Conference turris::womannotes-v3

   Enquiring minds are *drooling* to know how you make Chocolate
    Pecan Pie?  It sounds won-der-ful!
    
    Barb

    
    I would like a recipe for fresh pumpkin pie.  Libby's canned
    pumpkin is actually fairly good, but I'd like to know how to 
    take a real pumpkin and create a pie from it.
    
    thanks,
    
    Carla
    

    Here is how I make fresh pumpkin for pumpkin pies and other
    pumpkin dishes -- use this in place of canned pumpkin in any
    favorite recipe.  Fresh pumpkin is usually moister than canned;
    you can cook the puree over low heat to reduce the moisture
    content if you'd like, but I usually just reduce the amount of
    milk I add to the pie.  About 1/3 C. less is usually right.

    You'll also notice that a pie made from fresh pumpkin isn't
    orange.  It's sort of a rusty yellow.  If this really bothers you,
    add some orange food coloring (or red + yellow) before you bake
    the pie.  
    
    You need a pumpkin -- the little round kind is about right for one
    pie; a leftover jack-o'lantern usually yeilds two or three -- and
    a large kettle that has a close-fitting lid. 

    Cut the pumpkin into small pieces. Peel them (a potato peeler
    works well).  Dump the pieces in the kettle.  The smaller the
    pieces are, the easier they are to mash and the quicker to cook,
    but the longer it will take to peel.  

    Add about a cup of water.   Bring the water to a boil.  Cover and
    turn down the heat until it's just simmering.  Cook until the
    pieces on top are tender -- usually about half an hour, if they're
    of average thickness.

    Drain the pieces in a collander.  Using a slotted metal spoon,
    lift a few pieces at a time into a large bowl and mash them with
    the potato masher. 

    It takes about 2 cups of mush to make an average pie, about 1 cup
    for pumpkin muffins or pumpkin bread.  You can use it fresh, or
    freeze it -- I usually make one pie fresh and save another batch
    for Thanskgiving.

    --bonnie

    To add my experience to --bonnie's recipe, I prefer to peel the pumpkin
    pieces AFTER they've cooked -- much easier!  Of course you have to let
    the cooked mess cool for a while first, unless you have asbestos
    fingers!  (I do the same when I'm cooking any of the winter squashes.)
    
    Also, I just learned last season that there is a variety of pumpkins
    grown specifically for pie making.  The jack-o-lantern pumpkins can be
    used, but they are more watery than the pie pumpkins.  Also the pie
    pumpkins seem to have a better (more concentrated?) flavor.  I can't 
    remember the pie variety's name, but they are the smaller, more compact 
    pumpkins that don't make such great jack-o-lanterns.
    
    Karen                                                                 

    My grandmother,  who  made  everything  from  scratch, used canned
    pumpkin  for  her  pies.  We  once prevailed upon her to use fresh
    pumpkin,  and  noone  could  tell  the  difference  in taste. If I
    remember, I may post her pumpkin pie recipe her.

--David

      I only know about shopping for regular pumpkins -- I'll have to
      try one of the pie kind, Karen.  I presume these steps would
      work for pie pumpkins as well...
      
      A good pumpkin is heavy for its size.  That means it has a
      thicker wall of flesh.  [The converse is also true -- a lighter
      pumpkin relative to its overall size has a thin wall and can be
      a lot easier to carve as a jack-o-lantern than the heavier
      kind.]
      
      Choose pumpkins that are an even color all over.  Generally if
      they're greenish or if the color's irregular, they'll be bitter. 
      Make sure the skin is even and not nicked or bruised, though a
      few grayish or white marks aren't a problem.  Press a thumbnail
      into the skin; if it doesn't dent, the pumpkin's too old and
      will be bitter.

      Look around the top, where the stem is.  Press around it with
      your fingers. It doesn't matter whether the stem is still there,
      but the flesh should be firm and there shouldn't be any black
      marks like mildew anywhere.  If there are, the pumpkin's
      probably starting to rot inside. 

      Then hold it up to your ear (or sit it on the counter and bend
      your ear to it, if it's too large for lifting.)  Tap on it with
      your knuckles.   It should sound hollow.  If it doesn't, it
      might be rotten inside, or it might be green, or it might just
      not be good.  

