PUMPKIN PIE

Ok so I've been totally sucked in by that most American of holidays, Halloween. My inner child is skipping about excitedly, annoying all the adults nearby. And so the (very patient) American in my life promised to buy me a pumpkin to carve, with the quid pro quo that I made him pumpkin pie. Seemed like a fair deal. 

I made this guy

One of the things I'm struggling with here is the lack of ingredients / recipes to make things from scratch. Every place I look there's pre-made pie shells, pre-made pie fillings, pre-made everything, and it's difficult to find raw ingredients. I'm not crazy organic-focused (and please don't get me started on the 'food miles' myth), but I do kind of like to know what's gone into the food I'm making, and if possible I try to avoid the added salt / sugar / preservatives that comes in so much of the pre-prepared stuff here. Either way, I know I'm lucky that right now I have the time to make food from scratch, and there's just something I like about it. 

I also confess to not necessarily being a huge fan of traditional pumpkin pie. I do claim to eat anything - and I will, as the Grasshopper Incident of a couple of months ago will prove - but I wouldn't necessarily choose normal pumpkin pie (or indeed grasshoppers) in the ordinary course of events.

But a deal's a deal, so I decided to press on ahead and in a stunning (if I may say so myself) display of kiwi ingenuity, I have created my very own Pumpkin Pie From Scratch recipe. It's sort of a conglomeration of a range of other recipes, all switched up, and made with (mostly) fresh and raw ingredients. And made my own pastry. And used an actual pumpkin. I know!

This is a labour of love - by the time I'd hunted high and low for raw ingredients in the store and made everything from scratch, it did take a couple of hours. But the American did commend it as "pretty doggone good" (that's an actual quote), so I reckon it was worth it. Here is the recipe. Please steal it. 

PUMPKIN PIE FROM SCRATCH

Peel and clean one small pumpkin (you want about 15 ounces of cooked pumpkin).

Cut your pumpkin into small pieces and boil bout 15 minutes until soft. 

Once boiled, drain off the water and mash the pumpkin while still warm.

Refrigerate the mashed pumpkin pulp until cool. 

While the pumpkin is cooling, you can make the pastry. 

Pastry shell:

Blend 1 + 1/2 cups flour with 100g butter.

Add: 

1/2 cup of  white sugar 

1 tsp of cinnamon 

Pinch of salt. 

Blend in: 

3 egg yolks 

1/2 tsp vanilla.

Press dough into a greased 9in ring tin, extending up the sides.

uncooked pie shell. it cooks with the filling.
a stroke of genius, adapted from my Mum's peach pie recipe. 

Pie Filling:

Put cooled pumpkin mash into a large bowl, and add:

14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk

2 eggs

2 tbsp ground fresh ginger (or more to taste)

2 tsp corn starch 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp maple syrup

pinch of salt

Pour the filling into the pastry shell. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes, then reduce to 350F for 30 minutes. 

Pie filling with maple. Nom.

Topping:

 

You could make the pie without this, but I don't know why you'd want to cos I reckon it's the best bit. I wanted to use walnuts to go with the maple in the pie, and for the rest I basically copied the classic kiwi apple crumble topping.

Combine:

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white flour

1 tsp cinnamon

Rub in 3 tbsp butter

And add a cup of chopped nuts. (Due to lack of raw walnuts ANYWHERE, I used pecans which were awesome, but I reckon walnuts would be as good or better.)

Spread the mixture over the top of the pie, and bake for a further 8 minutes

Add a swirl of maple syrup around the top, and bake for a further 2 minutes. 

Quiet beauty in Florida

When I think "Florida" I don't typically think "understated". But that's exactly what it was last night as I sat with the company of a large brown heron and some jumping fish and watched a beautiful, quiet sunset.

Destin, FL: quiet and understated.

