16 oz pumpkin (2 cups)
one can condensed milk (14 oz size)
2 eggs
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt

1. Mix all ingredients
2. Pour into unbaked pastry shell.
3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
4. Bake at this temperature for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
5. Bake for an additional 40 minutes or until knife blade inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. another good sign is that the middle of the pie doesn't "jiggle" when shaken.
6. You may need to tent the pie with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes or so if it seems to be browning too much.
7. Remove from oven and cool in pie pan on a rack (this keeps the bottom crust from becoming gummy.)
8. Serve same day or may be kept in refrigerator for a day or two.
9. Refrigerate leftovers.
10. Top with cool whip or sweetened whipped cream to serve.

Notes about cooking the pumpkin. Smaller pumpkins are supposed to be sweeter. Of course, you can substitute cooked and mashed sweet potato in a real pinch. Remove stem end from the pumpkin or cut in half. Take out all of the seeds and stringy glop. Cut pumpkin into pieces about 2 square inches in size. put in a large pot and cover with water. Boil for at least 20 minutes, testing pumpkin flesh with a fork to determine tenderness. When pumpkin flesh is soft, drain pumpkin pieces into a colander and rinse with cold water. When cooled, cut off pumpkin rind/skin with a sharp knife. Mush up the pumpkin until smooth (or blend it, to remove all traces of the strings) and use as designated in recipe.