the pumpkin pie obsessive admiring her latest creation

The pumpkin fetish, or adventure, saga or whatever you want to call it is ongoing! My friend Heguie gave me fresh pumpkin cut up into fine pieces, which, by the way I hear is thrillingly FRENCH. So being that I love pumpkins and France, it was serendipitous. He used some for a delightful Brazilian dessert that he served with cheese. Apparently there was a lot of pumpkin leftover: also serendipitous as I wanted to expand on my pumpkin pie making experiments: this time with the added dimension of real fresh pumpkin compared to my previously canned pumpkin pies.

A lot of my pals in my inner circle think that my post-holidays, post-season pumpkin pie obsession is sort of nutty, but they’re obviously not paying attention. None of the PPOs have any nuts in them at all! Seriously, I don’t care because lots of people like different foods when they are not in season: look at winter tomatoes, for example. Some people even like traditional breakfast foods for dinner or pizza for breakfast, so I don’t let anything or anyone stop me from getting my pumpkin on!

I have yet to experiment with making real crust rather than the store bought, pre-made kind. It will come with time and more adventures.

Pumpkin pie that’s healthy is such a great midnight snack and eating it feels like such a treat but knowing that it’s made with healthy ingredients always makes me happy because it’s a dessert that doesn’t hurt…the thighs that is! It’s all about the three P’s: portion, pleasure and planning.

PPO3: French pumpkin and tofu pie, vegan style

PPO3: French pumpkin and tofu pie, vegan style

3 to 4 cups fresh French pumpkin or butternut squash
1/3 cup vegetable oil
low-fat graham cracker crust from Safeway (any crust will do)
½ package silken tofu
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons stevia (a natural sweetener)
3 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice

Preheat oven to 375.

Steam pumpkin until soft (about 12 minutes). Mix and mash pumpkin until it’s smoothed out, as if you were mashing potatoes in a bowl. Add oil and tofu then mix well by hand… to get your skinny on! Add sugar, stevia and spice mix. Stir together and mix until you are exhausted and feel like you really deserve a piece or two of this damn pie! LOL! Add the pumpkin mix to the piecrust shell and bake for one hour. Let cool for a few hours then let loose with your PPO!

P.S. it’s ultra comforting to have the pie with a cup of soy milk!