Caramel Pie

Tonight I went to Krogers and bought the items I need to make caramel pie for my Thanksgivings this year. I have made it for the last 12 years, and I'll continue to make it, cause it's yummy!

Anyone who frequented O'Charley's in the 90's probably tasted their caramel pie. That's my first experience with it and it was amazing. I then found out just how easy it was to make caramel pie and my world has not been the same since!

My first caramel pie that I made was for Thanksgiving 2005. It was the night before Thanksgiving and I had just moved into my house. I had came home from work and started boiling my milk and I started drinking beer. I decided to put my Australia picture frame together (the big collage that always hung in the living room at my old house) and it was not nearly as easy as it looked. This whole time I'm drinking lots of beer and refilling the water for my boiling milk. Ben, Jenna, Brandon, and myself had plans to go to Stampedes in Murfreesboro  that night. Ladies got in free and it was penny beer, aka free beer! Can't beat that! So, Brandon gets to my house first and was like, hey, can you iron my shirt....WHAT?!?!?! Being the nice, half lit friend that I am, I grabbed my iron and ironing board and iron his shirt for him. Ben walks in afterwards and was like, hey, will you iron my shirt too? I'm not sure what I looked like to them, thinking I would iron their shirts, but I did. I joked that I looked like a drunk Betty Crocker, making caramel pie and ironing shirts. Why am I still single?!?!

It just dawned on me, that was the very first night I met Bekah, Ben's now wife. They had just started dating and she met us at Stampedes. I bet it was his freshly ironed shirt that sealed the deal for her!! LOL!

A few years ago, I came home late and still needed to boil my milk for the caramel pie, and it takes 2 hours. It was at least 10 or 10:30 when I started boiling the milk. Next thing I know, I hear the timer going off on my stove! I had completely fallen asleep with my milk boiling. The thing with boiling the milk is that  you have to keep it covered in water, or the can will explode. And, for those who doubted that theory, it's the truth. No sooner then I run in there and see these cans on high heat sitting in an almost empty pot on my stove, does one of the cans of caramel explode! EVERYWHERE!!!!! Until the day I moved out, I was still finding caramel splattered around that kitchen. Caramel is not easy to clean up! Luckily, one of the can of caramel did not explode, however some of the caramel was burnt! So, to say the least, that wasn't the best caramel pie I've ever made!

Some of my Vernon cousins love caramel pie, if there is any left from Thanksgiving, they generally take it home with them. If I'm feeling nice, or actually, if I have the time, I'm always nice, I try to make one for the Saturday that they process hogs. Everyone needs some caramel pie when they are cutting up sausage!

So yes, I have two Thanksgivings this year, so there will be two caramel pies this year. Hopefully no crazy stories to go along with them!

Can't believe Thanksgiving is in a week! WHOA!