:::{Two Pumkin Pies}::

Thanksgiving is tomorrow!  So today I baked my pies... They are in the oven as I type this, and I am very excited to see how they turn out; they smell amazing already!
Husband and I are going to Jerome, ID (don't worry if you haven't heard of it... it's a tiny, little dairy/farming town, much like most of southern Idaho), to spend the holiday with his parents.  Hubby is a fan of good ol' regular pumpkin pie, so I made one pie for him straight off the back of the can of Libby's pumpkin puree... It is a very easy, straightforward type recipe!  I like spiced up recipes much better; so for my second pie, I went with a streusel topped sweet pumpkin pie (this is the one I'm really excited about!).   For my crusts, I searched high and low for a recipe that excited me, and ended up adapting one from one of my all time favorite blogs, smitten kitchen; if you haven't checked her out before, you simply must!  Its an inspiration!  I've tried several of her recipes and they always turn out spectacularly.  Anywho, without further ado, here are my recipes...

Pie Dough
(adapted from smitten kitchen)
 Makes enough dough for one double-crust, or two single-crust pies.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, very cold
1/4 cup spiced rum, very cold
1/2-3/4 cup ice-cold water

Directions

1. In a large bowl (it helped to use a very wide one, so I could get my hands in) whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. 
2. Dice the two sticks of very cold butter into 1/2-inch pieces, then sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour mix and begin working them in with a pastry blender, working all parts evenly. 
3. When all of the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas stop. Even if it looks uneven, as this will make the crust flaky and delicious!
4. Start drizzling 1/4 cup of the rum (I store mine in the freezer) and 1/4 cup of the ice-cold water over the butter and flour mixture, while using a rubber or silicon spatula, gather the dough together. (You’ll probably need an additional 1/4 cup of cold water to bring it together, but add it a tablespoon as a time.)
5. Once the dough starts to form large clumps, get your hands in there (see how that big bowl comes in handy?). Gather all the damp clumps together into one mound, kneading them gently together.
6. Divide the dough in half, and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap, using the sides to pull in the dough and shape it into a disk. 
7. Let the dough chill in the fridge for at least one hour, but preferably two, before rolling it out.
8. Place the chilled dough on a floured surface, and with a floured rolling pin, start slowly rolling out your crust.  I rolled mine into 10-12 inch circles, as my pie pans are 9.5 inch deep dish pans.  
9. Gently place the round in your pie pan, and form the sides as desired (I fluted mine).

If you don't have any liquor on hand, just using ice water would work fine too.  My mom likes to use vinegar in her pie dough (I don't really care for the flavor), and I've read several recipes that use vodka.  I had rum, so that was what I used...

Here they are right before going in the oven... With all the baking mess aftermath!  Pie on the left is the fancy streusel one (pre-streusel) and the pie on the right is regular pumpkin pie

Streusel Topped Chiffon Pumpkin Pie
(adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything)
Makes 1 (9.5-10 inch) deep dish pie

Ingredients

For the Filling:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
1 (9.5-10") deep dish unbaked pie shell

 For the Streusel Topping:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, very chilled
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, and egg yolks (reserving the egg whites for later).
3. Stir in 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
4. In a large bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form (I chose to hand whip mine with a whisk, which took longer than an electric mixer would, but was quite satisfying).  Gently fold whipped egg whites into the pumpkin mixture. Pour the filling into pie shell.
5. Bake for 15 minutes; and while the pie is baking, prepare the streusel topping.
6. For the Streusel Topping: In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Blend in the cold butter with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. Mix in the chopped nuts. Sprinkle the topping over the pie.
7. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. Bake an additional 40 minutes, or until set. You may want to cover the pie for the last 15 minutes of baking so that the topping does not burn (I didn't need to, so just keep an eye on your pie). 
8. Enjoy!

 Libby's Classic Pumpkin Pie
(from the back of a can of Libby's pumpkin puree)

Ingredients

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.)  Pure Puree
1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk
1 (9.5-10") deep dish unbaked pie shell

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. 
3. Beat eggs in large bowl. 
4. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. 
5. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
6. Pour into pie shell.
7. Bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. 
8. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. 
9. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
10. Enjoy! 

And there you have it!  I will let y'all know how they turned out!

Fresh out of the oven! Yum!

 ***Update*** 11/22/12
Both these pies were AMAZING! And my in-laws loved them! The streusel one was my personal favorite...