pumpkin pie

my mother always used the canned filling, even though my grandfather, my nonno, was an italian pastry chef. there was something about that canned filling. sweet, full of gluten, dependable. well, easy and delicious, so who could really complain? I certainly wouldn't when i would easily scarf down, oh, ya know three/four pieces at a time. with a large heaping of coolwhip on each one. Just to be sociable as my uncle charlie would say.

we had our fair share of italian family spats over the turkey. usually about why i was a vegetarian, and how turkey wasn't really meat anyway, and what an insult and familial travesty it was to fill my plate and belly with salad and greenbeans and stuffing. But we'd soon get over it and get distracted by, well, the pumpkin pie.

i learned a lot by watching my nonno bake. "how do you know how much to use nonno? you're not using a recipe?" i would ask, slightly in awe and slightly mortified that i would never be able to reproduce such a masterpiece. "Suzanna, you just know. In life you don't always have a recipe, you know, sometimes you gotta feel it, and you see, a leela dis a leela dat(his italian accent) and you taste. if you love the food, it will love you back, for it chose you on this day to feed your family." I remember when he said this,"you just know." I remember running around the kitchen grasping at a scrap piece of paper and a pen feverishly trying to eye-ball the measurements as he pinched and tossed and tasted, with no cups, no spoons just his "feeling".

there are days i walk around this city wishing for a recipe. Just so i could turn off my "feeling" and follow the fold. could you imagine if we had a dating recipe? okay so add three tablespoons of light stroking of the hair, uh uh, not too much. one cup of mischievous smiles. two cups of lightly sifted sweet kisses, witty jokes and wavy hair tossed lightly off the shoulder. let simmer for a few days, ahhhh he's yours. taste it, deeeelicious.

but alas, as nonno's words ring true, you can't always follow along, go with the collective, repeat the unrepeatable. each pie has its own flavor its own life, each day a different sunrise, each moment a choice. i wonder what would happen if the world began to listen to their "feeling", like nonno, and not what they "should do" or "have to do", or better yet, the ego.

as we give thanks for all we have and don't have this weekend, we can take a moment to sit with that "Feeling" and see what its telling us. where its guiding us. happy thanksgiving.

for all you canned pumpkin pie makers, who wanna follow a recipe, here is a great one! enjoy!...

• Cook Time:

  50 min

• Level:

  Easy

• Yield:

  6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
• 1 piece pre-made pie dough
• Whipped cream, for topping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

or for the I'm "feeling" adventurous types....

http://www.pickyourown.org/pumpkinpie.php