Thanksgiving Pie

The best pumpkin pie ever! About 2 inches thick of creamy spice filled goodness. You can use any pie crust even store-bought. Just make sure you cook it before you add the pumpkin filling. 

In this pie, I made a long braid with extra pie dough and then glued it to the pie crust using eggwash (1 beaten egg and 1 tbsp of water). This is one of the best pie crust trims that I've used because it helps prevent the crust from shrinking too much.

Ingredients:

Flaky pie crust dough
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch 
2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin (is about 1-3/4 cups)

3/4 cup 35% cream

3 large eggs, beaten to blend

1/2 cup sour cream

Pie crust:

1. Roll out pie dough and transfer to 9-inch pie dish. Freeze crust 15min (helps prevent the crust from shrinking). Preheat oven 375 F. Line crust with foil and pie weights or beans. Bake until sides are set and dry (about 15min). Remove foil and beans and cook another 15min. Pierce  crust if begins to bubble. Cool the crust for 30min

Pie filling:

1. Reduce oven to 325F
2. whisk both sugars + cornstarch + cinnamon + ginger + and salt in a bowl until no lumps remain.
3. Whisk in pumpkin + 35% cream + eggs + sour cream
4. Poor filling in pie crust
5. Bake pie until the filling puffs at edges and center is almost set. (1h to 1h05)
6. Cool on rack and cover + chill until cold

Serve chilled with soft whipping cream. 

A Break from these Carbs (Part 4)

Picture and Recipe from Kitchen Musings

Why I hate Rice Pudding

           The Year I turned four I was sent to daycare. It was in a pretty little house in a small town. The house was sky blue with white gables. It reflected well its name: Papillon Bleu, the blue butterfly. I loved going there and I was always disappointed when my dad pulled up in the driveway to bring me home. I had many friends there and we used to play on the hill in the backyard. My favorite part of the day was mealtime. The daycare had a wonderful cook who used to make us home made lunch everyday. Every mealtime included a sweet and tasty dessert. As a child, I had a big appetite and I used to always ask for seconds. I loved every kind of food. I was not a picky eater.

          I remember one day, after lunch, we had our scheduled dessert but this time it was something that I could not eat. I looked at it over the rim of the bowl with disgust plainly on written on my face. The gooey white mush that was in front of me was not only full of chunks but also piping hot. What others might call a creamy smooth rice pudding; I called a goopy, gunky, stomach churning mash. For the first time that I can remember, I refused to finish my meal. Now this did not please the daycare worker. It seems that she felt the need to force feed me this dessert whether I liked it or not.

           I do not understand her reasoning to this day. I can understand an adult coaxing and pleading a child to eat his or her veggies or to finish a glass of milk, but a dessert? As she was forcing the spoon in my mouth, I was begging and crying for her to stop. She did not. The result? I vomited all over her and the floor as soon as that disgusting substance invaded my mouth. It was not the taste that repulsed me, It was the consistency. As expected, she was not pleased but could not reprimand me since I warned her beforehand and did not do it on purpose. 

           This ordeal may seem like a trivial anecdote in a person's life but this greatly affected my future eating habits. To this day, I cannot stand rice pudding. I can't stand any pudding as a matter of fact. I can't even smell the odour of creamy vanilla flavoured foods. I especially can't put anything in my mouth that resembles the texture of pudding. Now, you may think that this does not limit very much my choices but you are mistaken. Apart from the obvious pudding, I still can't stomach oatmeal. The texture and temperature makes it a perfect twin to the feared rice pudding. Even cereal is out of bounds once it absorbs too much milk. Another food item that makes me gag is yogurt. To clarify, I used to love all these aliments before the incident but now they are taboo. My life may have been much different if it were not for the evilness of a daycare worker and the silminess of sweetened rice.

Méli-Mélo of baked goods

Here are some pictures of various baked goods I've made throughout the years. I'm feeling somewhat lazy tonight so I won't bother writing the recipes. Maybe I'll add them later. Just thought it was about time I added another post so here are a bunch of pictures for your enjoyment (or your mouth's)!

Lemon Meringue Pie

Caramel Crème Brûlée

Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl Brownies

4 Tier Cinnamon and Chocolate Cake

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Hazelnut-Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Bowtie Cookies with Apricot Preserves