Something to seriously give thanks for...

Well, I still have some time before my tofu pie is out of the oven (see previous post) so I will post my other delish recipe that we just made last night. It is an awesome way to use up all the eggs that I have in my fridge from my chickens (before I made this recipe I had 3 DOZEN eggs in the fridge!). There is something wonderful about using eggs from chickens that I have raised since babies. The same beautiful animals I let out every morning to graze through the side of the yard, picking up worms and bugs, and fertilizing the lawn. It is wonderful to watch the Lana chicken with her 3 babies teaching them to find worms, to dust bathe under the grapevines, to be wary of a bird flying overhead lest it be a hawk. Maclaine and I can watch them for hours. The boys, well, they can watch football for hours. Truce.

Anyway, there is something basic and real and true about using eggs from your own backyard to make real food for your family. It is eggs, cream, spices, pumpkin.....all things my great great grandmother would have recognized and cooked with. Pure bliss.


Maple Pumpkin Flan

Adapted from Family Fun Magazine. For the caramel, I cheat and just use some of a jarred thick butterscotch caramel sauce (I like Mrs. Richardson's brand). If you just want to make plain custard, just omit the sauce. Either way is wonderful. Makes 6.

approx 1/2 cup thick butterscotch caramel sauce
1/3 c. sugar
6 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1 c. light cream
1 c. heavy cream
2/3 c. packed canned pumpkin
1/2 c. pure maple syrup

Heat oven to 300*. Prepare pan by lining a large lasagna or other large pan with sides with a kitchen towel or washcloth. Place 6 ramekins in the pan, making sure their sides are not touching each other or the pan. Spread the bottom of each dish with a thin layer of caramel sauce. I use about 1-2. Tb per dish. (You will be making a water bath with this pan, and the cloth and the water help distribute the heat evenly.). Heat up about 6 cups of water to boiling (or close) in the microwave or on the stove. Set aside pan and water.

Mix together sugar, yolks, vanilla, spices and salt and set aside. In a saucepan, whisk together the creams, pumpkin and maple syrup and bring to a just under a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often. Do not let it come to a boil.

Remove the pan from the heat once pumpkin mixture is very hot, about 5 minutes. Add a ladleful at a time of the pumpkin mixture to the sugar/yolk mixture, whisking continuously. Do NOT pour it in all at once or you will cook the yolks!

Once it is blended, carefully ladle the custard into the prepared ramekins. Place this pan into the oven. While on the rack, pour in the hot water so it comes up to about 3/4 the height of the ramekins. (You are doing this on the oven rack, so it is not too heavy to transport from counter to oven, and so the water doesn't slosh into the custard when you are moving it). Cook uncovered until centers are a jiggly but no longer soupy-- about 45-50 minutes.

With a spatula, remove the ramekins from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. When they are at room temperature, transfer to fridge, and cool for several hours before serving.