HistoryDiva And The Pumpkin Pie

…or Unemployment Means Lots of Semi-productive Free Time.

Guess what I did today?

(Because the post title gives nothing away…)

I invaded my mother’s kitchen and baked two pumpkin pies for tomorrow’s holiday meal. I love my mother, I really do, but when she actually mentioned purchasing a frozen pre-made pie for our family’s holiday dessert I thought I was going to burst into tears! There are just some corners you don’t cut and homemade pumpkin pie for the most awesome food related holiday on the planet is one of them.

So I volunteered to make the pie.

And ya’ll…I’ve NEVER MADE PUMPKIN PIE BEFORE!

Me and my big mouth.

So I went shopping yesterday (and almost had a panic attack in the middle of the grocery store…I’m sure it had more to do with the crowds and the feeling of being trapped then the prospect of having to produce two perfect pumpkin pies but more on that in another post) to pick up the ingredients that I would need that Mom didn’t already have.

Two cans of pumpkin, two cans of evaporated milk, two pie shells and one tub of Cool Whip later I was ready…or at least as ready as it was possible for a person who can’t boil water without burning it (I’m kidding…sorta) to be when faced with the prospect of pie production.

Now cooking is much easier then it actually looks. In fact there is only one real trick to it and here it is: You pick up the box/can/jar/bag of whatever it is you are cooking, turn it over and READ THE DIRECTIONS.

Rocket science it ain’t ya’ll.

Anyway, here’s all the ingredients I needed and can I just take a moment to say… “Will you check out that awesome avocado green sugar canister? 1974 all the way, baby!”

You measure and mix and do your best to avoid knocking the container of eggs off the counter.

You make a fantastically gooey mess…but that is why God invented dishwashers.

Carefully put the pies into the oven…careful because a filled pie shell is not only fragile and tippy but also amazingly heavy! I put them onto a big baking sheet because knowing my luck they were destined to explode while cooking and that would just be a craptastically huge mess to clean up.

And your Dad comes in and stands behind you and eats a banana for his breakfast and all I can say about that is: BANANA!!! RIGHT BEHIND ME!!! GAHHH!!!!

63 minutes later you have two amazingly edible looking pumpkin pies.

Let them sit on cooling racks for two hours before you either serve them or refrigerate them and then just stand back and take a look at your amazing success.

Check that out.

Two pies, all by myself.

I’m fantastically impressed with myself right now.