By Thanksgiving. The third one married. The table at my parents' house in Dorchester, both families, Liam in his high chair eating potatoes and sweet potato casserole and pointing at things he wanted from other people's plates. He said "more turkey please" three times. He is, by any measure, his grandfather's grandchild in this one specific way: appetite and table manners arriving together.
Twenty-three weeks. I sat at the table this Thanksgiving and felt Nora moving during the meal and thought about next November, when she'll be seven months old and sitting in her own high chair and Liam will be two and a half. Two of them at the table. The math of it is enormous and also perfectly simple.
My mother and Maureen have arranged themselves at these dinners into something that functions like a partnership. They coordinate the food now—who brings what, whose recipe, who takes which side dish—with the efficiency of people who have done logistics together for years. They've been in each other's orbit since 2006 and in that time built something I don't have a word for. Not friendship exactly, though it is that. More like a relationship that formed around loving the same people and became its own thing.
I made both pies again—apple and pumpkin—and Liam sat on the counter while I made them and handed me things when I asked and didn't eat the filling even though I could see him wanting to, and afterward said "good pie Mama" with the sincerity of a person who has thought about it. He has been thinking about pie. I appreciate the consideration.
Liam wanted the pumpkin pie filling — I could see it on his face the whole time we were making it — and honestly I didn’t blame him. So this year I made a little extra and turned it into something he could have a scoop of without me worrying about the crust-to-filling ratio on the actual pie. Pumpkin ice cream has all the same warmth and spice as the filling, just cold and a little more forgiving at a table where someone small is pointing at everything he wants. It’s become my quiet answer to the problem of a two-year-old who has been thinking about pie.
Pumpkin Ice Cream
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 4 hours 25 minutes (including churning and freezing) | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the spiced pumpkin base. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes until the mixture is fragrant and the sugar is fully dissolved.
- Warm the cream mixture. Add the heavy cream and whole milk to the saucepan and whisk to combine. Heat over medium heat until it just begins to steam, about 4 minutes — do not boil.
- Temper the egg yolks. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks until slightly pale. Slowly ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot pumpkin cream into the yolks while whisking constantly. Pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 4–5 minutes.
- Strain and chill. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate until fully cold, at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Churn. Pour the chilled custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions, usually 20–25 minutes, until thick and creamy.
- Freeze to firm. Transfer to a freezer-safe container, smooth the top, and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 25g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 95mg