[donotprint] I vaguely remember the first time I made my first pumpkin pie. My father, a diabetic, commissioned me to bake him a sugar-free version so he wouldn’t be tempted by all the sugary desserts during Thanksgiving dinner. I was 11 years old without a mixer, pie plate, or a cookbook to guide me. What I decided to do was follow the pie recipe on the back of a Libby’s pumpkin can and use a frozen pre-made pie shell. I followed the instructions exactly as written and was excited when I saw there no were cracks on the baked custard surface and that my pumpkin pie actually looked just as I hoped it would. My excitement only lasted a brief moment and turned to disgust rather quickly. I took a bite and had to spit it out into a napkin. Pumpkin pie without any sweetener is so bland tasting I thought I was eating store-bought baby food in a jar -yuck!
Over the years I’ve experimented with different recipes and sweeteners in search of the perfect pumpkin pie. I know people have different qualifiers in what makes a good pie. For me, I like homemade pies to be dense with a tad bit more spices than the Costco pie variety. I also like my pumpkin pies not to be too sweet, otherwise I can only eat a sliver of a slice because the pie is so sweet it distracts the flavor of the spiced pumpkin custard. [click to continue…]
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A few years ago I started a tradition of making sweet potato pies instead of pumpkin for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I can’t remember my reasoning behind the decision except for a deep desire to go against the “traditional” favorite. After all, my brother is the one usually assigned to bring a pie and its a well known fact this means “Costco”. And for the record… I think Costco pies are not bad – just over played.
This sweet potato pie taste very similar to pumpkin except the texture is slightly denser and the flavor richer. Because sweet potatoes are already naturally sweetened, this recipe uses less than a cup of brown sugar. As a result the pie filling is not overly sweet – instead I find the sweetness just perfect. [click to continue…]
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Who can resist a freshly baked apple crisp? If you can see from the picture above, my 17 month old son Eli sure couldn’t. As I was arranging the food on the table to take pictures of one of my favorite Fall desserts, I briefly walked to a different room to grab my camera. When I returned, guess who I found picking away at my cranberry apple crisp!?! BUSTED! Honestly it was the funniest and sweetest Kodak moment. I started laughing and started taking pictures of the whole thing. Who could blame the little guy because what is Fall without a great recipe for apple crisp?
Earlier this week my friend Jen had tweeted about making a cranberry apple crisp with dried cranberries. I mentioned to her that I’ve used canned cranberries with great success. Twelve years ago a friend taught me how to make a cranberry apple crisp using a can of cranberry sauce and since then it has become one of my “Go-To” desserts. Every time I make one it’s always a hit at family gatherings. Now days instead of a can of cranberries, I use fresh cranberries which have been reduced with orange juice and sugar. [click to continue…]
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