Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday, the one holiday we can really claim as our own. In honor of that fact, every time I am out of the country for Thanksgiving, I find someway to celebrate it, even if that means eating roasted chicken and canned corn in Spain. This year, I have put myself in charge of the meal for all my friends in Paris and we will be celebrating on Sunday since we are all restaurant people and that is everyone’s day off.

In order to make Turkey Day a reality, I sought out the American specialty stores in Paris: Thanksgiving Store (20 rue St. Paul, 75004, Métro St. Paul) and Real McCoy (194 rue Grenelle, 75007, Métro Ecole Militaire). These places have baking soda and brown sugar (hello, where was this shit last week) as well as Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese, which they happily sell for upwards of 5€ a box. But here is what astonished me the most: while I was in each store, a different, cute, American girl who was obviously studying abroad bounded in asked what the pumpkin pies were going for. Each store will gladly rob you, I mean, sell you a pie for over 25€ (I will make you one for 10€). These girls rightfully balked at the price, but when I politely suggested that they make their own, they looked at me like I had suggested they lead nuclear peace talks in North Korea. “How would I do that?” they asked. So here is my way to make pumpkin pie, the EASIEST thing to bake EVER.

1 pre-made roll of pie dough
(in the US Pillsbury makes this already rolled out and ready to pop in the pan. It’s in a red box. In France, they make this same thing, it’s called pâte brisé in the refrigerated section at Monoprix or wherever. You can make your own crust really easily, but I am learning that not everyone has the same interest in baking as I have).
1 can (15oz) pumpkin purée (Real McCoy, not Thanksgiving sadly)
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk (same)
3 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp salt
1-2 tbs pumpkin pie spice (DO NOT skimp here- if you are able to order the pumpkin pie spice from the Spice House (www.thespicehouse.com) do it, they are the best. If not, use a quarter tsp of each ground clove, ginger, and nutmeg plus a full teaspoon cinnamon)

Blind bake the shell. That means put it in the pan and poke holes all around with a fork. Bake at 300-350 F until the shell is cooked but still really white. Let it cool. Mix together all the other stuff either in a mixer or with a whisk. Pour into the pre-baked shell and bake at 425 for 10 minutes and then reduce the oven to 350 and bake another 30-40 minutes until the middle is a little wobbly yet solid. If the edges of the crust start to burn, cover them with a little ring of foil.

Oh, you want that in metric? Since the #1 thing I look for in a man is the ability to do math, you ain’t getting’ those conversions from me, sugar.