Pumpkin Pie - Mom

This October, I missed Thanksgiving because I was on holiday.  I missed it last year due to excessive bad health.  Missing it once I could deal with, missing it two years in a row was unacceptable, so I rallied my fellow Canadian ex-pat friends and told them they were coming to my belated thanksgiving lunch.  Being Canadian I have to explain Thanksgiving to my British co-workers and in the process I get to tell them about Pumpkin Pie.  In my industry, people change companies a lot, so I have to explain it at least every other year, the reaction is always the same, deep suspicion about why you would put pumpkin in a pie, interrogation about the flavouring (is it sweet or savoury), and when I bring in my leftover pie to share round an almost universal chorus of how do you make that, I need the recipe.

So here it is, this is my Mom's pumpkin pie and I've given an increased quantity for the spices because she always adds extra and so do I.  If you can't find a tin of pumpkin puree (or don't want to go to a specialty food store and spend in the region of £6.00 on it), you can buy a pumpkin, the kind for a jack-o-lantern, scoop the seeds out and bake it until soft, then puree the flesh in a blender, it speaks of dedication to your pie, and you'll have more pumpkin than you need so you can also make soup.

This pie is what makes the house smell of Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Pie

Pre-heat the oven to 450^F (232^C) and put the oven shelf at the lowest position.

Roll out short crust pastry and line two 7 - 8 inch pie plates, make a crimp with your fingers or press with a fork round the edge to make it pretty.  Use pastry that is made with vegetable shortening (or even lard if you can) do not use all butter pastry, because of the high oven temperature, all butter pastry is likely to burn.  Do not dock the pastry, leave it unblemished because you are not blind baking it first.

Mix the ingredients with an electric mixer in order, beating well between every ingredient
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (that's a whole small can if you bought it)
Spices:  2 tsp dried ginger
            2 tsp cinnamon
            1/2 tsp cloves
1 can evaporated milk (that's a 410g can)

Pour the filling into the unbaked pie shells and put in the oven to bake for 15 minutes at 450^F, then turn the oven down to 350^F (177^C) and bake for another 30 - 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.  If you have to put the two pie pans into the oven on a diagonal, about 10 minutes after turning down the temperature, swap the pies so the back one comes forward and the front one goes back, it'll help even out the cooking.

I didn't get a chance to take a picture of my pies before my thanksgiving lunch, I only thought of taking a photo after I had taken it to work and put it by the tea kettle for people to help themselves, it was gone by the time I remembered, sorry.  So here's a picture of the lovely flowers I was given for making thanksgiving lunch, aren't they pretty.