Pumpkins

It's December already? Wow.  Well then, long-time no-see, friends!  I trust you've been keeping yourself busy.  I sure have.  (You can thank the hubbs for the photo below.)

We've enjoyed celebrating autumn in the Spare household.  We didn't get to carve pumpkins on Halloween since I had other things to do (see above picture)... so we had our own Fall Festival.  (There may or may not still be an uncarved pumpkin in our hallway...)

Another thing I did this year was experiment with making pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkin.  Did you know that people actually do that?  And that it tastes pretty spectacular?  I mean, it's not weird or anything.  I'll just show you some pictures and keep talking about it.

Grandma's pie crust recipe.

I used to be afraid of making pies from scratch.  They just seem hard.  Unpredictable.  Touchy.

Pie crust is sooooo easy to mix in a food processor.

But, for those of you who are in love, you know that you will face your fears to please the object of your affection (e.g. the hubbs really likes pie).

Me & the apple pie I baked last V-day.

I actually first faced my fear last Valentine's day when I baked Nathan a double-crust apple pie ALL BY MYSELF.  I think it was good.  I can't really remember, actually.  This pumpkin pie was my second from-scratch pie.

When I'm in uncharted territory, I do what any engineer would do.  Research.  Luckily for me, there's enough pie research (some call them recipes) online that I didn't have to work too hard.  I studied common components, failure modes and the advice of experienced pie-makers.

I halved the pumpkins & steamed them in the microwave ahead of time.
Then I pureed and froze the flesh for later use.

Research showed that the best type of pumpkin to use is called a "Sugar Pumpkin" or "Pie Pumpkin". Bred especially for eating, they have a smoother texture than the traditional Jack-o-lanterns.

When it was time to make the pie, I defrosted the puree in the
sink, which is the safest way to quickly defrost something.

And, in a bind, engineers have to be creative.  So, I came up with this little contraption to reduce the amount of water in my fresh pumpkin puree.

Bowl + Flour Sack Towel + Rubber Band = Pumpkin Puree Strainer

I'm sure you're biting your fingernails, wondering how my pie turned out...

Just like mom's. Mmm.

Fear conquered.