November 25, 2014 at 5:06 p.m.
Golden Harvest preparing Thanksgiving pies
Golden Harvest preparing Thanksgiving pies
By Kayla Thomason-
Golden Harvest bakers were busy Tuesday preparing for the annual pie rush. They start their shifts very early during the holiday week, between 1 and 3 a.m., a deviation from their usual start time of 4 or 4:30 a.m.
"We come in extra early to make sure that customers can have what they need as soon as they walk through the door," said Rebecca Thuot, bakery supervisor.
Thanksgiving planning began last week when the bakery staff calculated the number of pies it would need to make this year. Last Friday and Saturday they started prepping crusts and fillings.
Golden Harvest uses real butter and organic ingredients in its pies to ensure a flaky, tasty crust.
The staff also makes authentic pumpkin pies entirely from scratch.
Fresh pumpkins were selected during the autumn harvest, cut open, gutted, baked and pureed. The homemade filling was frozen until it would be needed for Thanksgiving.
"Pumpkin is the pie that increases most dramatically [with sales], and then the apple pies would be a second to that, and all the other ones increase as well, but not near[ly] as extravagant," said Ezra Brainard, supervisor of the morning shift.
Golden Harvest bakers prepare several types of apple pies including Dutch apple, cranberry apple, regular apple and apple sweetened with honey.
"We use a lot of agave nectar, honey and other sweeteners and things and we use a lot of organic ingredients," Thuot said. "We try to promote alternatives to sugar, especially honey just simply because it is a natural sweetener."
"We also have pecan and pumpkin [pies] that we are expecting to be best sellers today and tomorrow," Thuot added.
In addition to pumpkin, pecan and apple, Golden Harvest offers a wide selection of berry pies. Raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry rhubarb and strawberry rhubarb are some of the varieties.
The berries are fresh frozen and melted on a stove to make filling. Cornstarch, sugar and other ingredients are added.
"This is my favorite part of my job, making pies," Thuot said. "It's fun, we all come in and we just fill and crimp and talk, it's fun - and [the pies are] pretty."
Brainard said 250 pies have already been prepared. He has to crunch numbers to guess how many more pies may be needed.
"Normally we would make about 300 pies," he said. "That's a normal amount in years previous."
Since moving to its new location, 3215 County Highway G, Golden Harvest has seen a 70 percent increase in sales, according to Brainard.
"If [the pies are] selling fast we will continue making more," he said.
Pumpkin pies are on sale for $2 off the original price.
Golden Harvest will be open until 8 p.m. on Wednesday for the holidays but will be closed Thursday.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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