Recipe: Roasted Chai Pumpkin Pie :: Easy Like A Sunday Morning

Easy Like a Sunday Morning, that’s how the recipes in my “Easy” category will be. Nothing rushed or frantic, nothing with a long list of ingredients. Something that is so easy, you don’t really need a recipe. Something that almost cooks itself or requires no cooking at all. Something that is as easy as pie

This blog post is a few days late. It was almost ready to post on Sunday afternoon when suddenly, our oldest son took ill. He has Diverticulitis. Being sick in the hospital is bad enough but the emergency room, suddenly flooded with water from a broken water main. Quick thinking staff got all the patients out and up to the safety of an upper floor. I had stepped away from my son’s bedside for about 15 minutes. What I came back to was scary. All of the stairwells and elevators were now blocked by security. No one could go downstairs. I asked about my son. They weren’t sure where he was but everyone I talked to assured me all the patients were okay. I felt helpless, not knowing where to go or how to find him. It was utter chaos downstairs. Reports that a wall had washed out had many wondering if the floor above was really that safe. 

After wandering aimlessly for what felt like forever, a hospital staff member grabbed me by the hand and took me to a room in one of the other buildings. It served as a gathering place for families who had become separated from their loved ones during the disaster.

They added my son’s name to their list and offered me some reassurance, coffee, tea, cookies and the companionship of others who were in the same rocky boat as me. Soon after arriving in the “family room”, one of the Social Workers said he had seen my son and he was doing fine. He said someone was on their way over to guide me back to the second floor Ambulatory Day Care Unit in the North Building.

When I reconnected with my son, it surprised me to discover only an hour had passed since the flooding had started. It felt sooo much longer than that! My son was in a procedure room, it was kinda like a mini operating room. Staff quickly hung bed sheets over the equipment. I guess it was to keep the equipment clean.

Inside the hospital things settled fairly quickly into some semblance of order. From what I heard, outside the hospital, things remained chaotic for hours. They closed roads all around the hospital. They only let the sickest people through to a temporary triage area set up in the parking garage. All others had to go to other hospitals. The triage area had Ambulances on standby to carry the sickest new comers to nearby hospitals. For miles around the hospital, traffic became gridlocked.

The hospital sort of went under lockdown. Media notifications went out telling visitors to stay away. New visitors got turned away, or were directed to go to the family gathering room in the West Medical Building. The only visitors allowed inside were those who had close family members in the ICU. And me, I managed to lie low and stay with my son until early evening. Security and Staff realized my son with his special needs, needed an attendant. Or maybe they were afraid I would cause a scene if they tried to force me to leave.

The flood started at about 9:00 am, when water began seeping in from overhead glass block windows. By 9:15-9:20 am, all Emergency Room patients, including at least 25 (like my son) who were bedridden, made it up to the second floor. The disbursement and reallocation of patients began shortly after. Some patients received treatment and got discharged, others sent by ambulance to nearby hospitals. By 5:00 pm that day, my son and two others were the last three emergency room patients who needed hospital beds (they were still on ER gurneys). They all went upstairs where room was made for them in one of the regular medical wards. My son was fortunate enough to get in a room. A couple of others spent the night out in the hallway.

Thanks to the quick actions and dedication of hospital staff, my son other than feeling a bit of anxiety over what was happening, was none the worse for the wear. His medical treatment may have suffered some delay and his eyeglasses were lost in the mêlée but seeing video images on the news of the water bursting through the glass block windows that had earlier been above the head of his bed, I know we have much that we are thankful for!!

So let me get back to my regular blog post and wish a Happy American Thanksgiving to all my family and friends in the United States!

I have not eaten Pumpkin Pie since I went gluten free almost two years ago. Pumpkin Pie is a Holiday favourite of mine. Topped with a little fresh whipped cream…yummy, nothing  like it!

I’m not sure why, but I’ve never tried making Pumpkin Pie from scratch before. Silly really, now that I know how super easy it is. Easy as pie!

I have a few batches of Roasted Pumpkin Purée in my freezer and some Handcrafted Chai Spice Mix in my spice rack. That’s almost half the ingredients I need right there.

I once was pretty good at making pastry pie crust but haven’t found the perfect gluten free pie crust recipe yet. If you have a favourite pie crust recipe, you would like to use, you will need enough to make a single crust pie.

I’ve had this Grain Free Pie Crust recipe from Gluten Free SCD And Veggie on my Must-Make-List for ages. I cut Vicky’s recipe in half to make a single crust for my pumpkin pie. 

The grain free crust comes together quickly in a food processor and then needs to chill for an hour or two before using. Even after chilling I found the dough was really soft. It’s nothing like what I remember from working with traditional wheat flour pastry dough.

Instead of a standard pie dish, I decided to use a spring-form pan for my pumpkin pie. It turned out well. Instead of rolling the dough out on wax paper and struggling to get it in the pan, I just used my hands to press the dough into place and then rolled a small drinking glass over the surface to smooth it down. 

As you can see in the first picture, I used a fork to pierce some vent holes in the crust. Not sure if it’s necessary with a GF crust but figured it wouldn’t hurt. The crust then went into the oven for 10 minutes to help it set before filling with the pie filling. Again I’m not sure it was a necessary step but my intuition told me it would be a good thing to do. There’s one thing I’ve learned about gluten free baking, you should always trust your intuition.

The pie turned out beautifully. The fresh pumpkin purée and chai spices really boost the flavour. If you’re after a more classic taste, omit chai spices and use pumpkin pie spices instead.

For the crust, I used a half batch, or single crust of this grain free recipe by Gluten Free SCD And Veggie. The measurements I used were as follows…1 3/4 Cup almond flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 3 Tbsp butter and 1 1/2 Tbsp honey. You can hop on over to Vicky’s site to get the directions. I used a spring-form pan and pre-baked the crust for 10 minutes before adding the filling.

 

 

 

To see a text listing of Laureen’s gluten free recipes, click here

For dairy, egg, nut and gluten free flour substitutions, click here

Why take Folic Acid?Scientific research has shown that if women take 0.4 mg of Folic Acid 3-4 months prior to and during pregnancy, the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida is reduced by up to 75%. Please consult your physician to determine what is the right amount of Folic Acid for you.

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Healthy 2Day Wednesdays hosted by Anne at Authentic Simplicity

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This Is Real Thursday hosted by France at Beyond The Peel

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