Pumpkin Pie

This weekend I was craving a pumpkin pie but, we haven’t gone on our traditional pumpkin picking extravaganza.  And, while I was enthusiastic about making one, I also knew I was in a severe time crunch.  So, without any guilt,  I bought a pre-made pie crust from Trader Joe’s (they do have a great selection).

This particular recipe is so easy.  In under 20 minutes, I mixed the ingredients for the filling, poured it into the shell and popped it in the oven.  Within 30 minutes, the pie looked amazing.  When I took it out of the oven I couldn’t believe my eyes.  To me, it was the vision of pie perfection.  Of course the crust was perfectly browned and completely symmetrical all the way around and, the burnt orange center filling was evenly cooked from side to side.  I couldn’t wait to test the dessert out on my difficult panel of judges: my kids.  I did what any insecure person would do.  From school pick up until dinner time, (that’s 3 hours) I continually talked up the pie like it had won the gold ribbon in the town pie bake-off.   And, when I got the pie warmed up, I made a spectacle out of cutting the most perfect pie triangles for each kid.

I created a lot of hype before that first piece of pie was served.

Maybe too much hype.

Without having tasted the pie myself, and before each kid could even swallow their first bite, I hassled them, “Isn’t it soo delicious?”

My daughter smirked and claimed with a crooked grin that it tasted “a little bit like baby food.”

My son looked at my daughter first and then looked at me.  After detecting the disappointment in my eyes, he unconvincingly proclaimed, “it’s pretty good Mom.”

I then took my first bite. And it was good! Even with the canned (organic) pumpkins and the store-bought crust.

And, the consistency of the pumpkin and spice filler did resemble that of baby food!

The best part? It was made in my own kitchen.

Enjoy.

Yes, I really baked this beauty!