Pumpkin-Pecan Pie

Happy Black Friday! And a belated happy Thanksgiving as well. Yesterday was my first Thanksgiving spent away from home (I chose to spend most of winter break in Savannah rather than being bored out of my mind in Denver for six weeks). My mom is a great cook, so I’m used to having an awesome Thanksgiving dinner. I did my best (with the help of my boyfriend, Pranas) to make a dinner that was as close to Thanksgiving-a-la-Mom as I could get it. Everything came out great! Pranas invited a couple of his friends that were still in town and much food and merriment was had.

I’ll be spreading the Thanksgiving posts over a couple days, possibly interspersed with some other posts as well. First up: Pumpkin-Pecan Pie!

I don’t like pumpkin pie, and I’m not a huge fan of pie in general, but this is the only way I’ll eat pumpkin. My mom makes amazing pies and her pumpkin-pecan pie is glorious, so I asked her for her recipe. I probably should’ve gotten her pie crust recipe too because the one I found online was not up to snuff. It was fine, but I am used to excellent pie crust. I suggest that you use your own recipe, find one online, or buy a pie shell at the store. Anyway, this is the first pie I’ve ever made by myself and it came out wonderfully. And it’s super easy too!

Pumpkin-Pecan Pie
Prep Time: Approx. 15 minutes (does not include bake time or time to make pie crust)

Pumpkin Layer

Stir together 1 egg, 1 cup canned pumpkin, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (or instead of each individual spice, just throw in about a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice like I did)…

…until it looks like this:

Spread evenly in the bottom of an unbaked pie shell.

Now for the pecan layer. Stir together 2 eggs, 2/3 cup corn syrup, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons melted margarine, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Add 1 cup pecans, stir together, and carefully pour over pumpkin layer.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 60 minutes or until the filling is set around the edges.

Mmm, look at all that baked pecan goodness. Sorry, no pictures of the slices—we were too busy stuffing our faces. :)

Coming soon: Garlic mashed potatoes, bacon-wrapped honey mustard green bean bunches, and pumpkin bread a la Pranas…plus more non-Turkey Day related goodies. Stay tuned!