I know I said this year was all about the whiskey Thanksgiving sides, but I couldn’t resist doing a dessert for good measure. And I happened to find myself with an odd assortment of ingredients that would make a fantastic pie – apples and pears from my CSA, an extra pie crust in the freezer, heavy whipping cream, and pear liqueur. And whiskey, but that was just the usual stock. Since I only had one crust, I decided to go for an apple crumble pie.

I combined a couple of different recipes. One called for the pears and apples to be sautéed in butter and flour until they softened to a compote-like consistence, which made it so the pie didn’t get all soggy with the juices and only overflowed a couple of glops. This was important because it didn’t have a full crust on top. The crumble on top, meanwhile, made a perfect crunchy cover against the soft fruit.

A very happy mouse must have siphoned off a bunch of my bourbon, since I only found an ounce or so at the bottom of the bottle. So I added some pear liqueur into the compote mix with the bourbon because why not. And I whipped up the heavy cream with some Scotch and sugar for the topping.

It turned out so well, I’m going to actually try to have these ingredients all at once again to recreate it.

A wise woman once said if you add bacon and bourbon to a dish, it will be delightful. Even if that dish happens to be those tart little Brussels sprouts. I’ve actually come to respect and appreciate Brussels sprouts over the years. But I wouldn’t say I was thankful for them. Until now. For my Whiskey Thanksgiving veggie side, I tried Brussels sprouts. With bacon and walnuts and bourbon.

I feel like this really might be the perfect recipe (from The Lunchbox Tree). This mix of ingredients takes out the bitter bite of the Brussels sprouts and replaces it with smoky bacon and a walnut crunch. Full disclosure, I added an extra splash of whiskey.

It’s a side dish, but it could just be a meal. All the four food groups: veggie, nut, bacon, and bourbon.

Thanksgiving brings together two of my favorite activities – being thankful and drinking whiskey – with one of my other favorite activities, cooking with whiskey. This year for Whiskey Thanksgiving, I am focusing on side dishes, bringing me one step closer to my eventual goal of an entire Thanksgiving full of whiskey dishes (see  dishes from past years under my “recipes” page”).

Even though I eat turkey, I would rather have a refrigerator full of leftover side dishes than a bird carcass. Right now, my fridge has remnants of bacon bourbon stuffing and bacon Scotch gravy. This meal is not for the vegan of heart.