The Keeper of the Flame

In case I ever misplace this ... which I thought I had done, until I ran across it in the pages of my Snoopy address book, which serves as a filing cabinet of sorts for every valuable scrap of paper that comes along, until I no longer deem it valuable ... which is usually about 20 years from now:



And the flip-side:



Grandma Ginny’s pumpkin pie was different from any pumpkin pie I ever tasted. Her pumpkin pie was spicier and sweeter ... it didn’t even look the same as the others! Whereas most pumpkin pies are about 3 cinnamon shakes/shades darker than the color of an actual pumpkin (basically: dark orange), Grandma Ginny’s pumpkin pie was brown. And it was an acquired taste, too: I can remember, briefly, thinking it tasted rather strange. Too clove-y or something.

But then, one Thanksgiving or Christmas, her pumpkin pie became my all-time favorite pie. Ever.

She used to bake pumpkin pies in mass quantities and then freeze them, thawing a few whenever the holidays rolled around. She brought at least 3 pies to every Thanksgiving and Christmas gathering of our not-so-large family; then, when I and my sister and our cousins moved out on our own, she would bring an extra pie for each one of us to take home. (I would have a slice for breakfast for the entire week after those holidays.)

When we were kids, Grandma used to bake kid-sized pumpkin pies in those potpie-sized pie tins. I liked those best, maybe because was a higher pumpkin-to-crust ratio or something, who knows.

A few years ago, I finally remembered to have her write out the recipe. I expected some kind of “secret ingredient,” but no. The only part of the recipe that seems even a little bit out of the ordinary is the fact that she always used an entire container of pumpkin pie spice (I believe most recipes call for part of a container ... but I could be wrong, for I have not looked at another pumpkin pie recipe for a very long time).

Last year was our first Thanksgiving without Grandma Ginny, so I decided to bake a pumpkin pie. And I followed the recipe to the letter ... even though, admittedly, there are a few parts of the recipe that I sort of had to figure out for myself.

For example, if you are trying this at home: This recipe actually makes enough for 2-plus pumpkin pies ... which is fine, since the frozen pie crusts I buy come in 2-packs. (What, you thought I made my own pie crust??! Please.) Also, any true cook will notice that there is no baking time on the recipe.

I just baked one. I think it was in there for about an hour. I might give the second one a little longer.

The house smells wonderful when a pumpkin pie is baking.

: )

Sometime between today and yesterday, my leaf let go.

Honest to God, I looked for it (briefly) before I went into the house. To no avail.

And then I looked up and saw, clinging to a bare sweetgum branch and sort of smooshed up next to an evergreen, a leaf that bore a resemblance to mine.

Could have been!