Pumpkin Pie

For Thanksgiving, we make two desserts - pumpkin pie and pecan pie.  They are both so tasty - my favorite is pecan, but I love the pumpkin too.

Ingredients:

• Pie Crust
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 3 tbsp. water
• Pie Filling
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 1/2 15 oz. cans pumpkin
• 1 1/8 cups sugar
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. ginger
• 3/8 tsp. cloves
• 2 1/2 cups evaporated milk
• Whipped Cream
• 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Makes 1 10-inch pie.

To make the pie crust, sift together the flour and salt.  Take out 1/4 cup of the flour-salt mixture and mix with the water to make a paste. Add the Crisco to the remaining flour-salt mixture. Cut the Crisco in until the pieces are the size of small peas.

Add the flour paste to the Crisco-flour mixture.

Mix thoroughly until the dough comes together and can be shaped into a ball.

Roll the dough out about 1/8 inch thick.

Place the crust into the pie pan, pressing it to the sides and bottom.

You can shape the edges to make these look pretty - we chose to pinch together the edges to form points.

Mix the pie filling ingredients together.

Pour into the pastry shell.  Bake at 425ºF for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350ºF and continue baking for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

When you're ready to serve the pie, make the whipped cream by beating the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form (about 1 minute).

Top the pie with whipped cream and serve!

What desserts do you make for Thanksgiving?