Martha Stewart may not be eating turkey this year, but we highly doubt that means she's abandoned her strong opinions about Thanksgiving. She pioneered the cheesecloth method for cooking a bird (it keeps the meat super moist while allowing the skin to brown), perfected her gravy recipe back in the '90s, and loves a festive table setting. But, of course, Stewart didn't achieve international fame without having just as many opinions on what not to do, including this major Thanksgiving faux pas.
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In a 2023 interview with The Kitchn, Stewart said she would never buy dessert or a store-made pie because homemade is "infinitely better."
"I don’t care what it is—it’s better if you make it yourself," she shared. "Just don’t do it no matter what. And don’t have pie if you don’t make it yourself. I’m very strict about things like that."
But if you're going to heed her advice and make a pie, there's one more Martha-ism to keep in mind.
"Don’t experiment on your guests. Practice ahead of time," she added. "If you’re serious about treating your friends nicely, don’t leave it up to chance. You don’t want to mess everything up."
If you want your dessert spread to live up to Stewart's standards, consider learning to make her pâte brisée (all-butter pie dough).
"I have been making this pâte brisée for many years and have perfected this recipe. It calls for two-and-a-half cups all-purpose flour, one teaspoon kosher salt, one teaspoon granulated sugar, two sticks unsalted butter, and a quarter to a half cup of ice water," she wrote on her blog.
She also advocates for baking in glass pie dishes, "so it is easy to see when the pie’s bottom crust is sufficiently browned."
Her other big pie-making tip is to blind bake the crusts, "the process of baking a pie crust without the filling."
"To blind bake a chilled pie crust, just line it with parchment paper in the pie dish and fill it with pie weights or dried beans," she explains on her blog. "After about 20 minutes at 375-degrees Fahrenheit, carefully remove the parchment and the weights. Then bake it until the crust is dry but not brown, about five minutes more."
This way, you can get all your pie crusts done at once and split the work up.
Fun fact: Stewart has been using the same dried beans to blind-bake her crusts for over 25 years! Once Thanksgiving is over, she stores them in a glass jar in her kitchen.
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Last year, Stewart baked a whopping 30 pies to share with her staff. These included her original pecan pie, chocolate pecan pie, brown sugar pumpkin pie, lemon curd pie, and cranberry tart.
As for what Stewart would buy, she told The Kitchn, "I might buy the brioche for my stuffing, my dressing. But if I have time, I’ll bake my own brioche."
Sounds like we better get to work!
