Celebrate a great week with a gluten free crustless pumpkin pie

When normal folks (by that I mean those who have been gifted with the ability to digest gluten, lactose, and sugar) want to celebrate something great, they eat a treat.  I used to celebrate dance recitals with a trip to an ice cream shop.  If it's your birthday or the birthday of a loved one (or someone at the office) a slice of cake is mandatory.  If you're not able to eat these goodies, you have to make adjustments.  Once, back in my gluten-eating days, my friends didn't know how to make a cake without dairy, so they gave me a bagel with candles in it.  Or sometimes, you miss out completely.

That's when you take things into your own hands.  You make your own pie.

My friend Jasmin in headstand -- 33 weeks pregnant!  Definitely an inspiration...

This week has brought me some fantastic things, and I wanted to celebrate.  I started the week off with giving myself the time to go to a yoga class at The Breathing Room, a lovely studio in South Portland where I sometimes teach.  Never in a class have I been afforded the opportunity to be taught how to do head stands, but I've always wanted to try.  I was sort of afraid of breaking my neck by doing it on my own, however.  Since it was a small mixed levels class, and our teacher Carissa (also the owner) knew all of the students, she taught us, and with her help, I did it!  I couldn't help but laugh and giggle when I finally got into position.  Seeing the studio at this new angle, upside down, was absolutely exhilarating.  I've been practicing every morning since, and am a bit smitten with it.

The Ashley dress at Mikarose

Tuesday I woke up to the news that I had won a giveaway on Averie's blog, Love Veggies and Yoga.  The giveaway was for a gift certificate to the independent clothing shop, mikarose.  I'm ordering a dress and am so excited for when it arrives!

Today is the official opening of a really amazing pop-up gallery in downtown Portland appropriately called POP.  It's located on 100 Commercial Street, right on the water.  I will have five pieces there, including the images above.  It's open just for the month of December, so that Portlanders can have a place to buy locally made art as gifts for the holidays.  I'm so honored to be among so many talented local artists -- I can't wait to see everything hung on the walls tonight!

Lastly, tomorrow my art and writing will be in the second issue of Sparrow Magazine, an online publication that focuses on health, well being, family, and the home.  I really enjoyed Issue 1 of Sparrow -- I read all of the articles and either learned something from them or totally related to them.

So, as you can gather, I've been pretty blessed this week.  A pie is in order, to celebrate.

This recipe is heavily borrowed from one of the first gluten-free bloggers I found, Karina at The Gluten-free Goddess.  She has lots of wonderful recipes for special treats and occassions.

Gluten-free Crustless Pumpkin Pie

adapted from the Gluten Free Goddess

• 1 14 or 15-oz can organic pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 4 teaspoons stevia, or 1/4 cup organic sugar
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch/flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

•  1/4 cup crystallized ginger, loosely chopped
• 1/4 cup pecans, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch glass pie plate.

This was the easiest pie to mix:  I put all of my ingredients into my blender.  If you have a food processor at home, you can use that as well.  

So, once you've got everything into your mixing appliance of choice, cover and let the blades do their job until everything is delightfully smooth.  If you're like me, you can omit the egg and blend everything together and get a taste or two before adding in the egg and letting everything mix up nicely. 
Pour into the pie dish and use a spoon to smooth the batter out. Bake for 1 hour, let cool before serving.

What treat to you eat to celebrate?  Do you have anything to celebrate this week?  Even little things count!