We’re going to have some fun today while we Hip Hop with Unity Stamps (a day early) and, at the same time, help everyone can get ahead of the shopping game for Black Friday !! OUR FIRST EVER SALE!! We’ve done giveaways and had a great time with the birthday celebration, but never done a sale or special event like this, so this is going to be fun! Keep reading for all the details!
Today’s the day everyone’s doing their ‘getting ready’ for Thanksgiving stuff. The last trip to the grocery store, picking up pre-made specialty items, and, of course, the baking of pies. Pies were our family’s ‘job’ for the holiday meals, whether at one of our grandparents’ houses, an aunt/uncle’s house, our house, where ever we were - we brought pies.
My father really enjoys tweaking the recipes, but really just for the crust. His quest has always been for the perfect crust. I think he defines the perfect crust a little differently than lots of people, though. Here’s my take on what he thinks is the perfect crust - thick enough to hold the pie together long enough to get it from the pie pan to the plate, but thin enough not to compete with the pie filling. And it’s to got to be tasty and flaky, too. I’ve rolled tons of pie crusts (hundreds? thousands? lol) and it’s a fun challenge to get them that thin. Of course, the dough has to be just right to be able to do what it’s supposed to do & that’s where the different experiments have been made. It’s down pretty much to a set recipe now that we all know by heart. There are even recommendations for the right margarine to use. 
My boys love to help in the kitchen and are already associating baking ‘the pies’ with Grandpa. That’s too cool!
This year we are having my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and nephew over to our house for Thanksgiving, so there won’t be quite as many pies made. It’s really hard for me to stop with the pies once I get started though. I always buy enough supplies to make double what I intend to make, just in case of a disaster. Don’t think that far ahead for the rest of the meal, but the pies, yes, definitely have to be prepared. But…when the pies are made and all the stuff for MORE pies is just there staring at me out of the cupboard…oh, it’s so hard to stop!!
It’s also wonderful if you roll it a little thicker, especially for two-crust pies. Sprinkle on a little sugar and cinnamon, add a couple of pats of butter to the top - yum! Got a recipe for killer crust? Please share! I like this one, but if I found one that was better….
Now for some other GOOD STUFF, maybe not as tasty, though! 
SALE INFO!!
Since everyone’s going to need something to do once the pies are in the oven (ha!), we’re having a PIES IN THE OVEN / PRE-BLACK FRIDAY SALE - 30% off all products!! You don’t need to do anything. Prices in the Little Monkeys Shop already list sale prices - just add to your cart and you’re ready to go! Offer good on new purchases Wednesday, 11/26/08, only. Don’t miss this first-ever sale!
So, once you’ve got your pies baking in the oven, swing by our sale, check out the Design Monkeys’ work if you haven’t already and hip hop over to monkey around in the Unity Forum on Splitcoaststampers and join in the Hip Hop Thursday fun a day early! Things get started in their forum at 10AM Central and last all the way ’til midnight. Angela’s always got great deals on the Unity blog and their design team has lots of fun with giveaways all day long. We’re going to have a Hip Hop giveaway, too, so check it all out!
PS - Don’t worry too much if you miss out on the Pies in the Oven / Pre-Black Friday Sale, though. We’re keeping the fun going through the weekend with another sale to run from Thanksgiving straight on through Cyber Monday - check out the Monkey Around All Weekend Sale to get 20% off all products!!
