Real Pumpkin Pie Another recipe I scrounged from a newspaper somewhere and made modifications to myself. And a note to the squeamish...if your pumpkin glows, shrieks, or cringes away from the knife, you might want to get another one. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, very cold 4 to 5 Tablespoons of ice water 1.5 to 2 pounds fresh pie pumpkin (sugar pumpkins are good) 2/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk (12 oz) 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 teaspoon salt Make the Crust Preheat oven to 425. Sift together the flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse ground meal. Add ice water 1 Tablespoon at a time, mixing until dough holds together (up to 5 Tablespoons). Working quickly, form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate one hour until set. See hints at bottom if this is your first attempt at a crust, or if you're usually quite bad at it. Prepare the Pumpkin Cut the pumpkin into large pieces. Cut out and remove any seeds and pith (the stringy bits in the middle). Fit a large pot with a steamer, and add water to come up to the rack. Bring to boil. Place the pumpkin on the rack, cover, steam until pulp is tender, about 30 minutes. Cool. Scrape the softened pulp from the pumpkin rind, place in food processor, or blender, and puree. (You can also mash by hand, but it takes a long time!) Make the Filling To the blended pulp, add the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, milk, eggs, and the final 1/2 teaspoon salt. Blend until smooth, but don't over blend. You may wish to pour the pulp into a bowl and mix the other ingredients in by hand. Put it Together Remove the dough from the fridge, unwrap, and place on a floured surface. Roll out a 12" round. Place a 9" pie pan upside-down on the pie crust, and gently lift the crust as you turn over the pan, turning the crust into the bottom of the pan. Trim the edges of the crust, leaving an overhang, then pinch the edges of the crust to decorate. (Smaall tears can be repaired with water or little bits of dough). Fill with pumpkin pie mixture. Bake at 425 degrees 15 minutes, lower the heat to 350, and bake another 30-40 minutes. A knife inserted into the center will come out clean when set properly. Cool before serving. Serve with ice cream or fresh whipped cream! Notes and Hints and Stuff Yes, you can make homemade pie crusts It's not as tricky as it sounds, but there are a few things to remember. The water and the shortening need to be very cold (the water should have ice in it while you are working). Work very quickly. The less you handle the dough, the flakier it will be. Cutting shortening into flour means just that...cut the shortening repeatedly with a pastry cutter or two knives. Do not mix with your hands, and handle only when necessary for forming a dough ball. Bad with pie shells? Buy one! Okay, this is cheating a little more, but let's face it, most of us can't make the kind of pie crusts our foremothers used to. If you wreck yours, get thee to a store and buy a frozen one, fill it, and bake it. Spices are not an exact science. At least not in this recipe. You can also substitute approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice for the cloves, ginger, and cinnamon. For the best taste, use freshly purchased spices, not heirlooms handed down from gramma. Canned pumpkin is not cheating. You can use 1 1/2 cups of canned pumpkin instead of cooked mashed pumpkin in this recipe. Do NOT make the mistake of using canned pumpkin pie mix, though, or you'll make a mess. Canned pumpkin is just that. Pumpkin. Don't feel like you're not really cooking if you use it. Evaporated milk comes in cans, and no one thinks you're cheating because you didn't milk the cow and condense it yourself.