Homemade Pumpkin Spice Creamer

Semifinals. We won 28-17. The game was tighter than the score — down by three at halftime, a locker room that needed something from me, a halftime speech I hadn't scripted because the game had gone sideways in ways I hadn't anticipated. I said what was true: we're the better team and we haven't played like it yet, and we have thirty more minutes to decide what this season is going to be. Then I walked out of that locker room and let the coaches do their work and I stood outside the door for two minutes and breathed the cold November air. We came out in the second half and outscored them 21-7.

Championship game next week. Same opponent as 2019: Westfield Academy. They lost the state title twice since then. They will be hungry. I will be hungrier.

Hector called after the semifinal. I heard it in his voice even through the phone — the effort it took him, the sheer will to be present for this call at this hour on a Friday night. He said four words: "I'll be there Friday." I told him I'd have a seat for him on the fifty. He said he didn't need a seat on the fifty, he needed to see his team win a championship. His team. Yes. Always.

Slept four hours. Got up at four AM and reviewed film. Made café de olla at four-thirty. Sat at the kitchen table with my coffee and my tablet and my notes and the darkness outside the window. Lisa came down at five and poured herself a cup without speaking and sat across from me. We worked in parallel for an hour. I don't know what she was working on. She didn't need to know what I was working on. This is what twenty years together looks like at five in the morning before a championship week.

Café de olla is how my grandmother made coffee—spiced with cinnamon and piloncillo, brewed slow, meant to be held with both hands. I don’t always have the time to do it right, but championship week is the one week I make it matter, and this homemade pumpkin spice creamer gets me close to that feeling at four-thirty in the morning when the film is running and the house is still dark. Lisa poured it without asking what it was. That’s how you know a recipe belongs in the house.

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 16 (2 tablespoons per serving)

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of fine sea salt

Instructions

Combine the base. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk together the heavy cream, whole milk, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and sugar until fully combined.
Add the spices. Whisk in the pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt. Heat the mixture, stirring frequently, until it just begins to steam—about 5 to 7 minutes. Do not let it boil.
Finish and strain. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Pour the creamer through a fine-mesh strainer into a glass jar or measuring cup to remove any pumpkin fibers.
Cool and store. Let cool to room temperature, then seal and refrigerate. Shake well before each use. Keeps for up to 10 days in the refrigerator.
Serve. Add 2 tablespoons (or to taste) to hot brewed coffee or café de olla. Stir well and enjoy immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Creamer — What Four-Thirty in the Morning Tastes Like