“It was the best of pies. It was the worst of pies.” The Orcas Christian School high school culinary class recently ventured into the art of pie-making for their annual school-wide Thanksgiving dinner. This year marked the return of the culinary class as an elective for grades six through 12, providing students the opportunity to learn valuable cooking skills.

Over the course of a week, high school students pressed, mixed, crimped, whisked, diced, measured and baked to their hearts’ content in preparation for the big day. The pies featured traditional flavors — pumpkin and pecan — as well as a creative twist: applesauce crumble pie.

“The applesauce makes the pie-baking time drastically shorter,” said culinary teacher Kallie McCutcheon. “No stress about whether the apples are baked enough. You just take the pie out when the crust is browned.”

The pies were served as a dessert option following a special pizza lunch, which featured toppings like buffalo ranch dipping sauce and jalapenos. Teacher Angie Millen, who helped coordinate the event alongside McCutcheon and Rachel Morgan (a fourth-fifth grade teacher), especially appreciated the sense of community the event created.

“Sharing a meal together was a delightful experience, filled with laughter and meaningful conversations,” Millen said.

The students caught the contagious festive spirit and had positive things to say about the Thanksgiving dinner. CJ Nunez, who experienced the only “pie casualty” (due to a mix-up with the baking process, one pie fell victim to an overly hot oven), was able to laugh it off.