Tawny Pumpkin Pie

You know how I was ranting about not liking pumpkin flavored everything? Well, pumpkin pie is the exception and so were some muffins from Albertson's that had cream cheese in them--yum! I generally don't buy baked goods, except for doughnuts and Danishes, but those muffins were amazing. 

Thanksgiving is early for me this year; it's this coming Sunday, the 15th. As my siblings have plans for the actual day with their in-laws, it's become our tradition to gather together either on a weekend before or after Thanksgiving Thursday. I don't mind celebrating on a different day because all that matters is family and food. And Scrabble. And coffee. 

Anyway, I called my grandma to see if she was willing to host and the first thing she asked was if I would make the pies because she loves my pies. And that's a great thing to hear from anyone but especially from a grandma! We call my grandma, Nana (pronounced Naah-naah) and she has cooked family dinners for years. Decades actually. So, we told Nana that us grand-kids would do all the cooking and provide all the food this year. She's still making her scalloped corn because she is constitutionally incapable of not making one or more dishes for a gathering, but we're providing every thing else.

As for this recipe, I'm not entirely sure why it's called "tawny" other than the fact that most pumpkin pies bake up a nice tawny brown. Which is silly because it's like calling broccoli, "emerald broccoli" or white rice, "ivory rice". At any rate, I received a copy of the recipe from a former co-worker who had found it in a community cookbook from 1977. 

Ingredients:

One unbaked pie crust (at least 9 inch) in a glass dish

1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup evaporated milk

2 eggs

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet for stability and carefully pour the mixture into the unbaked crust.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the middle just barely jiggles and is no longer wet.

Cook's Notes:

1. It is perfectly acceptable to use frozen pie crust. Lightening will not strike you down. I like the Marie Callender pie crusts when I don't have the time (or the energy) to make my own from scratch.

2. Some of the ingredients might seem odd, like flour and water. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why it calls for water unless the creator of the recipe needed more liquid and didn't have any more evaporated milk. The flour, even the small amount called for, contributes some starch to the filling which helps it set. I haven't messed with any of the proportions because baking requires more precision than cooking does as far as swapping ingredients. If you or a loved one needs the filling to be gluten-free, you could use arrowroot powder instead or omit it all together and it'll probably be just fine.

3. The absolute best topping ever for a pumpkin pie is whipped cream, ideally, freshly made whipped cream. Although, you really can't go wrong with classic Cool Whip or even the canned stuff.