My mother taught me how to make my grandmother’s pie crust about 25 years ago. Over the years, I surpassed her skill level (humble brag), and I’m now the designated pie crust maker for the holidays. I enjoy making pie filling and the crust from scratch most of the time. However, in the spirit of being honest with myself, in the last few years, it’s been more of a chore than a pleasure.

Some of that may be from some family splintering that has taken place, which brings an exhausting tension to the holidays that wasn’t there when I was younger (or that I was too naive to understand, more like it.) However, I think the main reason for my lackluster attitude for pastry production is about something much more simple.

As an academic, the short Thanksgiving break starting Wednesday of the week is not really a break. For some of my colleagues who are better at managing their time it might be, but for me in my persistent procrastinating ways, it’s a time to catch up. I run a huge conference in late October or early November each year, so by the time I make it to Thanksgiving break, there is really only one task I need to be dedicated to, and it’s not making dough. It’s grading.

In late November, as sure as the frozen turkeys are piled in the grocery stores and people are thinking about using real cranberries for the first time, I am behind on grading.

So this year, I finally had to say aloud that I am too tired and busy the week of Thanksgiving to make the pie crust. It’s going to be frozen this year. I know we need to make time for both work and play, for hobbies and activities that help us bond with friends and family. But guess what? In mid December, I’ll get that big academic break of about a month off, and on Christmas, I’ll be back to kneading the dough and making a mess of the kitchen with flour. That’s my compromise, and that’s OK.

Oh, and I’m still making the apple pie filling from scratch. It doesn’t take that long, and I’m not a monster.