Pumpkin Pie

The best laid plans …
I thought I was going to be sharing blog after blog this week. We celebrated Thanksgiving a few days early this year. Our boys were available for the weekend as were their girlfriends, my father-in-law, and my mom. When you can get everyone together, you celebrate!
As a bonus, I thought I could take tons of pictures of the feast in process and share recipes and tips this week. Anyone looking for tried-and-true recipes would have them at their fingertips. Great plan, right?
It would have been if I had taken any pictures.
It all turned out so well too! Our menu included:
Cider-Brined Turkey
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Sweet Potato Casserole
Sage Dressing
Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce
Green Bean Casserole
Deviled Eggs
Harvest Salad
Multi-grain Rolls and Sourdough Bread
I am sorry I can’t share a blog for each one of these delicious dishes (at least this year). I can, however, give you the recipe for the star of the show:
traditional Pumpkin pie
Traditional Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 15- oz can pumpkin
- 3 well-beaten large eggs
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 unbaked pie crust
Instructions
- Mix sugar, flour, spices, and salt by hand until all clumps are removed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs and evaporated milk until smooth.
- Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients until very smooth. (See note below.)
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Fit crust into 9" pie plate, crimping edge and trimming off excess pastry. Pour filling into crust and bake for 10 minutes.
- Decrease oven temperature to 350° and continue baking for 40-50 minutes or until center of pie is set (i.e. does not jiggle when pie plate is gently tapped).
- Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Notes
To buy or make the crust
Of course you don’t have to make the crust for this pie from scratch. You can use your favorite store-bought crust. However, if you trust me to give you a winning pie recipe, you can trust me to give you a winning pie crust recipe too. This is that recipe: Never Fail Pie Crust.
To be honest, I don’t typically buy organic canned pumpkin. Full disclosure? I bought it because the label was adorable. Yep, I thought far enough ahead to buy a cute can of pumpkin but failed to take pictures of the actual work. My consolation is that the meal turned out wonderful and delicious on all accounts. If I had taken time to document the process as I had intended, who knows what I would have messed up!
So instead of focussing on what went wrong, I will give thanks to God for:
my family
recipes handed down from generation to generation
grocery stores
farmers
dishes and pans washed by my mom
laughter
leftovers
and
the encouragement of each of you who has taken the time to read my posts.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I, too, am thankful for recipes handed down! I’ve used this pie crust and pumpkin pie recipe for years….. and you MUST top with real whipped cream!