An Ode to Fall: Sugar Pumpkins - Part III

The two on the right are sugar pumpkins while the left-most is a carving pumpkin that will have a face after next weekend.

Here it is. The original reason I said I would learn to use pumpkins from scratch - pumpkin pie. Now, I love to cook, but I enjoy it even more when I can incorporate liquor into the recipe in some fashion. [Into the food or the chef you ask? I'll never tell.] Hot fudge is good, but my bourbon hot fudge is better. Christmas cookies are good, but my rum balls are better. Pumpkin pie is good, but my brandy pumpkin pie is better.

Normally, I use canned pumpkin in my recipe. I was taught that there are certain things not worth the effort to make from scratch and pumpkin is on that list. Mom, I have to gracefully disagree with you on this one. Pie crust I will give you, but I have never had a better pumpkin pie than this one and it started the day as an innocent pumpkin.

I simply baked the pumpkin until it was fork tender. I let it cool and then mashed it until I had the amount the pie recipe called for. Lucky for me (or rather the beneficiaries on the first floor of our building), I had enough for two pies.



































Like so many of my cooking secrets, this is another family recipe and, frankly, I am still on the fence about giving it out. Let me know if you'd like it and we will see how I am feeling that day.