Pumpkin Custard

What do you do with five large pumpkins that were left over from Halloween? The logical choice is make pumpkin pie! And that we did! And my daughter made the most delicious pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving! We also made pumpkin butter and put five gallons of pumpkin puree in the freezer for later. With all of that we still had two pumpkins sitting on the kitchen floor..now what?? My son cut both today and cooked them down in the big stockpots. We froze another gallon or so and made three more pies. Only three cups of puree remained in the bowl..it soon became custard. I suppose I really should use a cookbook and follow some sort of directions when making things like this but it is so much easier to just start dumping stuff in a bowl. And that I did!

Pumpkin Custard

3 cups pumpkin puree

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter an oven proof casserole dish and set aside. Mix together the sugar,salt and spices. In a large mixing bowl, place the pumpkin puree, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract. Stir until blended. Add sugar/spice mix and stir again until blended. Place eggs in small mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer on high speed until frothy. Fold this into pumpkin mixture. Pour this conglomeration into the prepared casserole dish and place in oven. Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for about ten minutes and serve warm with a dollop of whipped cream.

This custard turned out really well as is but if you like things a bit sweeter you can always add just a tad more sugar. It is one of those warm, "feel good" dishes that goes so well on a cold day. One to be savored in front of a nice crackling fire in the fireplace! And that we did!

It was cold this morning on the Bayou. The only heat we have in the house is a woodburning stove in the livingroom and a cast iron parlor stove in the dining room. Ezzy, the dog, has her spot on a rug by the front door where she sleeps every night. During the winter months, I have two old blankets that I fold and place on her rug to give her a little extra warmth. This morning, she was under the blankets with only her head poking out! She did not want to budge when I wanted to go out the door for my trek to the pier. She knew it was cold out there! It was cold enough in here! Our house does get cold over night unless I stay up to stoke the fires now and again..which I did not last night. Ez looked at me as if to say "You are crazy, Woman! I am not getting out of my toasty bed to go sit on a icy pier! Are you nuts???". I suppose I am! I love to sit on the pier to watch the day start..it gives me a good feeling..gets me ready to face the day. I wanted past her and out the door. She did not want to move. She won. I went out the back door...and it really was cold on the pier!