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Pumpkin Pie
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Posted on Oct 22 2005
By DAVID SPITZER
Special to the Saipan Tribune
When Halloween comes around, we welcome pumpkins as symbols of harvest and sources of shivery fun. For holiday decorations, why not have each of the children carve his or her own small pumpkin? Then stack them into a totem pole. Use the topmost cutout as a lid, the rest for ears and noses. Stems make good features, too. Choose pumpkins of varied shapes, encourage the sculptors to vary their expressions.
Abroad, we find almost everywhere that a great diversity of puddings like the filling, soups, breads and vegetable dishes are prepared from these members of the squash family. In America it is restrict their use mostly to pie.
To cook pumpkin, wash and cut it in half crosswise. Remove seeds and strings. Place it in a pan, shell side up, and bake it in 325° oven for 1 hour or more, depending on size, until it is tender and begins to fall apart. Scrape the pulp from the shell and put it though a ricer or strainer or blender.
Line a pan with a basic pie dough, freshly made or a frozen pie crust from your local supermarket.
Pre-heat oven to 425°.
Mix until well blended:
2 cups cooked or canned pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ cups undiluted evaporated milk or rich cream
½ tsp salt
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp nutmeg or allspice
½ cup white sugar
⅛ tsp cloves
½ tsp ginger
2 slightly beaten eggs
Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Bake 15 minutes at 425°, then reduce heat to 350° and bake about 45 minutes longer or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
Serve with sweetened whipped flavored with 2 tbsp Bourbon to add a little boost and flavor.
