Fresh Pumpkin Pie

I still haven't used all of my apples up yet so there will likely be another apple recipe here next Tuesday, but for a little bit of a switch I thought I'd give you all a pumpkin recipe.

Ryker requested a fresh pumpkin pie for his birthday. By fresh I mean made out of a pumpkin that he picked out of our garden. It really isn't as hard as it sounds and in tastes delicious.

Even if you don't have pumpkins in your garden a lot of places will be selling pumpkins for next to nothing now that Halloween is over. You can pick one up and surprise your family with a homemade pie tonight. Or you can also make the pumpkin pie filling and freeze it until you are ready to make your holiday pies.

Here is how you do it.

1. Cut the top and the bottom off of your pumpkin and scrape out the seeds, being careful not to scrape out too much of the flesh.

2. Peel the pumpkin with a potato peeler and then cut it into 2 in. square chunks.

3. At this point you have a couple of options. If you have a pressure cooker you can dump the pumpkin chunks in there with a little water and let it start pressuring. Once it gets to full pressure just let it cook for 10 mins. and then cool it off and you're ready to go. If you do not have a pressure cooker you can lay the pumpkin chunks on a cookie sheet and bake them in a 350 oven until they are bright orange and extremely soft. This may take up to an hour. Just poke them with a fork to test for doneness.

4. When your pumpkin is soft use your electric mixer to mush it all up into a pie filling consitency. You will need 2 cups of mashed pumpkin for this pie recipe, so reserve that out and then put the rest into freezer containers and let it cool before you place it in the freezer.

5. That's it! Now proceed with your favorite pumpkin pie recipe or use this one.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

2 cups fresh pumpkin, mashed

1 can evaporated milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1/4 brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

In a mixing bowl beat eggs. Add milk and vanilla. Combine sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Add to egg mixture. Stir in pumpkin. Beat until smooth. Poor into prepared crust. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30 additional minutes. Remove from oven when filling is set. Let cool. Refrigerate.

Warning: This pie will not look like a regular pumpkin pie made from canned pumpkin. It will not be dark orange and may even look more like a custard pie than a pumpkin pie. That orange coloring is added to canned pumpkin. But yours will taste just like the pumpkin you are used to...only better.

For more great recipes and kitchen tips head over to Tammy's Recipes.