I love pumpkin pie. I have not eaten it in a few years, first I was off eggs, then I was friends with eggs again, but struggling to make a gluten free pie crust.
I feel I have now gotten a decent crust.
Here is the scoop.
Gluten free pastry (enough for 1 crust with some waste)*
2 cups Nameste Perfect Flour Blend (gluten free)
2/3 c very cold butter, cubed in small pieces
pinch or two of sugar
6-7 Tbs ice water
*I have no idea if other flour blends will work. I have only tried this one.
In the food processor (using the dough blade) add sugar and flour to the bowl. Pulse once to combine, then add butter and pulse until you have course meal. (since there is no gluten to develop, you need not be as careful as you would be with wheat flour.) Then add water by Tbs, until the dough pulls away from the bowl of the processor. I find it takes all 6-7 Tbs. The dough will we firm.
Without touching the dough, dump it into a large plastic bag. Once in bag, form into a ball. Then seal the bag.
I let the dough rest AT LEAST an hour, in the refrigerator. I find the longer it rests, the easier it is to work with. Again, there is no gluten, so the dough is not going to behave like normal pastry. It just isn't. It is on a good day, slightly disagreeable dough. Fair warning.
Tear two sheets of wax paper, slightly bigger than you plan to roll the dough. I find wax paper keeps things from sticking. Sprinkle with a bit of of the gluten free flour or to be cost conscious, some white rice flour, which is the cheapest, I think. Flatten the dough ball slightly and then roll. The dough may tear at the edges or split, normal and we can work with that. Do not go as thin as you would with regular pastry dough.
Gently peal away the top layer of wax paper, once you have the dough rolled out and then flip the dough into a prepared pie pan. Use the wax paper, to help press the dough into the pie pan and then gently peal away this layer of wax paper.
Now "repair" any tears and work to fix any flaws, using the extra dough, you cut away from the overhang. You can crimp the edge any way that works.
Put this back in the refrigerator, while you prepare the filling.
Preheat over to 400 degrees.
I use a version of the pumpkin pie filling recipe from the Libby's can.
2 c fresh pumpkin puree**
1 can evaporated milk
2 eggs
3/4 c to 1 c sugar (I use Sugar in the Raw, no more white sugar in this house) also, taste your fresh pumpkin, sometimes it is sweeter or less so, then add the sugar
1/2- 1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix the sugar and spices in a small bowl. In a larger bowl gently beat eggs, add in pumpkin and sugar mixture. Pour and stir the milk in slowly.
I find putting the pie pan on cookie sheet means less mess.
Slowly pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie shell. Carefully put the pie into the preheated oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 and bake another 35-45 minutes, until the center is set.
Cool. Eat.
**making your own pumpkin (or any orange squash really) puree is SO EASY. Break the stem off the pie pumpkin, place in the over at 350 for 1 hour. After an hour, turn off heat and let the pumpkin cool as the oven cools. Then let it cool a bit longer on the kitchen counter. At this point you can cut it in half, remove the seeds and easily peel the pumpkin. Place the flesh into the food processor and process until smooth. You may or may not need to add just a splash or two of water. Use in a pie or store in the fridge for a few days or freeze for up to 6 months.
Squash cooked, pureed and frozen is available well into the winter or spring.
E is not a fan of that many veggies. Peas, yes. Carrots, maybe. Green beans and broccoli, under protest. At our house the rule is you must eat fruits and veggies at every meal. (Not always breakfast, but ideally breakfast too.)
E however is a HUGE fan of sweet potatoes, squash and pumpkin, in muffins.
I adapted this recipe from a Sweet Potato Bread recipe, which was in the Penzey's Spice Catalog.
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (a 50-50 mixture of white and whole wheat works well)
1 1/2 c sugar (I never, NEVER use this much sugar. Taste your puree. If it is sweet, you can reduce the sugar to 1 c for sure.)
1.5 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg (I LOVE nutmeg, but less to taste)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup squash puree
1/2 canola oil (or sunflower or safflower or a light cooking oil)
1/3 c of water (less if your puree is on the thinner side)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well. In a small bowl combine the eggs, squash puree, oil and water. Beat well. Stir in dry ingredients until moistened. Portion into lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until done. Cool for 5 minutes, remove from tins and cool on rake. (Makes 12-18 depending on your muffin tins.)
Store in sealed container. Freeze in baggies.
