On the way to Sunday . . . Extravagant Dessert

I'm fairly positive that Pumpkin Pie will not go down in the history of desserts as an extravagant dessert, but it is at the top of my list!

In the interest of full disclosure, Pumpkin Pie is my favorite dessert of all time. I could eat it all year and often due to thanks to a wonderful wife who bakes them for me!

But what could possibly makes Pumpkin Pie an extravagant dessert?


Every year my family would travel to Urbana, Indiana for Thanksgiving with my Dad's family. Grandma and Grandpa would lay out a feast like no other. When dinner was over, there was always dessert in many forms. As was tradition, Grandma always made a couple pumpkin pies.

Grandma knew I loved it. I was always polite and would have my one piece. I would then wait 'til everyone else had their choice of desserts and then whatever was leftover was mine to eat! Often this meant as much as half of an entire pie just for me!

One particular Thanksgiving, as I returned to the kitchen there was no pie leftover. I was disappointed, but I said nothing. As everyone finished and the dishes were being put away, my grandmother came over to me and whispered, "Go down to the basement and look in the refrigerator. There is something in there just for you."

Imagine my surprise. There on the shelf was an entire pumpkin pie with my name on it. From that year on, every time I visited my Grandparents, Grandma would bake a pie and hide it in the basement just for me!

I didn't need an entire pie. It was a bit extravagant, but it was a way for my grandmother to show how much she loved me.

Her pumpkin pies always tasted the best, perhaps it was the extra ingredient of love that made them better. One time she shared with me her secret recipe. I guess it really was that love that made them so special.

Now my wife bakes pumpkin pies with the same recipe as Grandma. A Dessert made extravagant by the love that goes into it's preparation. That will always make these pumpkin pies the best and most extravagant dessert for me!

Thanks Grandma and thank you Dink!