Secrets and Pies
A Family Recipe
Note: This post was inspired by Will Hull’s, Can A Turkey Carry A Tune?
Every Thanksgiving, my ex-husband’s mother made a pumpkin chiffon pie that was to die for, but, if for some reason she didn’t make it, someone else in the family always did. It simply wasn’t Thanksgiving without a homemade pumpkin chiffon pie or two on our Thanksgiving table.
Everyone in the family made that pie at some point, whether it was for our family’s Thanksgiving or not, and this was because my generous mother-in-law shared with her three sons and their wives the now 100 year-old recipe that her mother had passed down to her.
My mother-in-law — to whom I was very close — passed away in 2008. My ex-husband and I split up shortly thereafter, so I no longer celebrate the holidays with that side of the family. Regardless, I make that pumpkin chiffon pie every Thanksgiving without fail. Its delicious aroma fills my home and my heart with beautiful memories.
For as long as I can remember, my mother made the most epic chocolate cake every year at Christmas. I’ve never been a big fan of chocolate cake, especially if it’s slathered in chocolate frosting, since the cake part is often much too dense and decadent and the frosting too cloying for my taste buds.
But my mom’s cake — a recipe she acquired from my grandmother, who acquired it from her neighbor, Mrs. Christy, from across the street — is utterly sublime. The cake is super moist and the chocolate frosting is light and fluffy, with just a hint of sweetness. It’s just so freaking good.
More than anything, I look forward to that cake every Christmas, when my mom brings it over for all of us to enjoy and then leaves the bulk of it behind for me and my daughter and whomever I choose to share it with. I always hack off a couple of thick slices and freeze them, that way, I have cake on hand for my birthday, six months later.
A toxic combination of pandemic and politics, upended our usual holiday plans, making Christmas 2020 the first year in my entire life that I didn’t celebrate with my mother and brother, which meant there would be no chocolate cake. I’d have happily attempted to make it myself, except, I don’t have the recipe, because, for some lame reason, my mother refuses to share it with me.
Will there be chocolate cake for Christmas this year?
I dunno.
My mother and brother are currently contemplating whether or not we’re gathering, and, amazingly, their hesitation has nothing at all to do with our antithetical cultural, social, scientific, and political beliefs.
I told my mother that — truthfully — I’m totally fine with whatever they ultimately decide to do about celebrating Baby Jesus. If they opt out, I will nevertheless enjoy a lovely, peaceful Christmas with just me and my daughter. Still, I’m gonna miss that damn chocolate cake.
But who says I can’t have pumpkin chiffon pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas?
I have so much for which to be thankful this year. My heart is full of gratitude for my funny, thoughtful, and supportive daughter, my awesomely loyal friends, my incredibly kind and generous clients, and for all the dogs in my life — not to mention my lovely little circle of Medium friends and all the folks who’ve taken time to read my words.
So, it is with a heart bursting with gratitude that I share with you my mother-in-law’s pumpkin chiffon recipe.
I hope you enjoy it and I encourage you to pass it on!
Happy Thanksgiving!
