L'art du Pumpkin Pie

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I have always been a baker. My Mom’s grandparents owned a bakery in Cambridge when my grandmother was little. My Mom always said there was flour running through my veins.

On holidays, I remember my Mom making an apple or pumpkin pie. She made her own crust. She told me that the sure way to ruin a crust was to roll it out too many times. She had a tried and true recipe that she used, and I use it to this day.

I remember the last time I made a pumpkin pie; it was a long time ago. It was for Thanksgiving. I was pregnant with Nathan then, and my Mom was dying of pancreatic cancer. When we all sat down for dessert, my mother was upstairs, because she couldn’t come down to eat.

Upon first bite, everyone commented that I had forgotten the sugar. Ah, no wonder, eh? I had prided myself on being such a good baker, but for the first time, I screwed up. I remember feeling horrible, and Quinn, Nate’s Dad, said to everyone, “Well, just put honey on it.” I loved him for that. But, there was an overwhelming sense of disappointment among the troops anyway.

Anyway, this Thanksgiving it is indeed a small celebration, very small. I set out to make a pumpkin pie this morning with sugar; thus, I began by scraping the innards of my Halloween pumpkin. Not!

Never scrape the pumpkin. Buy the canned pumpkin gelatinous stuff.



Prep the Kitchen-Aid mixer, your buddy, your friend, your baking confidant for the last 20 years!



Mix the pumpkin filling. Search long and hard for the cloves in the overwhelmed spice drawer.



After 10 minutes…Post Note to Self: Organize spice drawer. Cloves found!



Always get a good night’s sleep before making a pie, so you don’t crack the egg in the sink instead of into the bowl!



Prepare your dough surface well. Flour enthusiastically!



Form your pie dough into a nice round ball.



While doing so, make sure you are well floured.



It bears repeating, but ensure you are well floured.



And, make sure there is flour on the floor; it gives you more credibility as a baker. Real bakers leave a flour trail always!



Never employ an assistant pastry chef who cares more about snoozing and bottom washing than helping!



And, if said assistant pastry chef is less than you bargained for, always make him, err, the butt of a joke. This is lard butt!



Roll your dough into a circle.



And while doing so, don’t read your mail. Because you might find that your alma mater wants you to come on an 8K safari, that you couldn’t even afford if you were employed!



Roll your dough into an even bigger circle!




Put dough into pie crust and crimp the edges.



Make sure there are leftovers. Why? You will see in a moment.



Roll extra dough out in order to pimp your pie with pastry ornamentation.



Put the pie into the oven.



And in an hour, find that you have the perfect pie!



Finally, clean up after you watch the next episode of Law&Order. ♥