Our Favorite Pumpkin Pie Recipe

It’s fall and the first thing that pops to mind is Pumpkin Pie. Not your average store-bought pumpkin pie of course. We’re talking about your grandma, homemade, delicious home recipe.

What you’ll need:

Basic Pie Dough

For a double-crust 9-inch or a single-crust pie with a generous lattice, use the following amounts. For a one-crust pie, use half the recipe.

Sift together:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

  Measure and combine:

• 2/3 cup chilled leaf lard or shortening

• 2 tablespoons chilled butter

  Cut half of the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, or work it in lightly with the tips of your fingers until it has the grain of cornmeal. Cut the remaining half coarsely into the dough until it is pea-size. Sprinkle the dough with 4 tablespoons of water

  Blend the water lightly into the dough. You may lift the ingredient with a fork, allowing the moisture to spread. If needed to hold the ingredients together, add: 1 tablespoon of water

  When you can gather the dough up into a tidy ball, stop handling it, your dough is ready to form the shell and bake the crust.

  Preheat oven to 450 degrees and bake your pricked pie shell crust for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned then let them completely cool down before you fill them with your pie mixture.

To cook the pumpkin, wash and cut it in half crosswise. Remove seeds and strings. Place it in a pan, shell upside up, and bake it in a 325-degree oven for 1 hour or more, depending on size, until it is tender and begins to fall apart. Scrape the pulp from the shell and put it through a blender.

Mix until well blended:

• 2 cups of your cooked or canned pumpkin

• 1 1/2 cups undiluted evaporated milk or rich cream

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice

• 1/8 teaspoon cloves

• 2 slightly beaten eggs

Pour the mixture into the pie shell. bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake about 45 minutes longer or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Serve with: Sweetened whipped cream flavored with 2 tablespoons of your favorite bourbon.