The fiance and I have done our best not to become two sad sacks though. This Christmas Eve we played a little tennis, then threw on some jingly Pandora tunes and I baked a pumpkin pie from scratch to take to our friends' party.

No, I did not scoop out a small chunk from the lower left of this pie. It just happened.

I have to warn you that this pie is not just paleo good. It's legit good. And I LOVE PIE so I know what I'm talking about. It's based on Everyday Maven's version (after consulting the pumpkin puree can, of course), but I substituted and added a few things.

My advice? Don't wait 'til next year to make it. Do it now.

Almond Pie Crust

Paleo-approved

• 1 ⅓ cups almond flour
• 1/3 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 T coconut oil, plus a little to grease the pan
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Pulse dry ingredients in a food processor to get rid of any lumps. Add everything else and mix until you get a dough ball. Yep, a real dough ball! You don't roll this crust, so just press it into a lightly greased pie pan until it's even. Crimp the edges, stab the bottom with a fork a few times, brush with egg if you like, etc. Then throw it in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. I also checked on it about 4 minutes in to make sure it wasn't bubbling and it was, so I stabbed more holes to get rid of the bubbles. Remove and let cool fully.

Maple-Spice Pumpkin Pie

Paleo-approved

• 1 paleo pie crust, pre-baked and fully cooled
• 1 can of pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (full fat, not light)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• Aluminum foil crust protector (instructions below)
• Optional: pecans or walnuts or whatever you want for garnish

Mix all ingredients except the eggs (and crust, obvs) in a food processor. Beat eggs in big bowl until air bubbles form. Mix the pumpkin filling with the eggs and then pour into the pie crust. Put your garnish on top (or don't). Then bake for 55 minutes or until set. Cool, chill and eat.

Foil Crust Protector: If you're worried about your crust edges getting burned, fold a big piece of aluminum foil into quardrants and then cut it to create a circle in the middle the size of your pie innards. Unfold it and place it over the pie so that the foil covers the crust (but not the filling) and then secure it around the pie pan. 

Ideas, thoughts and other uses:

• The pie crust would be great for any other kind of pie. THE POSSIBILITIES.
• You could also go the other direction and skip the crust and eat the filling like a pudding.

Oh, pie.