Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to take the time to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

In light of today's holiday, I've baked up two wonderful dishes:

Paleo Pumpkin Pie:

The recipe for this bad boy can be found here, on the Everyday Paleo website. I kept everything the same, except that instead of using canned pumpkin, I cooked down my own. It's really simple and provides a better flavor than most canned varieties (especially since I found out that most canned pumpkin isn't really pumpkin. It's squash. I know pumpkin is part of the squash family, but still...) 

Tips:

• If you're cooking your own pumpkin, use the small ones. They're typically called pie pumpkins or sugar pumpkins, and tend to be sweeter than the giant ones you'd make a Jack-o-lantern from.
• To roast said pumpkin: cut it in half and scoop out the guts. Rub with a little olive oil and place flesh side down on a roasting pan. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the rind will peel easily from the meat of the pumpkin. Set it aside to cool. Once cool, puree the meat on a food processor until smooth (this prevents you from ending up with a stringy pie). I will also put the pureed pumpkin in a fine mesh sieve, over a bowl, and let it drain the excess water for a few hours. I find that if I skip this step, my pie ends up with giant cracks and takes longer to bake. 
• When actually baking the pie, place the unbaked pie on a baking sheet. This helps to prevent spillage (I've had a couple times where I've spilled the filling all over the oven and then been left with a big mess to clean). 
• You don't need to use those fancy crust shields to prevent the crust from burning. I just use tin foil. Leave it on for most of the cooking and then remove before the final 10 minutes or so.

Apple Crisp:

I used this recipe, from Elana's Pantry. Again, I kept it pretty much the same. I just squeezed a little lemon juice onto the apples to keep from browning and tossed them with a little more cinnamon (I like a cinnamon-y crisp).

Enjoy!