And now for something completely different...



Pumpkin photgraph by Suzanne Collier.
For more information:
http://thruthebugsonmywindshield.wordpress.com/



You may remember me saying that our little garden produced just one pumpkin this year.  It got picked yesterday, and I roasted its seeds and used its pulp to bake two fairly decent pumpkin pies!  I started with this recipe from cooks.com REAL Pumpkin Pie.  I didn't have rum or raisins in the house, and I had already started baking the fresh pumpkin to cook the flesh, so I did a little fiddling with the recipe, which then became:

Drunken Punkin Pie
To make two pies
Pastry for two 9" pies, fitted into pie pans, with edges fluted and bottom of crust pricked with a fork so that steam can escape
4c. cooked pumpkin, mashed or pureed
2 T flour
2 c. sugar
* 2 tsp cinnamon
*1 tsp nutmeg
*1/2 tsp cloves
*1 tsp ginger
  OR substitute 3 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice for all ingredients marked with *
2 T Molasses
2 T butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 c Maker's Mark bourbon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Mix all ingredients together, stir until well combined, and pour into pastry-lined pie plates.  Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake until done.  I checked my pies the first time after thirty minutes at 350, but they were not even close to being done.  It was closer to an hour and a half before they were set up enough that a knife inserted near the middle of the pies came out clean and they were baked.  You will want to check them about every ten minutes or so, and may need to protect the edges of the pie crusts with strips of aluminum foil.
Let the pies set on a rack to cool, and serve with whipped cream.
Yum!