Pie's best friend

Thanksgiving is almost here, and everything is ready.

You've got turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and enough gravy to cover any cooking mistakes.

But no matter how stuffed with stuffing every guest gets, you'll never satisfy them without pie.

And you'll never satisfy pie without ice cream.

"A la mode," translating to "in the current fashion" has come to mean "with ice cream" in the U.S.

So it's basically French for better.

According to What's Cooking America, the term was created in the 1890s when Professor Charles Watson Townsend ordered apple pie with a side of ice cream regularly at one of his favorite restaurants in Cambridge Hotel.

A fellow diner nicknamed his dessert "pie a la mode," and the name stuck.

However, when Townsend tried ordering it at Delmonicos in New York City, he was appalled to find they didn't have it. After speaking with the manager, the restaurant added it to the menu.

The run-in was soon publicized by the New York Sun and the rest is dessert history.

When the term is used by itself in France, a la mode can refer to a beef dish marinated in red wine and herbs, according to the Food Reference Web site.

Not exactly what you want on top of pastry.

So here are some hints for preparing pie "a la mode" a la right:

Serve the pie hot. The idea is for the ice cream to melt and blend with the pie, mixing the hot and cold to intensify both tastes.

Scoop the ice cream only after cutting the pie slices and putting on warm plates. When served, the ice cream should be in scoop rather than puddle form, so make sure guests are ready before the scooping begins.

Using ice cream with a strong vanilla flavor, like vanilla bean, is best so that you can still taste it over the pie flavor.

To spice things up, try using Dreyer's Grand cinnamon ice cream. It pairs great with both apple and pumpkin pie.

If time is tight, and no pie has been prepared, Baskin Robbins also offers pumpkin ice cream pies.

They're overpriced and hard to cut, but taste pretty good.

Keep in mind, when the stress of entertaining starts getting to you, that as long as you keep glasses and stomachs full, everyone will be happy.

Or drunk. Or happy and drunk.

You really can't go wrong either way.