Ironically, I felt this did not work that well with the sweet potatoes. They were very dense, but with squash it is perfect.
E loves these. He will eat them for breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
This month, I am participating in Allie's #capturingLife photo contest.
The goal is to take a photo that, well captures life. It is a totally open ended, unjudged personal challenge.
I shot this at the park, on election day. It was an awesome day. Perfect weather and great day to be home and enjoying the kids and H.
Go check out all the wonderful entries. Also, jump in. The ins and outs are up on her blog!
As for my entry, I thought the bright green grass, popping out of a pile of dead leaves and brilliant orange leaves was very symbolic of the life cycle. We are dying from the minute we take our first breath... and on and on it goes.
Footloose "Fake I.D." Music Video Official [HD] - Big & Rich ft. Gretchen Wilson
So both of these songs are new to me! Natalie I am very familiar with, just not this song. I am going to go out on a limb, because I do live under a rock, and say that some under-inspired Hollywood type is remaking Footloose. Ugh!
This election season, as annoying and divisive as it was, I do believe it raised some issues, which I think as a country, are bipartisan and need to be discussed, civilly and settled.
One is ID. In general. We as Americans like people to believe we are who we say we are because we say we are who we are. Many Europeans think we are crazy people, for not having some way to prove we are who we say we are! And before my Midwestern friends jump all over me and chant, driver's license, let us remember that not everyone drives in this country and I for one, am not convinced that the DMV, BMV or whatever you call your local license office is that high and tightwith their process.
I also think this would settle a number of issues, if implemented fairly and over a rolling period of time.This national ID would stop the crying over election fraud, medicare/Medicaid fraud and actually streamline the ID process. Everyone gets one and they get it for life. It seems updating pictures on a set interval would work too. I think it would require a study, but it might actually be cheaper, if there was one central card issuer and things like driving, social security, ect, would be add ones. (In Singapore, your national ID functions as your library card. Over kill perhaps, but it would be less to carry.)
The question however is deeper than that. It is about identity, which is different from identification. The identification is actually just a classification. AMEX for years used the slogan "membership has its privileges." Yes, yes it does. Think about it. Every club you join has some sort of identification. Maybe a membership card. Maybe a uniform, maybe both.
I am not totally convinced, that the bulk of the election fraud crowd, isn't just a tiny, tiny bit worried that perhaps there are more and more people who don't look like them, who are voting. Perhaps the make up of their communities are not a homogenous as they used to be. I would like to refer people to the latest US census. There is a mathematical proof that the US is made up of a variety of people, even in the smallest of towns.
I am the first to admit I am ambivalent about the politics of immigration reform. Why? Because we have no clue what we are doing! We do not have a system for tracking people. I mean it is really easy, if you want to invest the funds. If someone stays over their VISA and is not trapped at JFK in the sterile zone due to a delay or cancellation, you go find them ASAP. Why don't we do this? It is storm trooperish and gonzo expensive. That's why.
Also we have this anchor baby thing going on. Again, I have no real opinion on the custom of allowing citizenship to be based on being born in the US. In the 1790s, it made sense. In the 1800s it made sense. In 2012, does it still make sense?
And let's be frank. Sending the parents back and keeping the 5 year old makes no sense and frankly, sending the 5 year old packing with the parents, isn't ok either. The 5 year is an American. This is a questions with many ethical dilemmas. I think perhaps it is time to have that conversation.
Also we hear a ton about the boarders...
Remember the hikers in Iran/Iraq who wandered over the boarder. Has anyone seen the boarder we share with Canada? In the woods? I doubt we have agents paroling in South Dakota.Honestly, the southern boarder is only marginally better. Unless we are willing to build a Wall, like the one that cut through Berlin and divided Germany, a trickle of those who are coming illegally, will continue to happen. I also am not sure, how one would secure the miles and miles of coast line we have. Is someone really going to set up monitoring stations every 50 feet? Fence off all the beaches.
One way we like to monitor illegal immigration is to foist it off onto the employers. I think this is poor choice. First of all, not every business has the technology to verfy driver's licenses, ect.I had a client, whoacquired a factory, that had kept employment records on paper, like they had for 50 years. They paid to have the last 5 yrs plugged into excel. What did I find, as I tried to sort the file for 401k purposes. Yep, found about 2 dozen guys with the exact same social... um, hello. With pencil and paper record keeping (which as of 8 years ago, still happened from time to time) how are you to know. I also do not think it is business's job to be the defacto INS. It puts them in a bit of a quandary and we are back to, how do we prove who belongs and who doesn't.
