Geek Food: Pumpkin Pasties

Welcome to the November 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Feeding Your Family
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared recipes, stories, and advice about food and eating. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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The long and short of things. Our family loves food. And we are pretty much geeks. So, it isn't a far leap to turning our love of cooking in to recreating food from our favorite stories and books. Being fall, of course I need to share Pumpkin Pasties.


Such a simple thing, and the kids love having their own little pie to devour. Fresh pumpkin, gluten free crust, just the right sugar and spice. I can not sing praises loud enough for Jules Gluten Free™ All-Purpose Flour. It really makes the best crust, and that is including the gluten-y kind.

Filling

2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs melted butter or non-dairy alternative
2 cups fresh sugar pumpkin puree (ok, canned works.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
12oz evaporated milk or full fat coconut milk (can leave a coconut flavor, but with the spices I did not notice.)

Blend eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add pumpkin, butter, salt and spices. Slowly add evaporated milk, mixing well. Bake the filling in a large, greased casserole dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 45 minutes or until your fork comes out clean. Let the filling cool completely.

Crust
1 cup (16 Tbs.)  Jules Gluten Free™ All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tbs. shortening, butter or non-dairy alternative
3 Tbs butter or non-dairy alternative
2 – 3 tablespoons cold water
egg wash (1 egg + 1 Tbs. water) OR milk (dairy or non-dairy) for brushing on crust

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.  Cut in the shortening and butter using flat paddle attachment on a stand mixer OR a pastry cutter.  Add the water gradually to make the consistency you need to form a ball – err on the side of it being wetter rather than crumbly.  Form a disc with the dough, wrap in plastic and set aside on the counter for 30 minutes, allowing the dough to rest.
Roll the pastry out onto a surface dusted with flour. After you roll it out thin, about an 1/8in, cut circles about 4 inches in diameter. Spoon in just over a tablespoon in the middle of each circle. Fold in half and crimp the edges closed, with your fingers or a fork works well, too. Brush with egg wash. Cut a few slits in the crust for venting, place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 until crust turns golden, about 10 minutes.

Serve with a nice cold butter beer and enjoy!

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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be updated by afternoon November 12 with all the carnival links.)

• Nut Free Desserts for the Holidays — Becky at Crafty Garden Mama will be talking about navigating the holidays with peanut allergies in the family.
• Making Peace with My Picky Eater — Once upon a time, there was a boy who would try anything. And then he turned 3. Thus began the dinner chronicles at Dionna at Code Name: Mama's house.
• Foodie Morphed by Motherhood — Rosemary at Rosmarinus Officinalis reflects on the changes of her family's food culture since becoming a mother, and shares a snapshot of their current food rhythm.
• Introducing First Foods — Wondering what your little one should take a bite of first? That Mama Gretchen explains baby-led weaning/baby self-feeding and answers a number of questions that may come to mind!
• Feeding Your Family — Coconut Oil!!! — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama is a coconut oil devotee. In this post, she shares her favorite ways to include coconut oil in her family's diet as well as why she feels it is important to do so.
• We Thank the Earth for its Food! — Terri at Child of the Nature Isle spends hours in the kitchen each day trying to make medicine in the form of food.
• Focusing on Healthy, Gluten-Free Foods for My Family — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares what her family is doing to eat healthily along with her recipe for gluten-free peanut butter oat bran muffins.
• Intolerance — sustainablemum laments the misunderstanding surrounding food intolerances.
• Don't Let Food Sensitivities Ruin Your Holidays! — Rachel, the Titus 2 Homemaker, talks about ways to enjoy the holidays even if you wrestle with food sensitivities.
• Losing grains, keeping empathy: Paleo and fat acceptance — Lauren at Hobo Mama vlogs about her family's decision to cut grains to improve health — and hopes she can retain her position as a proponent of size acceptance even as she loses weight.
• Easy Homemade Crockpot Mac & Cheese — Amy W. at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work, shakes off the blue-box blues with an easy crockpot mac-and-cheese recipe with no artificial dyes or excessive preservatives … just creamy, delicious, comfort-food goodness.
• Extended Family Dinners — Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes talks about sharing family dinners with housemates and why it works for her.
• Five Suggestions for Eating Healthy During the Holidays — No need to feel powerless when it comes to our highly sugared/processed food culture during the holidays &emdash; Andrea at It Takes Time offers tips to stay on track.
• How to feed your family — no food required! — Jessica at JessicaCary.com is kind of obsessed with food. But, lately she's realized there's more to nourishment than what she cooks up in the kitchen.
• Food as family medicine: living gluten-free and beyond — Jessica at Crunchy-Chewy Mama sticks to her gluten-free guns but sees room for improvement in her pursuit of a real-food family table.
• Feeding My Family — Challenges and Growth — Susan at Together Walking shares what has been most challenging about feeding her two kids and how she has grown in the kitchen since becoming a mother.
• How I Lost 75 Lbs — What I Eat & My Top 5 Tips — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter shares how she and her family became healthy, happy and active.
• The Weight of Motherhood — Revolution Momma at Raising a Revolution rethinks her relationship with food after struggling with post-pregnancy weight gain.
• Geek Food: Pumpkin Pasties — While Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy and family might have food sensitivities, their geekery knows no limits. So, when faced with a desire to recreate Pumpkin Pasties from Harry Potter, they do not shy away!
• Pumpkin Harvest Muffins — This summer Mama is Inspired and family grew pumpkins, and this autumn they are baking scrumptious, healthy muffins out of those pumpkins.
• Reintroducing Meat to the Vegetarian Tummy — Ana at Panda & Ananaso shares some of the considerations she explored before transitioning from a vegetarian diet to reintroducing meat as a protein source and a few tips on making it an easy one.
• Thanksgiving Meal, Thankful? — Jorje of Momma Jorje has never felt terribly thankful for Thanksgiving itself. Perhaps that could change if she's a little more invested?
• 5 Ways to Use Healing Bone Broth — It's that time of year again, when unpleasant little bugs make their way into our homes. For Megan of Boho Mama, guest posting at Natural Parents Network, homemade stock or bone broth is a natural remedy.