Home...Sweet Home

"There's a happy feeling
Nothing in the world can buy
When they pass around the coffee
And the pumpkin pie. "


Everyone's house has a smell. Some people's homes reek of wet dog and cigarettes, while others smell like fresh laundry and shampoo. However unique your smell may be, you rarely get the chance to detect your own custom perfume. Your nose becomes accustomed to your "essence" and only after a long absence can you recognize your home's aroma.

As I swung open my front door after my first 11 week trimester at school, I discovered my smell. My nose smiled as i inhaled the smell of warm blankets, Dad's cologne, Mom's holiday candles, all mixed with soft notes of coffee and fabric softener. It is said that the sense of smell is directly linked to memory, and I believe it. That must be why with one breath, I was home... Finally home.

Home means a lot of things. It means family, and relaxing, but it also means having a stove and oven! Oh the simple joy of being able to cook without using the microwave! You can then imagine my excitement when I woke up Wed. morning with a primal urge to bake a...

PUMPKIN

BANANA

MOUSSE

PIE!

Now hold-up.. What you say?

Pumpkin... BANANA? Seems like a strange combo,

but i have not gone bananas... This is a legitimate

Foodnetwork.com Barefoot Contessa recipe!

(I know... Not an original, but cut me some slack,

I have been religiously watching the foodnetwork

from my dorm room for 11 weeks!) Check out the video or just go from the recipe below!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/pumpkin-banana-mousse-pie/29725.html

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (14 crackers)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 extra-large egg yolks
• 1 package (2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
• 1 ripe banana, finely mashed
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar

For the decoration:

• 1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Orange zest, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter in a bowl and mix well. Pour into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press evenly into the sides and then the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes and then cool to room temperature.

For the filling, heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in another bowl, stir some of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly. You don't want the eggs to scramble. Remove from the heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add the dissolved gelatin, banana, and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Set aside to cool.

Whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture and pour it into the cooled tart shell. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

For the decoration, whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream decoratively on the tart and sprinkle, if desired, with orange zest. Serve chilled.

** So the final verdict for this little treat...**

Sorry Ina.

Old school pumpkin pie is better.

I am a purist when it comes to pumpkin pie.