crust. Top with chocolate chips and caramel slices. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until pie is set. Allow to cool and lightly brush pie top with bourbon. Omit bourbon if serving to children.

Serves 8

Join Greg and Michelle at Ed's Fine Wines (Northwood Commons Plaza, 2454 McMullen Booth Road, Suite 201, Clearwater) from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday for a wine and food tasting to benefit the Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida.

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