Adult Pop Tarts

Amanda strikes again.  This time…it’s hand pies.  So many pies.  So little time.  You know, as I’ve gotten older, the appeal of hanging out at bars has diminished greatly.  Selling craft beer to bars for half a decade really sealed my distaste for the bar scene.  It’s very rare that I’ll go hang out in a taproom or a bar and definitely never a club.  It can make social times with friends a little challenging.  So if you’re into food, and you have friends that are into food, I highly recommend getting together for playing with food in the kitchen days.  It’s relaxing and you even get to control the music!  Thanks Pandora!

The morning started with me leaping out of bed to get a sugar pumpkin roasting in the oven in time for Amanda’s arrival.  Hubs was hot on my heels to clean up the mess in the kitchen left from the night before.  There was a flurry of fuss and we were all business for about an hour.  Then suddenly, mimosas appeared.  And Hubs was getting a little handsy.  Amanda arrived to save me from Hubs’s romantic advances just in time!  Soon there was chopping and sizzling to accompany the local gossip.  “She said what?!”  “Well I heard….”

Actually, we don’t gossip all that much.  Probably because we’re too busy talking about each other to each other.  Ha!  But what we do a lot of is eating together.  And this day was no different.  We took a break for lunch and we let both of our husbands join us.  Lucky guys.  I experimented with the failed lamb ribs from the night before.  More on that later.  Hubs tried to fry the soupy grits which was fun to watch.  And also tragic at the same time.  Which I think made it more fun.  I love him so much.  And the lamb ribs were much better!  Phew!

But the star of the day…..the pumpkin hand pies.  Or as Matt calls them….adult pop tarts.  And they are.  We made empanadas and shepherd’s pie, too, but the pumpkin….good gravy they were good.  The husbands kept asking for one, but I was the gaurdian of the hand pies and I had them on lockdown.  No amount of angry emojis from Hubs was going to change my mind!  Luckily for them, they did an awesome job cleaning, moving, and repairing the chicken coop.  Well Hubs did it, but Matt helped with the repairs.  So I acquiesced.  They could share one….I’m not completely heartless!

The afternoon turned into dinner plans and we invited Rudy and Dawn over, too.  Hubs experimented with a slow and low technique on the grill with some tritips, I made some truffle fries, and there were handpies….handpies for everyone!  I think we finally polished off the collards.  I’m pretty sure all the pumpkin adult pop tarts got eaten.  I’ll just have to make more.

Pumpkin Hand Pies

1 whole roasted sugar pumpkin
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon Saigon cinnamon
1 pinch cloves
1 teaspoon Amaretto liqueur
Cheesecloth
2 or 3 rounds pie dough
Turbinado sugar
Gold shimmer sugar

Roast the cleaned, halved, and canola oil coated sugar pumpkin in the oven on 350 cavity sides down for about an hour, or until the flesh is very soft and the edges on the roasting pan have started to carmelize.  Let it cool, remove the skin, and sqeeze all the water out through the cheesecloth.

Set one egg aside, and combine all the rest of the ingredients, except the Turbinado and shimmer sugars.  Cut the pie dough rounds into fourths and beat the other egg in a bowl.  Mix an even amount of Turbinado and shimmer sugars in a finger bowl.

Take one fourth of the pie dough round and fold it over making a triangle, pinching together one side.  Holding it in your hand like an ice cream cone, spoon the filling in and pinch the opening closed.  Place on a parchment covered cookie sheet, brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with the sugar mixture.

Bake on the center rack in the oven on 375 for about 20 minutes or until the hand pies are slightly deep golden brown.  Voila!