Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Halve the pumpkin, take out the seeds--rinse the pumpkin, and cut it

into small strips--stew them, over a moderate fire, in just sufficient

water to prevent their burning, to the bottom of the pot. When stewed

soft, turn off the water, and let the pumpkin steam, over a slow fire,

for fifteen or twenty minutes, taking care that it does not burn. Take

it from the fire, and strain it, when cool, through a sieve. If you wish

to have the pies very rich, put to a quart of the stewed pumpkin two

quarts of milk, and twelve eggs. If you like them plain, put to a quart

of the pumpkin one quart of milk, and three eggs. The thicker the pie is

of the pumpkin, the less will be the number of eggs required for them.

One egg, with a table-spoonful of flour, will answer for a quart of the

pumpkin, if very little milk is used. Sweeten the pumpkin with sugar,

and very little molasses--the sugar and eggs should be beaten together.

Ginger, the grated rind of a lemon, or nutmeg, is good spice for the

pies. Pumpkin pies require a very hot oven. The rim of the pies is apt

to get burnt before the inside is baked sufficiently. On this account,

it is a good plan to heat the pumpkin scalding hot when prepared for

pies, before turning it into the pie plates. The pies should be baked as

soon as the plates are filled, or the under crust to the pies will be

clammy. The more the number of eggs in the pies, the less time will be

required to bake them. If you have pumpkins that have begun to decay, or

those that are frozen, they can be kept several months, in cold weather,

by cutting the good part up, stewing it till soft, then stirring it, and

adding sugar and molasses, to make it very sweet. Make it strong of

ginger, then scald the seasoning in well. Keep it in a stone jar, in a

cool place--whenever you wish to use any of it for pies, take out the

quantity you wish, and put milk and eggs to it.