Ali’s Peruvian Thanksgiving Adventure Part 1 – In Which a Pumpkin Dies Horribly

I decided, in honour of it being Thanksgiving back home, to have an adventure.  I mentioned to the other volunteers that this weekend was Thanksgiving, and one of them is a fantastic cook, so they all thought it was a great idea to do something Canadian.  Someone pointed out that it would be wonderful if they could find a pumpkin pie, and I said that i might make one, if I could find the ingredients.

My curiosity piqued, so I went on a preliminary excursion to search for ingredients.  I discovered a few problem areas:  pumpkin, shortening (or a pie crust), and spices.  So basically, the whole pie.  However, I happen to be terribly stubborn, and when I decide to do something, I will do it if it kills me, dammit.  Oh, it is also important to note that I have never, previously, baked a pie, nor have I ever baked anything from scratch.

Adventure Part One (or, “I think I have pumpkin in my hair”)

Step one in the process was to find pumpkin filling.  My dad warned me not to buy “pumpkin pie filling” and instead to go for “pumpkin puree.”  Unfortunately, I didn’t have that luxury.  I first went to Plaza Vea, where they did not have pumpkins, nor pumpkin puree, nor pumpkin pie filling, nor plain old pumpkin pies, nor any form of pie whatsoever.  Then I went to Wong, which is another supermarket that’s a bit further away.  They did not have pumpkin puree, but they had pumpkins, and they had pies, so this was a promising start I thought.  I bought a likely candidate and brought him home with me.

Meet Pablo the Pumpkin

Pablo was chosen for his lack of intelligence.  As you can see, he was dropped on his head several times as a child, and has an odd number of teeth.  Also, you can’t tell from the photo but he still has yet to learn how to wipe his tush after going to the bathroom. Unfortunately, I begin to realize after a few minutes that Pablo is a bit of a masochist, as he seems to enjoy being chopped up.

Pablo the Masochist

His little brother Pablito, however, is apparently much more sensible and is rightly terrified.

Pablito the Pumpkin

I found two different recipes for a pumpkin puree: one says cut the pumpkin in half and stick it in the oven for 90 minutes.  The other says cut it into chunks and stick it in the oven for 20 minutes.  I like the fast version better, so I try that, having no idea what the quality of the pumpkin puree will be like.  Unfortunately, our oven doesn’t have tick marks on the temperature dial, just a range between “hot” and “more hot”, so I guess that 400 degrees is near the more hot end.

Pumpkin chunks

I stick the pumpkin chunks in the oven as instructed, and wait approximately 20 minutes.  The oven doesn’t have a timer either, and our microwave doesn’t have a timer-only option (i suppose i could microwave a glass of water for 20 minutes but that might not be the best plan).  Of course I don’t have a watch, so I go by the time it says on my phone, approximately.  In the process I forget which time I put the pumpkin in.

They come out of the oven looking I guess like they are supposed to, who knows, and I am supposed to stick them in the blender and puree them.  Easier said than done!

As Pablito waches in horror

I stick the pumpkin in the blender, as instructed.  The recipe was very clear: do not add water.  If there is extra water with the pumpkins when it comes out of the oven, drain it off.  Okay, I think.  I turn on the blender.  Pumpkin does not turn into a gooey paste.  In fact, it stays pretty chunky, and doesn’t really move at all.  I poke at it with a fork.  Nothing happens.  After a bunch of fork-poking, I become convinced that I was making more progress with my fork than with the blender blades.  So I give in and add some water, to okay results.  Then a second batch of pumpkin comes out of the oven and I repeat the process (there wasn’t enough space in the casserole dish for it all).  The second batch I accidentally add more water than I intended, so it comes out rather soupy.  I hastily add back in the first batch of pumpkin puree and try to even out the consistency.

It ended up smoother than this.

I’m not even sure if this is the right colour.  I know in Canada we have carving pumpkins and pie pumpkins and cute little ones that aren’t good for much other than looking cute.  But here I didn’t have any options at all, the pumpkins were called “American Pumpkins,” so I’m really not sure how tasty they are.  Whatever, it’s an adventure.

And all the while, the remains of Pablo watch on, driving me mad... those eyes... that grin... what does he know that I don't?

Continue with part two…