1st Thanksgiving, Pumpkin Pie

The 1st Thanksgiving & Christmas as the newlywed couple can be tricky. Both families want to see you, and if you live in the same state as your parents & in-laws (as we do) they expect to see you. Our families our great! We love hanging out with them, and they aren't in the least bit pushy. But you know that they want to have you there.

Many couples decide different ways of dealing with the holidays, and I'm sure we'll change our mind 5 years in and change the way we do things. But for this Thanksgiving we've decided to go to my mom's family's Thanksgiving for lunch, and my mother-in-law's family's Thanksgiving for dinner. (It's a lot- we know!) When we were engaged we did the same thing, and our stomachs paid the price! This year we think we'll do it again, except only eat half portions at each place. (Last year we got seconds & dessert at lunch time...bad idea when you have to go to dinner too!!)

This year though, since we have a little family and a little home, I get to contribute to the pot-luck style meals! At my in-laws I plan on bringing pies! I'm very interested in learning about food, and making food from scratch, so I had a test run of the pumpkin pie this week for my husband and sister-in-law. It went well! Carved the pumpkin and all! :)

The pie crust is really the part that confused me the most. I don't have a food processor or rolling pin yet, so my crust was kind of crummy. (no really- as in crumbs everywhere!) It held together, and provided a nice salty crunch to the sweet & spicy custardy filling. But I'm hoping to improve it.

Other than my problems with the texture of the crust (which are probably due to the fact that I didn't freeze the butter, and I don't have a food processor), this was one of the best pumpkin pies I've ever had! It went fast too! So these are the only pictures I grabbed:

It was even great 2 days after being in the fridge! I think the flavors mesh together nicely after it sits a while.

Enjoy!

Crust:
(Use your favorite dough crust! I don't have one yet, so I adapted one from the web):

Perfect Pie Crust Recipe
**I added a layer of crushed up Cinnamon Toast Crunch on top of the dough, once I formed the dough in the pan.


Filling:
(Again, I'm LEARNING, so I adapted one from Joy of Cooking)

• Start with a "Pie Pumpkin"- These are smaller than the ones used for jack-o-lanterns, and usually found in the produce section (with the other gourds). 
• Cut it into eighths.
• Place in an oiled baking dish (rind down), and bake in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 hours.
• Then scrape the pulp off the rind and set the pulp aside for later. 

• Preheat oven to 425*F
• Glaze the crust you made with an egg yolk
• Bake the crust for about 10-15 minutes (line the crust with aluminum foil, and add dry beans to keep it from bubbling).
• Whisk 2 eggs together in a large bowl
• Whisk into the eggs:
• 2 Cups of the pumpkin pulp
• 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Pour pumpkin mixture into a hot pie crust
• Bake 45 min.