If you have time and desire, once the pie is baked and cooled, then use frosting to decorate your crust. Of course, this is frosting from a jar or tube you bought. On another planet, in another lifetime, you will make the icing. Buy the plastic tips and the plastic bag and you can just throw them away.
It, like the well-chosen dress, can hide a multitude of sins. Get some candy and stuff, like licorice for the belt on the Santa cake. I would come home from working the Christmas Eve service, you know a little tired, and my sons would come into the kitchen to watch and “help”. It was cozy. Memories.
Any spirit goes well with any fruit pie, so splash some rum in the pumpkin pie, or some brandy in the cherry.
Or do the usual-just-very-differently. Make a Frozen Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. The advantage of that is that it can be done so far in advance. Then when serving, crumble candy canes and sprinkle them on top. Don’t know who helps you at your house, but I had sons, and they loved putting the sticks in waxed paper and then rolling it with the rolling pin. Festive family fun in the Dunn household. Me and the boys.
I hope you are now starting to see that we are playing and enjoying ourselves as much as possible.
POLKA PIGS
Candy canes go so well with chocolate. You can make a chocolate dessert, like that instant pudding mix with dream whip that kids love so much. Email me if you don’t have that recipe. Then sprinkle crushed candy canes on top.
SWEET POTATO
Mash canned yams and place in Pyrex. Then whip up the meringue nice and stiff, with lots of sugar. Hitting things is also therapeutic, and kids are fascinated by the process.
Ring the bowl with the meringue and then make clicks on top with peaks. Then you can sprinkle it with colored sprinkles, or in the middle put 3 maraschino cherries and some pineapple leaves, like holly. Or put marshmallows around the edge and decoration in the middle. In your next reincarnation, you will make Martha’s homemade marshmallows and put them on top. Let the kids do it. It will be “too much” but that’s half the fun.