Originally I volunteered to make pies for Thanksgiving dinner, and my hostess responded that she and her daughter love to make pies, so I planned to make something else for the traditional feast. Then she wrote that she had searched 5 stores in Puerto Vallarta and couldn't find canned pumpkin. Alas, her next email revealed that her oven had broken, so could I make the pies. Oui, bien sur!
First, bake the pumpkin!After chilling the dough for about 15 minutes, I manage to make a rectangle of the dough and sprinkle some of the reserved crumbs on top (mom's secret to flaky crust.) I used a glass to roll out the dough. Then my neighbor, Erica, lent me her rolling pin....she wisely had made her pies the day before.
I forgot to mention that my oven has no temperature markings, just a plus and a minus. Hmmmmm, how does one tell the correct temperature? Back to Erica's, where I borrowed an oven thermometer. So I started out at supposedly 425 deg. F for 15 minutes and supposedly reduced the heat to 375 for 30 minutes. At one point, this required opening the oven and turning on a huge fan to reduce the heat. I almost fainted when, despite all this, my pumpkin pie turned out nearly black on top! How could I take this pie out in public? No time to make another. I pictured my mother's ashes fluttering around in her crypt.
And guess what? FOUR pies for 8 people. Turned out Ellen's daughter brought canned pumpkin from California, so she made a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie in the toaster oven. Ellen voluteered to cover the top of mine with whipped cream to camouflage its darkened top (a gallant attempt save my reputation), but I declined, se we put it on the side. I have to say, the flavor tasted just like home, though the crust was more powdery than flaky. Hearsay is that Mexican flour has little or no gluten which would explain the softness of the dough. I have not been able to verify this, though I know different wheats produce flours of varying gluten contents. Let me know, Dear Readers, if you can shed light on this baking dilemma. And, by the way, the Apple Pecan pie (which mom would say is "gilding the lily," was really yummy, though first prize from the small circle of voters went to the pecan pie.