Solstice Pie

I was invited to a winter solstice celebration! Not one to pass up gorgeous sunrises with friends on snowy hilsides, I got geared up to contribute to the post-dawn potluck with an almost-entirely-local sweet potato-squash pie (only the rice and spices were outsourced). A few minor disasters were navigated and the whole project turned out to my general satisfaction.

First phase went well: I roasted a halved butternut squash and a large sweet potato in the oven on 350 for, ohhh...an hour? Basically, until both were soft when poked with a fork. While I waited, I washed the squash seeds with water and spread them onto a toaster-oven pan and sprinkled them with salt. Baked them for about twenty minutes and munched on them while I read a magazine.

Second: I put the rice on to cook. Short-grain, brown rice for the rice-crust. I think I got the rice-crust inspiration out of some cookbook or another, but it was a while ago and I can't recall the source. I use it frequently to avoid wheat and add protein. One cup rice to two cups water and a sprinkling of ginger powder, simmering covered for about half an hour.

Third: The butternut squash finished first, so I scraped it into a large measuring cup while the rice and sweet potato finished. I added about a cup and a half of milk and a heavy sprinkling of cinnmon and nutmeg to the squash.

Fourth: I separated three eggs. Amazing how the shells of local, organic eggs are about four times more durable than your average factory-farm egg. They feel almost like ceramic. Anyway, the whites went into a hand-blender  cup and the yolks went into a bowl to wait for the rice.

Fifth: Rice was done. About 2/3 of the rice got mixed with the egg yolk and pressed into a pie pan and a cast iron pan as crust. Sweet potato, done, came out of the oven and crusts went in to pre-bake.

Sixth: Egg whites got beaten until stiff via the hand blender. Sweet potato, skinned, was added to the squash mixture and blended with the hand blender until creamy. This is the point when I should have added egg whites, but I didn't...near disaster numero uno. At this point, I was distracted by taste-testing. It was a bit bland, and I had no intention of adding a sweetener, but I wanted to draw out the natural flavors of the squash and sweet potato. I had some Young Living Citrus blend essential oil on hand so I put in three drops and loved the results...a refreshing, citrusy tinge to completement the deeper root vegetables. Next time I would stick to only two drops, though.

Seventh: Crusts being done, I poured the filling into one of them. Then I realized my mixtake and tested the durability of the crust by pouring the filling back into the bowl. It proved its worth. I then folded in the egg whites and tried again. Both crusts full, I arranged some decorative and tasty pecans on top (luxury holiday gift, thanks mom!).

Eighth: Spilled pie filling in the oven. Had a brief fight-flight-or-freeze moment before I realized I could scoop the light, meranguey mixture off the oven easily with a spoon.

Ninth: Bake, 350, for about an hour, and let stand to cool.

Ten: Sleep four hours, then cover pie in regualar pie tin with a plastic bag and place in basket. Carry one mile in cold dark to Zipcar and spend an hour getting lost on the way to party.

Grand finale: Arrive fashionably late, watch the sun rise, and enjoy pie with party!