Bombay Bicycle Club, LIVE, Granada Theatre, Dallas Texas

I once went to Turkey based solely on an International Relations class I had taken.  I've risked over-zealous Serbian border guards to backpack into Kosovo where my dissertation was based. And of course there's the time I trekked over two continents to see Bright Eyes. I'm kinda big on pilgrimages. But I can't ever say I have driven 14 hours across 4 states to see a band. Well, I couldn't until yesterday. 

I first came across Bombay  Bicycle Club by virtue of their 2^nd album, the lovely stripped back ‘Flaws’, or as frontman Jack Steadman described it last night, their "easy listening" album. But, as they demonstrated over and over again last night, there is so much more depth to this band.

The first thing that hit me was big, fat, funky bass, and lots of it. The bassist looks like a classic 90s grunge bassist, and plays like it too. And I mean the in only the most complimentary of ways. (This wasn't the last time I would compare this band to a 90s grunge outfit, and that kind of surprised me. In a very pleasant way.)  In fact the whole rhythm section was ace. I know I always have a thing for a tightly functioning rhythm section but, as Miike Snow demonstrated, it can make or break a live show. In this case, chunky bass was met with another incredibly hard-working drummer, and helped along by some subtle but excellent synths.

‘Your Eyes’, from ‘A Difference Kind of Fix’ was perfectly complemented by an explosive version of ‘Dust on the Ground’ and ‘How Can you Swallow so Much Sleep?’. Energy was high and the small but perfectly formed crowd ate it up.

All night I was struck by the magnificent female vocals; earthy and rich, with a beautiful tone and an impressive range. I’ve noted the use of female vocals in a number of their albums and found myself wondering last night if this beautiful vocalist wasn’t perhaps – gasp moment ahead – slightly underutilised. In any case, the vocal strength of this band is everything to write home about – Steadman’s unique tone is as clever live as recorded, and at one point I did notice all 5 band members singing BVs. And I do love me a multitalented band.

Heavy on ‘A Different Kind of Fix’ as you’d expect, the band then moved into “quiet” mode, and totally wooed me with a delightful rendition of ‘Rinse Me Down’ from ‘Flaws’. I love ‘A Different Kind of Fix’, and I love this band when they’re making a wall of sound. But I also love ‘Flaws’ and it was a delight to hear a couple of numbers from the album. It takes a brave pasty Englishman to stand in front of a down home Texan audience and suggest a hoe-down, but that’s exactly what they did with ‘Ivy and Gold’ and the crowd loved every minute of it. 

Steadman moves with the kind of self-assured cockiness of an artist who really knows his craft – every syncopation, every hook, every drum beat. He is a joy to watch, and… that voice. I love bands that sound as good live as recorded, or better. I reckon Bombay is in the latter category. They blew me away.

After 14 hours driving I can’t remember every track that was played, but I was taken aback by the new song, ‘Carry Me’ in the encore – a tricky and technically very cleverly timed song, with an interesting melody that really challenged me, until it all fell together in a phenomenal crescendo of sound. Clever indeed.

My back still aches from the long drive, but the energy and pure musical skill of these guys had me dancing all night, and the trek to get here to see them was worth every second. 

Life's a Beach

You could be forgiven for thinking that I've done nothing but swan around a pool and at the beach recently. You'd be correct. As previously reported, I'm very happily in Destin, Florida, where the beach is pristine, the lifestyle laid back, and the sunsets long and lazy. 

It's not all sunshine and flowers, though, oh no. It's rained, twice in the last two weeks. The indignity! And so this morning, I passed a couple of grey hours listening to First Aid Kit's studio debut, 'The Big Black and the Blue' (2010). 

I totally love and admire this band. They're clearly incredibly hard working, as evidenced by two albums in as many years, and a seemingly constant tour schedule - and their earnestness just totally charms me. I'm constantly amazed by these girls' ability to sound world-weary and mature, at the tender ages of 19 and 22. Their lyrics have this kind of honesty and insight about them, that belies their ages in every way. In contrast, I loved seeing them at Coachella where their age was more endearingly obvious. But over and above all this, they just write gorgeous music. I have always been a bit of a sucker for 'Ghost Town', but tracks like 'Hard Believer' and 'Josefin' have a striking kind of catchiness to them that I just can't get enough of.  

