Hey there, pumpkin. 🎃 Happy Saturday to ya. Two (not-so-pressing) pumpkin-related things on this glorious weekend morning:
First, it occurred to me *just now* that despite the fact that the season o’ pumpkins is in full swing, I’ve yet to have a pumpkin spice drink. 😲
AND THAT MUST BE REMEDIED ASAP.
We’re taking CoyCoy to a socially distanced Halloween dance party/pumpkin patch at her dance studio today, and to ensure that I have plenty of energy to do the Monster Mash (it was a graveyard smash!), I plan to drink a massive pumpkin spice drink with all the fixings.
Oh, and you know you’ve crossed a certain bridge when your Halloween party plans involve slamming a pumpkin spice latte in the early afternoon so you can dance to Baby Shark — with feeling! — at a children’s party.
Second pumpkin related item: I need a reliable pumpkin pie recipe ASAP because I’m still in the thick of Pie Quest 2020, and last Saturday, I made, not one, but TWO absolutely terrible gluten-free pumpkin pies.
Seriously, totally gross and inedible. The filling was terribly bland, and the pre-made gluten-free pie crust was so overcooked that it turned into a crispy cracker.
Pies are kicking my baking butt, man!
Anywho, if you have a pumpkin pie recipe that doesn’t let you down, please drop it for me in the comments. Either gluten-full or gluten-free would be cool. Thank you in advance.
- Fun fact about perfumes: “When you smell lavender or rose in a perfume, maybe 90 percent of the time what you’re actually smelling is a linalool or geranyl acetate compound, lab-made replicas of the flowers in bloom.” And apparently it’s been that way since the 1800s. So, now, driven by consumer demand, big perfume houses are working to create more naturally derived scents.
- Now you can smell like Sir Anthony Hopkins! (Side note: I wonder if Hannibal Lecter would approve of this scent?)
- Science says that certain scents can create specific emotional and physiological reactions. If that’s the case, can somebody please point me to a candle that will chill me-the-eff out?! My anxiety thanks you in advance.
- Apparently, partying at Studio 54 meant swimming in the scent of YSL Opium!
- Byredo and Ikea are teaming up to make scented candles for your home.
- Dudes like to wear nail polish.
- 9 of the best reusable cotton rounds, and 8 of the best claw clips to put in your hair.
- ’90s-style makeup? YES, PLEASE.
On an ’80s kick.
Still one of my favorites.
Just introduced Connor Claire to this gem.
I’m really enjoying Robert’s videos.
You still count.
Got any Halloween plans on your to-do list?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Christine says
October 24th, 2020 at 4:18 pm🎤 “Hast du etwas Zeit für mich?
Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von neunundneunzig Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont….”
Me and a band of other lawyers and judges (aided by my drummer hubby, who also helped with my German pronunciation) were rehearsing this for our set for a fundraiser before covid shut all of that down. 😭 GREAT SONG for sure tho, I hope Coywolf loves it, too!
Robert Welsh is a gem and I really appreciated Wayne Hoss’s recent video. I’m all about anti-ageism, as opposed to anti-aging.
Lately I’ve started to wear fragrance again, and glitter, and I rather like it! Can someone pick up some Byredo-Ikea collab candles for me, please??? No Ikea (or Trader Joe’s!) on the island… 😥
Christine says
October 24th, 2020 at 8:10 pm*Goss
Tatiana says
October 24th, 2020 at 4:47 pmHope the Coywolf had fun at her Halloween dance party/pumpkin patch.
Opium just does not smell the same as it did in the 70’s and 80’s. I love my vintage bottle.
Pumpkin pie. Consider the crust and filling as separate entities. Find a good gluten free pie crust first. The filling, I always use the recipe on the side of the Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin and adjust the spices to my liking. I find canned pumpkin more reliably consistent in flavor than trying to roast or bake sugar pie pumpkins for the filling. Sometimes I separate the eggs and whip the whites and then gently fold them into the rest of the filling ingredients for a lighter, fluffier pie.
Dear Daughter has been making the pumpkin pies for the past 3 or 4 years and they’ve been scrumptious. I’ll ask her what recipe she uses.
CL says
October 24th, 2020 at 6:48 pmI’ve gotten into scented candles in the last couple of years. One I find calming is “Lilac Blossoms” from Yankee Candle. Most of their candles are somewhat lacking in scent throw, but that one is pretty good. It’s one of their most popular candles. (Don’t pay full price – they have frequent sales.)
Michelle says
October 24th, 2020 at 9:41 pmI’m a pastry chef , just made alot of pies a few weeks ago for Canadian Thanksgiving.
Here’s my recipe, I prefer to blind bake my pumpkin and pecan pie crusts. This way the crust won’t burn and the filling is nice and smooth.
