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About the Recipe: Pumpkin pie is a classic recipe that is served for the holidays, especially Thanksgiving. This year, add a holiday touch with a lightly spiced streusel. Enjoy the spirit of the season and one of America’s favorite classic holiday pies.
How Pumpkin Pie Becomes an American Classic
Pumpkins were first cultivated in Central America around 5,500 BC and European explorers brought them back from the New World. During the Middle Ages, people didn’t eat pie crusts from the free-form pies. When European settlers arrived in North America, eating crust became normal and a great way to feed hungry people. The British started to associate pumpkin pie with Native Americans and wanted pies that were more sophisticated. The Wampanoag tribe members in the New World helped the Pilgrims survive their first year at Plymouth Colony. A year later, a three-day harvest celebration was held that most likely had pumpkin on the table in some form. For the colonists in the Americas, pumpkin pie became their own pie. By the early 18th century pumpkin pie earned a place at the table as Thanksgiving became a New England regional holiday. American cookery by Amelia Simmons was the first cookbook featuring ingredients indigenous to America and published a recipe for pumpkin pie, but it had a top crust. By the 1800s, it became a single crusted pie. 1863, Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday, where most likely pumpkin pie and roast turkeys were on the menu. By 1929, Libby’s meat-canning company of Chicago introduced a line of canned pumpkin, that we can find even today on our grocery shelves, saving cooks from straining one’s own squash. Pumpkin pie had become a traditional holiday dessert in the United States of America.
Enjoy the Story The Wisdom of Little Pumpkins
As we forge through life hoping to find our way, it’s helpful to glance backward to visualize early pioneers, explorers, and Native Americans, who demonstrated tremendous courage and inner fortitude as they faced challenges. Here I was at the Hunter’s Moon Festival doing just that, imagining how the past can help the future. I walked to the Native American Village and saw a burning fire licking the sides of the black pot that bubbled over the ashy embers. It was like I stepped back in time as I listened to Native American Elder White Crow relate stories that created pictures of their life history long ago. Beautiful Acorn, a descendent of the Wea tribe, stopped stirring the pot, looked up, and warmly smiled when I asked about her tribe. She explained that their summer village lay on the south side of the river on high ground to the west of a small creek. There were little cabins that housed extended families and wigwams circled around the camp. Communal fields of corn, beans, and squash were cultivated by the Wea Women, and golden pumpkins were used to create savory as well as sweet dishes. I asked her if they ever made pumpkin pie with those pumpkins. “Of course, but not the kind you’re thinking about,” she giggled as she replied. “Did you ever bake a pie inside a pumpkin?” “That has to be really hard to do,” I replied. “Nothing is hard if you take it in small steps. Just simply put it on the grill; slowly turn it around until it softens; cut off the top; remove the seeds; and then add maple sugar, syrup, or our favorite, honey with some fresh berries.” Bending down she grabbed a small pumpkin, placed it in my hands, and said if you don’t try, you will never know how delicious life can be.” Little did I know that I would receive a life lesson from the past in the form of a little pumpkin.
Now You Know the Rest of the Story
pdf for Copy of Recipe – Streusel Topped Pumpkin Pie
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