Everything Pumpkin!

I'm just so proud of myself today!  Jason and I went to Kroger for our bi-monthly grocery shop after church today, and I saw some HUGE pumpkins that I decided that I just had to get today.  I've been CRAVING some pumpkin seeds!  

Today, I decided not to do anything fancy with them.  Just remove them from the "gunk" of the pumpkin, wash off, dry off, and butter (I use spray butter so they don't get soggy-the butter is just to make your seasoning of choice stick)! I cover the pan with foil, spray the foil with butter, salt the foil (so that you won't have to worry about flipping as much.  Spread a thin layer of pumpkin seeds on the foil, and butter and salt again!

You can use lots of different seasonings for your seeds: cinnamon, garlic salt, table salt, etc.  The possibilities are really endless!  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, just until crunchy.  YUM!! My favorite part of the pumpkin!

After starting to mess with my favorite fall snack, I saw this huge, empty pumpkin that would surely rot as a Jack-O-Lantern weeks before Halloween.  I couldn't imagine putting it to waste.  So I decided to try my hands at making pumpkin pie!!  

Cut up your pumpkin into semi-small pieces and throw them into a deep pot of water and salt (1/2 tsp of salt for every cup of water-we used a bit less just in case that made it too salty).
Once the water is boiling, cover and allow your pumpkin to boil for about 25-30 minutes.  Drain.  Once it is cool to the touch, the skin will peel off very easily.  I made the attempt with a fork and butter knife, and the pieces fell apart effortlessly.  Put the now peeled pumpkin into a mixing bowl, or back into your pot.  Mash with a potato masher.  Once mashed, you are ready for the EASY part!

You will need:

2 cups of your newly mashed pumpkin

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 2/3 cup evaporated milk

Beat your 2 eggs with a whisk until well blended.  Add in other ingredients one by one.  I started with the pumpkin, then the sugar, then the spices, and finished off with the evaporated milk.  Whisk away until well blended!  Pour into your pie crust (we used a pre-made Pillsbury crust) and get ready to bake!  Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower your heat to 350 degrees, and continue baking for about 45 more minutes.  Let cool, and serve with Cool Whip on top!

This recipe stated that it called for 1 pie.  Since we had SO much pumpkin, we doubled it.  Doubling this recipe made 3 pies for us.  

I'm not kidding when I say we had a LOT of pumpkin.  After our first batch, and seeing how much we had left, we made 3 more.  Half of our enormous pumpkin made 6 pies for our neighbors and family!  The other half is already mashed, ready to be frozen for more pies at Thanksgiving!  I only ended up with a picture of 3 of our pies since we cut into the first one (to make sure we weren't going to poison everyone) and then started deliveries before I thought about photographing the finished product! Enjoy!

Happy Fall everyone!