Easy Pumpkin Pie

Some of us can’t imagine American Thanksgiving table without pumpkin pie.

Pumpkins, as the Americans grew to call them, quickly became part of England’s highly developed pie making culture, which had for centuries been producing complex stuffed pastries in sweet and savory varieties. When the Pilgrims sailed to America on the Mayflower in 1620, it’s likely some of them were as familiar with pumpkins as the Wampanoag, who helped them survive their first year at Plymouth Colony, were. A year later, when the 50 surviving colonists were joined by a group of 90 Wampanoag for a three day harvest celebration, it’s likely that pumpkin was on the table in some form. As useful as the orange squash were (especially as a way to make bread without much flour), they weren’t always popular. In 1654, Massachusetts ship captain Edward Johnson wrote that as New England prospered, people prepared “apples, pears, and quince tarts instead of their former Pumpkin Pies.”

It wasn’t until the mid 19th century, though, that pumpkin pie rose to political significance in America as it was injected into the country’s tumultuous debate over slavery. Many of the staunchest abolitionists were from New England, and their favorite dessert soon was mention in novels, poems and broadsides. Sarah Josepha Hale, an abolitionist who worked for decades to have Thanksgiving proclaimed a national holiday, featured the pie in her 1827 anti slavery novel “Northwood,” describing a Thanksgiving table laden with desserts of every name.

1893, Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday.

Research Source: History Online

Easy and delicious traditional pumpkin pie

Easy Pumpkin Pie

Copyrighted 2014, Christine’s Pantry. All rights reserved.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 frozen deep dish pie crust

Directions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the first 9 ingredients. Pour into pie crust. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 2 hours. Serve or place in refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy!