This year marked my first ever celebration of Thanksgiving as I join in with the expat community and embrace new holidays and celebrations. Since I love to bake I decided to take up the challenge and create pumpkin pies for the two Thanksgiving feasts I was invited to attend. I have never made a pie before, nor even tastes pumpkin pie but I wanted to be able to pour out love over my dear friends and try something new that they would appreciate.
After failed attempts of cheating and get some canned pumpkin puree to Cambodia I came to the realisation that I would be making these dishes from scratch. At least four pies would be needed – two for each gathering – so it was going to mean a bit of work (perhaps the understatement of the century).
I decided to set aside three evenings for this project. The first night I had recruited two fellow Toul Korkians to assist in my somewhat crazy endeavours. They were quickly put to work of washing, cutting, deseeding, cooking and blending the delicious little pumpkins I picked up at the market (for just 1000r – about 25cents each) while I worked on the pie base and mixing the spices together to make a delightful concoction to tempt the taste buds.
The first night was not without its own dramas….with 2 hours of no power – making it rather difficult to proceed (well kinda impossible). At least we had music and laughter which gave me boost of encouragement to keep on going. I sent the troops away and continued cooking until 11:30 when a very fatigued me passed on my first two pies to Eddie to store in his freezer.
The next day things came together a bit better. I was able to bake two more pie plus assist my housemates in cleaning the house. Haha – I’m so very domestic :)
The last day of PPP was the baking of the final spare pie which I filled with extra pumpkin and went super generous on the spices. Over the three days spiced pumpkin scent has travelled through the whole house making it smell amazing. Still my fingers and toes were crossed in nervous anticipation on the taste - hoping and praying they would taste good and not become runny puddles when sliced for serving.
Results were positive for my first attempt at making this scrummy dish. Hazelnut base beats my failed pastry….hands down. Would totally make it with the hazelnut again as it has great flavour and compliments the pumpkin well.
Really loved Thanksgiving (the Americans are onto something). Was so good to be able to share an amazing feast with some of the most awesome people I have ever met. Have so much to be thankful for, but one of the big ones would be my friends who have become like family to me. I’m thankful that God has brought me to this amazing country and is working through my life to bless others here.
