Next year I'll buy one...

... a pumpkin pie, that is.

This year, as things played out, we're having the smallest Thanksgiving Day gathering ever for our fam. Just the four of us. So I decided to take on making the pie myself. Normally, there's pumpkin pie, apple pie, my French silk pie, and even some birthday cake (when you're having a group of 20+, that's not too much.) So everybody gets a little of whatever they want, and it's all good. But this year, seeing as how we had two b-days occur just before T-day, I knew we'd have leftover birthday cake to eat, which meant even a single pie would be more than we probably needed.

However, pumpkin pie is a requirement for Thanksgiving. Not having it would be like not having turkey. Yet I couldn't bring myself to buy one, which meant taking on the task of baking one, which I'd never done before. My big sis Judy is the baker in the family - famous for her pies and cheesecakes. But I never bothered to learn from her.

I love pumpkin pie, and so do the kids; however, M doesn't always. Supposedly it's a texture thing. So I found this recipe in my favorite T-day cookbook for a pie made with creme fraise which makes it more of a cross between a pie and a cheesecake. So I went for it. But as the evening wore on, I began to hate the line, "Set over hot but not boiling water (in a double boiler) and cook, stirring, until the mixture is hot and thick." That's all it said. No time given, like in the cranberry recipe where it said, "Stir constantly for about ten minutes over medium-high heat until the berries begin to pop and the liquid begins to thicken." Those were specific directions which resulted in cranberries so amazing that even my son couldn't get enough of them (when the only fruit he likes to eat are grapes or apples.) However, with the pumpkin pie, B and I took turns stirring for over a half hour with no noticeable change in thickness! I was hot, tired, and ready for bed, but I still had to make the meringue mixture, fold it in, and then bake the darn thing!!

I finally gave up on the 'thickening' requirement and decided that 40+ minutes was plenty. I finished up the mixture and poured it into my beautifully golden pie shell. That's when I realized I had way more mixture than I should. Thankfully, I'd gotten some mini tart shells (thinking I'd try to send some pumpkin pie to my nephew who is serving in Afghanistan). So I had those to fill with the extra mix. I threw them in the oven, did some chores while they baked, and reported back to the hot kitchen once the timer went off.

I peered at the pies. They didn't look done to me, but the toothpick came out clean. I guess that's because they aren't the usual thick, dense consistency that can crack. Also, the creme fraise made it a lot lighter color than usual.

Hmmm.... I guess we'll just have to see tomorrow. I sure hope it was worth it. All I know is it's after 11:30 and I'm exhausted! I hope they've cooled enough, because I have to go to bed!!

P.S. I tried one of my tartlets just after it cooled, and I was decidedly unimpressed. It was NOT a cross between a traditional pumpkin pie and a cheesecake. However, after Thanksgiving dinner, we simply were too stuffed to break into the full pie and decided to eat the last three tartlets instead for a 'small morsel'. I never understood how essential the chilling process was to pumpkin pies. There is definintely a reason they're refrigerated! It really made them set up nicely and gave them the promised cheesecake-consisency. I'm feeling much better about my first foray into pumpin-pie making and plan on serving the full-sized pie when we have relatives over on Sunday.