Pilgrim Pumpkin Pie

I am up to my eyeballs in software programs - learning this and learning that. My brain is now officially mush.

Not a good place to be when it is time to write my weekly post, so I'll just go with the mushy flow and share a pumpkin recipe.

Yes, I know, I haven't posted recipes before. Maybe that is because I am not a great cook. I do cook, though, and I have some killer dishes that can be whipped up if I am in the mood. I'm just not in that kind of mood very often.

Cooking is an artform. And it takes time and passion. I suppose I would rather invest the time and passion in other directions, unless I am really craving some Toll House
doughcookies.

However, as a nod to the Northern hemisphere and all the big, bright orange pumpkins popping out in autumnal decorations, here is my offering. It is my adaptation from a label I saved from a can of Libby's pumpkin pie filling during our posting in America a while ago.

By way of explanation for my international friends: there is no canned pumpkin in Australia and all my American pumpkin recipes call for canned pumpkin. So you can imagine my dilemma the first time I wanted to make a pumpkin pie down here. It was very similar to when I was asked to make mashed potatoes and I couldn't find a box of Hungry Jack Instant Potato Flakes. (Perhaps moving to Australia was a GOOD thing in that respect!)

The REAL pumpkins I use in my recipes are Butternut and Queensland Blue. The Butternut has a creamier, milder flavour (and is called a squash in America). The Blue has been known to grow in our garden.

My Aussie Pilgrim Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups mashed REAL cooked pumpkin*
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup evaporated milk

1 defrosted Shortbread sheet for pie shell

Optional: serve with a dollop of whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 425F or 220C (do not use fan forced). Preheat cookie sheets if you are using metal or foil pie pans (do NOT use cookie sheet if using ceramic or glass).


2. After boiling and draining the pumpkin, puree it. Then reduce it down over a low heat for about 5 minutes, keep stirring. Let cool.
3. Combine filling ingredients in order listed.
   Pour into pie shell(s) (2 if shallow, 1 if deep dish - the recipe makes about 4 cups of filling).


4. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350F/180C and bake an additional 20-30 minutes or until pie test as done when an inserted knife in the center comes out clean.

Serve with toppings if desired. Delicious hot or cold.

*Cooked pumpkin: Cut away the rind and remove the fibrous center with the seeds, then cube and boil in water until soft, and then drain and puree. (If making soup, I boil in stock.)
NOTE: Since there is no food coloring in REAL pumpkin, your pie may not be as orange as you are used to. But it will taste a whole lot better!

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Hope you enjoy it - there is something satisfying about making something from scratch. Leftover pumpkin (and there will be some) can be baked/roasted with dinner or turned into soup (one of my secret killer recipes). Yummmmm.

Now that I have enticed you to read this post with a promise of a sweet treat let me end with another of my favourite memories.

The Birth of the Pilgrim Pumpkin Pie

When my son was in Year 1, his teacher asked if I would speak to the 1st and 2nd graders about the American tradition of Thanksgiving. I happily agreed and we turned it into a full afternoon activity. I made patterns for them to create (with varying degrees of success) Pilgrim hats and collars or Indian feathered headbands from cardstock and paper serviettes. Two classes participated and half the children were Pilgrims and the other were designated as Indians. They enjoyed wearing their costumes and coloring in their hand-traced turkey drawings and then they settled down to hear my version of the Thanksgiving Story, which most had never heard before. As they were leaving each child received a mini pumpkin pie that I had prepared earlier. Most didn't want any at first. Ewwwwww. But then a few brave ones took a bite and came back for more. Needless to say, I went home with empty trays and the sense of a successful cultural exchange.

Enjoy the Great Pumpkin season!