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Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a floured surface to a 12-inch circle. Fold the dough into quarters, brushing off excess flour with a pastry brush after each fold, and unfold it in a 9-inch pie pan, easing the sides down into the pan. Trim the overhang to within 1 inch of the rim with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors. Fold the overhang under and crimp with a fork or your fingers. Freeze for 20 minutes.

Remove the pie shell from the freezer, line with aluminum foil, fill with pie weights, and bake for 25 minutes until the dough is dry and set. Remove the foil and weights, reduce the temperature to 375°F, and continue to bake another 10 minutes, until the shell begins to brown. Prepare the filling during these 10 minutes.

To prepare the filling, combine the pumpkin, sugar, heavy cream, spices, and salt in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until hot to the touch. Whisk in the eggs one at a time and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the filling is very hot but not simmering. Do not let it boil. If the pie shell isn't ready by the time the filling is done, remove the filling from the heat.

Pour the filling into the crust (if the crust is still 4. in the oven, it's easier to remove the pan from the oven than to try to pour the filling into the crust while the pan is on the oven rack) and continue to bake until it puffs up around the edges and doesn't look wet, about 30 minutes. The filling will be jiggly when you remove it from the oven; it will set up as it cools. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream.

Serves 8

You can make the crust a day in advance, and also freeze it for up to 2 months if it is well wrapped in plastic.

Pumpkin bread is a type of quick bread. Any baked goods made with chemical leaveners such as baking powder are called quick breads, so even pancakes are a type of quick bread.

Pumpkin Bread

1½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

¾ cup canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling

1/3 cup whole milk

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8½″ × 4½″ loaf pan. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each until incorporated. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the milk and again beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix on the lowest speed until combined. Scrape and fold with a rubber spatula to finish.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, rotating halfway through baking, until the top is golden and the loaf is well risen and feels firm when pressed lightly in the center. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan. To serve, remove the loaf from the pan, dust with confectioners' sugar, and cut into thick slices.

Makes 1 loaf

Classic Roast Turkey

At his first Christmas dinner at Hogwarts, Harry has never seen so many roast turkeys — a hundred of them, served with gravy and cranberry sauce (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 12).

Peacocks and swans appeared regularly on the royal table in merry old England. They looked impressive, but tasted awful because of their tough, stringy meat. That's why, when the turkey was introduced to Europe in the 1500s, it quickly replaced the peacocks and swans. King Henry VIII (that's the one with the six wives) was the first to eat turkey as part of the Christmas feast.

3 onions, peeled and cut into quarters

1 head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled

6 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

6 celery