Pumpkin Recipes!

When I was a kid, I thought it was so silly to carve pumpkins, leave them outside until they got moldy, and then throw them away. When I moved out, I made it a tradition to carve my pumpkin the day before Halloween, and then on the day after Halloween, I cut it up, cooked it, mashed it, and used the mush in my pumpkin recipes. I've been doing this for three years now, and now my husband's family is doing it, too. I should have written this post earlier so that all of you could use your carved-up Halloween pumpkins, but I just didn't think about it. Oh well. Canned pumpkin is cheap this time of year, so I thought it would still be worth-while to share some of my favorite pumpkin recipes.

Pumpkin Pie
This pumpkin pie is rich and spicy, and goes perfectly with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. If you're making it with homemade mashed pumpkin, use about 3-1/2 cups.

two single-crust pie crusts (See my post on pie crusts)
1 29-oz. can pureed pumpkin
1-1/2 c. brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
6 eggs, well beaten
2-2/3 c. milk, or 2 cans evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Cream pumpkin, sugar, spices, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk, and vanilla. Pour egg mixture into pumpkin mixture; stir well. Pour carefully into two 9" pie shells--be sure that when you flute the crust, you flute the edge upright so that it helps to keep the pumpkin mixture from spilling out. Cover edge of crust with a pie crust shield (you can either make one out of aluminum foil or you can buy one here). Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 40-45 minutes, or until knife blade inserted near the center comes out clean.


Pumpkin Butter
This makes a great homemade gift for neighbors and friends. It's called butter because it's smooth and creamy, not because it has butter in it. It tastes great on toast, muffins, ice cream, in smoothies... you name it.

1 29-oz. can pureed pumpkin
3/4 c. apple juice
2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1-1/2 c. white sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 30 minutes, or until thickened. Stir frequently to keep mixture from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Spoon hot pumpkin mixture into half or full pint jars, leaving 1/4" head space. Remove air bubbles and wipe jar rims. Cover immediately with lids and screw the bands on.

Process in a boiling water bath or a steam canner for 10 minutes.

For a decorative touch, you can cut out circles of holiday fabric to go over the lids. You can also tie a ribbon around the neck of the jar. Get creative! :)


I have a couple more recipes, but this post is already pretty long, so you'll have to let me know if you want recipes for pumpkin bread or pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Enjoy!