Pumpkin Pie Day

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By Chef Diane

I normally eat one piece of pumpkin pie a year, after Thanksgiving dinner.  However, this year was different.  My mother, who is not a fan of pumpkin pie, had one there for dinner, but my son, who had recently started a new job had to provide a dessert for his work's bi-weekly pot luck lunch the next day.  My mother offered the pumpkin pie, but when she went in to check the dessert table, other guests had already cut into the pie.  My mother, not to be deterred, wrapped up the remaining half and sent it off with my son, and I was left without my annual piece of pie.  5 weeks later, and I still miss that pie!!

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As luck would have it, today is National Pumpkin Pie day, so I have another chance this year to have a piece.  If your family serves it for Christmas dinner, then you are in luck.  Hopefully you still have some left over.  If not, here is a simple recipe to make one yourself from allrecipes.com, or you can head to your grocery's freezer and pick up a frozen one.

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Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Cooked, strained pumpkin(or canned)

2/3 cup Sugar

¼ cup Brown Sugar

1 1/2 cups Evaporated Skim Milk

3 Eggs

3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon Ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon Ginger

1 teaspoon    Grated Orange Peel

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 Unbaked Pie Shell

How to Make Traditional Pumpkin Pie:

1.         Preheat oven to 425 degree.

2.         Mix pumpkin, sugars, orange peel and spices in large bowl.

3.         Add evaporated milk and eggs.

4.         Mix all ingredients well

5.         Pour pumpkin filling into pie shell.

6.         Bake at 450 degrees for fifteen minutes.

7.         Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes more.

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Happy National Pumpkin Pie Day

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By Diane Forrest,

I am not much of a pie maker, I make cookies, candy an occasional cake, but pies are somewhat frightening for me.  I think it’s the meringue.  I have never quiet mastered it, so I just steer clear of pies, well except for pecan. Those are pretty easy.  Thanksgiving was coming around, and I got to thinking about pumpkin pie.  It is the only time I ever get any, and I love it.

I was talking to a friend who asked how I made them, and since I usually buy them already made, I just told him to get some canned pumpkin.  He was in shock.  With all the baking you do, you don't make one from scratch?  So, I took this as a challenge.  I knew nothing about real pumpkins, except for carving faces in them and sitting them on my porch.

I did some research about how to prepare the pumpkin then went to the store to gather all the ingredients.  Did you know that pumpkins come in a smaller size just right for baking pies?  I was so glad about that cause all I could think of was those big huge porch sitting pumpkins.  I wasn't very hard at all to prepare the pumpkin.  All I had to do was slice a few holes in the pumpkin and place it the oven at 350 for about an hour.  Once it was baked, all I had to do was cut off the top, scoop out the seeds, and then scrape the sides with a spoon. By this time I was feeling so much like Martha Stewart I even washed and roasted the pumpkin seeds. Once you scoop out the pumpkin, just put it in a food processor and puree it, or you can use a potato masher or even hand mixer.

After getting the pumpkin ready, I was going to start on the pie filling, but as luck would have it my husband's aunt called and gave me her easy no fail recipe.  i was so happy, because the recipe I found didn't sound very good, I later found out that it was a diabetic recipe, using honey instead of sugar.  The recipe she gave me used alot of sugar, so if you aren't diabetic, I recommend you try it the next time you need a pumpkin pie.

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Since today is National Pumpkin Pie Day, why not bake one now for your Christmas dinner?  You can also have a pumpkin pie shake, cheesecake, coffee or even beer.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

2 cups pureed pumpkin

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

1 large can condensed milk

1 pie shells

*  This recipe does not call for added spices, however you may add cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice or pumpkin pie spice.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix all ingredients and bake for 45 minutes, or until done. 

Makes 2 pies 

Top with whipped cream.

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10/21 National Pumpkin Cheesecake

By Diane Forrest

It's October, and one of the things this month brings to mind is Pumpkins!   Raise your hand if you grew up waiting in the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin with Linus and Charlie Brown.  I know I did.  Some friends of mine recently took their grandchildren to a pumpkin patch where they had pumpkins everywhere, and each of them received their very own.  They also had other family oriented activities which made for a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I recently had to take a trip to Jackson, and decided to stop for lunch at the Olive Garden.  I love Itallian food, and couldn’t wait to dig into the menu to see what wonderful dishes they had.  When I opened the menu, the first thing I saw was a huge picture of Pumpkin Cheesecake!  Well that reminded me that National Pumpkin Cheesecake day was soon approaching, and today is that day!

Below is a recipe from Paula Dean for Pumpkin Cheesecake, it is a very easy recipe, but requires about 4 hours of refrigeration after baking, so if you want to eat it for supper, make sure you make it early in the day.  If you don't have time to bake your own, stop by the Olive Garden, its a great opportunity to celebrate pumpkin cheesecake, and you sure don’t want to waste it!

Paul Dean's Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients

Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon.

Add melted butter.

Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours