Pumpkin Pie

As promised, here is how to make pumpkin pie minus the can. First you need to take a trip to your local pumpkin farm. You can see ours here. Then you need to pick out a couple of sugar pumpkins or pie pumpkins. Their flesh is not stringy and purees beautifully. It is also sweeter.

Bring your pumpkins home and cut them in half. Have the kids scoop out the seeds and stuff. They seem to enjoy this while I think it is just slimy. Save the seeds to roast. Roasted pumpkin seeds are such a yummy snack.

Next you want to roast your pumpkin. I place mine cut side down in a pan of water. (Hint: pour the water in after you have placed you pan on the rack in the oven, otherwise water may splash everywhere.) Roast in the oven for about an hour or so. The oven temp can be anywhere from 350-400. You can pierce the pumpkin with a fork to judge the doneness. It needs to be soft.

Here is our beautifully roasted pumpkin. Let it cool and then scrape the meat out of the skin. Next puree the meat. I did this with my food processor, but you could do it by hand, in the blender or with a stick blender. Your choice. That's it.

Our three pumpkins gave us eight cups of puree, enough for four pies! We made one pie and froze the rest in two cup portions. How wonderful it will be to have pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin coffee cake pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin pancakes this winter. Oh wait, I don't have enough pumpkin in the freezer for all that. Back to the farm.

Now you are ready to make your pie. You can use your favorite pumpkin pie recipe, just substitute your homemade pumpkin puree for the canned stuff. Here is the recipe we made. Boy was it yummy!