The Pie Maker

One year when Alejandro visited Ohio in the fall, my cousin Gail prepared an early traditional Thanksgiving dinner for us.  One of the things that he had never had before was pumpkin pie.

He recently found a recipe for pumpkin pie online, so he decided to make one. Finding the ingredients was a challenge.  The typical Mexican supermarket does not have canned pumpkin; he had to go to a market and buy an entire pumpkin.  In Mexico a pumpkin is called "calabaza de Castilla" (Castilian squash) although it does not come from Spain.  The pumpkin was first cultivated in Mexico seven thousand years ago.  The supermarkets do not have jars of pumpkin pie spice either.  He had to buy the spices individually.  He even had difficulty finding Pyrex pie plates, but he finally found them, and he bought two.

Once he had everything he needed, he made two pies for his family.  They really liked the pies, especially his nephew, and the family devoured them.  He still had plenty of pumpkin, so on Friday evening he baked a couple more pies, one of which he was going to bring to me at the apartment.   He called me that evening and told me he would be late because he had a pie in the oven.

He finally arrived at the apartment around 11 P.M. along with his pie.

He told me, "I didn't bring wiped cream."  I smiled and corrected him, "You mean whipped cream."  After going out for a late supper, we came back to the apartment and had pie for dessert.  Even without "wiped" cream, it was very good.  It tasted very much like my mother's pies... not too heavy on the spices.  He did an excellent job. 

I will not be homesick for pumpkin pie this time of year!