Back in the 1800s-- it was a bit easier. Everyone knew everyone. Strangers were, well strange. Now NYC is like a pool of strangers. Maybe you know someone in your building. Maybe you don't. I love that about NYC. The anonymity. It is nice. Sometimes.
I think we vote the way we do, because back in the day, we voted that way because there were WAY less of us and everyone knew everyone else. (Like in Iceland. Everyone knows everyone or knows someone who does. Strangers stick out. There are roughly 300,000 residents on the entire island.) I barely know my neighbors. On purpose.
This year I voted early. No ID required. I filled out the card. The lady messed with the computer and made small talk, gave me a sticker. No ID. She did not know me from a ham sandwich. While I am not completely comfortable with this, historically it makes sense. When our voter laws were written, when the custom of voting was set in the US, we likely all voted in the local one room school house or church basement. (As an aside, voting in a church makes me very uneasy...)
Today, the make up of our country is very different. We cannot look at someone on the street and say, "She is an American and He is not." Visual ID isn't going to work. Shouldn't be allowed to work any longer. Skin color and clothing choices no longer are a mark of membership in the club.
E and I had a chat a few months ago.
Someone had told his Indian buddy, he should go back where he came from. This got E wondering, "where did we come from. Where would we go back to?"
I told him that was complex and easy. If we had to go back to where Daddy was from, it was a slam dunk. Fatherland here we come! H is 100% German.
I pose a more complicated ethic picture. On my mother's side it is Wales and England. My maternal grandmother was a Jones. Her relation-- Davy Jones, was a Squirrel Hunter. My maternal grandfather was some mix of English. It is a smidgen dubious.
On my father's side, it is even more dubious. Some mix of German, Irish, Scot-Irish, and Native American.
E commented that it would be easier to work with Daddy's heritage.
You think?
What we have is an identity crisis as a whole and an identification crisis. There aren't any easy answers to these questions. That said, the census data is clear, the face of America is changing and rapidly. The old ways are not serving their purpose and frankly some shouldn't.
Time is changing. Are we prepared to change with it is the real question.
It is no secret. I dislike the Christmas season. The commercialism, the non-stop bad music that takes over Muzak everywhere. The crowds, the gimmes, the fights over discounted televisions.
Bah. Bah. Bah.
That said, there are a lot of very charitably minded people and alot of good is done during this season. So I will try to remain positive. I will not shop on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. I will aim to shop local or artisan made, when I can.
I am also going to try and highlight some nice holiday options, on Fridays. These are businesses or organizations that I like. No one is giving me anything to do this (I mean they could and I would totally toot my own horn if they did but I am not being compensated as I type this post. I am however sitting in the dark, wondering why I choose not to put on socks. A different matter entirely.)
This week I will also refer to my entry a few years ago. As we enter the season of food drives, please, please think about people in need who have issues like I do. Gluten Intolerance and food allergies, are not just issues of wealthy and middle class families. While the Kroger brand of mac and cheese is great and on sale this week, many families cannot eat it for a variety of reasons. So think about more whole food choices, with no processed sauces or additives. I say look for 5 ingredient or less foods.
This could include:
shelf stable soy milk or nut milks
apple sauce -- with no added sugar
peanut butter or soy butter or sun butter
plain instant oatmeal (not gluten free, but great for people with other allergies)
plain instant rice ceral
gluten free flour blend
trail mix
dried fruit such as raisins and cranberries
banana chips
plain rice -- instant or slow cook
cooking oil
dried beans, lentils, peas
canned fruit, with no added sugar
powdered milk
instant coffee
canned milk
canned beans -- but read the labels, just beans, no funny stuff
gluten free crackers/rice crackers
all fruit jams/preserves
gluten free cereals/granola
gluten free breakfast bars/granola type bars
Call ahead, will the pantry take winter squash, potatoes, apples? Gift cards? Many pantries meet their clients needs this way.
I cannot imagine trying to meet my dietary needs, with a very limited income. Can you imagine if you were a family on the edge and a child or adult in the family was struggling with uncontrolled IBS/Celiacs or other issues due to an inability to find wholesome, whole food choices.
The reality is all the items on my list are generally healthier options for everyone. We all benefit from less processing and less sugar and less junk in our food. So while you are giving someone with allergies or intolerance some options, you are also giving everyone something very healthy.
