Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Getting old sucks



Pumpkin Cream Pie
The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook Copyright 2006

25 (2-inch) gingersnap cookies, finely crushed
¼ cup butter or margarine , melted
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Garnishes: whipped cream, gingersnaps

Stir together crushed gingersnaps and butter; press into a greased 9-inch pieplate. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Beat cream cheese in a large bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add pumpkin and next 4 ingredients; beat until blended.

Beat whipping cream until foamy; gradually add powdered sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. (Mixture will be very thick.) Fold whipped cream into pumpkin filling until blended. Spoon into crust. Cover and chill pie at least 8 hours. Garnish, if desired.
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I made this for Thanksgiving and to be honest, I didn't think it was very good. Something was off. Well, I thought several things were off. First of all, it was very soft. I prefer a pie that cuts cleanly. I could have forgiven that but the spices and level of sweetness seemed off too. I'm not sure what went wrong but I won't be making this again. I'm only telling you about it because I don't have anything else (recipe-wise) to tell you about today.

I had a freaky experience yesterday. We went out for our Christmas lunch and I had an allergic reaction to something I ate (at least I'm reasonably sure it was something that I ate). First my ears got itchy, then I got hives on my wrists and the back of my neck. Then I felt warm all over. After that, it got sticky. Knowing as much as I do about anaphylactic shock due to my son's allergies, I think I was starting to have an anxiety attack so it was hard to tell what was what. I stayed (relatively) calm, helped by the knowing I was only 2 blocks from the ER, had two epi JRs in my purse and Benadryl. I didn't want to take Benadryl because I had a long drive home.

I have no idea what could have caused it. I mean, it could be anything. Your immune system can turn on you at any time in life, so I could have reacted to something I've eaten every day of my life. The only thing I (knowingly) ate that I had rarely or perhaps never ingested before was saffron. As much as I wish that were the culprit, I can't be sure.

The worst of it passed, although some itchiness stuck around. I was feeling a bit itchy even before I ate lunch so who knows? I hate feeling as if my body is turning on me. I used to have the most robust immune system that anyone could ask for but things sure do change when you start getting older. It's possible I've had mild reactions in the past and just never noticed but nothing like yesterday. One or two hives aren't really that noticeable if you aren't looking for them but you can't ignore clusters of them.

I still haven't heard from the two November cookbook giveaway winners - Laura's Mom and Wendyb532. Yoo hoo - you two need to check your e-mail!

Blast From The Past: Easy Tacos from just last month. I had some of the spice blend and half of a box of taco shells leftover so last night I made nachos. I split the shells in two and layered them with the meat, cheese, black olives and green onions. Less messy to eat than tacos.

Question of the Day: Have you ever had hives?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

YES! In fact, I think in fourth grade I had to come home from school they were so bad. One time, I was on the bus coming home and they started. They are miserable. I had this nasty medicine that I would take if they started up. I don't think I've had them since fourth grade, though; so, who knows what the problem was.

This was an interesting question for a food blog! :-) The pie looks good. I like the idea of a gingersnap crust.

Anonymous said...

My boyfriend had the WORST case a few years ago - he ran out of detergent the last week of his internship, so borrowed his roomie's powdered kind and washed ALL his clothes. He got back to town and was so itchy - his ENTIRE body broke out in horrible hives and it stayed like that for FIVE days. Every time I came over he'd be in an cold bath or sprawled naked on his bed. we had to wash all his clothes several times in hot water, no detergent, to get out the detergent that turns out to have had FIBERGLAS in it!

Anonymous said...

No, but I was once plagued by poison oak. Nothing beats being itchy and having seeping blistery things at the same time!
Sorry, maybe that wasn't appropriate for a food column. :o

Anonymous said...

Okay, that was me, forgetting again to sign my name.
Also, even though I don't use powdered detergent, which one, pray tell, has fiberglass in it?

Jan

Anonymous said...

Jan: I don't even know what brand it was, I just remember Ryan looking it up online for a list of "ingredients" and discovering that.