Pumpkin Pie

It's time for more pumpkin!!  Mmmmmm...pumpkin pie.  You know that you are going to want pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dinner...believe me... this is going to be good.  I am even going to go as far as to say that you can make this pie, and not tell anyone it is  No Sugar Added,  and no one will even know.  This is not a secret or special recipe.  It is the one that you get off of the pumpkin can.  A simple Splenda substitution is all you need.

 For the crust:
*1 1/4 c. flour
*1/4 t. salt
*1/3 c. shortening
*3-4 T. water

For the pie filling:
*3/4 c. Splenda
*1/2 t. salt
*1 t. cinnamon
*1/2 t. ginger
*1/4 t. ground cloves
*2 large eggs
*1 15oz. can of pumpkin
*1 12oz. can of evaporated milk

You are more than welcome to use a prepared pie crust.  I do it quite often but just didn't happen to have one this weekend.  Pie crust is an interesting thing in my family.  My mom always used the same recipe for pie crust, and so of course that is the recipe that I always used.  One year at Thanksgiving, we were getting ready to make the pies and either my mom or my sister asked me why I was getting out the vinegar (one of the ingredients in our "family" pie crust recipe).  So I said that I was getting ready to make pie crust.  They took that moment to tell me that "We don't use that recipe anymore.  Here is the one we use now."  So I asked them how long they had been using this "new family pie crust recipe".  "Oh, I don't know.  For a while now."  I cannot tell you how upset I was that no one bothered to inform me that we had a "new family pie crust recipe".  So, in protest, I neither use the "old" nor the "new" recipe.  I have found my own.
First you mix the flour and the salt in a medium-size mixing bowl.  Add the shortening and cut it in with a pastry cutter.  If you don't have one, you could use a fork.  Next you add the water, but only 1 tablespoon at a time.  After each addition of water, mix it around with a fork and start to incorporate the water and flour.  Unless it is just an extremely humid day, you will probably use the entire 4 tablespoons of water, but still only add it one tablespoon at a time, just to be sure.  You certainly don't want to have too much.  Once the flour is incorporated, use your hands to bring it together and form it into a ball.

 Turn your dough out onto a floured surface and after flouring your dough, your hands and your rolling pin, roll the crust out into a large circle.  Roll the dough up onto your rolling pin and transfer to your pie plate.  Trim off any large amount of hangover, but leave about an inch extra to turn under.  Use the thumb of your right hand and the thumb and forefinger of your left hand to crimp the edges of the crust around the pie.  I love that part, because it makes the pie look so pretty!

 Now that your crust is ready, you can mix up the filling.  In a mixing bowl, measure out all of your dry ingredients.  Beat your eggs in a small bowl and then add to your mixing bowl and incorporate them.  Next, add in the can of pumpkin and mix well.  The last step is to slowly pour in the can of evaporated milk while incorporating using a whisk.  This is going to give you that pretty light orange color.

 Slowly pour the filling into your prepared pie crust.  I think it is important to use a deep dish pie plate for this as it makes quite a bit of filling.  I think that if you have a shallow one, it might over flow, or you will have filling left over.

Bake this pie in two segments.  First bake it at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Then turn the temperature down to 340 degrees and bake it for an additional 50 minutes.  I put a pie shield on my crust for the last 15 minutes to keep the crust from burning.

Once you take the pie out of the oven, put it on a cooling rack for a couple of hours. Serve and enjoy!
If you have any leftovers, store in the refrigerator.
I hope you all will give this a try...see how many people you can fool!  Happy Thanksgiving!