It's not me, it's him

I've been completely useless in the kitchen this month. One day I did manage Kraft macaroni & cheese -- but that nearly went sideways when I put the knife in the refrigerator and came this close to putting the butter in the dishwasher.

Luckily, my awesome husband has picked up the slack, whipping up things like carne asada tacos, guacamole burgers (with homemade guacamole, natch), and pizza from scratch. He's also going to handle Thanksgiving, putting the turkey in the oven at 2 a.m. so we can eat when I get home from work.

As part of that holiday menu, he's going to make what I think will become a regular Thanksgiving dish in our house. It combines all the things you want in that day's dessert: a little pumpkin, a little chocolate, and a nutty meringue to impress your guests. And to make it even better, it's his own creation.

I give you: Troublesmith's Fall Pie.

YOU WILL NEED:
1 prebaked pie crust
1-2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg white
1/6 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/6 cup packed brown sugar
3/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cups heavy cream
1 cup cooked pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted & slightly cooled
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. grated or ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, almonds, pecans or other nut

DO THIS:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Prepare pumpkin batter: In large bowl, whisk large eggs until smooth.
Add pumpkin, cream, 1/4 cup sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and 1/4 tsp. salt. Mix thoroughly.

Pour pumpkin batter into prepared pie crust

Prepare fudge batter: In separate, large bowl, cream butter with remaining sugar. Beat in egg yolks & melted chocolate. Beat in flour and vanilla. Stir in nuts.

In separate, medium bowl, whip egg whites and 1/8 tsp. salt until stiff but not dry. Fold egg whites into fudge batter.

Bake pie crust with pumpkin batter for 15-20 minutes, until batter has firmed a bit. Remove from oven.

Gently transfer fudge batter to top of pumpkin batter with broad spatula. Gently smooth top. Return pie to oven.

Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees. Bake 25-35 minutes.

The Quince Answer (sort of)

For me, the jury is still out on quince. It definitely has a unique flavor, and I think I like it. But thanks to what seems to be an incorrect recipe and my own inattention, it was a little hard to tell.

Instead of getting a juicy roasted fruit from this recipe, what came out of the oven was more like quince mush. The recipe says to cook it for 5 to 7 hours. I checked the fruit at 2 hours, and it was definitely still hard. I checked again at 4 1/2 hours, and it was completely overcooked.

Despite the texture problem, though, the taste seems really lovely. I can see why it's so popular as a jelly or with roasted meat. TS describes it as a cross between a pear and a cranberry. That's not exactly right, but I can't think of anything closer.

So here are my notes on quince so far:

-Pay attention to the warnings about its raw texture. It is extremely hard, and I almost had a nasty slip with the knife.

-Also follow the directions to cut out all but the actual flesh. Every bit of core and skin that stayed on turned hard and knobbly.

-Raw quince is said to be bitter and astringent. Naturally, I had to try it. It didn't taste like much of anything, but this particular fruit had been sitting on my counter for a while, so that may be why.

-The cut fruit had a beautiful scent.

-The color change as it cooked was pretty cool. Mine turned into a jewel-toned rose, if that makes any sense.

Overall, definitely worth another go. I think I might try it in something savory next time. And I saw several recipes that suggested mixing quince syrup with prosecco...I think that would also be delicious.

If...then

If you decide to make this recipe: Glowing Jack-o-Lantern Cookies. And if your primary workspace is the counter over your dishwasher. Then you might not want to put the bag of crushed candy on that counter while you do the rest of the recipe.

Because the heat from the running dishwasher might cause the candy to melt into one giant lump, which is somehow much more difficult to smash up than the original candies. And if you're doing all this in the hour before you have to go work, the stubborn candy blob might make you late.

Theoretically, I mean.