Many years ago, it seemed such a clever idea to make my Thanksgiving pumpkin pies from the pumpkin I carved at Halloween.

I made sure the candle used to light my frightening Frankenstein-faced pumpkin did not singe or smoke, so the insides would be perfect for my soon-to-be Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. Proudly I scrubbed and cut up the massive carved pumpkin, and boiled it in a huge pot till it was soft and tender.  Then, after cooling a long while, I mashed up the cooked pumpkin. And mashed, and mashed. (By hand, mind you, as this was before Cuisinart food processors were invented.)

When I was done I had pumpkin squish all over the countertops, on the floor and on many dish towels. And, I had enough mashed pumpkin to make about eight pies, way more than I needed (or wanted at this juncture in the project).

Undaunted, I searched my cookbook library and found enough pumpkin pie recipes to create a delectable-sounding pumpkin pie filling concoction of my own. I even researched the handwritten recipes of family members stored in their recipe boxes (we didn’t have cookbook software back then, either. Heck, computers were only used by big companies and filled whole air-conditioned rooms!).  After determining the best pumpkin pie filling recipe and writing down my own version, my pumpkin pie making proceeded.

I made the pumpkin pie filling and used lots of spices to enhance the flavor of the pumpkin. It smelled so good as I poured the pumpkin pie filling into the pie shells to be frozen and baked later in the month. (I did cheat, as I recall, by buying ready-made frozen pie crusts.)

What a bounty of pumpkin pies I would share with my friends and family at Thanksgiving!  At the appropriate time, I baked the Thanksgiving pumpkin pies and served them to guests with a generous dollop of fresh whipped cream.

One taste and I knew all the effort to make these Thanksgiving pumpkin pies was NOT worth the trouble. They tasted no better, no fresher, no more homemade “homey” than any standard pumpkin pie in the freezer case!

At that moment, I changed my old-fashioned, frugal thinking, labor-intensive ways. I became a modern cook by taking shortcuts that in the end don’t really matter (a concept called semi-homemade today).  Since then I have used canned pumpkin (an absolutely wonderful product) to make Thanksgiving pumpkin pies and use pumpkin pie recipes stored in my cookbook software template.

Or, even simpler, I buy a ready made pie from the bakery (not those flavorless frozen custard pumpkin pie rip-offs by Mrs. you know who). That always gives me extra time to lick whipped cream off the beater and add a new recipe to my family cookbook!

Making a recipe book? Check out all the recipe software and cookbook binding supplies we have at CookbookPeople.com.

If you enjoyed this article, you might check out:
• 4 Things You Always Wanted to Know About That Mysterious Holiday Mincemeat But Were Afraid to Ask
• Old Fashioned German, er, Italian, er, Caribbean Thanksgiving Dinners
• WARNING! Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies May Be Addicting

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...