Tag: food

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake, Darling.

Quick question. It is officially Autumn. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. The annual Pumpkin Spice Love Fest has been tickling our tastebuds for weeks. So I ask you. Are you tired of the sensible, traditional pumpkin pie? Wanna kick things up and create some gluten-free love food for the vegans and dairy-free folks visiting this holiday season? Every family has one. Or two. Or six.

Are you with me?

Because I am here to lure you- with a silver fork-worthy dessert recipe totally worth baking.

This is a silky, creamy pumpkin cheesecake that begs for a party. Or a family rumpus. One of many last hurrahs as daylight dwindles darkly toward the Winter Solstice low point, flickering her last sigh Northward before the pale glare of January dawns in all her cold and sober glory (and I step- ever so gingerly- on the reality check scale). And maybe sigh. A little hint of a sigh.

Because even though it is pre-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas, pre-Hannukah and all the pre-holiday jazz I can already see that the annual jean shrinkage has begun. It's that time of year when (mysteriously!) my favorite jeans come damp-dry out of the dryer a size too small. And that familiar jolly pie roll affectionately known as Doris is itching to start rolling her merry way up and out of my favorite black leggings. It's rather comical. And honestly, she makes me smile. I pat her affectionately.

Like a pet bunny.

Because the truth is I am not about to start counting calories.

Though I admit I may ~~possibly~~ ~~probably~~ definitely feel the need to cleanse my palette in the bright new year that lurks and leers around the post-holiday corner. Detox mulligatawny is surely in my future, come 2017.

If for nothing else, for the sheer love of shedding old stuck energy. A fresh start feels good.

If you do it with a big dash of humor.

And humility.

I know from experience that January will ignite the urge to clean out closets, chase those dust bunnies and walk off our collective Doris's. Or would that be Dori, for plural? We'll have ample time, come 2017, for detoxing and courting virtue with ginger laced green soup, and recipes that will encourage our lovely pinchable pie rolls to skedaddle. I promise. I'll be ~~first~~ ~~second~~ third in line with fresh whipped smoothies and cleansing soup recipes come January.

But this month? Nah.

There's a vegan pumpkin cheesecake recipe to share.

Face Pie – The Halloween Pastry You Can’t Un-See

A few months ago I saw a pie image on Twitter so creepy, and disturbing, that I actually questioned whether it was too terrifying to post as a video. Usually, Halloween-themed recipes have the opposite problem, as they are almost never actually scary, but that’s not an issue here. By the way, can someone get sued for giving people nightmares?

Anyway, I eventually traced the image back to what I assumed would be some sort of food blog, but it was actually someone’s Etsy shop, where they were selling inedible versions of this basic design. So, I wasn’t able to see how it was made, but did use their “face” as a rough guide, and despite being somewhat anatomically challenged, I thought this came out looking great. And by great, I mean terrible.

If you’re disturbed enough to make this, you can use our tourtière recipe for the crust and filling, which is exactly what I did here, except for whatever reason I added a touch of ketchup to the meat. Of course, this technique would work for topping any pie, including all your favorite fruit versions, and the next time cherries are in season, I may just have to give this one more try. Or not. We’ll see. In the meantime, if at all possible, please enjoy!

– Follow this tourtière video link for the crust and filling recipes.

Face Pie – The Halloween Pastry You Can’t Un-See

– Follow this tourtière video link for the crust and filling recipes.