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As sisters in Zion, we all work together, which is why I turned to the talented sisters at Our Best Bites for this next recipe. This is one of my favorite recipe sites. These girls know how to cook. And they just happen to be Mormon. This is a favorite fall and winter Family Home Evening snack. That is, on nights we remember to have Family Home Evening. Sometimes the shake is Family Home Evening. My son has dubbed these shakes “the best treat ever,” so you should probably pay attention.

Also, I’d like to apologize, to all three of you who read the recipe posts here at The Cultural Hall, for my recent lack of contributions. I’ve been on something of an unintended sabbatical.

A couple of days ago my three year old and I, along with our new puppy, were crunching through the crisp, fall leaves on our daily walk, jackets abandoned in the closet at home as we basked in the slanting fall sunlight.

Today those leaves (which I guess I should have raked?) are under several inches of heavy snow with big, fluffy flakes still falling. Next week we could possibly be breaking out the flip-flops for another run. Signs of the times, people.

Regardless, however, of whether you’re still working on getting the Halloween decorations put away or you’ve already listened to your entire Christmas music collection at least once, these shakes are sure to hit the spot, and I have it on good authority that you don’t have to like pumpkin pie to like them. My interpretation does not vary much from the one presented on the OBB website; I simply have one improvement in preparation.

PUMPKIN PIE MILKSHAKES

1/3 C canned pumpkin
1/4 C milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of cloves
pinch of nutmeg
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 C vanilla ice cream
a few graham crackers

Now, the lazy man might set his graham crackers aside and pop all the other ingredients in the blender, adding milk as needed. You can do this. It will taste good. But if you’re big on texture like I’m big on texture, you’ll appreciate the trick I learned at the Mom and Pop pizza place I worked at during high school. Handmade milkshakes.

First, blend up all the ingredients, excluding the crackers and the ice cream. It will resemble baby food.

While you’re doing all of this, leave the ice cream sitting out so it can soften just a bit. While tending to a puppy-related emergency, my ice cream got just a tad too soft. Nevertheless, the trick to a good handmade shake is a steak knife. Mix your pumpkin mixture and ice cream (divided into individual cups, if you desire) by cutting through the ice cream repeatedly. As it mixes and softens, you can use the flat side of the knife to smoosh whole ice cream chunks against the side to make it more smooth. That’s the way the pros do it. And by pros, I mean those of us who used to work at a hole in the wall pizza joint in the mid-nineties netting less than $100 a paycheck. Ah, the good old days.

Crumble up some graham crackers and sprinkle atop the individual servings, take your puppy out to piddle for the umpteenth time, and enjoy. Unless you don’t have a puppy. Then just enjoy!

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