Pie

Add up the price of turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie, and Thanksgiving dinner will cost consumers more this year — but not by much. Households will shell out, on average, $49.48 for a party of 10, or 28 cents more than last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. That's less than a 1% increase over last year and still less than $5 a person. Consider last Thanksgiving, when the cost of dinner soared 13% in the largest hike since 1990. The price survey, which has been conducted every year since the meal cost $28.74 in 1986, has shown increases since 2008.

Thanksgiving is simply not complete without pumpkin pie. And while you can find all kinds of variations that take the basic pie in different directions, there is still no beating the original, as created in this recipe by former Times writer Donna Deane and demonstrated in the video above by Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter. You can find the recipe below. Classic pumpkin pie is one of the favorite holiday recipes we've collected in our "Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook. " The book shares more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah , Christmas and New Year's.

  Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes, plus chilling time for the filling and pies Servings: 12 1/2 cup raisins 1 cup rum, brandy or water 1/4 cup (½ stick) butter 4 large tart apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced into ¼-inch pieces 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup toasted pecan pieces Prepared pie dough for 2 single crust (9- to 10-inch)

Take everything you love about pie - that rich, flaky crust cradling your favorite filling - and downsize it into a compact package. Behold the little wonder that is the hand pie. Convenient, simple and, dare I say it - terribly cute - it's pie's answer to the cupcake, without the fussy decorations. Best of all? Just like a cupcake, you don't have to share. I've been baking a lot of the little guys of late, and I'm totally smitten. Simple to make, there's not much to a hand pie: Sandwich your filling of choice between a couple of layers of dough and bake until golden brown.

  Total time: 20 minutes, plus chilling time Servings: Enough dough for 6 handpies or 1 (9- to 10-inch) single-crust pie Note: The recipe can easily be doubled to make 12 hand pies. If using a food processor, process one batch at a time, as most processors are not big enough to handle a double batch at once. The dough, with sugar, can be used for sweet or savory pies, as the sugar is not enough to noticeably sweeten the crust; however, it can be omitted if desired.

This week, we're talking hand pies in the Saturday section: "Take everything you love about pie - that rich, flaky crust cradling your favorite filling - and downsize it into a compact package. Behold the little wonder that is the hand pie. Convenient, simple and, dare I say it - terribly cute - it's pie's answer to the cupcake, without the fussy decorations. "Best of all? Just like a cupcake, you don't have to share. " We've got tips on crust and fillings -- both sweet and savory -- along with recipes.

Bret Disend, who manages the boy band Big Time Rush, has bought a condo in Beverly Hills for $844,000. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom pied-a-terre features 1,415 square feet of living space. The French-style building, built in 1937, features a courtyard. Big Time Rush was assembled for a Nickelodeon show in 2009 and has since made two albums and toured. Disend also manages the pop rock band Boys Like Girls, whose latest album is "Crazy World," and its lead singer Martin Johnson.

This week's Culinary SOS request comes from Marianne Keathley in Bakersfield: We were on a cross-country drive and had the pleasure of eating at the Rib City Grill in Rifle, Colo. The real prize was the pecan pie the restaurant served. It is by far the best pecan pie I have ever had! Servers said it was prepared locally. Think there is anyway to talk the restaurant out of the recipe? It doesn't get much better than a great pecan pie, and this is one of the better ones I've had. Rib City Grill was happy to share its recipe with us, which we've adapted below.