I started on book3, as that's the library had in first. The art is rubbish - the difference between Cordelia and Willow is the skirt length - the plot and writing is as you'd expect.
There's one story set at Thanksgiving, and I have to ask the Americans out there-
Pumpkin pie filling, in a tin? Really? Isn't pumpkin pie filling basically pumpkin? And probably sugar and butter/lard, thinking of the Thanksgiving feast's I've attended.
I can't believe you can buy pumpkin pie filling in a tin.
I'm not an American but I have observed that quite a lot of US recipes on the web for cakes and puddings call for ready made mixes as the starter ingredient.
ReplyDeleteI'm not American either, but drawing on my vast knowledge of foreign foods, I believe it is pre-prepared pie filling- so it has already been cooked with the sugar and any spices that go in. This allows the busy cook to just dump it inside the pastry shell (which can also be brought prepared) and it takes much less time to cook- and is generally easier all round. The bit that I fail to understand is why- if you're going to cheat anyway- you don't just by a pre-made pie.
ReplyDeleteThinking more about it, Buffy bought this from a list that Joyce gave her. I can't believe Joyce would make a pie by buying the pastry and the filling. (I'm assuming that anyone buying a pie filling isn't going to make the pastry.)
ReplyDeleteMaybe I've got a high standard of cooking, but for the love of god, you don't cook by bringing together pre made ingredients. Buy the whole damn pie instead.
Well, it's actually a trend I have noticed a lot on American TV. I think its almost a cultural joke. People want homemade pie but nobody wants to make it as it's so much hassle. So instead the pastry shell and tinned innings combo allows people to have 'homemade pie' without the work. When you see it in Tv programmes it's usually done surreptiously by women trying to pretend their domestic goddesses, but with a wink wink to the audience. I suspect that the Buffy writers were just playing on a broader joke.
ReplyDeleteas an American (and a big fan of Thanksgiving) i can say yes our pumpkin pie filling comes from a can. usually a pretty big one too.
ReplyDeletei'm not a huge pumpkin pie eater myself though. more a cake guy.
Yes, pumpkin pie filling in a can (tin). There are spices added as well, and pumpkin pie filling from scratch has to be cooked in a VERY particular way or it turns out to be very disgusting.
ReplyDeleteWhere I grew up, we used to save the pumpkin innards from Jack-o-Lanterns to make pies for Thanksgiving. To create the pie filling, we had to first remove all the seeds, mash the pumpkin pulp to, well, a pulp, and then add the other ingredients, cook it, etc., etc. -- and THEN if we were lucky, the pie was edible. Nope. It's MUCH easier (and tastier) to just buy the canned filling.
It turns out that the pumpkin pie i've eaten was probably made a from a tin. I feel cheated.
ReplyDeletewiec: I prefer key lime pie myself. That stuff is awesome.
Sea: yeah I can see it would be a hassle to make.
I think i'm a cookery snob - I make 90% of stuff from scratch.