Pumpkin Pie

Today we did the shopping and started preparing some things for Thanksgiving. We have to drive to Grandpa's house tomorrow, so we are doing everything we can ahead to make things easier on Thanksgiving Day. I baked two pumpkin pies with frozen piecrusts. I hate making pie crust. I don’t like baking in general. But piecrusts I particularly dislike because the dough is so hard to work with. As a teenager, I tried to get good at it. I usually ended up throwing a fit in frustration. Mom actually forbid me to make pie crust in the house. When I was in Korea I had to make a homemade crust for the pumpkin pie because you can’t buy any premade piecrust. People there don’t bake much at home because it’s not really a technique that is used in Korean cooking. I didn’t throw a fit, so I guess I’ve matured a little over the years. It was tough, though, and not flaky at all. With frozen piecrusts, baking a pie is fun. I love eating pie. Mom has a new recipe for pumpkin pie that uses a little bit of dark rum. Pumpkin pie is one of my top 3 holiday foods. The other two are turkey stuffing (cooked in the bird, of course) and cranberry sauce.

I like cooking, but not baking. I don’t like being bound by a recipe. I’m an improvisational cook and usually only use a recipe when trying something unfamiliar- new technique, unusual seasonings, or unfamiliar ingredients. Baking requires a more exact style or it doesn’t rise, is hard as a rock, or tastes like sawdust.