Wonderful fall weekend

Rebecca's new favorite toy is Paddington. She loves to look at him, touch him, pet him, watch him, shriek at him, and chase him. He is incredibly tolerant of and patient with her, thank goodness.

We got rain! The first rain in a year basically! It made for a nice Saturday morning to sleep in, and then I was fortunate enough to be able to go enjoy a pedicure by myself while Ramy took care of Rebecca.

This evening, I was welcoming fall and decided to make myself some pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie always reminds me of my dad, because he and I always loved Thanksgiving for the pumpkin pie, and it was a matter of great pride in getting the proportion of spices just right. It's nice to have those memories of my dad that don't make me sad. I'm sure he gets all the most perfectly-made pumpkin pies there are now, and he can even enjoy eating the batter and not having to worry about raw eggs.

This is my recipe for Pumpkin Streusel Pie (my dad actually didn't like the streusel, because it has pecans. He was a pumpkin purist! I made his pumpkin pie the same way, just without the streusel topping).

Pumpkin Streusel Pie

For pie:
2 eggs
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 unbaked 9-inch, deep dish pie crust

For streusel topping:
2 Tbsp. butter, room temp
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare pie crust in pan.

Whisk eggs until well beaten. Add pumpkin and whisk to combine. Add in sugar and spices and whisk until fully incorporated. Gradually add in evaporated milk, whisking until fully incorporated. Pour into unbaked piecrust. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 40 minutes, or until pie is just set in middle.

Combined streusel topping ingredients with a fork. Sprinkle mixture over top of pie and return to oven. Bake for an additional 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until knife inserted in center comes out clean (except for streusel topping). Cool on wire rack. Serve immediately, topped with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Refrigerate.