I love the color (notice Yankee Belle's background). Well, I must love the form too because I even love white pumpkins. I love decorating with pumpkins inside and out .
I even love little punkins like this one and his daddy before him. It's a tradition in our house to take pictures in the pumpkin patch:
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| My grandson back in the day |
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| My son back in the day |
My grandson has already started begging for pumpkin pie. He takes after Grandma Juju. Any recipe I can get my hands on, I'll try. Oh, but then there are those allergies again. I've learned ways to modify all things pumpkin, dress them up and make them just as luscious as the pins on my Pinterest boards.
I miss a good pie crust but haven't been a fan of fake ones. So I make a nut crust for my "baked pumpkin." It's simple as...well, PIE.
Nut crust:
Put 1/2 cup pecans and pulse til ground. Add one cup almond meal or enough almonds ground in a food processor to make a cup. Pulse again. Add two tablespoons cold butter and pulse til mixed thoroughly. Place in pie plate or glass dish and place a piece of waxed paper over it, spreading over the bottom of the plate.
If you are fixing a refrigerated pie, you can bake the crust at 350 for 10-15 minutes until toasted. Do NOT over brown. Cool before adding other ingredients.
If you are going to bake your pie ingredients, just pour the filling over the top of the crust and bake as directed.
Healthier Pumpkin filling:
I used a recipe for the filling off the Libby's can for guidance, but I make it healthier. I use the egg whites instead of whole eggs, a half cup skim milk rather than a whole can of evaporated milk, and most importantly, I've reduced the amount of sugar. I have gotten it down to half a cup but it takes time to get used to eating pie that almost tastes like a vegetable rather than solid sugar. Adding vanilla can also help.
4 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup skim milk
1 can pumpkin
1 T pumpkin pie spice or more to taste
1 dash salt
Beat eggs. Add sugar and spices and beat again til well mixed. Add pumpkin and milk and beat until blended.
Pour into crust and back for 15 minutes at 425 and then lower to 350 for 40 minutes. You don't want the crust to burn.
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| To make it really pumpkiny, top with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) |
So are you a pumpkin fan? A Pinterest fan, especially with ? Feel free to look my boards up on Pinterest and share your feelings about pumpkin! A great fall vegetable or greatest?
I love pumpkin pie, but my hubby's favourite version is his mother's recipe, which is a pumpkin chiffon chilled in a traditional crust, so I haven't made a baked one in many years. I might have to change that as this sounds scrumptious.(BTW, did you know there are three duplicate oversized photos in the midst of this post?)
ReplyDeleteAs for Pinterest, I'm not on it. Most people I know say they love it, but that it's addicting, and right now I can't afford to spend any more time online than I already do.
AcK! They are not coming up in my preview or regular feed. Thanks and I will get right to changing it.
ReplyDeleteI set a timer for Pinterest activity. It's the only way I can do it.
And pumpkin chiffon sounds wonderful.
Yum. Just made pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing and pumpkin cookies this week. I've never made pumpkin pie from scratch - I usually buy it at the bakery...which reminds me...I'll have to check and see if they are selling any yet (our Canadian Thanksgiving is in October). Yum, yum, yum. But I will try your recipe too. Can't have too much pumpkin pie hanging around, can you?
ReplyDeleteLove your alternative pie crust too. There's a great vegetarian restaurant I frequent and it has a to-die-for pie crust made from almonds. Yum.
Yum indeed. My crust is a sort of make-do because I don't add in common GF ingredients like xanthan gum. I've learned to evoke flavors.
DeleteAs far as too much pumpkin, my hands usually turn orange from the overindulgence.
I love everything pumpkin! No such thing as too much. I tend not to make pumpkin pie as much, though, since DH hates all things pumpkin (whatever!) . I will buy pumpkin roll, pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin fudge. This is my favorite time of year!
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. And it is so good for you! Pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, but I draw the line at pumpkin coffee. Give me a pumpkin infused baked good to go with my straight stuff.
ReplyDeleteYummy. Now all I want to eat today is pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin donuts. Perfectly balanced meal, right? :-) Oh, and I love the idea of the timer for Pinterest. Genius!
ReplyDeleteNow I know where you get your orange hair!
DeleteI like it ok but it's not my first pie choice..I'll start with chocolate, lemon, coconut (with merigue thank you very much!) or apple or maybe even pecan (or chocolate pecan is even better!) before I reach for pumpkin or sweet potato...
ReplyDeleteSusanna
People either like it or they don't, that's for sure. I love all the ones you list.
Deletethere aren't too many pies I dn't like - had buttermilk pie last Thanksgiving and never would've thought it'd been so good!
Deletesusanna
A crust even I can make. Hurrah. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
ReplyDeletePumpkin, carrot and butternut squash are my flavors of choice for pie, bread and soup.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the crust. It adds a nice nutty flavor to pies. I still miss a flaky crust though!
DeleteI am with you on all those veggies.
Ooooh, I have so many pecans! I should try this crust! I've been in love with nut crusts since I lived in France and so many tarts had almond crusts. YUMMY. Now I want to make tarte aux pommes tambien.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Just re-read my own comment. Ok, 'tambien' should be 'also'... Somehow, Spanish is all mixed up whenever French comes out. Sad, sad.
ReplyDeleteHaha. I got the drift but now I hanker for a patisserie and tapas.
ReplyDelete