For this year’s Thanksgiving gathering, my assignment is desserts, of which one must, according to Thanksgiving law or something, be a pumpkin pie. PP is not my favorite pie, but to others, it’s not Thanksgiving without it. And since I’m in a crowd-pleasing mood, I’ll bake one.
In searching for a recipe, I learned there is a jack o’lantern pumpkin and a pie pumpkin, and a “jack” does not a pie make.
I also learned that baking a pumpkin pie wasn’t always a simple task. Back in the day, just processing the pumpkin was a job. In reading about a pumpkin’s preparation, I became curious as to whether this pie has been a consistent recipe of pumpkin, eggs, milk and spices over the years, or if in the last, say, 100 years, it’s experienced significant changes.
From a selection of early cookbooks, I saw scant variation in the ingredients, nor in the chore of putting this pie together:
1902 Woman’s Favorite Cook Book
“Pumpkin Pie (Like Mother Makes)”
1 qt milk, 3 cupfuls of boiled and strained pumpkin, one and one-half cupfuls brown sugar, one-half cupful molasses, the yolks and whites of 3 eggs beaten separately, a little salt, one level tablespoon each of ginger and cinnamon, salt to taste. Beat all together and bake with an undercrust; enough for three pies.
Pumpkin Pie 1904 Gold Medal Cook Book
One cup stewed and sifted pumpkin, one level teaspoon salt, one saltspoon mace, one teaspoon cinnamon, two-thirds cup sugar, one beaten egg well mixed together, pour over one cup each of cream and milk boiling hot, fill the plate and set into oven as quickly as possible; if pumpkin is watery add one teaspoon flour. It is done when it rises well in the middle. A rim of puff paste can be laid around the edge of the plate if liked, if used it should be at least one inch wide and the edge that goes down into the pumpkin rolled very thin.
Pumpkin Pie 1915 Things to Eat
4 Tablespoons pumpkin, 1 pint cream (or milk with piece of butter size of walnut), 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup molasses, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1 tablespoon flour, 3 eggs well beaten add last. Will make 3 pies.
Pumpkin Pie 1929 The Modern Home-Maker
2 cups stewed and strained pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon mace, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tablespoon flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 beaten eggs, 1 cup milk. Line a buttered pie plate with pastry. Beat eggs, add to milk and pumpkin. Add sugar, flour, salt and spices and mix thoroughly. Pour into lined pie plate and bake in a hot oven until a golden brown color.
Finally! Canned pumpkin makes its way into our collective pantries and Good Housekeeping bestows its approval on a pumpkin pie recipe that no longer required the hours nor mess of stewing, straining and mashing.
Pumpkin Pie 1930 MEALS Tested, Tasted
and Approved – GH Institute
2 cups pumpkin, 3 eggs separated, 1 cupful brown sugar, 1/34 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon cloves, 1/8 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 3 cupfuls scalded milk. To cooked or canned pumpkin, add egg-yolks, sugar, salt and spices, and mix thoroughly. Add scalded milk and fold in stiffly beaten egg-whites. Pour into a pie plate lined with pastry and bake. Makes 2 medium or 1 large and 1 small pie. To serve, cool the pie slightly and arrange small mounds of unsweetened whipped cream, 1 in the center of each individual piece of pie. Drop 1 tsp honey in the center of each mound of cream and serve at once.
All I have to say is thank goodness for canned pumpkin. But I wondered, are all canned pumpkin products the same, or is there one canned pumpkin and recipe that stands out? Seems there is!
According to my new apron friend, 91-year-old Pillsbury Bakeoff veteran Joan Vanburen of Willmar, MN, Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe is “…easy to make and comes out good for anyone.” And in this Joan
is in agreement with Beth Howard, proprietress of
The World Needs More Pie website, whose only alteration to the recipe is eliminating the call for cinnamon as a personal taste preference. And in that, I am in total agreement.
ENTER ENTER ENTER ENTER ENTER ENTER ENTER
National Tie One On Day™ Goodie Giveaway!
To encourage your putting the “give” back into Thanksgiving and adding National Tie One On Day™ (…an apron, of course!) to your holiday tradition, a dedicated group of sponsors are putting some fabulous “give” into the NTOODay 2011 Goodie Giveaway!
The National Tie One On Day Goodie Giveaway sponsors are generously providing an array of giveaways, which I’m highlighting throughout the NTOODay™ campaign.
- Beth M. Howard From her home in Eldon, Iowa, where she is the proud resident of the famous American Gothic House, Beth sells pie to tourists from her pitchfork pie stand and teaches pie making classes. Pie is meant for sharing. Pie connects people. Pie is the perfect partner to National Tie One On Day. Beth’s goodie is an adorable tee, style choice by the winners.
- Bernina ‘s Swiss precision is at the heart of every product they make. Known for Quality, Innovation and Design with innovative features that make sewing easier, BERNINA lets you focus on your project―and not the machine. BERNINA’s nationwide network of fully trained independent dealerships provides the highest standard of service, beginning with free guide classes after purchase. Bernina’s giveaway is the world’s first ‘Lady’s Knife’, a complete sewing tool in smart pocketknife form, specially designed for women!
Dubbed the Swiss Sewessential, this ultimate sewing accessory consists of 17 superbly crafted individual tools, including a special rotary knife, awl and hem-measure. Incredible? Yes! Fabulous? Even more so!
- Heavenly Hostess by Cynthia Waddell, is a line dedicated to upscale aprons and kitchen linens. All Heavenly Hostess products, including beautiful vintage inspired hostess aprons, retro inspired cocktail aprons and vintage inspired halter aprons, are designed and manufactured in Sunny California.
Heavenly Hostess is providing two winners the new Cupcake Cutie reversible halter apron, which Cynthia describes as, “So sweet and perfect for holiday baking and entertaining, Cupcake Cutie is fully reversible and made of fine 100% cotton.”
- MikWright is a nationally known greeting card company founded in 1991 by friends Phyllis Wright-Herman and Tim Mikkelsen. You know their brand – they were the first to incorporate vintage snapshots with sharp-witted humor. MikWright is carried in over 2000 retail outlets and has licensed products with Andrews McMeel Publishing, Design Design, Luckie-Street and High Cotton. When MikWright “ties one on,” it usually involves vodka and olives. Accordingly, MikWright is a proud sponsor and supporter of “National Tie One on Day™. For two lucky winners, two bountiful gift boxes of MikWright goods.
- HARALEE® is a Portland, Oregon, based company that designs, manufactures, and markets moisture wicking
sleepwear for women. Haralee’s Cool Garments for Hot Women are ideal for the woman experiencing night sweats due to menopause, breast cancer, medications or high internal thermostat. Owner Haralee Weintraub is a breast cancer survivor; she donates a portion of her company’s sales to breast cancer research. Haralee is generously providing two gift certificates toward “cool” purchases.
Thank you to all who are spreading the word of National Tie One On Day, for the more who participate, the more who receive.
xxea
Ham was redressed with a warmed cherry chutney, baby cabbage reappeared in a casserole, sweet potatoes were tossed with hash browns and potato chips (!), cranberry sauce baked up into a coffee cake, and the fruit of the centerpiece chopped into a compote. I, who celebrate when the finished dish looks like the picture, cannot cook by invention. That’s talent.
