A tale of two pies

When I make pies, I usually make an extra batch (enough for a double crust pie) just in case. I just never know if one of the pies won't make the cut, so I anticipate disaster.

No disasters this year (yay!) so what to do with the extra crust? I debated making another cherry pie, but decided on pecan (easy) and nutmeg maple (mmm... maple). I found the nutmeg maple pie on Smitten Kitchen (if you aren't already addicted to Deb's blog, what are you waiting for?)

I normally make my pecan pie with maple syrup but didn't have enough for both pies, so I reverted to the classic (and oh-so-sweet) dark corn syrup. Then I made the nutmeg maple pie. The recipe made more custard than I had room for in the pie shell, so I made three custard cups of maple-y goodness. I forgot to mention I made a chocolate hand pie with the pie crust scraps. I rolled the scraps into somewhat of a circle, tucked three bittersweet feves in there and sealed the edges with water before crimping with the tip of the paring knife.

Things were going really well for the maple pie, until I realized (30 minutes later) that I had put it in the oven that I'd shut off. Sigh. But it must have baked some from the residual heat in the oven before I moved it, because it only took a half an hour to bake. The crust was a little undercooked and I went a little crazy with the nutmeg, so the maple flavor wasn't dominant, but it was still OK. If you like nutmeg.