I think I'll carve our pumpkin on Sunday. It's going to be incredibly warm for trick or treaters on Monday night, here. I still wish the Fall back of Daylight Savings Time happened before Halloween. The kids want to wait until it's dark, and it takes longer now ever since the date was moved a few years ago.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I'm trying to decide what the kids (and their parents) will think if I put a bowl of candy on the porch while I trim my hedges before it gets dark.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I'm trying to decide what the kids (and their parents) will think if I put a bowl of candy on the porch while I trim my hedges before it gets dark.

Don't worry about it. When I was younger a unattended bowl of candy was not uncommon.

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I'm trying to decide what the kids (and their parents) will think if I put a bowl of candy on the porch while I trim my hedges before it gets dark.

Chain saw sound effects might be nice ...

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That looks like caramel popcorn with candy corn(maybe held together with a marshmallow sauce?), shaped like a fruit cake. I'll take a slice of that!

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

We are giving out Hershey's Miniatures, as usual, but this year I found a Special Dark version. ~Not just Special Darks, but Special Dark versions of Krackel and Mr. Goodbar mixed in with the original Special Darks.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

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NASA's contribution to World Pumpkin Carving Day:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37816675

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Happy Halloween, everyone. :-)

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Third little pumpkin turned into pie:




Forgot to mention the pumpkins are actually homegrown. Maria's grandma looked after them all summer long :)

I know the pie looks tiny in the pic but I assure you that's my trusty 10-inch cast iron chicken fryer :)

Third little pumpkin turned into pie:

Yum!

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Tonight's festivities at the Lowe house:

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I'm trying to decide what the kids (and their parents) will think if I put a bowl of candy on the porch while I trim my hedges before it gets dark.

Chain saw sound effects might be nice ...

I was thinking actual electric hedge trimmer, but I didn't feel like unwrapping the cord. I did use the hand loppers for a while, then sat on the front porch and ate my dinner. Then I surfed Facebook for a while, handing out candy to a total of four kids. When my butt didn't feel like sitting on the cold concrete any longer, I went inside and settled into my recliner with the lights off.

I'll probably cut the grass and trim the hedges Thursday or Friday.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Gordon, cute pumpkins!

Alex, I've never baked a pumpkin pie in a cast iron skillet before, but it seems like a very good idea to me. Do you need to pre-bake the crust before you fill it, or is does the cast iron get so hot that the bottom crust crisps through without being soggy?

We had 21 trick-or-treaters last night - the most we've ever had! It was awesome!!!

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I've got lots of pumpkin seeds to roast.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I know about fish fingers.
But sausage fingers!
Scary.

Gordon, love the deco! Especially the exterior :)

Janne those fingers are so disgustingly scary and shockingly simple that I think I'll have to make a plate next time. Probably dip the "chopped" side in ketchup for maximum effect :)

Ang let's be honest... with amount of butter we're putting into these pie crusts there's zero chance of them getting soggy ;)

(I just made another one and it's resting. I'll try and get a better pic of the crust this time.)

Ang let's be honest... with amount of butter we're putting into these pie crusts there's zero chance of them getting soggy ;)

I find custard pies, even those involving a high butter crust, to be tricky to get right. Custard is easily over-cooked and disgusting when that happens. I generally try to pre-bake the shell some. so that the bottom crust doesn't get too soggy, but then I run the risk of over-baking the shell's outer scalloped edge, no matter how much I try to protect it with aluminum foil or with a pie shield.

If anybody has mastered the perfect pumpkin pie - crisp but not over-baked pie shell, non-burnt edges, softly baked pumpkin custard filling - please let me know. I tried the Cook's Illustrated recipe one Thanksgiving, but my guests were not impressed. C.I. uses brown sugar in the filling and the pie came out more brown than orange. The color was off-putting.

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Thanks Vic. That is very nice.

I'm not sure what you mean by "a thin layer of Crisco", so I'm not sure how your mom made the crust come out right with that. I'm glad you have such nice memories of your family members.

As for the toothpick tip, that is a good one for cakes but not the best way to determine whether a custard pie, such as pumpkin, is done. With custard pies, you actually want to jiggle them a little. The center should still be a little wet, because residual heat will cook the pie through once you remove it from the oven. It is sort of the same idea as removing a roast or poultry from the oven and then letting it rest. In the resting time, the temperature continues to rise due to residual heat in the item being cooked.

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