Besides spending time with family and friends, the holidays often revolve around food. Groups gather together to enjoy one another's company and also indulge in decadent meals. From mashed potatoes to ham, turkey to casserole, cheesecake to sweet potatoes, or pie to coffee, there is always something delicious to eat. It's no wonder that the average American puts on between seven to 10 pounds during the holiday season. With a plethora of savory dishes and delicious sweets to indulge in, it's often hard to resist having just one more bite. It seems that even after a filling meal, the dessert table calls us over for one more treat. So while we all seem to make our way over to the dessert table, our choices vary. The holidays pose a special time for desserts. Ignoring the cakes, cookies, and brownies means more room for the ultimate holiday dessert: pie. The real question here comes down to the pie: apple or pumpkin?
The History Channel recently featured pumpkin pie as an American Thanksgiving staple, highlighting this treat as an 18th century American indulgence. Similarly, What's Cooking America boasted about apple pie's extensive history. The apple pie, which was widely consumed, even appeared in an 18th-century poem by William King. Both desserts seem to find their way into our holiday repertoires and we are left with the difficult decision of choosing the superior pie. We asked individuals to choose between pumpkin pie or apple pie and explain their reasoning. Here's what we found.
Apple pie.
1. " Apple pie because it's all-American, baby."
2. "Apple pie for sure. Taste. Texture. Everything."
3. "Apple -- it tastes better."
4. "Apple 100 percent -- not even a question."
5. "I'd have to go with apple pie. Like, how can you possibly go wrong with butter and brown sugar and apples? I could just eat spoonfuls of the filling by itself....it's heavenly."
6. "Apple pie because I am not a huge fan of the consistency of pumpkin pie. Also, I just like apples more than pumpkins."
Pumpkin pie.
1. "Pumpkin pie because I liked putting whipped cream on top instead of ice cream, which you eat with most pies."
2. "Pumpkin because I've never had it!"
3. "I hate pie; but I fell in love with pumpkin pie the first time I tried it."
4. "Pumpkin is the best seasonal flavor, besides peppermint but that would be a weird pie."
5. "I like pumpkin. I just like the spice."
Other.
1. "Neither, I hate pies."
2. "Both are good."
3."Pie is pie."
4." I like making apple pie, but I definitely like eating pumpkin pie."
The results seemed pretty split. Although I will always take a slice of apple over pumpkin pie, both are frontrunners on the dessert table. Which will you choose at your next holiday gathering? Will you go with a slice of All-American apple or stick with the seasonal sensation, pumpkin? It's a tough choice. But, hey, there's always seconds if you can't seem to decide.
If you decide to be adventurous this year and do more than consume the pies at your holiday gatherings, here are two sensational pie recipes from The Food Network you can try out.
Apple Pie Recipe from The Food Network.
The dough:
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
14 tablespoons cold butter, diced
1 large egg
The filling:
2 tbps. freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 pounds baking apples like golden delicious, cortland, or mutsu
2/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling on the pie
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
1 large egg, lightly beaten
For full directions, click on the Food Network link featured above!
Pumpkin Pie Recipe from The Food Network
The dough:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter (1 stick), diced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Flour for rolling the dough
The filling:
1 15-oz. can unsweetened pure pumpkin puree (about 2 cups)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
For full directions, click on the Food Network link featured above!
Bake, eat, and decide -- apple or pumpkin?
