Okay, I did say in a post of the way past that if the pumpkin muffins turned out well that I would post the recipe and they were delicious but I never did post it!  I kind of took tonight as a recipe update evening, so here's the approximates...

We made pumpkin puree by baking it, not boiling it because you loose flavor when you boil it in my opinion; however, I wasn't planning on adding those instructions.  You also want to make yourself a pie crust...or buy one...depending on your motivation!

Pumpkin Pie:

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (if you use dark brown it will be sweeter)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 each of nutmeg, ground cloves)

1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1/4 tsp of salt

2 cups pumpkin puree (I hear a white pumpkin is the BEST - haven't tried it yet though)

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cup heavy cream

The only downside to the pie was that I had to smoosh pieces of pumpkin because our blender didn't quite do the job of pureeing.  I am so excited to use the gift certificate my mom got us to Williams Sonoma so that we can buy a food processor.  Several of the recipes I have made in the last month, both cosmetic and culinary, have called for a food processor but I have made due with my mortar and pestle and blender...oh, and the occassional finger/thumb squish.  Don't worry...I was my hands!  :o)

So, we have yet to taste the pie but I am thinking I am going to do so here very shortly.  If it was a success then I will post the recipe.  I was getting my practice round in  before Thanksgiving dinner.  SO, if anyone has any favorite recipes for Thanksgiving please post them!  I am looking for a delectable sweet potato casserole - marshmallows a must!  If you are posting the recipes on your own site just give me a heads up over to the right in the chatbox!  I appear to have done a fine job of chatting with myself as no one else has posted yet...hmmm...well, someone said that talking to yourself is a sign of a high IQ.  Of course I'm willing to bet the person who decided that did a lot of talking to themself!

I love my hubby!  He came home after a VERY long day that started much to early in spite of the fact that the previous day ended much too late.  He decided to bring home a rotisserie chicken but then he decided to make creamed spinach.  We have never made creamed spinach and it was SO delicious!  He earned a kiss!

Here is the recipe for creamed spinach kisses:

Serves: 6-8

Prep. Time: 0:35

5 Tbls. butter OR margarine - divided

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 dash ground nutmeg

1 cup half and half cream (hubby substituted 2% milk)

4 oz. cream cheese - low-fat okay

1 sm. onion - minced (we didn't have an onion)

(2) 10 oz. packages frozen chopped spinach - thawed

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.  In a 2-quart saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter 3 Tbls. butter; stir in flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; slowly whisk in cream; stir in cream cheese.

2. Increase heat to medium; whisk mixture constantly until thick and smooth; remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a skillet over medium-high heat;saute onions in remaining 2 Tbls. butter until transparent; stir spinach and water in pan.

4. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover; simmer; stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes.

5. Stir spinach mixture into creamy mixture; return to medium heat; heat; stirring often, until warmed throughout.

6. Remove from heat; fold in Parmesan.

7. Kiss the cook

Also, I must plug the new featured artist Rachelle Garniez.  You can listen to a sample of her song Serenade by pressing play on the sidebar under the "Now Playing..." feature near the top.  I wish I could link bits of all her songs.  Her voice has a wide, unique rang and her lyrics are lots of fun!