1 1/2 cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour I make my own mix , but most store bought should work.
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt ( ¼ tsp if fine salt)
85g cold unsalted butter, chopped
120g sour cream (full fat)
Mix together in a bowl- flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder
Using hands mix in butter until some small and some pea sized chunks of butter remain
Add sour cream and mix until comes together, add a little water if needed until it comes together.
Flatten dough, wrap in plastic wrap and chill.
Roll out into a 9″ pie dish, chill 30 min and then blind bake ( put parchment paper in pie she’ll, fill with beans/ rice)
375F approx 25 minutes, until crust is lightly browned and cooked under the parchment. Let cool at least 10 min before filling, or crust might get soggy.
Pumpkin Pie filling – makes 2 shallow pumpkin pies, or 1 deep, it’s also great baked in ramekins or a pan on its own.
15oz canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs
150g brown sugar
1t cinnamon
½ t allspice
¼ t nutmeg
¼ t salt
1 ¼ c evaporated milk
-whisk together pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, spices, salt
-whisk in milk until smooth
-pour into pre-baked tart shell and bake at 300F
Approximately 30- 45 minutes until set
Can tell it’s cooked when middle doesn’t jiggle and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Chill pie and then serve
Tatiana says
October 25th, 2020 at 12:24 pmThanks for sharing this. Never thought of adding sour cream to my pie crust dough. I bet it makes for a tender crust.
Laura Majors says
October 25th, 2020 at 8:15 amThank you for sharing Wayne Goss’s video! Yes! When I reached my 40s I definitely started noticing differences to my skin and feeling like the beauty companies and mags weren’t speaking to me anymore. Working at Estée Lauder and Coty for most of my career you’d think I’d be expecting it but it still frustrates me!
Shora says
October 25th, 2020 at 11:24 amHi Karen! I am a HUGE fan of pumpkin pie and Preppy Kitchen (John Kanell) always has the most fantastic baking recipes. Check out his pumpkin pie recipe. He also posted a YouTube video on it a couple weeks ago.
https://preppykitchen.com/pumpkin-pie-2/
Suzi says
October 25th, 2020 at 11:31 amHi, Karen.
I’ve been gluten free for more than 20 years, and the best resource I’ve found is Jeanne’s blog, The Art of Gluten-Free Baking (artofglutenfreebaking.com).
On her website, she has a recipe for her proprietary GF flour mixture, which I make in double batches and keep in the refrigerator in a big jar. In fact, I printed out the recipe at least 12 years ago, and it’s still taped to the jar! It subs well for wheat flour in every recipe I’ve tried, without nuts, powdered milk, or any funny taste from beans, etc.
She has a huge index of recipes on her site (which she has left up, despite publishing cookbooks, which I think is classy). There is a recipe for pie crust on her site that I’ve used for years and my non-GF family members think outperforms the traditional family recipe. I’ve found that GF pie crust is more consistent than regular pie crust, because there is no chance of overworking the gluten and making the crust tough. I have used her recipe for at least 15 years. In the past few years, I’ve made only one change – using ice cold GF vodka in the recipe instead of water. The dough is less sticky and the crust seems a little flakier.
I use the pumpkin pie recipe off the Libby’s can with some alterations – cream and not evaporated milk, which I think makes it sickly sweet. Also, a few more spices than called for (cinnamon, mace, allspice), and the ground cloves that are called for. This crust and this filling have never failed me.
I would also add, GF pie dough can be a little challenging to work with. The thing that has saved me, is rolling it between two silicone-coated pastry sheets.
Pamela says
October 25th, 2020 at 8:16 pmKaren, my family was jamming out to 99 Red Balloons on the SiriusXM kids channel yesterday! I remember the video for that song on MTV back in the day.
Thanks for the link to Deborah Gibson! I have a special place in my heart for both her and that song.
The 80s were a magical time! (Now excuse me while I put on my leg warmers.)
Sarah Lowes says
October 26th, 2020 at 5:38 amI liked the Wayne Goss video.
Kim says
October 26th, 2020 at 8:40 amThe dance party sounds like fun! I hope you all had a great time. 🙂 I was just thinking I haven’t had pumpkin anything either. I’ll have to get on it before time runs out. This is my fave pp recipe.
https://bakedinthesouth.com/2013/11/paula-deens-pumpkin-pie/
Could totally be gf if you could find a good gf crust. I always use the premade, deep dish (non GF) in the freezer section. Already in the tin and usually in a 2-pack.
Miss Kitty says
October 26th, 2020 at 3:23 pmTry this recipe https://www.crazyforcrust.com/easy-pumpkin-pie-recipe/. I haven’t actually tried this one, but I have made other pies off her website and they turn out good.