Don’t be afraid to make the Thanksgiving pie

If you volunteered to bring the pies to Thanksgiving dinner and you’ve never rolled dough or you’re kind of rusty in the kitchen, drop everything and get started now.

Tom Douglas, host of Seattle Kitchen, and Shelley Lance, co-author of the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook, agree the worst day to make pie for the first time is on Thanksgiving.

“It’s just the added pressure. Just relax. It’s OK,” says Douglas.

That’s why Lance suggests doing a few practice runs a couple days beforehand.

“Making a pie is like anything else in life. It’s practice. If you do it a few times, you’re not going to be scared anymore,” she says.

The biggest mistake an amateur pie maker commits is under-cooking the pastry, according to Douglas and Lance. Show co-host Thierry Rautureau agrees under-cooked dough is pretty common and it can destroy a good dessert.

Lance theorizes newbie pie makers are so scared to burn the crust or over-work the dough, that it often backfires on them.

“You have to be brave,” she says. “Your pie crust should be brown. When they’re not cooked through, they really taste tough and not great.”

If all this pie talk is making you even more nervous, Douglas recommends skipping the grocery store and going to a really good bakery to buy a pie.

Of course, you can try the Dahlia Bakery, home to the famous Triple Coconut Cream Pie – it got a stamp of approval from President Obama himself.

Or Douglas suggests: Pie in Fremont, AlaMode Pies on Phinney Ave. N, High 5 Pie, Palace Kitchen, and American Pie Bakery and Cafe.

But like Lance says, just shake off your worries and get in the kitchen now.

“Just make a pie,” agrees Rautureau. “If it’s not good, just throw it at someone’s face. They do it all the time in the movies.”

Seattle Kitchen can be heard on KIRO Radio Saturdays at 2-4 p.m. Available anytime ON DEMAND at MyNorthwest.com.