Pumpkin Pecan Pie

I'm not a big lover of Pumpkin Pie...something about the texture gets me every time. But I love pumpkin flavored everything else, so this sounded like a fun option! And it's pretty good. I'm a bit of a Pecan Pie snob, and would rather have it unadulterated, but I'd make this pie again!

1 unbaked pie crust (see recipe here: Cherry Raspberry Pie)

Pumpkin filling:

1 1/4 cups solid pack pumpkin

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp half and half (I used soy creamer, and it worked great!)

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

Pecan filling:

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

pecan halves for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pumpkin pie filling by combining all of the ingredients and stirring well. Prepare the pecan pie filling in a separate bowl by combining the corn syrup, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt in a bowl, mixing well. Then stir in the pecans.

Pour the pumpkin filling into the pie crust. Carefully spoon the pecan filling over the pumpkin. Decorate the top with pecan halves (this is my favorite part!). Bake on a cookie sheet, to prevent spillage in your oven, for 65-70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 1 hour. Chill 3 hours before serving.

You end up with a caramelized crunchy pumpkin filling that's super delicious.

Chicken or Turkey Noodle Soup w/Homemade Noodles

Nothing beats homemade Chicken Noodle Soup - nothing! Doesn't that look sooo yummy?? Well, it is :)
Chicken Noodle Soup w/Homemade Noodles*

Noodles: (double if serving more than 4)
1 beaten egg
2 T milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 C flour (approx)

Combine egg, milk, and salt. Add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Roll out on floured surface to about 1/4 in. thick. With pizza cutter, cut noodles to desired size. My family likes them on the smaller size. I actually ended up cutting the noodles in half again. So it is entirely up to you. Transfer noodles on cooling rack and let dry about 1-2 hours.

Soup:
4 C chicken broth
3/4 C chopped carrot
3/4 C chopped celery
1 1/2 C diced chicken breast
1/4 C minced onion
2 chicken bouillon cubes (optional)
salt and pepper

Dice chicken and boil until cooked through. Drain water, but keep about 2 C of it. Add broth and veggies to remaining water and chicken. Let come to a boil. Let cook until veggies cooked through. Add noodles and let simmer about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

**Addition*** I forgot to mention that if you prefer a thicker soup, mix 3 T of softened butter to about 2 T of flour. Stir in soup until thickens.

*If you are not up to making noodles, just use a package of egg noodles.
*If you don't feel like dicing chicken, use 1 large can of chicken instead!
* You can do this with a leftover rotisserie chicken or leftover turkey too. Just use that broth instead of canned broth. :) We had Turkey Noodle soup after Thanksgiving last year and it was sooo yummy.
*I didn't realize this until my wonderful hubby said so, but use low-sodium chicken broth then you have more control over the amount of salt in the soup.