Pro Bono Baker

Pumpkin Pie

I spent Thanksgiving day at my parent's house along with Nick, my brother Evan and my grandmother Arlene.  Nick and I spent the better part of the day preparing the food and then enjoyed a lazy night watching Planet Earth in front of the fireplace. 

I will post some photos and recipes of the other dishes we made soon, but I wanted to quickly share these pictures of the pumpkin pie I made Thanksgiving morning.

I love pumpkin pie.  I find many sweets cloying, but the earthy, silky taste of this simple pie is a winter favorite.

There are dozens upon dozens of dressed-up recipes out there, but here is the basic recipe that I prefer to turn to.  Feel free to embellish as you see fit.

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

1 pie crust, rolled out and chilled in a pie dish

2/3 C brown sugar

1/2 C white sugar

2 Tbl flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp each of: allspice, cloves and ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 C canned pumpkin

2 Tbl molasses

1 tsp vanilla

3 large eggs

1 C whipping cream

Method

Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 450F.  Combine sugars, flour, spices and salt in a large bowl.  Add the pumpkin, molasses, vanilla and eggs and incorporate the cream last.

Pour batter into chilled pie crust and bake for ten minutes.

Reduce oven heat to 325F and bake for another 40 to 45 minutes.  The middle should be set and the sides of the pie should puff up a bit.

Allow pie to cool and serve at room temperature or chilled. 

I usually whip any excess cream with a touch of vanilla to serve along with each slice.   This pie can be made up to a day ahead, making it easy for large holiday dinners.

On a side note, I was pleased to find a (very brief) mention of my website in the Sacramento Bee recently.  Follow the link or download here: Download SacBee.doc

Northwest Herald features the Algonquin Sub Shop

Pro Bono Baker was mentioned in the Northwest Herald this past week.  Liz Wolgemuth wrote a piece on the Algonquin Sub Shop and quoted my description of the Where’s Waldorf sandwich.  You can read my two posts on the Sub Shop for more information.  I'd venture to say that this is my favorite sandwich in the world.

Download AlgonquinSubShop.doc

Blogger's Choice Awards

I was nominated for best food blog! 

It is probably clear to all that many of the other blogs nominated are far and away better than mine, but feel free to cast your vote for me if you so desire.

Thanks!

Chicago Tribune: Food Porn

Pro Bono Baker was featured in a Chicago Tribune article recently!  Also mentioned is one of my favorite Chicago food blogs Bunny Pie.  To read this article on food porn follow the link above or download the article below.  Thanks to Trine Tsouderos for putting together a great piece on one of my favorite hobbies!

Download ChicagoTribune-WhataDish.rtf

Saucy

My Chive & Sour Cream Waffles and Pea & Chive Soup have been selected as the Saucy Magazine recipe of the day.  I am a huge fan of Saucy and thus I am deeply flattered.  Thanks!

Chicago Foodies

Josh of Chicago Foodies has invited me to contribute Chicago bakery reviews and the occasional Hyde Park restaurant review to his fantastic site.  You can currently read about my recent trip to Argo Georgian Bakery as well as a wide variety of posts by other authors about the Chicago food scene.  I'm flattered to become part of such a great Chicago resource.

My first taste of publicity!

So, compared to folks like Clotide this is pretty negligible, but I received my first piece of publicity today.  Gapers Block is currently hosting a blurb in the Eating/Drinking section by Jesica Davis of Fuck Corporate Groceries.  I am blushing!