Daniel J Isom

I was saving this for Thanksgiving time but then remembered we'll be up in NY and I was running out of time to make a pie for September. This is my 11th pie of the year as I move even closer to my goal of 12 pies made in 2021. It has less ingredients, as far as spices go, than most of the pumpkin pies I've made before, but it did have change that I really liked. Before mixing the filling ingredients, the pumpkin gets cooked over direct heat for 10 minutes to slightly dry it out and caramelize it. I've never seen this in a recipe before and I think it just enhances the flavor of the pumpkin a bit more. I opted to use a premade crust for this because I didn't really have the time during the week to make one. I was disappointed that the bottom crust didn't cook very much at all by the time the filling was near set. The recipe specifically said to not blind bake unless it was being cooked in glass, this was cooked in a metal pan so it should have been an issue. The side...

Yesterday, I saw this picture posted by a page I follow on Facebook called  Collective Evolution . I immediately shared it because I truly believe in the quote from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. I'm not a practicing Buddhist but ever since I was a young teen, something about the religion/philosophy has rung true with me. I have dabbled in meditation and have done research about the different sects but have never immersed myself into it for some reason. I think that ends today. Shortly after I shared the post, my mother commented with "An odd choice for a Catholic to post. What does your Bible say?" I gave that question a thought, but only for a second. I quickly responded with "I believe Jesus would say the exact same thing." I wholeheartedly believe what I said to be true but as a semi-practicing Catholic at best, I don't know what my bible would say about that. Ever since I woke up this morning, I can't stop thinking about that exchange. Som...