Autumn. Cooler temperatures. Leaves glowing with their brilliant oranges, reds, and yellows. Halloween and Thanksgiving. Oh, yes, and PUMPKIN PIE!
There’s little I love more than pumpkin pie. In fact, I can say that I don’t think I’ve ever had a pumpkin pie I didn’t find truly delicious. It’s just a fact of all pumpkin pies….they are inherently tasty treats!
So, when I picked up JoDee’s farm share on Thursday and saw the orange orb amongst the other veggies, I instantly knew what to do! A pumpkin-pie makin’ I would go! It would be a first for me…no pumpkin pie filling, no store-bought pumpkin puree. Nope, I would make this vegan pumpkin pie from scratch!
Other than the pie crust, I had every ingredient necessary. And even more surprising, amidst my crushing workload in the past several weeks, I had the time on Friday afternoon to bake a pie. JoDee was on her way home from a week in Phoenix, and what a welcome I’d provide!
So, I sliced open the pumpkin and set about scooping out the seeds. I sliced the gourd into large chunks, and along with a bit of water in the bottom of the roasting pan, I slide it into the oven. Thirty minutes later, I scraped the soft pulp into the blender, added some silken tofu and lots of fabulous spices. Poured it into the ready pie crust, and back into the oven it went! Timer set…it was just time to sit and wait, as the smells of pumpkin wafted through the house!
You have no idea how difficult it was to wait an additional six hours to try a bite, but wait I did….until finally JoDee arrived. She was barely in the door five minutes before I was slicing the first piece of golden brown goodness out of the pie. One slice, a BIG one, for me….and (per her request) a smaller one for her.
Before tasting it, I took a long smell of the pie on my fork. MMmmmmmmm…..
I opened my mouth wide, and took the first bite of autumn’s culinary delight!
RETCH!
Seriously, it was awful….horrible….nasty! This couldn’t be? It looked so good! It smelled even better! But the taste!?!?! The taste was absolutely disgusting! Once I choked down the bite, I nearly cried. All my excitement and anticipation…and this creation was truly FOUL!
Well, long story short, as it turns out, pumpkin pie IS still wonderful. But should you ever forget one little ingredient, it may just ruin your image of this delectable dessert. Don’t ever, ever, ever….forget the brown sugar. It makes ALL the difference…
Sigh…..maybe we’ll get another pumpkin in this week’s farm share…
Sliding Vegan 