Vintage Kitchen: Pumpkin Pie

I do love pumpkin pie. I always look forward to the fall, when I can make it, and tuck into it with all the delicious whipped cream... ok, these days I often skip that part, for reasons. But I rarely make it out of season, even though there is no real reason not to - if I make my own puree, I can freeze it for use at any time of the year. Or if I cheat and buy tins, it's right there in the pantry. I do believe I have blogged before about taking the whole process from squash to pie... but this is a different recipe. One that I inherited, via a gift of the book, from my Great Grandma.

I've been having my annual craving for pumpkin pie, and grabbed a recipe book to make it up... and found my Great-Grandma Ella's note with this recipe. So of course, I had to try it! This cookbook is the Oregon Grange cookbook ca. 1940.

The lemon extract is a little different. So is the milk, rather than a tin of evaporated milk which most commercial recipes call for. But the basis is the same: a custard, blended with pumpkin puree. I was using canned pumpkin from the store this time, and you'll note the nice deep orange color, which is not what you'll see from fresh pumpkin.

Filled a deep dish 9" pie plate right up! I made a couple of pie crusts, and did the pumpkin plus a Dutch Apple Pie for those in the house who don't care to eat pumpkin in pie form.

It's a very nice looking pie, if I do say so myself. No cracking going on here - the method of cooking doesn't overly dry it, and the use of milk rather than the evaporated sort means there's more moisture to keep the custard evenly cooked. This did take longer to cook than the recipe indicates, I baked it until there was just a little wiggle in the middle, which took about 45 minutes at the 375 level. Tastes delicious, too! Cream can be a good addition for part of the milk, but I didn't have any.

Left to right: The Ginja Ninja, Me, Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma Ella (photo taken in 2010).