Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love getting together with family, spending time together indoors in a cozy, warm home while the fall air outside gets crisper and chillier as it creeps toward winter. The sights and smells and tastes of Thanksgiving are incredible, from spicy cinnamon pumpkin pies, delicious apple ciders, and crackling wood fireplaces, to nutmeg sprinkled on hot spicy teas, chestnuts in the delicious homemade stuffing, sugary cranberries, and of course a roasted turkey.

I have never hosted a Thanksgiving dinner. My home is too tiny for my big family, but I very much look forward to the day when it will be my turn to have everyone over. Until then, I like to bring something to the dinner I attend, and one of my favorite dishes is my cinnamon pumpkin pie. I’ve been making it for years, and my pumpkin pie has recipe become a family favorite.

Start with the crust. It’s always best (and tastier) to make from scratch, but if you don’t have time to make it, buy a sweet dough crust. If you make crusts at home, chill the dough for one day before placing it into the pan. With either one, leave a 1/2 trim over the edge to fold and flute later.

For the pumpkin filling, you can either buy organic pumpkin in a can, or use fresh pumpkin.

Penelope’s Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups pumpkin (canned or fresh)
1 sweet dough crust
2 eggs
2 eggs yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinammon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1 1/4 cup light cream (or half and half)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put all of pumpkin in a bowl and whisk in eggs and egg yolk.
3. Whisk in remaining ingredients in order listed, and pour the entire filling into the pie crust.
4. Fold in the edge of the crust and flute with a fork or your fingers.
5. Bake for one hour on the lower rack (until filling is set). Cool pie on rack, then put in refrigerator overnight.

Note: If you have high cholesteral, you can use all egg whites, but it’s a pretty small amount of eggs in the total pie (serves about eight) so I prefer to follow my recipe as given when possible (depending on the recipient of the pie).

This pumpkin pie recipe not only tastes delicious, but your kitchen will smell great while making it and for a while after from the cinnamon and nutmeg- yummy!

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