Perfect Pumpkin Pie

It's official. I made my first pie last weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving. The kids and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't take a picture because I was too busy eating, is it okay that I ate 3/4 of a pie in one day???

I took my recipes for the crust from here and the pumpkin filling from here. I did end up making a few substitutions based on what we had in the house. So, here's what we did.

Pie Crust

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup of lard
1/3 cup cold water
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled vinegar

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in lard until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together water, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and vinegar. Stir into flour mixture and knead dough briefly, just until smooth. Allow to rest 15 minutes before rolling out. Pastry is easier to work with when chilled. Can be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Pumpkin Filling

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin
1 (14 oz.) can of evaporated milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

We're going to attempt to make an apple pie later this week, so fingers crossed it all works out for us.