Everything’s Turning Orange!

There’s a chill in the air and a special scent of burning fireplaces as fall begins to set in. Even here in the South, folks are putting out fall door decor and adding pumpkins to their yards and porches.

My favorite fall activity is shopping for the perfect pumpkin! There are always so many different types to choose from, but one of my favorites is the good old ordinary orange pumpkin, the same kind that we carve to make a Jack-o-lantern for Halloween, or its smaller sibling that we can bake for pies. I’ve not experimented with cooking the fancier ones, and I’m not even sure that you can! Carving the big one removes the possibility of cooking it, although I do often fry the pumpkin seeds after removing them from the pumpkin before carving it.

In addition to carving them, I love to use pumpkins to make delicious foods like pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie! As a kid, I wasn’t fond of pumpkin pie, but later on, a friend taught me how to make one that’s (if I do say so myself) absolutely fantastic. I’ll be baking some for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year – but they are good any time. To save time, I often use canned pumpkin for these pies. I’m sure they would be better made with fresh baked pumpkin, but I often have too many things on my calendar to patiently bake and process those little ones. I promise – the canned pumpkin will produce a super good pie!

My Best Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs
1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
1 can Eagle Brand® condensed milk (14 oz)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
dash of salt (optional)

Beat the eggs. Add 1 can pumpkin, and mix well. Add 1 can Eagle Brand ® condensed milk. Continue to mix (a whisk is great for this if you don’t want to pull out the electric mixer), and add in the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. When well mixed, pour into a pre-baked pie shell (see below). Normally I use a standard pie crust (use your favorite recipe), but I think this pie might be good with a slightly sweetened graham cracker crust, too.

Bake at 325 ° F for 50 minutes (or more if needed), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool on a rack. Keep in refrigerator after cooling if not using right away. Serve with a generous dollop of sweetened whipped cream on each slice!

Variation: If you don’t care for cloves, try substituting 1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg instead.

Note: You’ll only need the one (bottom) pie crust shell for this pie. Remember that if you’re making the pie crust yourself, and just make a half recipe. There are loads of good pie crust recipes, so you can just use your favorite or choose one from the web.

Did you try the recipe? What did you think? What’s your favorite fall pumpkin food (bread, muffins, pumpkin pancakes, etc.)? Tell us in the comments!