Fresh Pumpkin Pie

It's fall, the leaves are changing, the pumpkins are orange and plentiful. I'd post pictures of all those things, but still no camera. Hence, the lack of bloggering lately. Sorry! It's true, I shouldn't have to have pictures to write on my blog. But they sure make things more interesting. Without pictures, what can I tell you today?

Well, you probably won't be as excited as I am, but I'll announce that my kitchen valances arrived this week, and I hung them up last night! They are.... PERFECT! I LOVE them. I haven't experienced this much domestic satisfaction in... how long? maybe ever? Ah, but at this point, wouldn't a picture of those darling little curtains just give you a reason to share my excitement?! I know! I NEED a camera.

Another something to tell... I cut Spencer's hair this week with the clippers. It was getting really long on top, and while I loved the 'baby' look it gave him, it started to be very unmanageable. So, he got a real boy hair cut. And he looks so much older to me. He still does all his cute little one-year-old baby boy things, but because he's so tall, it kinda looks like he's a bigger kid, doing those 'baby' things. Oh well, I do like the hair cut -- even though he screamed and hated the buzzer. The end result is good. (again, just think how much you'd enjoy a cute little picture of the boy and his cut. sigh)

I took the kids to a pumpkin patch play date with some of the other kids from church this week. It was so much fun picking out our own pumpkins. A couple in our ward offered a big garden plot to anyone who wanted to grow fresh produce this year. The last of the crop is a HUGE row of hundreds of pumpkins, and we were allowed to take as many as we wanted. Fun! Now we have a porch full of orange pumpkins, and I'm thinking of all the pumpkiny goodness of seasons past.

If you're a long time follower here, you'll remember me writing about the good ol' days of PUMPKINFEST (always capitalized). When I lived in Boston, back my single days, one of my awesome roommates, Randi, was positively obsessed with this time of year. (positively, as in, obsessed in a very good way.) PUMPKINFEST was really Randi's thing... a huge party where everyone invited was supposed to bring something "pumpkin" to share.

I confess, I am new to the love of pumpkin, and I owe this love to PUMPKINFEST. Where else would you find all different ways of experiencing that delicious vegetable in so many delectable ways? We had pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin rolls (those goodies with cream cheese filling, oh yes!), roasted pumpkin, spiced pumpkin seeds, pumpkin soup, and of course, pumpkin pie. Wow! What a versatile vegetable. Let's hear it for the pumpkin! And for Randilicious, for introducing me so kindly.

I've often thought it would be fun to throw my own PUMPKINFEST. Maybe I'd even make it a lowercase pumpkinfest, so as not to disrespect the REAL PUMPKINFEST. But really, it wouldn't be the same as, would it? I know it wouldn't. So, instead, I honor PUMPKINFEST by writing about it and telling people about it every year.

This year, I'm posting my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. I fell in love with it in London one Thanksgiving when a friend served it for our little American feast. Fresh pumpkin and honey. Good combo.

Enjoy!

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

(doesn't come with a crust recipe, so just use your own favorite crust)

1 medium sugar pumpkin

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

(I sometimes use 2-3 teaspoons of "pumpkin pie spice" instead of cinnamon and ginger, works just great)

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup honey, warmed slightly

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Cut pumpkin in half, and remove seeds. Lightly oil the cut surface. Place cut side down on a jelly roll pan lined with foil and lightly oiled. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Either mash, or puree in small batches in a blender. (I prefer it mashed, for a chunkier texture. Puree makes it more like canned pumpkin.)

In large bowl, blend together 2 cups pumpkin, spices, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, honey, milk, and cream. Mix egg mixture in with pumpkin. (Don’t overbeat, or you’ll lose the texture. I'd say to beat by hand, rather than with a mixer, for a dense, rich texture.) Pour filling into pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees F ( 205 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge of pie comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Best served with real whipping cream on top, mixed up with a bit of honey.