And then there's their voices. They are phenomenal. I'd almost say - huge call - that I can't remember the last time I picked up on a female vocalist, or vocalists, that struck me with the same intensity, depth, and richness that these wonderful sisters possess.

Honestly, I do prefer their second album, 'The Lion's Roar', produced by the inimitable Mike Mogis, which to my mind demonstrates a bit more personality (and which was on repeat in my apartment in Mexico for a good few months earlier this year); but that said I actually think that's a great thing, because I just love watching bands grow into themselves. But the 2010 album is a gentle, easy album to listen to. It's genial and heart-warming, and has a clever homogeneity that tells a soothing, lovely story. Food for the soul, and perfect with a cup of coffee on a rainy Friday morning in Florida. 

I am super, duper, mega excited to be in possession of a ticket to see these lovely ladies in Dallas next weekend. I can't wait to see them for the second time in six months, and at their own headline show. 

Meanwhile, Florida remains a pretty lovely place to be. Here's some pictures of the sunset last night.

Thursday night, gypsy styles

Just another day at the office

If not now then when?

Just as a little reflection on chucking in my job, packing up and moving halfway across the world just to travel and take things day-by-day, I really like this picture.  

The thunder of summer is rumbling in

This evening I sat down with a glass of wine and a desperate need to listen to a country album alongside the thunder of stormy Florida. A rainy, grey afternoon of football was all well and good, but every fibre of my being was screaming out for some music, and so I gave The Avett Brothers' most recent effort "The Carpenter" (2012) a crack. 

Again produced by Rick Rubin, this album has more depth and maturity to it than the earlier, more haphazard (but nonetheless utterly enjoyable) 'I And Love And You'. There's still the diversions into rock-y guitar (like in 'Paul Newman vs the Demon' - which I have to admit I wasn't wild about as a song), there's still punches of pop like 'I Never Knew You' - which almost reminds me of a Ben Folds track - and there's still little surprises like the burst of energy near the end of the opening track. There's still a lot of bluegrass-y banjo (see 'Live and Die') and they're still a bunch of straightforward, well-written songs. But in general I think this is a more homogenous, rewarding listen. 

One thing I did notice throughout the album was a persistent use of minor chords, and (arguably over-) employment of the cello. It's an album with more than an element of melancholy about it, and on looking deeper I see it's received mixed reviews in particular for some of its rather heavygoing lyrics. To be honest, it's not the lyrics that struck me first about this album, and while there is some heavy stuff in there, I enjoyed it more for its overall vernacular than for its specific lyrics. Without doubt the heaviest going song on the album is the poignant 'A Father's First Spring', a bald, raw, utterly beautiful love song. I think some of the greatest love songs come, in particular, from fathers to daughters (wittiness Ben Folds' 'Gracie' - in my view one of the greatest love songs ever.) This song is no exception, and it's where lyrics like "I have been homesick for you since we met" come into their own. Lucid and honest, it's a touching moment, thankfully balanced by the upbeat, piano-driven 'Geraldine' immediately following. 

There's something catchy, or catching, about Scott Avett's voice. It makes me smile, and I can't quite put my finger on why. I'm a sucker for his little love ditties (witness 'January Wedding', and indeed the title track, from 'I and Love and You') and 'Pretty Girl from Michigan' on this album is no exception. With all that said, I still get this slightly gawky, uncomfortable kind of feeling listening to this band... that it's not quite perfect, and that - even after 7 albums - it hasn't quite figured out its identity. 

That, of course, is part of the attraction. Kind of like a dorky teenager, this band is still figuring out what it's doing and who it is. And as a former blackberry-toting, policy-advising diplomat, who's somehow found herself enjoying days of leisure and long afternoons in the garden in suburban North Florida, that has a kind of resonance. I'm not quite sure what I want right now either. And so for me, right now, this album is ideal.