HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Despite prices going up, people are still planning to go all out for Thanksgiving dinner, and it’s crunch time at one local bakery.

Moreno’s Bakery in Brandon is baking over 800 pies on Tuesday to fill Thanksgiving orders.

Steve Ward is the head baker at Moreno’s. He’s been there almost since day one, nearly 14 years ago, and he said baking is in his blood.

“My older brother worked in the bakery,” Ward said. “And he would drag me in the bakery at 4 or 5 in the morning at 8, 9 years old, so it just caught on.”

And it’s a good thing baking caught on for him because hundreds of families will have pies to share this holiday season thanks to him.

“We’ll make about 300 of these (apple pies),” he said. “And we'll do probably another 3 or 400 of pumpkin, then we've got cherry, blueberry, creme pies, when it's all said and done it's going to be over 1000.”

José Moreno said each year, the holiday orders increase, but this year is exceptionally high, and not just pie orders, but all baked goods.

“Every year is bigger, but this time here, I can feel the energy,” Moreno said. “There's so many pies going out the door, and it's going to be huge because I think the people have more freedom right now, and basically the people want to celebrate like never before and I know they'll do that.”

While the days leading up to Thanksgiving are long, Moreno and Ward said they consider their customers their family, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“When you bake from the heart, and you love to do it, I'm going to make something that I would serve to my mother, my grandmother,” Ward said. “And I treat all the customers the same way.”