November 23, 2022: Organic Pumpkin Pie -

Mostly, I'm irked when I see that a foodstuff is marked organic. I'm fairly sure the lemons I eat that aren't marked "organic" are still organic, and not made of mica, or steel. 

Anyway, I bought the organic pumpkin puree, which required me to add my own spices, evaporated milk, and so forth, rather than the premixed "pumpkin pie filling."  It was THERE, in a big display.  I bought it because my pie-making friends won't make it to our Thanksgiving this year, convinced it will be a super-spreader event even though all are vaxed and boosted and will test before they come. It will still be a lot of people in a small house.

But since I'd lost my pie-makers, I of course felt I had to make pies. I could have gone with storebought, but no, I had to make them myself. Four of them. Two pumpkin, a cherry, and a pecan.

In brief, the organic pumpkin tastes a lot squashier than the pies that our friends bring. I dropped them a note to say my pies tasted weird. They replied using the word "horror," said they have a strict Libby's rule, and suggested I take my pies to a homeless shelter and start all over again. I did not reply. I did not take my pies to a shelter. 

My neighbor had her pie-making sister-in-law drop out today, with COVID.  So she (my neighbor) battled Costco to buy pies. That was a nightmare, but she thought making a pie would have been worse. I bet her pies taste normal. 

My own beloved sister-in-law showed up early, to help out, not with pies specifically, but just in general. She said HER sister had bought food for twenty tomorrow, but so many people were sick, she was now cooking for six. 

We are all adapting, all the time.

Quilt by Alice Beasley

I know a four-year-old whose mothers have been teaching him to be "flexible" when things don't work out as he had hoped. I keep talking to myself in the voice of those moms. "Good job being FLEXIBLE," I say. "That was very FLEXIBLE of you!" 

Happy Flexible Thanksgiving to you and yours.