Hi Punkin

Fall is for pumpkins. On the porch, at the farmers market, smashed by the side of the road, and especially, on the table.

Last week I went on a binge. It was brought on by the first pumpkin pie at the store, a cute little palm sized, $7 nugget. Bought it but than had to share it with my husband, so rather than satisfying it only aggravated the craving.

A whole pie followed, made with one of Martha's recipes. The squash pie section in Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts is covered with many fall's worth of notes, most penned by my husband who is both a fan of pumpkin pie and the designated Thanksgiving pie-maker. However, it needs to be noted that he is not a pie-maker by habit, so some of the less-than-complimentary notes might be attributed not to Martha's recipe but some small oversight on the part of the baker.

Anyway, I know the brown sugar pumpkin pie recipe is solid. I often skip the crust entirely and just make the filling in individual ramekins. I confess to a preference for filling over crust and a somewhat lazy streak. But this time I made it crust and all, and we didn't eat it all in one sitting. It took about 6 hours.

Next up, pumpkin cookies. This is a recipe given to me by a friend in 1986, according to the note on the card. It's got a lot of notes on it too. The original recipe called for chocolate chips and M&Ms, no spices, no nuts, no raisins. Yuck. I add a mess of typical pumpkin pie spices, crystalized ginger, raisins, walnuts and leave out anything chocolate. A vast improvement. They lasted longer than 6 hours.

Fall is good. And I have a pumpkin on the porch.