I love pumpkin pie so imagine my horror upon discovering a Pumpkin shortage!
At Publix the store manager shook his head saying "no idea when it's coming in". Research online showed there had been a bad crop of pumpkins and distribution was scarce! Oh the horror!!! Halloween and Thanksgiving without pumpkins is like Christmas without Santa and presents!!!
I then made it a quest to visit every grocery store in the area looking for pumpkin cans or whole pumpkin. I tried specialty markets, Wal Mart markets, Whole Foods and finally found a small selection of whole pumpkins at Winn Dixie! I swear angels were singing as I selected one beautiful pumpkin.
I've never cooked a whole pumpkin before so internet research led me to
Martha Stewart Recipes which was very handy in learning how to make Pumpkin Puree. I believe this recipe was referring to small pumpkins whereas ours was 10lbs so we cut it in 1/2 first, then in quarters. Husband wanted to remove all the skin which I adamantly refused to do - my pumpkin, my rules. Get your own pumpkin if you wish to deviate from the recipe!
We accidentally let pumpkin overcook for 45 minutes so it was a little crispy on the edges. After cooling for one hour, I scooped the pumpkin off the skin, ignoring husbands snipe that it would have been easier to cut off the skin from the beginning. While manual labor is appreciated, verbal feedback is not. We then proceeded to shovel pumpkin into food processor for the next 1/2 hour. End result is enough pumpkin puree to make 6 pies, cost of Pumpkin $6.00 so cost per pie is $1.00.
For the pie,
Libby's pumpkin pie recipe was used and the end result is wonderful. Taste is almost exactly like Libby's and the only difference is theirs seems to have a brighter orange color. I do think it could use a tad less sugar so next pie will try 2/3 cup vs 3/4.
Very pleased with self and to top it off, baby likes pie! Here is photo of her playing in the Wok while pie is assembled.