Enjoy some of the tastes of autumn with homemade pumpkin pie and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Most of the pumpkins sold for carving are not good for eating or making pies. Since the majority of them are so large, the insides are stringy. If you want to make fresh pumpkin pie from a pumpkin, look for sugar pumpkins. These are normally found in the produce section of the supermarket during the autumn.

The ingredients you need for a homemade pumpkin pie are:

1 sugar pumpkin (approx. 6” in diameter)
2 frozen pie crusts (or make your own)
4 large eggs
1 cup milk or cream
½ cup sugar
Ground cinnamon
Ground nutmeg

First you will need to cut the top off of the pumpkin. With a large spoon or with your hands, scoop out the stringy insides and the seeds.

Cut the remaining out shell into squares. Put the squares into a pot of water and boil them until soft. Large squares cook much slower than small squares. Also, the longer you cook the squares, the thicker the texture of it will be and the pumpkin flavor will be stronger.

When they have softened sufficiently, remove the squares and cool them, then remove the outer skins.

Place the cooled and peeled skins, the milk, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to taste in a blender. Mix together until smooth. This is your pie filling.

Get two bowls and pour 1 cup filling in each. Get 4 eggs and add two of them to the filling in each bowl; mix.

Your oven should now be turned on to preheat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. While your oven is preheating, pour the filling from the bowls into the pie crusts. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon across the top of each pie.

Foil can be used to wrap the edges of the pie crusts and prevent burning.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes. You may want to check on them after 30 minutes to make sure they don’t burn. Of course, you want the pies to cool to at least room temperature before eating.

What about the pumpkin seeds that you removed? Do you just throw them away? Take the flesh of the pumpkin that you removed and separate the seeds from the meat and strings. The task becomes a little easier if you do it under running water.

Rinse the seeds under water and double check to ensure that all of the meat and strings are removed. These will easily burn if left on.

If you wish, you may soak the seeds in salt water for up to 48 hours. When you are done soaking, drain the water and thoroughly dry with paper towels.

Now that the seeds are dry, you can coat them with olive oil or melted butter to help the seasonings you want to flavor them stick. For a savory snack season with garlic, salt, Italian seasoning, or whatever other seasoning you are partial to. For a sweet snack season with cinnamon, sugar and/or nutmeg.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a pizza pan or baking sheet. Bake the seeds for 45 - 55 minutes, shaking them around about every 10 minutes so they will cook evenly and not burn.