This week we're learning about squirrels! Inspired by our many friends in the yard who started to dig into our leftover carved Halloween pumpkins, squirrels have been a long time favorite in our family. This week we painted with forks, played a game of Squirrel Memory in the yard and made a pumpkin pie! Join us!
The pumpkin pie was ambitious, but we're coming up on Thanksgiving, so it was a great opportunity to work it into our weekly animal lessons. Typical for our special Eats, we first need to find our recipe and shop for our ingredients.
I've made a variation of Elana's Pantry Pumpkin Pie for years now and the kids have always liked it. First, I brought up the recipe to the computer for my oldest to write down the things we didn't have in the house. This is a fantastic life lesson! Finding a recipe you like, sifting through the ingredients, making a list, purchasing what you don't have.
We got even MORE ambitious this time since we had all of the ingredients and thought we'd take our shot at cooking a fresh pumpkin instead of using canned. Off to Trader Joe's! We picked up a pie pumpkin, washed it and cut it in half. I set the halves down for the kids to clear out.
Gutting pumpkins is a great activity for kids. So much fine motor and sensory work for their tiny hands. We washed the seeds and laid them out to dry for planting in the spring.
It also happens to be my husband's birthday the week of Thanksgiving! Since I was baking a cake, I baked the pumpkin a day ahead of making the pie. Check out that beautiful color!
Next up: Elana's Pantry almond flour paleo pie crust. The ingredients list is so simple here. We pulsed up the crust dough and got pressing. Pressing the crust involves such patience and delicate balanced work for little hands.
For the filling, we first pureed our roasted pumpkin, cooked the day prior. My oldest successfully cracked all 3 eggs, poured everything in, and we baked!
Finally, we made homemade whipped cream to top our pie. I usually toss half a pint into our KitchenAid, whip it up and add vanilla and a small amount of sweetener. This time, we left the sweetener out. That can be an acquired taste but my kids still love unsweetened cream.
What's your favorite kind of pie?
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