Thankgiving Eatin'...pumpkin pie.

Last year at this time we were harvesting our own heirloom pumpkins from our garden. I was amazed that we actually had some grow and then ended up with 5 or 6 large pumpkins. They were beautiful and tasty. I was able to give a couple away and cook up the rest to put in the freezer. The amount that we put up lasted until this year! We made plenty of pies and pumpkin muffins with all of it.

Well, we were not able to grow pumpkins this year, but we picked up some really cool ones at a pumpkin patch up near Ellijay. Our kids love pumpkin pie. They will eat it for breakfast, lunch, supper and snacks. The two youngest aren't as crazy about them as the older children, but needless to say, they don't last long at all in our house (the pies, not the children. The children have lasted for quite some time now :) ).

I posted a recipe before on pumpkin pie and I am going to post it again. The only difference in the recipe that I will give and what you see pictured above is that I chose to use all pumpkin in the pie above. The recipe calls for some sweet potato. If you have the time, it is worth it. Both ways will make a great pie!

You will need pie crusts for two pies. We use a recipe using freshly ground soft white wheat.

Double-Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups of freshly ground soft white wheat flour (or 2 cups of all-purpose flour)

1 tsp. salt

2/3 cups and 2 Tbs. butter (12 Tbs.)

4-7 Tbs. cold water

*2 Tablespoons of sucanat with honey

Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter. Add water and mix. If the dough is too wet add a little flour. Divide dough in half and roll out on floured surface. Makes 2 pie crusts.

*I am thinking of adding a little sucanat with honey  (2 Tbs.) to this crust because this particular pumpkin pie recipe is not super sweet (which I like).  *I did this with the pie above. Liked it. You can also find this available at the Bread Becker's website.

Filling:

2 cups of half and half

3 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree (or 1 3/4 cup of fresh pumpkin puree)

1 cup of drained pureed sweet potatoes (from can or fresh)

3/4 cup of sucanat (or sugar)

     go checkout http://www.breadbeckers.com/ to find out what sucanat is

1/4 cup of pure maple syrup (yum!)

2 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger or 2 teaspoons of dried powdered ginger

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon of salt

*With the pie above, I increased all the spices to double from the original recipe. We enjoy it with a little more spice. It works well both ways, though.

While the pie shell is baking for about 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees, whisk cream, eggs, yolks,and vanilla together in bowl. Combine the rest of the filling ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a sputtering simmer over medium heat (takes a few minutes). Continue to do this, stirring, for about 10 minutes allowing the extra water to evaporate and the spices to incorporate. Remove pan from heat and whisk into the bowl with the cream mixture. Stain through a fine mesh strainer to get out  lumps and the stringy ginger. Pour even amounts into the two warm pie crusts. Cook on 400 degrees for 10 minutes and then turn down to 300 degrees and finish cooking until the middle looks a little "jiggly", which could be anywhere from 30- 45 minutes. The pie will need to cool and set for atleast 2-3 hours. It is soooo worth the wait. It is so pretty and shiny. Just like a picture.

Adding the sweet potato will give it a more orange color and shinier surface.

Soon, I hope to give you a pecan pie recipe made with maple syrup (no corn syrup!!). I have already made one and it turned out good. We are going to play around with the ingredients a little before I post. But, I will tell you that the maple syrup did fantastic and it held together just as if I had used the corn syrup.

And yes, the "real" food (if you ask our kids, the pies are "real" food :) ) will be coming soon to help round out this Thanksgiving feast. We are starting from the bottom up! Desserts, side dishes, and finally the turkey!

Happy Baking and Eating.

Thankful for children who delight in the simplicity of a homemade pie,

Nichole