As I mentioned in the earlier post, I got a pumpkin at Ralphs tonight in order to make a jack-o-lantern. Because I got one of the smaller “sugar” pumpkins, I decided that I might as well make a pie with the pulp instead of throwing it away. Pumpkin pies are so delicious and I couldn’t wait to eat one made from fresh pumpkin!

I cut out the bottom from my pumpkin and began the longer-than-I-expected process of gutting it.  Boy, it took forever! How can one small pumpkin have so many seeds? Ugh!

I followed a well-reviewed pumpkin pie recipe from Libby’s, the popular food brand.  However, their recipe called for their canned pumpkin. I figured it would be simple enough and tastier to substitute my fresh pumpkin pulp. Not so. Two issues:

After removing all the seeds and scraping the inside clean, I had about 3/4 of a cup of pumpkin. That wasn’t as much as their 15 oz can of pumpkin.

Tim, who has made super yummy pumpkin pies from canned pumpkin, asked me about the stringiness of the pulp.  I quickly dismissed his concerns, thinking it would become softer and more uniform during cooking.

It was only until after I had filled the crust and put it in the oven that it hit me: maybe I should Google a recipe that uses fresh pumpkin.

I found several and… oh boy…

You’re supposed to cook the pumpkin before you make it into a pie!  You don’t use raw pumpkin pulp, like I did, but instead you use cooked pumpkin puree.  Most recipes called for either baking, boiling, or microwaving the pumpkin and the mashing and straining it before mixing it into the filling.  Actually, now that I think about it, what is now my jack-o-lantern is supposed to be my pumpkin filling!  Ugh, that’s what becomes all soft and custardy - the pumpkin “shell” not the stringy pulp! OMG! ::cries::

Well my pie is done and is cooling on the counter. It smells like cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves, which I guess is what all pumpkin pies smell like, even the diaster ones. The pumpkin part can still be seen, stringy and in clusters. Great.  Ladies and gents, this is why I don’t cook very often!

Anyway, here are some pictures. By the way, I don’t have any candles that will fit into my jack-o-lantern so I rested him on top of one of my too-big candles. The candle is orange and is pumpkin pie scented; how appropriate. It kinda looks like he has a little body.

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