Maybe its the recent chill in the evening air, or the distinct yellowness in the leaves, but the other day I found myself thinking about...Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving always makes me think about one of my favorite deserts, pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin...that beautiful rounded and oh so orange vegetable that heralds everything Autumn. And Thanksgiving and Pumpkin Pie - the two just go together, don’t they? I think it must be hard-wired in to the American psyche.

When I first started the BTD several years ago, I just ignored avoiding some of the avoids for me, like pumpkin and cinnamon, which I didn’t use frequently or in large amounts. But now, getting shall we say, a bit long in the tooth and feeling the stirrings of my menopausal journey beginning, my dance with compliance (and it is quite the pas de deux for me) is taking a new turn.

Since pumpkin is beneficial or neutral for everyone EXCEPT Type B secretors, which I think is highly unfair, by the way, I realized the time had come to make some substitutions in the time-honored tradition of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I have a recipe from “Laurel’s Kitchen Caring” that substitutes winter squash for the pumpkin and since I’m at it, I decide to throw the baby out with the bath water and make the pie sans cinnamon. Here’s what I used for ingredients:

2 cups cooked butternut squash, mashed

scant 1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon powdered ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

freshly ground nutmeg, about 1/2 teaspoon

1 can evaporated milk

Mix all together (I blend by hand first, and then in blender until smooth and custardy) and pour into unbaked spelt pie crust. Bake at 425ºF for 15 minutes and then lower temperature to 350ºF and continue baking for another 45 minutes.

Results?? Quite splendid, if I do say so myself. The texture is a little softer than pumpkin pie so I will add another egg next time. I have noticed, and I know it’s not just my imagination, that eggs have been getting smaller, so I usually increase the egg in recipes. Also, I was a little heavy handed on the ginger; trying to mask the absence of cinnamon, I think, but still sweetly aromatic without the cinnamon. Not the same as pumpkin pie but certainly an acceptable replacement.

My role as mother/cook is calling as I have another favorite simmering on the stove, Turkey Rice Soup, that I am making from some fab turkey thighs that were available at the local natural food store. I’ll post that recipe sometime if anyone is interested...

Ciao!