Now that the Halloween season has come to an end with a chill in the air and a gobble in the distance, it is time to prepare for Thanksgiving.
I’m sure everyone’s dining room table has a variety of holiday staples. For my family, a few of those staples are a slow roasted turkey, candied sweet potatoes, burnt Pillsbury Grands and long-neck squash pie.
My father is particular, pumpkin is “too stringy” to make pie with. However, when you’re working on a college budget, and your roommate has left over pumpkins from a Halloween party, you make due with traditional ingredients.
For a basic pumpkin pie you will need the following: one nine-inch pre-made graham cracker crust in an aluminum pan, two cups of pumpkin puree, one cup of evaporated milk, one cup of heavy cream, one cup of brown sugar, two eggs, ⅛ of a teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of cinnamon.
Here’s where it can get messy, complicated and loud. You can opt for canned or otherwise store bought pumpkin puree, or you can make it yourself. My roommate was left with nine sugar pumpkins after a Halloween party, so I made my own.
To do this, I used two sugar pumpkins and scrubbed all the dirt off the rind. With a knife, kitchen knife, butcher knife, carving knife, whatever you have on hand will do, cut off the top around the stem. Then, cut your pumpkin in half and scoop out its insides. You can either throw it all away or keep the seeds.
Repeat this with however many pumpkins you choose. Once you’ve hacked them apart, place your pumpkin halved on a greased, aluminium foil lined baking pan. Place them in a 350 degrees fahrenheit oven for one and a half to two hours or until fork soft.
If you kept your pumpkin seeds, now is the time to prepare them too. Wash your seeds, pat them dry, and toss them in a seasoning mixture of your choice. It depends on the flavor profile you prefer. Whether that be salt, ranch seasoning, everything bagel, cinnamon, spicy, sweet, it is up to you to make your pumpkin seeds to your liking. Spread them out on a lightly greased baking pan. Place them in the oven with the pumpkins for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking or stirring the seeds every five minutes.
Remove your squash and allow them to cool on a wire rack until they reach room temperature. Once they do, take a spoon and scoop out the flesh and discard the rind. Blend the flesh until they form a smooth puree. Now you can assemble your pie.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit. While that takes forever to heat up, mix together all of the ingredients listed above and transfer the mixture into your pre-made pie crust.
Bake your pie for 15 minutes, then, without opening the oven door, reduce the heat to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Bake for an additional hour, or until the middle is set with an ever-so-slight jiggle.
Remove your pie from the oven and place it on a wire rack. Allow it to sit and cool until room temperature. Once it is cool, cut your pie and serve with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Most of these ingredients are fairly cheap, but difficult to work with in a dorm. This recipe may be reserved for those in quads, apartments or houses, but feel free to make the dorm hall smell like fall.
