The Pie Funnel

Just when I thought I had heard of everything, something new pops up. It seems that to make the perfect pie crust, you need something called a pie funnel. Basically, it is a piece of ceramic that vents steam from the pie while cooking, and also supports the top crust.

In general, the web site on which this appears, Interesting Thing of the Day, has many good and interesting articles. Read the archives.

Squash 2 Π - Part 2

A squashsicle this big takes days to thaw, but we managed eventually. Next you add the spices and puree the squash. We have found that the hand blender works better then the food processor.

Makes 1 pie:

• 3 cups pumpkin mush
• 4 eggs
• 1.5 cans (12oz can) of evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground ginger (or more if you like it zesty)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  

Next, make your pie crust. I mix flour, a pinch of salt and a stick of butter in the flood processor.
After it is well mixed, add a little water until this happens.
Roll the crust out, and put it in the pie pan. Pour in the Squash mixture.

Bake at 425 F for the first 15 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 350 F and bake another 45 to 60 minutes, until a clean knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKetAgYbZL3wH4x9wYxrxJTv2GzwM8x2H9vGrGVMBopPuG4QCXAvKN_N1q3r185Xc2hMTp-ec1gXTI9E8ZXFPvU1oO4hQbZzUItGkua6F3Zpf-UWKtMeNdy-qvM9tpwz0vO6vSnTRi9r-n/s1600-h/100_3921.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKetAgYbZL3wH4x9wYxrxJTv2GzwM8x2H9vGrGVMBopPuG4QCXAvKN_N1q3r185Xc2hMTp-ec1gXTI9E8ZXFPvU1oO4hQbZzUItGkua6F3Zpf-UWKtMeNdy-qvM9tpwz0vO6vSnTRi9r-n/s320/100_3921.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276300694809218466" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bdBhzkYUZPhF11yniFGvh1HQeGMyOOSbQHgRk2fddL6w2YSFxxMKvciHJLXYOjWDZaR3COcg_fQKZdM4J-0sbGF-Zjuv1eUb9AX7xiqtwWyRNTM4wjFvTlTFLnYBYFpSfUFXhPxiDxon/s1600-h/nov2008+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bdBhzkYUZPhF11yniFGvh1HQeGMyOOSbQHgRk2fddL6w2YSFxxMKvciHJLXYOjWDZaR3COcg_fQKZdM4J-0sbGF-Zjuv1eUb9AX7xiqtwWyRNTM4wjFvTlTFLnYBYFpSfUFXhPxiDxon/s320/nov2008+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276102879082203970" border="0" /></a>A squashsicle this big takes days to thaw, but we managed eventually. Next you add the spices and puree the squash. We have found that the hand blender works better then the food processor. <ul><li>3 cups pumpkin mush</li><li>4 eggs</li><li>1.5 cans (12oz can) of evaporated milk </li><li>1 cup sugar </li><li>1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon</li><li>1 teaspoon ground cloves</li><li>1 teaspoon ground allspice</li><li>1/2 teaspoon fresh ground ginger</li><li>1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract </li><li>1/2 teaspoon salt </li></ul> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8e3b2wz73XjNtemeh8lM2OKxa9xj0I8Q6ySNamNZn_EHVlFRJ5XVcswr2tVw65hN_6q1kOP8gydL6J-l2a49o8jOaiEhqYS_fDOrZoXhypVSNi9qia43vMsOtXKevW0n18-v64hmt0un8/s1600-h/100_3913.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8e3b2wz73XjNtemeh8lM2OKxa9xj0I8Q6ySNamNZn_EHVlFRJ5XVcswr2tVw65hN_6q1kOP8gydL6J-l2a49o8jOaiEhqYS_fDOrZoXhypVSNi9qia43vMsOtXKevW0n18-v64hmt0un8/s320/100_3913.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276103438764499042" border="0" /></a> Next, make your pie crust. I mix flour, a pinch of salt and a stick of butter in the flood processor.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1x2UENWRGH0NmVE5z_r0hOSQHylKUc-orxX_uAOgDvt0UEmZ8JfcUXpS59cVsuVGJfEfp2fMM6hXtt9vTpTf3zl87RCDm2dQ3SuM6baNMw79HXRJXR1gi3IFZVoq6OxeSLaSb3qjJP2k/s1600-h/100_3917.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1x2UENWRGH0NmVE5z_r0hOSQHylKUc-orxX_uAOgDvt0UEmZ8JfcUXpS59cVsuVGJfEfp2fMM6hXtt9vTpTf3zl87RCDm2dQ3SuM6baNMw79HXRJXR1gi3IFZVoq6OxeSLaSb3qjJP2k/s320/100_3917.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276297698049969106" border="0" /></a> After it is well mixed, add a little water until this happens.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEXmmxXIltf35BY-Ek3Awyuwxmq62nK5fwtPu0RxzeJTrn-ktkyvHN-vGvhf_HSDhb5IQIY0Y5TkZq5PzkouNWz3yRy_eycRJuDOAXNs-HFeonEEKWXEfQWTwpljhVFwVk3F6-VJBnv4w/s1600-h/100_3918.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEXmmxXIltf35BY-Ek3Awyuwxmq62nK5fwtPu0RxzeJTrn-ktkyvHN-vGvhf_HSDhb5IQIY0Y5TkZq5PzkouNWz3yRy_eycRJuDOAXNs-HFeonEEKWXEfQWTwpljhVFwVk3F6-VJBnv4w/s320/100_3918.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276297709318800226" border="0" /></a> Roll the crust out, and put it in the pie pan. Pour in the Squash mixture. Bake at 425 F for the first 15 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350 F and bake another 45 to 60 minutes, until a clean knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
We doubled the recipe, so we got 2 pies. And we still have pumpkin mush left over.

Squash 2 Π - Part 1

The last day of the farmer's market, a slippery squash salesman talked Guy into buying this monster squash. The price was $3, a very good veg to dollar ratio. Apparently, this is a good type of squash to make into pumpkin pie.
After giving the squash a bath, hack it to bits. Its harder then it looks, this is one mighty squash. Remove the seeds from the bell at the bottom, an ice cream scoop works well.
The next step is to steam the squash. We got out our very large, 20 quart, beer brewing pot. Put a veggie steaming basket or a stainless steel colander at the bottom, add a couple of inches of water and pack the squash in. This one filled the entire pot. We cooked it for 30 minutes (a smaller squash should cook in half the time) and it was really nice and mushy.

Peel off the skins. If your squash is watery, let it sit in a colander for a few hours to drain.

After we got to this point, we had to take a break and our squash turned into a giant squashsicle. Hopefully, it will turn into pie soon. If you must know, the story ends with pureeing, seasoning, making pie crust, baking and eating.