Three-Pie Times, Part Two

     ...Continued from yesterday:
     When we arrived back at Claire’s house with our pie supplies,

       …I jumped into making first the cherry almond streusel pie,

….then when that pie was done,

…I asked Claire to pull up the recipe she’d found online for pecan pie.  I noticed the name of that pie was Epicurean Pecan pie and that the total preparation time was listed at 5 hours.  Somehow I had the feeling that this wasn’t the recipe for me, a feeling that was affirmed when I read the instructions, which called for the clarifying of butter and a slew of  pots and pans – which would have to be washed afterwards- in the preparation. 
      I had a hunch there must be an easier pecan pie recipe. 
    I asked Claire if she had a cookbook kicking around somewhere or, I wondered,  do youngsters get all their culinary training online these days?
       But no, Claire did have a cookbook collection which she showed me.  I found a book called something like “Easy-fix and enjoy”, which was what I had in mind, and which,  sure enough,

offered a blessedly easy pecan pie recipe, 

        ….which I followed,

…and which produced a most lovely-looking pecan pie. 

     Alas, it would be the next day before I got to taste the results of this day’s labor,

 …nor did I get the apple pie made that day since by the time pies number one and two were finished there wouldn’t have been  time to finish pie number three before dinner.

   After Miguel arrived home from work and Tom from his visit to his friend we set out for dinner at our favorite Chicago pizzeria,

...Pizano's.

...which is always cheerfully decorated  at Christmastime.

     We started off with an order of super-yummy garlic-mozzarella bread to share,

...then moved on to the pieces de resistance,  a couple of those incomparable Pizano's pizzas,

...one pineapple and cheese,

...and one half cheese-half pepperoni

     There's always something about that first bite of a Pizano's pizza that makes your whole mouth light up as you taste buds spring to attention.

     The sauce is so over-the-top tasty and the crust is, well different.  Crustier than you're used to pizza crust being.  It's a truly phenomenal combination.

     Tom, not a great pizza fan, not even of such sublime pizza as Pizano's, ordered spaghetti with meat sauce,

...which he declared delicious.

     We spent so much time enjoying the ambiance  - and the food - at Pizano's

... that by the time we left the restaurant it was late and Tom and I were too tired to head back to Claire and Miguel's for pie, so we told Claire and Miguel to go home and try the pie for us and we headed back to the Urban Holiday Hostel.
      We still had one more day left in Chicago to taste our pies and make another.
      To be continued...