Arctic Orange Pie

Christmas week. I stopped taking runs Wednesday at noon and will not take another one until the third of January. Twelve days. That is the longest stretch I have been off the road since I started driving in 1998, and my legs do not know what to do with themselves. I walked around the house Thursday morning looking for things to clean and ended up wiping the baseboards in the hallway. Dave came in and said, "Brenda. You are frightening me." I said, "I don't know how to not work." He said, "Sit down. Drink coffee. Read a book." I sat down. I drank coffee. I stared at the book. I got up and wiped the baseboards in the kitchen.

Christmas Eve was the Lutheran service at 6 p.m. with Gayle and all four kids and Dave, all of us scrubbed up and sitting in the pew Gayle has considered hers since 1974. Candlelight service. Silent Night in four verses. Tyler held a candle for the first time without Dave's hand on his, which was something. Justin sang. Justin sang. I have never in my life seen Justin sing in church. He knew the words. Somewhere a choir director would like to have a word with him. I did not push. I just listened. I was a woman in a church in Nebraska in December 2021 listening to the sons the universe handed her sing Silent Night, and it was more than I had bargained for with this life.

Christmas morning: slow. Coffee first. Presents at 9. Josie got a bike. Tyler got a full toolbox (his name engraved on the lid by Dave, a secret Dave kept for six weeks and I did not know about, and which made Tyler cry, which made me cry, which made Dave go outside to "check the truck"). Justin got cleats and a weighted vest and a sports watch he asked for by name. Amber got a red wool peacoat she had been looking at online for three months, and the keys to the Taurus (which she has, but I wrapped them anyway, because she needed to feel the symbol). Dave got a new set of socket wrenches from me. I got a ceramic bread bowl from Gayle (plain white, heavy, exactly what I wanted) and a journal bound in green leather from Amber, who had seen me scribbling in a spiral notebook for nine months and had opinions.

Dinner: ham (Gayle insists on ham for Christmas, which I accept even though I prefer turkey), scalloped potatoes, glazed carrots, rolls, pecan pie, chocolate sheet cake. Nine of us — all six Novaks plus Gayle plus Steve and Louise. Gayle made the rolls. She insisted. Her hands shook a little. They remember the dough. Forty years of dough will teach hands everything they need to know. The rolls were perfect.

We had pecan pie and chocolate sheet cake on that table, and nine people who were very willing to eat both, so I am not pretending there was a dessert gap at Christmas dinner. But somewhere between that candlelight service and Tyler crying over a toolbox with his name on it, I decided I wanted to bring something to the next gathering that was mine — cold and bright and a little unexpected, the way the whole week felt. This Arctic Orange Pie is what I landed on: simple enough that I could make it without turning it into a project, and good enough that it held its own next to Gayle’s rolls, which is not a low bar.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes (plus 4 hours freezing) | Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 (6 oz) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9-inch) graham cracker pie crust, store-bought or homemade
Additional whipped topping and orange slices for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Mix the filling. In a large bowl, stir together the thawed orange juice concentrate and sweetened condensed milk until fully combined and smooth. Add the lemon juice, orange zest, and vanilla extract and stir to incorporate.
Fold in whipped topping. Gently fold the thawed whipped topping into the orange mixture in two additions, using a rubber spatula and a light hand to keep the filling airy. Do not overmix — a few faint streaks are fine.
Fill the crust. Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust and smooth the top with a spatula. The filling will be soft; that is expected.
Freeze until firm. Cover the pie loosely with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight. The pie should be firm all the way through before slicing.
Serve. Remove from the freezer 5 to 10 minutes before serving to allow slight softening for cleaner slices. Garnish with a dollop of whipped topping and a thin orange slice if desired. Slice with a sharp knife dipped in warm water.

Nutrition (per serving)

Arctic Orange Pie — The Dessert That Held Its Own Next to Gayle’s Rolls