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Recipe: Stephanie's Jack-O-Lantern Tartlets
Category: Classic

Here is the second entry from enterprising pie-baker Stephanie; she also entered the Original category with her mouthwatering peanut butter and chocolate Buckeye Pie. These tartlets also have a creative flair, and we like them very much. Read on for her recipe and why this is the best classic pie recipe she's got.

Nutmeg is much in demand this time of year, and we're cooking with it a lot. Emma is going to tell you all about this spice tomorrow morning, including its origins and some of the dishes it's commonly used in. I, on the other hand, am going to tell you all about this shameless unitasker of a mill that I'm yearning over. It's all France's fault.

It's Dining and Entertaining month over at our sister home sites, and we love seeing the great dining and tabletop ideas they find. Here are our picks today from AT, Ohdeedoh, and around the web.

Recipe: Rachel's Rustic Pear Custard Pie
Category: Original

We've seen quite a few apple pies in this Bakeoff, but no pear pies so far - until now. Rachel submitted an easy, flexible custard-filled pie with pears. This looks so good - the creaminess of custard, and the smooth, warm texture of pears mixed with just a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Here's a holiday baking question from reader Ashley. Maybe you can help? She writes:

I have a holiday baking dilemma. I want to bake a breakfasty quick bread for the holidays but my boyfriend hates cranberries AND pumpkin. Does anyone have a good suggestion or recipe that I should try? THANKS!

Practical and frugal tips for cooking more with less ruled last week: we had tips on putting those cheese rinds to good use, ideas for dining solo, cheap cuts of meat for delicious winter eating, and the best pinot noirs under $20. These stories and more in last week's top posts! Click through the thumbnails above to go straight to the posts, and click through below to see more.

Recipe: Donna's Apple Cranberry Galette with Stonewall Kitchen Apple Caramel Butter
Category: Original

The apple pies keep rolling in! We love all these new recipes for one of our favorite fruits, and this new recipe from Donna is no exception. Her recipe is for a galette - a very freeform and low-stress sort of pie. It's one of our favorite last-minute desserts. Hers includes another holiday favorite: cranberries! Read on for Donna's recipe and some of the rave reviews for this galette.

Recipe: Jennifer's Pumpple Pie (Pumpkin & Apple!)
Category: Original

Pumpkin AND apple! What a pie! We had a hard time deciding which category to put this into, but we ultimately decided that such a novel combination of two classic pies supported Jennifer's own categorization of Original. Take a look at Jennifer's pie and the reasons why she (and a couple other people!) think it's the best pie.

While in France last week I thoroughly enjoyed prowling the morning market, its stretch of tables brilliant with fruit, vegetables, and delicious local specialties. Here's the local variety of pumpkin - a small gourd with rich orange flesh. It's a wonderful pumpkin, and I discovered it actually has a few other names.

Recipe: Joanna's Creamy Adsuki Bean Pie
Category: Original

Another bean pie! We already had one pie made from beans in this Bakeoff, and it piqued our interest. We were curious whether anyone else made a bean pie, and Joanna responded with her own recipe that marries her love of adsuki beans with her love for pie.

Read on for her recipe (with another very unusual ingredient, besides the beans, in her pie filling) and great photos of her pie dough process.

One of the clichés about Europe and France in particular is the omnipresence of bread. And not just any bread, but crackly, crispy crust with soft and tender innards bread. I'm happy to report and say that this cliché isn't going anywhere soon, and we were very glad last week to contribute to the average daily consumption of bread in France.

Recipe: Mary's Chocolate Truffle Tart with Vanilla Crème Brulee
Category: Original

Twenty pies! There are just a few more to go this week as we count down to a reader vote-off for the category winners in this Best Pie Bakeoff. Next week we'll show you our editorial picks for Special Mentions. And we all go home the richer for some fabulous new recipes.

Here's the next up in that list of new recipes: another chocolate truffle tart. (Did you see the chocolate bourbon version last weekend?) This one has a full round of one of our favorite flavorings: vanilla, as well as the best of both worlds for two of our favorite desserts. Read on for more of Mary's sweet creation.

Have you ever seen these Greek doughnuts? We haven't seen them in person but we sure want to now!