Maria, my husband was raised on bakery goods and had never had a decent slice of pie until he tasted some of my mom's creations. At least he now prefers homemade, but he will STILL opt for canned peas or corn if given a choice because that is what he was raised eating. I think that's true for a lot of people OR perhaps they simply have never developed a discerning palate. I can tell the delicious difference in an instant.
I distinctly remember one of my SILs being proud of the fact that, many years ago, she found, bought and served a pre-cooked, roasted whole turkey complete with dressing, mashed potatoes & gravy along with green beans (canned, of course) and all for $40.00! The following year they came here where I'd spent $150.00 on my beef tenderloin entree alone that I myself trimmed, tied and brined overnight before cooking. To this day I have always baked and taken a pie to pitch in at the in-laws' houses--whether or not I've been asked to(!)--just so I'll have something tasty and decent to eat for my own slice of dessert. DH and I even stop on the way to pick up ice cream that is GOOD rather than the cheap stuff because I can taste that difference in a second without even looking at the carton. They continue to be amazed that I spend so much time making recipes of any kind containing more than 4 or 5 ingredients TOTAL, but it's my passion (as I know it is also yours) to turn out good food.
My mom was a good cook and an excellent baker; she cranked out our bread and hamburger buns. We bought flour directly from the mill in 50-pound bags. It is so very sad your culinary skills aren't more appreciated. Perhaps it's high time you celebrated with a family of choice rather than letting your blood relatives pull you down. There are tons of people who would give their eye teeth to have you cooking for them on the holidays! Absolutely do NOT let the turkeys pull you down--pun intended!
At last month's local Veteran's Day Recognition Celebration on Nov. 11, I made the following Salted-Caramel Cream Pie for 150 people. I'm definitely NOT into salted caramel, so I did tweak the recipe by subbing a mixture of cookie crumbs with some graham crackers and a few pretzel crumbs thrown in to make the crusts. I also drastically reduced the 2 tsp kosher salt called for in the pastry cream filling. I was so thankful for having "met" charlie through this site as his training made every single batch of my caramel absolutely perfect. Hadn't had my kitchen torch out in years, but it made short work of browning all those meringue toppings. Received tons of compliments--I'd been saving the recipe to try out on this crowd because I knew my husband wouldn't like it. I had half a pie left over which I took to work to share, and my colleagues raved about it. I've found I have to look outside of family for cooking compliments. Even my brother is fussy--if something isn't exactly like my mom used to make it, he's grousing, whereas I love trying new recipes and techniques.
You will never convince your family that bakery is not the best (I find it YUK in most cases!) so please don't continue to waste the effort trying to do so. Block out folks who give off negative energy. In truth, bakery IS probably better than Ace Hardware pies!!! Smile. We certainly appreciate you here. Big hugs, Wigs
This recipe for Salted Caramel Cream Pie will satisfy any craving you may have, from crunchy to creamy, and salty to sweet, this pie has got it going on.
www.cuisineathome.com
