Because I'm a bit of a sadist, I'm going to make two pumpkin pies this week. The reason for this extra work? To see which pie tastes better. I have people saying to me that using canned pumpkin means less work, but they can never seem to tell me which tastes better. Much like pistachio pudding, I think that some people are used to having pumpkin pie made in a certain way. It's going to be my job to see if it's worth the extra work or not.

Whenever approaching a pumpkin pie, keep in the back of your mind that you are, in essence, making a custard pie. The use of eggs and milk will give you a good indication of that.

The taste when complete is a little lighter than what I remember when comparing against canned pumpkin pies. I'll leave that up to you to decide. It is a fair amount of work to make this pie. So if you're lazy, you probably want to avoid this recipe.

• 1 9 inch single crust pie - uncooked
• 1 medium pumpkin
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/8 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace
• 10 oz evaporated milk
• 2 oz Half and Half

Make your favorite pastry pie crust, and place it in the refrigerator to chill for 3-4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds. Take a cookie sheet and coat with 1/4 canola oil. dust the oil with 1/8 cup of white sugar. Place cut side down on the cookie sheetand place in oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm (40 minutes). Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Either mash, or puree pumpkin flesh, ensuring you have two cups of pumpkin puree. Place mashed pumpkin between two double folded sheets of paper towels to help remove any excess water from the pumpkin

Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

In a large bowl, slightly beat eggs. Stirring after each ingredient addition, add brown sugar, flour, salt, 2 cups of the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, evaporated milk and half and half. Pour mixture into your chilled unbaked pastry shell.

Place in oven and bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees F , then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool pie. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

Serves 8

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