Sixteen Pumpkin Pies

I did it! Record broken. Sixteen pies, all pumpkin, made and donated.

I texted my neighbor Wednesday morning to ask if I could use his oven in tandem with my own.

“My oven is your oven.” he texted back. His girlfriend was home and helped me out by pre-heating and lowering the temperature as necessary so I wasn’t running up and down the stairs constantly, and this act of kindness saved me about two hours of work, which I repaid in beer, as one does. Next year… I have no idea. I’m going to have to get a kitchen somewhere, I think.

I let them cool all over the kitchen and living room, spread out on the counters and tables and chairs, kept away from all three dogs that were eyeballing them longingly. When Rob got home that night he helped me plastic wrap them and package them up (pro tip: pumpkin pies stack four-high quite nicely.)

You can see the dogs here hoping that at least one would be for them.

We brought them to the Greenpoint Soup Kitchen and deposited them onto what was declared the “pie pew”, then got into the car where I burst into tears while Rob sat with the key in the ignition, slightly alarmed. He wrapped an arm around me and patted my back while I collected myself, another act of kindness that I was very thankful for that day.

I wasn’t sad, it was merely overwhelming; the hours of work, the good feeling, and the “holiday spirit” all hit me at once. I am so grateful to be able to do this for strangers.

It’s funny; I don’t feel like I did something so wonderful, because 1. it does a measure of good for my “soul” that goes way beyond providing pie, and 2. It’s really fun to have my record back. HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW, CANADIANS?!

As usual, I strongly encourage you to break my record, and you can totally gloat about it, too.

p.s. Matty and Leeloo say they wouldn’t mind if you sent them a pie, too, since they couldn’t have any.