Asymmetrical Information

Bake at 40 and turn down to 30 what? Not degrees Kelvin, obviously.

"40 and turn down to 30"

Good Old Fashioned frozen pumpkin pie.

If nothing else, use the recipe on the back of the Libby's pumpkin can. Works well.

If nothing else, use the recipe on the back of the Libby's pumpkin can. Works well.

Except double the spices.

Ooh, I'll try it. The one I made last week turned out atrocious. Not enough pumpkin, apparently (I was working from an actual small pumpkin, not a can). The recipe I have calls for layering the pumpkin mix upon superchopped pecans at the bottom of the crust. Will report back.

once the knife comes out clean you can put the rest of the dirty dishes in it.

Sweet Potato Pie - The only way to go......

Are 40 and 30 libertarian terms for 400 and 300?

As in, I'll be hornsnookered if I'll let the darn government force me to put the trailing zeroes in. I like using two-digit numbers and it's nobody else's business anyhow!

Oh, now, guys. People in her mother's day used to omit the last zero. Look at the old AM radios that go from 55 to 160. CBS has verified this.

Oh come come, Jane, you don't use real pumpkins? From a can, Jane?

Eviscerate one pumpkin. Wash off the dirty stuff on the outside. Cut it into pieces, steam the pieces. Peel the skin. Blend.

Urp . . . sorry, that's 450 and 350. I'll fix in the post.

Try replacing the milk with melted vanilla ice cream.

Thanks for the recipe! I was going to buy a pie from the grocery store then saw how easy your recipe was and I made my own. MUCH BETTER!

Just so, Jane - but to add to the sublimity, use freshly grated nutmeg. So your knuckles end up a bit scraped - it's worth it. (Cream, half-and-half, or evaporated milk also works well.)

Jane -- You really did mean not just sugar, but genuine dark brown cane sugar, didn't you? I mean, pretty please, and with a tablespoon of sorghum in there too, yes?

And what's this business about milk in a pumpkin pie, eh? Surely you have some leftover vanilla yogurt in your refrigerator that really needs using up, don't you?

David N. St. John

Contributor B,

As long as you use a soft-skinned pumpkin, such as are used for Halloween, you don't need to peel the skin--it'll soften and you can blend it up with the rest.

And since there is usually too much pumpkin left over, pumpkin soup is excellent. Just add cream and a little chicken stock (unless you want to keep it a vegetarian soup) and a few spices such as garlic, nutmeg, salt & pepper, and away you go! (Much better than all those tons of pumpkin bread in the freezer--did that one year, and vowed Never Again!

I'm a purist for pumpkin pies: no canned stuff for me, I use the real thing. But don't steam the pumpkin, just cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and bake it for 30 minutes at 350F. The baking increases the natural sugars, and preserves the flavours. When done baking, take the pumpkin out, let it cool it down & then scoop the flesh out and puree it. Now follow your favourite recipe for the pie.

A dish where the defining ingredient comes from a can can be called "homemade"???? Only in America ...

Okay, I myself am more likely to use the canned stuff than deal with a real pumpkin, but it's not homemade, it's default pumpkin pie (as opposed to storebought, frozen (shudder) or real homemade which can only be achieved by rasslin' with a real pumpkin).

This is all very interesting, but the most important question has yet to be addressed: How does one ensure that the pie emerges from the oven with a shiny top? My grandmother could do this regularly with her wood-fired oven, but the magic now seems lost. Was it sugar caramelizing in the high heat? Egg white coating? A bit of milk? Googling sheds no light. Has anyone a theory or a suggestion?

Who wants shiny pumpkin pie? The top should be matte with a few almost (but never quite) burned spots. I would suppose you could cook it and then do an egg glaze for an extra couple of minutes, but that's pure guesswork.

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