      These rules also work well for shopping for any kind of melon or
      squash.
      
      --bonnie

  We made pumpkin pie from scratch last year and agree with a previous response:
there really isn't much of a difference between that and the canned stuff.
Maybe more satisfaction and fun, though...

    I cheated last year. I looked in the PAGODA::COOKS note file and 
    combined two recipes I found there. I used 544.9 and 844.3.
    I make one with burbon and two without.
    The pastry on the 544.9 is the absolute best recipe for pie crust
    I have tried to date.
    janet

    first fave holiday fare:  ANYTHING my mother-in-law cooks!  She cooks
    plain, but hearty, and plenty.  I'd rather wash the dishes :-)
    
    second place, my sister-and-brother-in-laws.  They are gourmet cooks. 
    When I was preggo the 1st time, I gained 10 lbs in 1 month that
    included XMas week at their house. 
    
    eat=dinner/Roast=(turkey,goose,beef,lamb,turkey_again,ham) -
    	      /with=(chestnut_stuffing,broccoli_w_slivered_almonds) -
    	      /and=newly-baked-rolls -
    	      /dessert=chocolate_cream_pie/homemade
    boy was I glad the day we had hotdogs!
    
    I guess my only holiday recipe is toasting pumpkin seeds!  Oven about
    350F.  Wash most of the guck off the seeds.  Spread seeds in a thin
    layer on a slightly greased cookie sheet.  I forget how long, something
    like 20 minutes.  Salt if desired.  Yum!  The kids are after me to go
    for this one soon.

    I've noticed that some farm stands are now carrying sugar pumpkins
    or sweet pumpkins and the signs say they are best for baking.
    
    I've never tried them.  I like to make squash but when it comes to pies,
    I use the plain canned stuff.  And lots of cinnamon and mace. And
    a touch of Jack Daniels. 
    
       Margaret

    Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite times of year because I
    can whip out all the old cooking skills my mother taught me that I
    don't regularly use . . . 
    
    I have a bunch of reduced-calorie Thanksgiving recipes that I've
    developed over the years.  How to fix non-candied yams, a stuffing
    that doesn't take half a cup of butter, that sort of thing.  I'll
    try to post them in the next couple of weeks. 
    
    Does anybody want a recipe for white (light, not rum) fruitcake? 
    
    I can't even stand to eat canned pumpkin any more -- in years when
    I don't feel like hassling with a real pumpkin, we have a
    different dessert for Thanksgiving . . . I think it might be the
    salt (I use little if any) rather than the actual pumpkin.  
    
    --bonnie

    Instead of boiling the pumpkin to cook it, you can bake it or
    steam it.
    
    I've cut it into big chunks, peeled it, then cut it up some more.
    And ended up with more pie custard than I could use.  Twit.
    
    						Ann B.

    
    
    An alternative to pumpkin or squash is to use sweet potatoes.  I was 
    a little disappointed to find out that they taste the same to me (and
    pumpkin's not my favorite kind of pie).  I was expecting a sweet potato 
    mixture to have a little more "body" than squash or pumpkin but it didn't.
    
    CQ

    Do you have a recipe for sweet potato pie?  If so, I'd love it.
    
    D!

    
    
    I had one somewhere, some time ago, I'll look and post it here.
    
    CQ

    For those who are daring among you, this is great as a pie or heated
    as a toping for vanilla ice cream...
    
    Mix 3/4 prepared pumpkin pie filling with 1/4 part prepared mincemeat.
    Add 1 cup coconut and 1/2 to 3/4 cups golden raisins.  Pour into
    pie shell and bake the same as for pumpkin pie.  I *loathe* mincemeat,
    but find this blend totally delicious.  Top warm pie w/ whipped
    topping or ice cream.
    
    Barb

    I can certainly taste the difference between fresh and canned pumpkin!
    Either Fannie Farmer or Jo of Cooking has a recipe for sweet potato
    pie that's made with maple syrup..Yum yum!
    
    Anyone have a cookie cutter recipie?

    Take a look at note 853. in the cooks notes, I have entered lots of
    cookie recipes some of which are for cookie cutters.  The one called
    Best Ever Chocolate cookies is real good.
    
    +pat+