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digit_gw

Pumpkin Pie for Breakfast

digit
13 years ago

{{gwi:1228492}}From digitS'

(Picasa!)

The pie was so good!

The "Almond Breeze" is a new find (first carton ;o)! I usually have my coffee black and haven't drank cow's milk in years because of what I thought then was some level of intolerance (altho', that's real whipped cream on the pie! ;o). Still getting used to having almond milk instead of soy milk in my cold cereal but I'll be postponing that for another morning . . . but that almond milk is a delicious addition in the morning cuppa! . . . pie and coffee brewing!

I haven't tried the various pumpkins/squashes trialed in that pie taste-off, linked below. This pie was made with my smaller winter squashes now in storage (following the Libby recipe, also).

There's a good chance that one of them was a Burgess Buttercup - that's been a standard in my garden almost longer than I can remember. It just does real well here - and it makes excellent pumpkin pie.

It is doubtful that any of the squash we used is a Cha Cha Kabocha. I hadn't realized that all of my winter squash would turn out with the same rind color! Still, the fruits that came off those vines were larger than what were cut up yesterday.

I kind of hope that we used all of the Kuribo Kabocha that I ordered from Kitazawa. They are really quick in maturing, I have to give them that. However, they meat is very thin and the seed cavity very large in those little squashes. I think the Cha Cha are good step above the Kuribo.

The pies are better than Libby's - I'll say that much!

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening after 5 - pie taste-off

Comments (12)

  • greenbean08_gw
    13 years ago

    Yum. I love pie. And pie for breakfast.

  • highalttransplant
    13 years ago

    Interesting article, Steve! I actually grew Winter Luxury this year, and their assessment on its lack of productivity is right on the money. Out of three vines, I harvested a total of 1 pumpkin. My biggest producer was the Early Sweet Sugar, which gave me over a dozen pie sized pumpkins for half a dozen or so vines. The runner up in productivity this year would be Rouge Vif d'Etamps, also known as Cinderella. Not only did I get over half a dozen pumpkins, it produced the largest ones, and since it has a small seed cavity, I got as much as 3 quarts of puree from one pumpkin! Might be a bit more stringy than the pie types, but once it's pureed in the food processor, it comes out nice and creamy. Jarradale(or Jarrahdale, depending on where the seed was purchased), only produced 3 or 4 grayish green pumpkins, but they were quite large, and had a lot of meat to them as well. The biggest disappointments were Musque de Provence, and Long Island Cheese, which produced nothing, even though both had half a dozen healthy vines. Guess my season isn't long enough for those varieties?

    I have yet to actually make a pumpkin pie from the fresh puree, but will be making several over the Thanksgiving holiday, so not sure which will win the taste test. So far I have been using the puree for Pumpkin Choc. Chip muffins, which make an awesome breakfast too!

    I still have at least two dozen pumpkins waiting to be baked and pureed, but I am losing steam after all of the canning these past few weeks. Maybe I can knock them out over the Thanksgiving break ...

    Bonnie

  • dsieber
    13 years ago

    Any pie is good for breakfast!!!! I will pass on coffee if the pie does not go with it (rhubarb/cherry/peach etc). Pecan/pumpkin/and any chocolate pie is great with coffee.

  • highalttransplant
    13 years ago

    Some of us would have to pass on pie, before passing on coffee : )

  • luckybottom
    13 years ago

    That is too funny Steve, because we had pumpkin pie for breakfast just this morning. It was filling still in the freezer from last year and I just could not bring myself to toss it. Well worth the pie making effort. I think they were sugar pie pumpkins. Still have a create full to process of this years pumpkins. Got the Butternut squash done yesterday.

    I so hear ya Bonnie on the coffee.

    Steve try the Rice milk. We actually like it on cereal. It is wonderful heated with a drop of cinnamon essential oil for a late night snack.

  • david52 Zone 6
    13 years ago

    This is funny, because I'm eating squash pie for breakfast as well. Mine was made with a 'Confection' squash from Johnny's, which, at this storage stage, is still dry and flakey. Not a problem.

    The squash is so sweet that a tablespoon of honey is plenty. I spice mine rather heavily with ground ginger, cinnamon, and a grate or two of nutmeg, and call it good.

    Steve, when I saw that almond milk, my first thought was to use it in a pie - does it have a good nut flavor?

  • digit
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I've only tried the almond milk in the coffee cup and the cold cereal bowl.

    I've had rice milk before but may have purchased the "wrong" brand. It wasn't so great in my cereal. Of course, I like the real syrupy soymilk . . . not the best choice in a pre-sweetened breakfast cereal.

    The almond milk does indeed have a fairly strong nut flavor. I really like the flavor of almonds and enjoy that flavor in desserts so, there's probably a recipe out there for nutmilk in pumpkin pie!

    We also have oat milk and hazelnut milk in our supermarkets now. (Can I have that right, oat milk?) I immediately thought of coffee when I saw the almond milk ads. Altho' I like hazelnuts, I've grown rather tired of it as a flavor at the espresso bar.

    . . . I went back to the soymilk on my "Pecan Bunches of Oats" cereal this morning. I suppose it is possible to get too much of a good thing.

    Steve ;o)

  • david52 Zone 6
    13 years ago

    I'd just use it as the milk part of the pumpkin pie and see what happens. Mentally, squash and almonds sounds pretty good......

    If they don't have it at the local supermarket, I'm sure I can get some in Durango.

  • highalttransplant
    13 years ago

    Okay, I'm thinking I need to downgrade my review of Jarradale. Cut open a couple more of them today, and they were green inside, even though they were full sized for quite a while before the first frost, and have been in storage for over three weeks. Since the outside stays grayish green when ripe, I'm guessing it's a little trickier to know when they are ready.

    Currently, I have another Rouge Vif d'Etamps, and a couple small Early Sweet Sugar pumpkins in the oven, but I doubt I will turn them into pies for breakfast. Somehow I think if I go there, the kids will find a way to take it to a whole 'nother level!

    I did make a yummy batch of pumpkin spice waffles for breakfast this morning though...

    Bonnie

  • dsieber
    13 years ago

    I think butter nut squash pie is better that pumpkin. Butter nut risotto is even better.

  • digit
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Imma gonna go with the buttercup and Kabocha is close enuf and another Cucurbita maxima. Hubbard and Pink Banana are yet other C. maxima.

    Pink Banana squash is intimately tied to my childhood memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Those memories as much as anything bring me to this position . . . ;o)

    Steve

    Ah! on Thanksday, when from East and from West,
    From North and from South comes the pilgrim and guest;
    When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
    The old broken links of affection restored;
    When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
    And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before;
    What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye,
    What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?
    ~ John Greenleaf Whittier

  • david52 Zone 6
    13 years ago

    I'm settled on those two from Johnny's - the Cha Cha kabocha, and the grey one Confection.

    The confection is dry and flaky, but it should soften up as storage continues.

    The Cha Cha seems more 'pie friendly'.

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