Do you know, I don’t even like pumpkin pie?
And yet this one…
this one I like.
The recipe is straight from one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten: days before I moved to LA following my college graduation, my mom gave me a book filled with handwritten copies of her very favorite recipes – the ones she’d made most often for me growing up, from pot roast to banana bread to this pumpkin pie.
(A handwritten book filled with recipes, by the way, is still one of my favorite things to give people on the cusp of a move or other big change; it’s such a sweet reminder of home, and who doesn’t love the feeling of being introduced to some secret family recipes?)
MOM’S PUMPKIN PIE
What you need:
3 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar or 3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 can evaporated milk
2 frozen pie shells
What you do:
1. In a large bowl, beat eggs.
2. Add pumpkin, sugar, spices and milk. Mix well.
3. Pour into unbaked pie shells (this should make 2 pies, not deep-dish) and bake at 450F for 15 minutes, then at 325F for 30 minutes.
Note: If you’d prefer a custard-y pie, reduce the pumpkin to 1 cup and increase the milk to 2-2 1/2 cups.
