I have decided Adam is a pumpkin pie addict, this is the third pumpkin pie I have made him, that is not counting the pieces he has eaten else where. Guess what he had Black Friday for breakfast… yep pumpkin pie… Crazy man I tell ya.

I had a package of pie crust sitting in the fridge because I had bought it to make it for our early Thanksgiving dinner, but instead our daughter arrived, I think that’s better then ANY Thanksgiving dinner!! Since this is his first week back to work after she was born and he had a 13 hour day on Monday I decided I would surprise him with pie tonight.

Both Adam and My mom enjoyed this pie, they said it tasted different then normal pumpkin pie but was delicious.

Pumpkin Pie (From: Paula Deen)

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
• 1 piece pre-made pie dough
• Whipped cream, for topping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

I am not a big turkey person, if it wasn’t on the Thanksgiving table I would be fine. This year was a different story though, my mom used one of the bags and the turkey was SO moist, flavorful and yummy. I had 2 helpings at dinner, had  a turkey sandwich later and asked to take leftovers home, yea it was AWESOME! Way to go Mom.

Once we got home I went to put the leftovers in the fridge and saw I had a package of pie crusts sitting there, for some reason I thought turkey pot pie. Tonight I finally made it, this is my first time making a pot pie and I couldn’t be happier it was awesome!!! Definitely try this recipe!!!! I plan to make another with potatoes and chicken.

Turkey Pot Pie (From: Pioneer Woman)

• 1 pie crust
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 1/2 cup finely diced carrot
• 1/2 cup finely diced celery
• 2 cups leftover turkey,diced or shredded
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken or turkey broth
• splash of white wine (optional)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Frozen peas (optional)
• Fresh thyme, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until translucent (a couple of minutes.)

Add turkey and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour in chicken or turkey broth, stirring constantly. Splash in wine (you can leave this out if you’d like.) Pour in cream. (May add frozen peas at this point if you’d like.)

Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste (do not underseason), and fresh or dried thyme to taste. Do one final taste at the end and add what it needs.

Pour mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie pan.

Roll out crust so that it’s about 1 inch larger than the pan you’re using.

Place the crust on top of the pot pie mixture, and press crust into the sides of the dish. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
Bake for 30 minutes or until very golden and bubbly.

Allow to cool for a little bit before serving.

Since I made pumpkin I had to make a pie that I would like as well. Since I was making the pumpkin pie from this book I decided I would do the apple pie too.

Sadly I was less then impressed with this recipe, it just wasn’t as good as the other dutch apple pies I have made. Adam said it was much better cold then it was warm. I can’t really say what we didn’t like about this, just wasn’t a favorite.

Sour Cream Apple Pie (From: Pillsbury Thanksgiving Book Nov. 2008)

• 1 regriderated pie crust
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 egg
• 6 cups sliced peeled baking apples (6 medium)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping

• 3 tablespoons cold butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• dash of salt

Heat oven to 400. Place pie crust in a 9 inch glass pie plate.

In large bowl, beat all filling ingredients except apples with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in apples. Pour into crust-lined plate. Cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350and bake 30 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix all topping ingredients except butter. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or ford, until mixture looks like coarse crumbs refrigerate until ready to use.

Sprinkle topping over pie; bake 20 to 25 minutes long or until topping is golden brown cool completely on cooling rack, about 2 hours, before serving. Store covered in refrigerator.

I don’t think I could of married a guy that loves pumpkin more then Adam, he LOVES it. Anytime I mention making something with pumpkin his eyes get huge, he gets a grin from ear to ear and his face lights up. But pumpkin pie is his favorite. Growing up his Grandma would make two pumpkin pies, one for the family, and one for Adam and his cousin to share. I am surprised he shared

We had a bunch of family over today for a ham dinner and I decided to spoil him and make his first pumpkin pie of the season. He enjoyed it.

Pumpkin Pie (From: Pillsbury Thanksgiving Book Nov. 2008)

• 1 refrigerated pie crust
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
• 1 can (12oz) evaporated milk
• 2 eggs, beaten

Heat oven to 425. Place pie crust in 9 inch glass pie plate.

In large bowl, beat remaining ingredients with hand beater o wire whisk until well blended. Pour into crust lined plate. Cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning.

Baked 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake 40 to 50 minutes longer or until knife inserted near center comes out clean, removing foil for last 5 minutes of baking. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Serve pie topped with whip cream. Store covered in refrigerator.

Adam and I were just talking about going apple picking again this fall, it’s getting to be that time of the year. I figured I better use up the apples I froze from last year before buying new apples. I still have 2 bags left so I will be making more soon.

Adam loves pie, I am not so much a fan of fruit pie, dutch apple with a big old scoop of ice cream is about the only one I will do. So I knew that was what I wanted to make. This one was excellent and wasn’t over the top with apples.

Dutch Apple Pie (Adapted From: Taste of Home)

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 T. cinnamon
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 2 cups chopped peeled tart apples (about 3 medium)
• 1 unbaked pie shell (9 inches)

STREUSEL TOPPING:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold butter

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir in the egg, vanilla and sour cream; stir until smooth. Add apples; mix well. Pour into pie crust. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325° and bake for 30 minutes more.

For topping, combine flour and sugar in a small bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over pie; bake 20 minutes longer or until filling is bubbly and topping is browned. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or chilled. Store in the refrigerator.