Which is why my I am astounded at my unwillingness to bake a simple pie. Could it be that my past efforts have fallen so short of the pies my mother makes that redemption seems impossible? Memories of my stepsons specially requested Birthday Pie, with an impossibly thick crust, that I somehow managed to burn black on the edges yet keep raw at the bottom still linger in the recesses of my mind. Lucky for me, he was only 8 or 9, and children tend to overlook these things. My sister in law, whose pies are always as perfect as my Moms had the dubious honour of being witness to the debacle. All these years later, just the mention of Brendans' Birthday Pie will cause us to laugh till tears stream down our faces.
That may have been the last time I attempted a pie crust. Honestly, I prefer to think that I am just too lazy to try again, rather than admit that I have been defeated by piecrust. And, so far, it has worked.
But, all good things must come to an end. Kevin was in Canada in September, and brought back 2 cans of pumpkin pie filling (still difficult to find here at a reasonable price) looking forward to the upcoming Canadian Thanksgiving holiday. Somehow, I managed to get past the day without having to make "The Pie". (and the dinner too, but that is another story for another day). Which is why my loving husband mentions those cans of pumpkin about every third day. He has dropping hints since the beginning of October and I had almost reached my breaking point!
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| What the sun would look like it it had to make a pie. |
Not one to give in that easily, I considered that since Canadian Thanksgiving had passed, and American Thanksgiving has not yet arrived, if I acted now, I might be able to get that pumpkin used up without actually having to make a pie.
While looking thru my recipe site for Halloween food ideas, I stumbled across "Alexander McCream Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream"!!
With a name like that, I could not resist giving it a try. I knew it wouldn't use the whole can of pumpkin, but I figured I could put the rest in some muffins, Kevin would have his pumpkin fix and I would sneak thru another year without having made a pie! Perfect.
Yeah, no. The 1/3 cup of puree that the ice cream needed hardly put a dent in the can. A fact I was unable to hide from my ever vigilant husband. He also noticed that the entire can, when mixed according to the recipe on the label, actually makes not one but 2 - 9 inch pies. Well, well.
My mind started racing - couldn't we just freeze it in 1/3 cup portions so we could make more ice cream? How about some pumpkin muffins? It wasn't until HE offered to make the pie crust that I gave up my efforts to avoid the pie. I was almost resigned to blending flour with lard to make the perfect pie crust when it hit me... Graham Cracker Crust!! And we happened to have those on hand!
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| A match made in heaven. |
So, this afternoon, after saying my goodbyes to a very lovely guest who had been with us this week, and helping load her bags into the car so Kevin could take her to the airport, I finally admitted defeat and made the darned pie.
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| Ta Daaaaa!! |
It looks pretty good, even with the burnt edges. Perhaps that will become my trademark. like, "It's not a Heather Pie unless the edges of the crust are just ever so slightly blackened". It could even become something people expect, nay, dare I say look for as a sign of excellence in a pie!
The ice cream, has turned out perfectly. I think it will be just lovely with a slice of the pie.
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| Seriously, you owe it to yourself to try this. |
The recipe for the ice cream is from The Icereamists by Matt OcConnor and can be found on the Epicurious website. I made it to recipe, except for increasing the rum to about 4 dashes so that it would properly mix with the sugar and spices in the blender. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/alexander-mccream-spiced-pumpkin-ice-cream-51187420
The recipe for the pie is pretty much off the side of the Our Compliments can, except that the entire list of spices was replaced with 2 teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch each of Allspice and Nutmeg. Bake according to directions on the can and you are set. If you are lucky, the edges of your graham crust will be just slightly blackened. lol
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