Loose or tea bags? Maybe it's something special Twinings put out for the holidays. You have a wonderful friend! I was just thinking of putting the kettle on; it's a cloudy, chilly day here. If I drink tea (or coffee) too late in the afternoon/early evening, it keeps me awake at night. But since you mentioned a spiced tea, I think I'll have just one cup of the Twinings Orange.

Pumpkin pie filling is a custard, and can be baked without any crust at all, if you want. I'd prebake the graham cracker crust first just to make sure it doesn't get too soggy from the filling. It should be delicious. Two of my favorite tastes. In our family, pie crust is a garnish that no one really likes, so we've tried all kinds of different strategies and combinations for "crusts". Martha Stewart says (??!!) this for her pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press crust mixture into bottom and up sides of a 10-inch metal pie plate. Freeze 15 minutes. Bake crust until dry and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Enjoy

I make my pumpkin pies with molasses. The recipe I use is for a deep dish crust and uses 1/8 of a cup of molasses. I use the recipe off of the One Pie can of pumpkin. 1 can of One Pie Pumpkin 1 tbsp of cornstarch 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1/2 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp salt (scant) 1 1/2 tbsp butter (melted) 1 1/2 cups Milk or 1 12oz can of evaporated milk ( I use the evaporated) 1 cup of sugar 1/8 cup of Molasses 2 eggs beaten Sift sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg together. Mix this with the contents of one can of One pie pumpkin. Add eggs, melted butter, Molasses and milk. Add a dash of lemon juice (if desired). Pour contents into pie crust. Preheat oven and bake at 450 degrees for 15 mins then reduce heat to 350 and continue to bake for 50 mins. That is the recipe off the can. I find that the pie is usually done around 45 mins or so. My family loves this and I make it every year. I also usually have enough left over filling to fill a small ramikan. I usually just bake it until done top with whipped cream and eat that myself :)

I decided to cook it on the stove vs. baking it. Then I'll let it cool down. Sheeeesh, emergency averted.