Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Pumpkin Pie

Written by Jamey:

Ever since we planted a pumpkin patch in the spring, Sam has been talking about making pumpkin pies. A couple days ago, I was home on fall break with nothing pressing to do (at least nothing that was pressing and I also wanted to do) so I obliged.

I had recently heard that canned pumpkin is actually butternut squash. We have plenty of those, but Sam had in his head to use the big orange kind. We also have plenty of those, and had absolutely nothing else to do with them (they had already served their primary purpose--they were planted so that the plants would spread and keep weeds down in the back garden) so I figured it was worth a shot. I read up and learned that sugar pumpkins are best to use for pies. They are smaller, sweeter and less watery and that they, of course, were not what we had. I just followed a regular recipe except added about 25% more sugar (as recommended) and made sure to drain the pulp extra well before using.

We scooped the seeds out and even decided to clean them, and try to roast some. I used a recipe that just used salt & butter--they're pretty good and the kids even like them--yay, another source of fiber!
I steamed the pumpkin to soften it, and the smell immediately took me back to my teenage years--something I don't think I've smelled in the last ~20 years. My church youth group, as a fundraiser, used to cut and cook pumpkins for Bird-In-Hand family restaurant in Lancaster (PA) during the fall. They would sell thousands of pies during the fall, and the steamy, unique (& very strong) smell from my modest batch immediately took me back.


This is the steamed meat--it absolutely falls off of the tough skin after steaming for only about 15 minutes. One 15-20 pound pumpkin probably would've made 4 pies--I ended up with two and just discarded the rest of the pumpkin. Luckily, we have awesome, flakey-as-all-get-out, pie crusts in the freezer (thanks to my better half), so it was an easy process after dealing with the pumpkin. It's definitely a time-consuming process . . .

. . . that is 100% worthwhile. I even let the kids have a second piece after dinner, which we never do. Truth is, I wanted a second piece myself.

Fall in the valley is my favorite time of year by a mile, and today was one of those days, when I was sooooo thankful not to have been sitting inside in class all day. The sunset from our front porch in the evening:
"Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years" Genesis 1:14
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5 comments:

  1. Well hello there, Jamey! Is this blog going to be a joint effort from now on? Or only when pumpkin is involved?

    -JJ

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  2. Do all who comment on this post get a complimentary slice of this delicious pumpkin pie?? :)

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  3. Complimentary slice of pie!!!! YESSSSSS!

    My mouth is actually watering.

    Really - thank you both so much for this blog. It's inspiring.

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  4. I'm so impressed Jamey--not just the fact that you're baking pumpkin pies, but that you're getting in on the blogging action as well. You two are an awesome team.
    C

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Just a friendly reminder, if you know me personally please try to refrain from using my name. There are those who may try to locate me, break into my pantry and steal my pickled beets. Thanks:-).

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