So, I’m on a “homemade” kick. By way of explanation, I offer up an image, circa 1870, of a pioneer housewife in a stiff apron and a billowy floral dress, sleeves rolled up past the elbows, slapping together a pie crust with the nonchalant expertise of a beaver building a dam. Which is certainly not a particularly accurate physical description of me (the pioneer woman, not the beaver—well, both) but rather the model to which I’ve been aspiring lately.

Cartoon by Carly Gelfond

Recent projects of mine have included homemade: peanut butter, raspberry jam, soft pretzels, Passover matzo, pesto, salad dressings, ketchup, ice pops, granola, borscht, and even my own version of Reese’s peanut butter cups (made with, you guessed it, homemade peanut butter). I’ll stop there, lest you think my 90-year-old grandmother has more of a social life than me, which she does.

I can’t really say where this newly-surfaced interest in making things from scratch came from. When I was little, my mother used to read me the Little House on the Prairie books. I fantasized about being Laura Ingalls Wilder, churning butter, sitting by the hearth listening to Pa’s stories or his fiddle-playing as the coyotes howled outside. I recall being both horrified and oddly intrigued when we came to the part where Laura and her siblings play catch with the balloon-like bladder of a pig that Pa has just slaughtered. A homemade beach ball.

I will also confess that there is something so childishly appealing to me about the idea of stirring the bubbling contents of a big black pot with a giant wooden spoon. I even think it’s appealing when done from within the confines of a teensy New York City kitchen with a modern stove splattered with the residue from last night’s disastrous attempt at homemade borscht.

It’s even more appealing when the pot’s contents are gooey and sweet, perfectly spiced, simmering away into something you just can’t tell me is inferior to Trader Joe’s.

All of which is to say that I’m a little bit obsessed with homemade pumpkin butter right now.

Pumpkin Butter—Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 15-ounce cans pumpkin puree
approx. 3 1/2 cups (I like Farmer’s Market brand organic pumpkin puree, and look, I realize that you probably expected me to roast my own pumpkin, but the truth is that canned pumpkin puree is actually delicious, and let’s be honest: using it might just be the difference between your actually making this pumpkin butter, and simply dashing off to Trader Joe’s.)
3/4 cup apple juice
2 teaspoons ground ginger (or to taste — the more ginger, the more kick)
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Juice of half a lemon

1. Combine pumpkin, apple juice, spices, and sugar in a large saucepan; stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened. Stir frequently (with big wooden spoon), being vigilant, as the butter can be prone to bubbling and “popping” from the heat. Adjust spices to taste. Stir in lemon juice, or more to taste.

2. Once cool, pumpkin butter can be dolloped onto a cup of plain Greek yogurt with granola, smeared across a toasted slice of crusty bread, or, if you’re a man or woman after my own heart, spooned directly into the mouth. (Whatever is leftover can be kept in an airtight container or glass jar in the fridge.)