It’s hard to believe but we are only 3 weeks away from Thanksgiving. Time has literally flown by, as it always does this time of year. It seems like once October rolls around, the weeks pass so quickly, probably because the last few months of the year are loaded with birthdays and holidays in our family. November alone holds the birthdays of 3 family members and 2 friends along with Thanksgiving of course, and shortly after follows December with three more family birthdays, including my precious little angel’s, one friend’s birthday, and my favorite holiday of the year. I always feel like we’re bouncing from one party or event to another but to be honest, I just love all of the time that we spend with family that we don’t necessarily get to see everyday which is exactly why Thanksgiving ranks in my top 3 favorite holidays.
Every year about this time, the holiday decorations start rolling out in stores, Christmas music pops on here and there, and Christmas shopping commences, and I just love every bit of it. What I’m not a huge fan of though is all of the holiday dinner commercials flashing on the tv which are a constant reminder of the two big family dinners that are looming ahead of me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the family part, it’s the dinner part that worries me. Not all of my family always remembers or understands my gluten free diet so the dishes they bring are always in question but my parents, and in recent years my mother-in-law and her husband, have always been the best at accommodating, taking a lot of the worry out of at least a couple of the main dishes.
My love of cooking has definitely grown over the years, so I’m always more than happy to contribute a few dishes to the meal, especially ones that are gluten free, and when I can dairy free and egg free for my nephew to enjoy too. I always like to add a few of our family’s savory favorites that have become traditions over the years and then add in a dessert here and there. The past few years, my go to for pre-made gluten free sweets has been Katz Gluten Free. They’ve consistently delivered some fantastic items that certainly do the gluten free world justice. When I first noticed that they offer pies, I was shocked since I hadn’t seen many if any pre-made gluten free pies out there, but then I instantly thought of Thanksgiving, my dad’s favorite pie holiday, where he rolls out at least three huge, mouthwatering (non-gluten free) pies. While I’ve dabbled in gluten free pie making over the years, on a holiday like Thanksgiving where I’m also making a number of other dishes, the cost and time spent make purchasing a pre-made pie more and more appealing. So before Thanksgiving comes around this year, I wanted to give Katz’s gluten free pie a try, but if it’s anything like their other items, I knew my Thanksgiving order would soon follow.
So, Katz offers a couple different varieties of gluten free pie, which also happen to be free of dairy, nut, and soy too, including apple, cherry, and blueberry. I’ve always loved blueberry pies so I figured that would be a good one to try out. Price wise, each of these pies come in a 6″ size that runs about $7.99, but remember Katz offers promotions all of the time so keep an eye out over the coming weeks for a holiday pie deal. If you need something a bit larger than a 6″/personal pie, you can either order two 6″ varieties or they also offer the apple pie in an 8″ size for $12.99. If you want to check out all of Katz Gluten Free’s pie varieties, head over to their cake/pie section on their site.
Once you decide what varieties of pie you’d like to go with, go ahead and order away, but not before you peruse the rest of their site just to be sure that there’s nothing else that you might like to try for the holiday season. Gluten free sprinkle cookies anyone? Once your order is placed, it’ll be no time until it arrives; I always get my orders really quickly from Katz, but keep in mind I am relatively close to them geographically, but nonetheless I’ve always received my orders in a timely fashion. When your pies do arrive, make sure you make room in your freezer to pop these in and save them for Thanksgiving, or at least try to. To enjoy, since these pies are pre-baked, all you have to do is thaw them in the refrigerator and if you’d like, warm them for 15 minutes in the oven, which does add the homemade, pie baking smell to your house that’s very appealing this time of year.
And finally, you’re probably wondering what these pies taste like. Okay, I think I’ve kept you in suspense long enough to tell you that these are DELICIOUS! The blueberry pie filling that I tried wasn’t too sweet but was just right with blueberries scattered throughout, while the crust, well that was just perfection. The gluten free pie crust was crispy and was softened just enough by the filling, but by no stretch did it do the signature crumble apart that so many gluten free products do. Katz’s gluten free pie tasted so homey, just like my dad’s homemade pies but without the gluten. I’m certainly adding these to my holiday shopping list, and I highly suggest that you do too. Let me know what kind you end up getting and what you think! Enjoy!
Note: No pretty pie picture unfortunately because my dear husband promptly dropped the wrapped pie flat on the ground before I even had a chance to bake it, so even though the pie was still edible and delicious just the same, it didn’t look so pretty at that point. There’s always next time.
Sincerely,
Lindsay