Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: Corby once asked me what Mom's pumpkin pie recipe was, and I said "Just look on the label of Libby's canned pumpkin!" Then I realized that the answer was not quite accurate. Mom did in fact use Libby's canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling) and followed the recipe, but with a twist. It calls for two cans of condensed milk. Mom always used one can, then filled the empty can with regular milk (skimmed milk I think - that is what we always drank, though now they call it non-fat) and poured that in. I think the result is lighter, fluffier, and less sweet. That's how I do mine now too. However, I make my own pie crust.
That starts another story. Norm and I would spar a bit regarding whose pie crust was the best. At a party one evening we did a blind test to see whose really was the best. Surely you don't need to ask whose crust won? :-) It was my crust, but I used Norm's ancient, paperback, 4X8 Better Homes and Garden cookbook recipe. Over the years the book fell apart, and first I kept the pie section, then that too started to go. I was much chagrined to discover it was lost somewhere in our move from the Wawona house to Foerster. I have never been able to find it, and though I have tried many recipes over the years, it isn't the same. Hard to imagine a simple combination of flour, salt, Crisco, and water could be different, but there you have it. Perhaps this is retribution for my gloating at winning the blind taste test.
And a note on Mom's pie recipe. I have realized that this is how I cook most things as well: I start with a recipe, but add/subtract and change things as needed based on my pantry at the moment. I will often mix a number of different recipes for a
slight variance that morphs over time.
|
This recipe for Eve's Pumpkin Pie from Grandma Sallie is from