Paper Point Thanksgiving Recipe Share: Dr. Poppy Blaseio

One of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. It’s a time to reflect and be grateful, a time for family, a season with beautiful autumn foliage, and of course a delicious multicourse meal that I get to spend days preparing for and cooking. As someone who loves to cook, spending a day-and-a-half preparing food is actually something that brings a smile to my face, so long as I’m working in my well-equipped kitchen. Perhaps it is my voracious sweet tooth, but to me Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without desserts. Pumpkin pie is a classic, however I have shifted our family tradition to indulging in sweet potato pie. What I love about this recipe is that it is made from scratch with no canned goods, and as a result it just tastes fresh. The natural sugars in the potatoes also give a natural sweet flavor. Besides being a fun twist on a classic, it is also pretty easy to make! Topped with some homemade whipped cream this dessert is a real treat. I hope y’all enjoy it as much as we do!

Butter Pie Crust (9-in Pie Pan) 

Ingredients:

1.25 cups flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter cut into ½ in cubes

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

3-4 TBS ice water

Directions:

1. Combine flour salt and sugar and mix (by hand or food processor)
2. Add butter and mix until pea sized pieces of butter remain
3. Add ice water and mix
4. Knead dough with heel of hand lightly
5. Small chunks of butter are good
6. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour
7. Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to warm 10 min before placing in pan

Sweet Potato Pie

(9-in Pie Pan)

Ingredients:

1 lb sweet potato

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

½ cup milk

2 eggs

½ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 (9 in) unbaked pie crust

 

Directions:

1. Boil sweet potatoes whole in skin 40-50 min, or until done
2. Run cold water over potatoes and remove skin
3. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl
4. Add butter, sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla
5. Bake at 350 for 55-60 min
6. Remove from oven when knife inserted in center of pie comes out clean
7. Pie will puff up like a soufflé and then will sink down as it cools

Dr. Poppy Blaseio is a practicing endodontist and member of the AAE’s Resident and New Practitioner Committee.