Potluck

PUMPKIN PIE - FOOD OF HARVEST TIME

By Mary Emma Allen

Pumpkin pie, usually associated with autumn menus, graces tables in restaurants and homes.  You'll find many variations in your travels.  This dessert probably originated during the 17th century.  It's believed early settlers made the first pumpkin pies by scooping out the seeds from the center of the pumpkin and then filling it with milk, seasonings, maple syrup or molasses.  Then they baked the pumpkin until tender.

The poet John  Greenleaf  Whittier wrote about pumpkin pies.  You'll find mention of pie, pudding, and other pumpkin based dishes found in other writings and diaries.

This dessert was associated with Halloween and Thanksgiving for me during childhood. Mother made pumpkin and apple pies throughout the fall. My aunt always had pumpkin pie for the Thanksgiving dinners we enjoyed at the farmhouse where she lived with my grandmother.

Many Varieties of Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pies come in many varieties as you travel the country.  Some cooks like to use the fresh pumpkins, cutting them up, cooking and mashing them for a pie filling.  Others use canned pumpkin.  When I was a child, we generally used the pumpkins we grew in garden and field.

You also can mix pumpkin with other ingredients for pie variations. 

• This includes stirring a package of mincemeat into your pie recipe. 
• Or you can create a chiffon pumpkin pie by making a gelatin custard mixture and stirring cooked pumpkin into it.  Then turn into baked pie shell and top with whipped cream or whipped topping.
• Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the top of the pumpkin pie before serving.
• Spread whipped topping or whipped cream over the top of the pie before serving. Then sprinkle with slivered almonds or chopped walnuts.

FROZEN PUMPKIN PIE is one variation. 

Stir 1 pint vanilla ice cream to soften.  Spread in a baked 9-inch pie shell.  Freeze ice cream in shell until firm.

Mix together 1 cup canned or fresh cooked pumpkin, 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you don't want it so sweet), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg.  (Spice amounts may vary depending on individual taste.)  Fold in 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows and 1 cup heavy cream, whipped or use whipped topping. (If you don't like marshmallows, consider leaving them out.)

Spoon onto ice cream layer.  Sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.  Freeze until firm.

When serving, take from freezer and let stand in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.  Top with more whipped topping, if desired.

PUMPKIN MINCE PIE combines the flavors of two harvest time pies.

Break a package of dry mincemeat into a saucepan and cook in 1 cup boiling water for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick. Cool and then spread over the bottom of a deep pastry-lined pie pan.

Mix your usual pumpkin pie recipe. Pour over mincemeat. Bake according to directions until pumpkin is set and inserted knife comes out clean..

 (c) Mary Emma Allen

(Mary Emma Allen enjoys the colorful sight of pumpkins in fields, at stands, and decorating front porches during the fall. She also associates pumpkin recipes with harvest and autumn. Visit her Quilting and Patchwork blog at www.quiltingandpatchwork.com. E-mail: me.allen@juno.com )