For Thanksgiving this year, we had the usual feast with a very small group of family – which meant there were a LOT of leftovers. Except for pumpkin pie. Lanakila Kitchen’s annual turkey fundraiser included a perfectly cooked 22 lb turkey with homemade stuffing, gravy, corn on the cob, sweetbread rolls, and seasoned roast potatoes, and one little 8″ pumpkin pie. Hardly enough pie to feed the family and nothing left to give away.

This made pie become an almost obsession for Aunty. I really wanted to have a big piece of pumpkin pie – and pal Kay’s picture of Art’s pumpkin pie started a quest to bake one of my own.

I started with my mother’s pie crust recipe. She used to make the BEST lemon chiffon pie from scratch, mixing the chiffon part into the lemon pudding for a wonderful light texture.  Her crust was divine.  MmmmMmmmMmmm.

She would refrigerate the knives and bowl – to ensure the crust is flakey.

Grannie’s Pie Crust (makes 2 very small or 1 large pie crust)
2 cups sifted flour
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
4-6 TBS cold water

Put sifted flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Cut in the shortening with 2 cold steel butter knives until sort of mixed.  Add cold water, a tablespoon at a time and mix with spatula until dough forms. Roll into 2 balls. Flatten out with rolling pin. Drape over pie crust, trim, and form ridges along edge. Bake in a 450° oven for 15 minutes.  Cool.  I used just one dough ball and refrigerated the other for another pie another day.

The pumpkin puree can called for cans of evaporated milk – which I did not have.  But, because daughter #2 loves to put sweet condensed milk in her drinks, I did have cans of that, so found an easy recipe from Baking Bites.  I made some changes with the spices and also in how I cooked it at a consistent lower temperature for a longer time (because it was easier).

Sweetened Condensed Milk Pumpkin Pie
(or Four Ingredient Pumpkin Pie)

1 15-oz can pumpkin puree (approx 1 3/4 cups)
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp pumpkin spice ( I used 1/2 tsp each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger)
2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

1 tsp worchestershire sauce (update on 2nd pie)

Preheat oven to 325F.
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and pumpkin pie spice. Add in vanilla, if using. Pour into cooled crust.
Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the pie filling is set and jiggles only slightly when the pan is jiggled.

My first pumpkin pie

How was it?  Not sure.  The crust was really flakey, which I like a lot.  The pumpkin filling was “meh” because I baked it for 60 minutes and by the time I checked on it, it didn’t jiggle at all.  Overcooked it.  This recipe was double enough for an 8″ aluminum pie pan so I will bake another one soon and keep the cooking time down.

Still, I would consider it a success because it is edible and tastes like a pumpkin pie.  And maybe it was easy, for a person who doesn’t really cook.

Update three days later

I backed another pie with the other half of the crust dough (me thinks I need to find a marble slab for rolling ease) and I added worchestershire sauce to the pie filling, just to try a zapper.  I also didn’t bake it for an hour – just 45 minutes in the oven – and it still was past jiggling.

However, I think it was a success!!!  Aunty can bake pies!