Cherry Pie

1 prepared 10” double pie crust 6 cups fresh sour cherries, washed and pitted 1/2 to 1 cup white sugar, to taste 1/4 cup flour

1. Preheat oven to 450oF.
2. Line a pie plate with the bottom crust. Allow 1 inch of dough to hang over pie plate edge. Prick the bottom with a fork.
3. Combine cherries, sugar, and flour in a bowl and pour into raw crust.
4. Gently place top crust on pie and cut a few slits for vents. (Option: Make strips and arrange as lattice.)
5. Fold under the extra pie crust and flute edge. Brush top crust with a little milk, if you wish.
6. Bake at 450oF for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350oF and bake for 30 minutes more or until golden brown.
7. Cool on a rack. Delicious served warm or cold with ice cream.

Cherry Jam

8 cups fresh or frozen cherries, washed and pitted
4 cups white sugar

1. In an uncovered Dutch oven, simmer cherries over low to medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring regularly, until cherries are soft.
2. Add sugar then bring to boil on medium to high heat for 25 to 30 minutes. Stir often to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
3. After 25 minutes of boiling, turn off heat and remove pot from element. Place lid over pot. Wait a couple minutes then check to see if jam has thickened. If not, boil again with lid off for a few more minutes.
4. Jam should be slightly thick at this stage and will thicken more as it cools. Remove from heat and spoon into hot sterile jars. Cover with a sterile lid and cool. Store jam in the fridge.
Yield: 2 _ pints of nicely sweetened jam with an excellent cherry flavour.

Pumpkin Puree

1. Preheat oven to 350o F.
2. Slice in half horizontally one or more ripe pie pumpkin and scoop out the pulp and seeds. Keep seeds for roasting (see “Roasted Pumpkin Seeds”).
3. Place pumpkin skin-side-down in a shallow pan and bake until soft and rich orange, about 1 1/2 hours. Cool slightly.
4. Carefully scrape pumpkin flesh off shell. Puree in a food process or run through a food mill. Pureed pumpkin may be used right away or measured and frozen in an air-tight container for future use.
USES: baby food, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, quick breads, muffins, soup, etc.
NOTE: One 3 to 4 pound pumpkin makes approximately 3 cups of puree.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1. Preheat oven to 300o F.
2. Halve pumpkin and scoop out pulp and seeds, placing them into a bowl of warm water. Seeds will float to the top of the water.
3. Dry seeds on a tea towel, then toss seeds in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of melted butter, some salt, and/or seasoning mix.
4. Spread seeds on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Store in a tightly covered container for up to 1 week.

Pumpkin Pie

1 prepared 10” pie crust, uncooked (homemade is best) 3 cups cooked pumpkin puree 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg 3/4 cup milk or cream 1. Preheat oven to 350 o F. 2. In a medium size bowl, mix ingredients until smooth. 3. Pour into the prepared pie crust. 4. Bake on the middle rack for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the pie comes out clean. 5. Cool on a wire rack and serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers.