My Mom's Punkin Pie

Of course, don't we ALL think our mother's/grandmother's/etc. pumpkin/other pies are THE BEST and the SECRET RECIPE to outshine all others?

Of course.

But, when I bake one of these pies, and I baked TWO last night, to donate to a charity bake sale at work this morning, but when I bake this recipe, all warm fuzzy feelings of a happy home come flooding back to me. And by giving these pies, my aim is to pass along those warm fuzzy feelings. I imbue that positive energy into my baking.

Now, I know that most times, a pie is a pie is a pie. Especially when it comes to that Thanksgiving staple, pumpkin pie. BUT after I moved across the country, I discovered that no one else REALLY makes pie like this pie. The "common" pumpkin pies I have run across are very orange, and like custard in consistency. And that's all fine and good. But THIS pie is MO' BETTA! Trust me on this one.

Scald: 1 can evaporated milk with more regular milk added to make 2 cups. Add 2 tablespoons butter, and let sit off heat.

Mix together: 3 cups pumpkin (or puree from 2 small pie pumpkins), 2 cups sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. ginger, 2 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg.

Slightly scramble: 4 eggs. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix in. Add milk, mix in.

Pour into two pie shells. You should also have a little extra to bake in a bowl/dish separately, as a "crustless pie." Don't throw it out! This is an extra BONUS. Sprinkle the top of each pie with 3 tablespoons of diced/finely chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans). Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes, until a knife inserted between the center and edge comes out clean. (The smaller dish will take less time to bake.)

Total yum.

What's Cooking?

The first unofficial Free Pagan Hot Meal was held last night. Gigi requested meatloaf and mashed potatoes from our Xena-Warrior-Princess Kitchen Witch. Xena made some yummy additions to the "meat" theme I'd come up with!

My mom first served buttercup squash long long ago, and I thought she'd done something different to the squash recipe. Turns out, she had just added a butterCUP to the butterNUT squash puree. I never forgot it. So, every fall I look for a buttercup to cook. Some stores list it as a Kubota or Kubocha, I forget. But it's a buttercup to me.

Sharpen a knife and cut that sucker in half. Scrape out the guts and place cut-side down on a cookie sheet. Add a bit of water, not too much that it sloshes out and makes a mess. Bake at 350-ish for 30 minutes or so until it's fork tender. Cool and scoop out sweet goodness. Mix with other squash puree or not. Add some salt, cinnamon, maple syrup, brown sugar, whatever floats your boat. But don't float it too much. You want a HINT of extra flavor, but let the buttercup yumminess shine through. Mash and bake until heated through.

I froze mine (plain and unseasoned) and then thawed it out about a week later to bake up. Served it last night and it was so sweet and so good. Even Gigi liked it, and she is The Picky Eater.

Orange foods are good, and good for you! This is a picture of a butterCUP squash.