Pumpkin Pie
This is Aya's first (and likely last) Hallowe'en in Canada, and she wanted to do some Hallowe'en stuff.
Trick-or-treating was out, given that we wouldn't like get many positive responses at the various doors, plus she was working on Hallowe'en itself.
So I figure pumkins were the way to go. Cutting a pumpkin, while fun, seemed like a lot of work and didn't strike me as something she'd get much of a kick out of (she didn't seem all that interested when it was discussed), so I figured I'd make pumpkin pie.
My mum (being Canadian) used to make pumpkin pie pretty much every year, and (frankly) it's goddamn awesome. I *love* pumpkin pie.
I've also worked out that it's been probably 2-3 years since I had it last.
A quick google got me this recipe. Yes, I settled on the first one I found (yes: 'found', not 'read through' :P), made a list of ingredients and went shopping.
Originally, I had planned to purchase a pumpkin and puree from fresh, *but* upon closer inspection that just seemed like a crazy amount of work. So I bought tinned pumpkin instead.
For those interested, the pie base was Pate Brisee.
I did warn Aya that pumpkin has a fairly unique taste, and may not be to her liking, but she seemed ok with it. Not enough to want more though. (more pie for Brian! :D )
She was somewhat stunned about the pie, though. Stunned that I had made it. Upon further investigation, it wasn't that she thought I was a bad cook (by fault of being male), more that she feels that short crust pastry is particularly difficult to make correctly.
Given the minimum quantities of everthing I had to buy (like 1kg of flour when I only needed 175g), I have sufficient ingredients to make a second Pumpkin Pie (Woot!), and probably 3 other pies of various fillings, once I get paid again.
This equates to awesomeness....... :D :D :D
(the pumpkin pie turned out perfectly, though it's quite a different recipe from wot my mum usually made. I also strongly suspect that she did the whole thing from fresh pumpkin. Given my lack of a food processor, a budget, and patience, that wasn't really an option. Maybe next year....)