The holidays are here — it’s pie time!

I’ve made it perfectly clear through the years that I am not a cook. If I need to boil water, I Google directions.

I have carved out a niche for myself, though — I’m the pumpkin-pie maker in the family. I make a couple of dozen through Thanksgiving and Christmas, using the recipe on the back of the Libby’s can; then I retire my whisk for the year. At this moment, I have seven cans of pumpkin on the counter and a matching number of cans of evaporated milk.

My last pumpkin-pie effort was a failure, I am ashamed to say. My younger son was going to some event, and they were having a “harvest” meal, so he asked me to make pumpkin pies. I suspected our oven was having problems, and the pies took forever to bake. My husband, of course, said they looked fine to him. Road kill on a plate looks fine to him.

My son reported that he had to throw one pie out because it was “raw,” and the other one was just OK. It almost made me curl up in the fetal position.

In fact, I’m a little obsessed with pumpkins this time of year. I practically camp out at Starbucks until the pumpkin lattes are on the menu, and I have visited grocery stores in neighboring cities to get the pumpkin-flavored coffee creamer as a poor-man’s substitute in the meantime. Once I stood patiently while the stock boy unloaded a box of the stuff.

Then, there are the ice cream and yogurt shops that sell pumpkin-flavored concoctions only at this time of year. I look forward to it like my older son looks forward to the opening of duck-hunting season. He went deer hunting last week. That reminds me of hunter orange. Which reminds me of pumpkins.

It was a dream come true when my son’s wedding was in October and I got to use pumpkins in the rehearsal-dinner decor.

When the real pumpkins first arrive for the season, I rush to the nursery like they’re giving away $100 bills. Instead, I spend that much. I get almost weak-kneed and giddy, flitting from pumpkin to pumpkin like a hummingbird, trying to pick which ones to haul home. This year, I branched out to gourds and different-colored pumpkins. When it was all said and done, I had 15.

The first thing I do in the morning is stick my head out the front door to make sure my

pumpkins weren’t stolen overnight. I just want them to last through Thanksgiving.

We’re spending Thanksgiving with my in-laws, and we will have some wonderful food, including my pumpkin pies, which I have been asked to bring, and I am determined to get them right. This will be the first test of my new oven, so we’ll see if it’s me or the appliance that caused the problem last year.

On the other hand, I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. That’s something I do perfectly every time.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 3270370 or tkeith@arkansas online.com.