Pumpkin Pie

Ever since his Grampie have him a pumpkin for Halloween, my 4 year old nephew has been asking his mommy for a pumpkin pie. She doesn't know why, neither she or his father like it, and so he has never tried it. But, for some reason, he has been asking for weeks for a pumpkin pie! This morning, my sisters and i took K to the Remembrance Day services and then out for lunch. Since our older sister likes pumpkin pie, we decided to show K how to make it; and if he does not like it, Auntie could take it home.


We were going to make the pumpkin from scratch, but it has been two weeks since Halloween, and even longer since K got the pumpkin. We were worried it might be bad so i had bought a can of pumpkin puree, just in case.  By the time we got back from lunch, we figured it would be to late to chop, peel, cook, and cool the pumpkin, so we went straight to the can.

The recipe we used, i found on All Recipes. We set up 2 stations, one for filling and one for pastry. My older sister makes the best pastry, so after a reminder to everyone in the kitchen of the one cooking 'rule', never put your fingers in the working bowl of the mixer, K and I measured the ingredients for the filling while Auntie made the crust.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

2 cups mashed pumpkin.
1 can evaporated milk.
2 eggs.
3/4 cup packed brown sugar.
1/2 tsp cinnamon.
1/2 tsp ginger.
1/2 tsp nutmeg.
sprinkle salt.

Beat on medium of electric mixer until well blended. Pour into pastry. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes or until center is set.

While K was shown how to roll pastry, i monitored the mixing, scraping the bowl as necessary. I let it mix for about 2 minutes on medium.

We baked the pastry for about 10 minutes and let it cool for another 10 before adding the pumpkin mix. This is K using a ladle to put it into the shell.

And K's pumpkin pie complete! We did not realize it was fully cooked, it still looked jiggly and it is much lighter than the canned pie filling that my sister usually uses. Bit dark around the edges, but otherwise looks nice!

I found this recipe tasted much better than canned pie filling. I usually do not like pumpkin pie, but i took the bit off the end of the knife that we poked out, and it tastes quite nice. Very spicy!

It was a nice ending to a great day. We not only taught K about pie making, but also about our veterans and what they did for us. There were quite a few children amongst the 7000 people at the services this morning, and i have to admit that K was among some of the best behaved. We told him why the day was special and why we are quiet to respect the veterans. He got a bit bored during the speeches and hymns and quietly played rock paper scissors with himself, you can't expect much more from a 4 year old. But he stood proud and sang the National Anthem with everyone and he was amazed when the veterans, along with the police, fire department, cadets, armed forces personnel, Girl Guides and Boy Scouts made their marches around the arena. He asked questions before and after, and stood and sat on cue with the rest of the folks. I never miss a Remembrance Day service, and this year is the first that we have taken K since he was about 7 months old. I carried him in a pack on my chest while his Mommy and Daddy marched with the Scouts. We will continue to take him year after year, so he understands what his Great Grandfathers and others did for our freedom.

For days like today.

Lest We Forget.