Note about the guest blogger- Crysta Evanenko.

Crysta lives and attends nursing school in Walla Walla, Washington. She is a planking aficionado, love pie with good coffe, and is the owner of often-featured Trucker- the Trusty Labra-Mutt. Thanks for the great recipe, Crysta!

Pumpkin pie- so seasonal and not just for breakfast anymore! There is nothing better than a slice of homemade pumpkin pie, a dollop of whipped cream and a cup or two of coffee. Yes, I realize that there are “real” holidays that each have special significances ‘round this time of year, but for me, pumpkin pie is the reason for the season.

Around my place, it's easy to know when the holiday season is starting to ramp up- Mom starts complaining about the size of her kitchen; “it’s too small” “I need another oven” or “get the heck out of here! I’m trying to cook!”. This year, I started thinking about how I could help contribute to the holiday fare without taking up precious kitchen space.

Brilliance struck! I could plank pumpkin on the grill and save a ton of time. Brilliant and delicious! I rummaged through my cache of grilling planks and couldn’t decide on a wood type, so I tried a few. Grill-based trial and error brought me to a discovery- I wouldn’t recommend using a cedar or hickory planks with something as delicately flavored as pumpkin. I found these more distinctive wood flavors overpowered the “squashiness” that I wanted to come through in my pie. On the other hand, Trucker the trusty Labra-mutt was one happy pooch, as he was the beneficiary of several batches of test pumpkin.

After several trial grilling sessions, I settled on the Outdoor Gourmet Maple Grilling Planks as the wood flavor best for my purpose. My pumpkin was lightly infused with subtle, sweet maple wood smoke flavor. And Mom was so impressed by my “out of the kitchen” thinking- we had a very nice, planked pumpkin pie breakfast together.

So here is how it’s done…

Maple-Planked Pumpkin Pie Filling!

Ingredients

2 c. cooked pumpkin

1 can evaporated milk

3 teas. pumpkin pie spice

1 T. cinnamon

2 teas. ground ginger

½ c. real maple syrup

1/4 c. brown sugar (if you like your pies sweeter, add ¼ c more sugar)

2 eggs

Directions

First thing you need to do is- pick up a sugar pumpkin from your local grocery store, farmers market, or neighbor’s pumpkin patch. Sugar pumpkins are smaller and have a stronger pumpkin flavor than a carving pumpkin. You’re also going to need a couple Outdoor Gourmet maple grilling planks. It’s best to soak the planks overnight because maple is a hard wood.

Next- Preheat grill to medium heat (300 degrees). Scrub, split and seed your sugar pumpkin. Put aside your seeds to bake them off in your oven with a little salt and have a delicious snack. Cover pre-soaked planks and seeded pumpkin halves with aluminum foil. The pumpkin flesh should be face down on the planks- aids in absorbing smoke and maple infused water vapor. The stick in on the grill!

Then- Smoke for 15-25 mins. and carefully remove planks and pumpkin from grill. A knife should easily slide though the pumpkin. Open the tin foil and let the pumpkin to cool down. Scoop out the pumpkin meat being careful not to include the skin. I recommend using a food processer to make the pumpkin smooth and creamy. You now have pumpkin for a pie filling!

Add- all ingredients, excluding the eggs. Fold together and taste. If the balance of spices if to you liking, add eggs. If not, please feel free to add more or less of any of the spices for your family’s taste.

Pour filling into pie crust.In my family we use the Krusties’ pie mix and all we have to do is add water and end up with beautiful crusty/tasty pie crust. The only place we have found it is at Cash n’ Carry, but I would recommend asking your local grocery store to stock it. It is fantastic time saver.

Finally- Bake for 35 to 40 mins. at 400 degrees. Allow to cool, then top with something good or enjoy this pie as a stand-alone. Enjoy!

Welcome to your weekend! -KB