PUMPKIN EATERS!

"They really love 'em," the farmer yelled over to me as he flung yet another pumpkin from his truck with a shovel. These Halloween rejects were quite the treat for these pasture-raised mommas and their calves.

At this time of year, Ashe County roads are humming with huge trucks hauling Christmas trees, Fraser firs, cut during the cold snap of November. Farmers markets are full of beautiful round cabbage heads and winter squash, as well as the start of Christmas decorations.

At Zydeco Moon Farm & Cabins, we were treated to some of Sally's zesty tender greens she's growing in a new hoop house. Her CSA patrons will enjoy more greens all winter long with a clever new growing system that re-purposes gutters. Drainage holes were drilled in the bottoms and then they were filled with soil. What a great growing environment in the greenhouse during the winter!

Ashe Co. Church Marquee. . . . We don't need more to be grateful for; we need to be more grateful. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

PUMPKIN IN THE OVEN........

So what if it's full of warts and getting old......Like me, it's still full of flavor and usefulness!

De-seeded, my Halloween pumpkin will be roasted, and I'll use the puree for either a soup or a pie.

My friend from Chapel Hill, Nancie McDermott, author of SOUTHERN PIES and SOUTHERN CAKES and several other cookbooks, writes that she prefers to use canned pumpkin in her pies, for the fresh pumpkin can be rather watery when cooked down. Purists like Barbara Kingsolver, in ANIMALS, VEGETABLES & MIRACLES, recommends cooking with fresh pumpkin.

Frankly, I think whatever you have time for is just dandy. If the pumpkin's flesh is too watery when roasted, it will be perfect for soup. So keep some cans of pumpkin puree to use with pies or muffins in your pantry!

Ditto for pie crusts. Nancie and I shared a secret at a recent Pie Contest where she was signing books at Quail Ridge Books.

We keep a stash of pie crusts in the fridge or the freezer. Not the homemade kind. The boxed, rolled up pie pastry for me, the crusts in the tins for her.

If time is limited, wouldn't we rather have pie, even if we don't use not made-from-scratch pastry?

Enjoy your Thanksgiving gatherings of loved ones and eating!

SMASHING PUMPKINS

SMASHING PUMPKINS?

Maybe not. But I thought about it. Just to add some fun to my busy holiday kitchen.

This 4-lb beauty, a "pie pumpkin" was purchased at the State Farmers Market for a buck, or two, can't remember. Thought I'd go local with my pie, esp. given the phrase "easy as pie." It truly does not take long to cut open a pumpkin, slice it and then roast. And I knew it would taste better than the canned variety that I was tripping over during my last foray at the grocery store.

So slice a pumpkin, then with a metal spoon, scoop out the seeds and scrape the threads that cling to the pumpkin slices. I rubbed their wounds with a tiny bit of olive oil. You can cover with foil, or not. Roast in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the flesh easily. It took about 5 to 10 minutes to slice and clean the pumpkin, then another 30 to roast (while I did other kitchen chores).

BONUS SEEDS

Here's where this project got time consuming - dealing with the slimy seeds.

Your hands are your best tools for many cooking chores. In this case, I stood at the sink and popped the seeds into a colander with my gooey fingers.

And this is why I love to work in the kitchen alone, at mundane tasks such as this. I wondered about our Thanksgiving dinner, the first holiday and family gathering without my father sitting at the head of the table, and wondered how we would all react to that. It will be sad. And then I remembered that my daughter invited two gay friends who are hilariously fun to be with, and wondered how my conservative extended family will react to them. It should be a hoot with lots of laughs. And wondered also if my namesake, Elizabeth, will bag a deer before her husband and father on their traditional Thanksgiving hunt. They all filled their freezers last year with fresh venison.

Roused from my reverie, I finished rinsing the seeds and patted them dry, then laid them on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with sea salt. I slid them into the oven to roast along with the pumpkin slices, for about 20 minutes, until golden brown, stirring twice.

But hey, it was worth it, and I ate a good portion of them warm, straight out of the oven before I got them all off the pan.

SCOOPED

I let the pumpkin cool slightly before scooping the flesh from the outside peels and pureeing in the food processor. That four pound baby produced about 2 3/4 cups of pumpkin puree, about 22 ounces. A typical can of pumpkin weighs 15 oz.

So I did the math and figured I must add perhaps about half more to the typical pumpkin pie recipe. However, knowing that the pumpkin all by itself was "sweet", I cut back on the sugar. The hubby loves cinnamon, so I happily added another half portion and also to the allspice and cloves.

Wrong! The pie was too sweet. The spices overwhelmed my gorgeous fresh pumpkin flavor. So the recipe below gives what I believe to be better proportions.

The pie still tastes terrific. Better than store-bought. Better than the canned variety.

FLAKY

Me, not the pastry. I will admit a secret.....I used a store-bought rolled up pie crust, rather than making my own. I ran out of time, and I love the convenience of those long boxes with two rolled up pastries inside. Purists may chastise me. Go ahead. I'm still thankful I've got a pie!

During these hard economic times, be thankful for the food that graces your table, no matter where it comes from; thank the farmers who work hard to produce the veggies, fruits and meats, the troops who have no choice but to be over there fighting, and thank the good Lord that we are here in the good old US of A, where PETA and vegans and carnivores can all have a choice.

RECIPE * * * * FRESH PUMPKIN PIE

1 prepared pie crust

1 medium-sized pie pumpkin (about 4 lbs.)

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 small cans (5 oz. each) evaporated milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Prepare pumpkin puree first. Slice pumpkin, remove seeds and flesh, place in oven for about 30 minutes until flesh is tender. Cool slightly then scoop out flesh. Place in food processor or blender and puree.

3. Mix eggs and sugar together. Add spices and salt. Stir in pumpkin puree and blend thoroughly. Stir in milk.

4. Pour mixture into prepare pie crust, and bake for about 45 minutes or an hour, until the center of the pie is set.

5. Cool slightly before slicing, give thanks, and then ooh and aaah as you taste the freshness of the pumpkin.