Before we begin, you should go leave a comment at my movie post for a chance to win free movie tickets. Cuz we all could use some free.

Today we are going to make pumpkin pie mix. Partially. Sort of. Well, you’ll get the idea at the end, okay? Just follow along and have some fun. Let me first address the question I know you have: Why one earth would I make pumpkin pie mix when I can buy a can at the grocery store? The answer is taste. I can’t begin to find the words to describe how much better a pie is when made from this mix than from canned pumpkin. I, too, was skeptical some 25+ years ago when my mom first tried this recipe. But one taste of that pie on Thanksgiving cured all skepticism I had. And the same will happen when you taste yours to. Also it’s a great way to use your left over pumpkins from Halloween. Waste not, want not…or something like that. Be sure and visit ApronFrenzy for a lovely apron to where when making your pies (or any other food). Go ahead and do it now, we’ll wait.

First, gather your ingredients: A pumpkin, cinnamon, oblong glass dish, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves, sugar and wax paper. You may notice that sugar is missing from the picture, my mistake, but I will make up for it in a later picture.

You may also notice a pepper grinder and that my bottle of cloves does not, in fact, say ground cloves but instead says whole cloves. I had whole cloves on hand already and when I went to the store to purchase some ground cloves I discovered that Fort Knox is now funded with ground cloves instead of gold, thus raising the price of a small bottle of ground cloves to over $13. Which I found disturbingly overpriced. Being a proper US citizen, I simply refused to pay that much. It seemed unAmerican. I ground my own from my whole cloves in my old pepper grinder. Frugal and patriotic, aren’t I?

Regarding pumpkin usage, I have done this in the past with our actual carved pumpkins. This year I used the one and only pumpkin that grew in my garden. It wasn’t carved because I ran out of time while making those crazy spider eggs you saw in yesterday’s post.

Step Two: Cut up your pumpkin into wedges (I am assuming you have already removed the pulp and seeds-you have right?). Place them into the glass dish, add a few tablespoons of water (kind of steaming them) and cover with wax paper. Cook in the microwave for about 15 minutes. You can tell it is done when it’s soft when you poke it with a fork. Allow them to cool to touch and then just slice the flesh off the skin. Easy as pie. (pun intended). Throw all the good stuff into the food processor, push the button and make some mush.

Step Three: Throw the mush into a bowl. Add sugar and spice and everything nice. Stir until well mixed. (see the sugar in this picture-I told you I’d make it up to the sweet stuff).

Step Four: Put the mixture into a jar. Put it in the freezer until the you are ready to make the pie. I have two jars because it’s just that good. So I doubled the recipe. That means I will get to eat FOUR PIES this year. I will have two on Thanksgiving and two on Christmas. Or one next week. Not sure how long I can wait now.

This is really, really very easy and so very, very worth it. Here is the actual recipe to finish it off into pie. Remember these steps above only use the first SIX ingredients. Do not add the eggs or milk yet. The remaining ingredients are to be added the day you make the pie. Enjoy.

My Mother’s Pumpkin Pie

1 ½ Cups mashed cooked pumpkin

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon ginger

1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cloves

3 slightly beaten eggs

1 ¼ cups milk ( I use a little less so it’s not so wet)

1 6 ounce can (2/3 cup) evaporated milk

1 recipe Plain Pastry (Vixen’s note: I am terrible at pastry, so I use those really easy, already made stuff you just roll out into the pie pan)

Thoroughly combine pumpkin, sugar, and spices. Add eggs, milk, and evaporated milk; blend.

Pour into 9-inch pastry lined pie-pans (have edges crimped high). Bake in hot oven (400 degrees) 50 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.

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