Granny's Pumpkin Pie: 🥧 Channeling My Ancestors

The Halloween decorations have been put away for weeks. The porch pumpkin has been sacrificed, roasted and pureed for this week’s pie, and I guess it’s time to reluctantly accept that winter is here and the holidays are upon us.

I am not a big fan of Thanksgiving, at least not the whitewashed colonialism behind it. The peaceful feast of early settlers and native tribes that we were taught in school is a blatant lie. Like most of American (and world) history, it’s far darker and more violent than the history books let on. It doesn’t feel right to celebrate the genocide of the Native Americans who were all but wiped out by colonialism, and remembering and sharing the true origin stories should be part of our observance of this day.

Not to mention the rampant capitalist clusterfuck that is Black Friday. 🤮 I usually celebrate Buy Nothing Day instead of hitting the stores for deals, and try to make homemade gifts or support local artists and small businesses.

But as the dark cold winter sets in and seasonal depression takes hold, we need to gather in gratitude. We need the warmth of community more than ever. And so as you plan your feast with family and friends this week, bear witness to the roots of this holiday while expressing gratitude, sharing abundance, and holding loved ones close.

While I don’t always celebrate Thanksgiving with family now (Christmas is the big one in our family and holiday travel is a bit much), I try to continue my favorite seasonal tradition. Pumpkin Pie from scratch, just like Granny used to make. Although I think she used canned pumpkin, so maybe I’m more old school than Granny was!

Halloween is my favorite holiday by far and on my annual visit to a local pumpkin patch I pick up a sugar pie pumpkin or two, sometimes a butternut or kabocha squash, and leave it out on my front porch until late November. I chop it into halves or quarters, scoop out the seeds (and roast those too), drizzle some olive oil and pop them in the oven for about an hour at 375, and then scoop out the flesh and puree it. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it’s time to bake.

I have never been much of a baker, especially compared to my Granny and Grandma on my mom’s side, but I LOVE Pumpkin Pie. I remember Granny teaching my sister and I one Thanksgiving, and I can still see her wrinkly hands pinching the edges of the pie crust into perfect dimples. Mine are pretty sloppy compared to hers, and I’m a lot slower, but she had 90+ years of practice.

Granny’s name was Ethel Ethlyn (she had a twin named Gethel Gethlyn!!) and after she passed at age 95, less than a year later Grandma Donna (her daughter) died. My family lost two generations of badass women within a year when I was in college. Granny traveled to help out when each of her grandchildren and great grandchildren were born. I remember both of their abundant gardens, root cellars full of preserves, and hours spent in the kitchen. I still can’t do Grandma’s cheesy cabbage casserole or her tapioca pudding justice. But every year at Thanksgiving, I channel the love of these ancestors into my pumpkin pie.

I inherited Granny’s recipe box, but she hardly wrote any recipes down, so while I have a recipe card for her pie crust, I don’t have the exact one she used for pumpkin pie. There are recipes clipped out of magazines, added by my Grandma or Mom, and some that I collected after going vegetarian, and thumbing through the worn edges of the recipe cards always floods my mind with memories.

On Thursday I’ll be going to a friend’s in West County for a Friendsgiving Feast. I’m making a pumpkin pie with a caramel pecan topping, my favorite version (recipe below), topped with real whipped cream. Mom was always a fan of Cool Whip, but I’m a hippie who hates high fructose corn syrup, so I prefer the real deal.

Years ago at a Friendsgiving on the Mendocino Coast, we didn’t have a power mixer but needed whipped cream for our pies. So we poured the whipping cream into a big bowl, and passed it around the room with a whisk. Everyone took turns whipping the cream until their arms were tired and passed the bowl along. And so Friend Whipped was born, and I swear it tastes way better this way. Try it!

Do you have Thanksgiving plans? Let’s swap recipes! 🦃 No turkey for me (I do like the Trader Joe’s veggie roast or a classic Tofurky with mushroom gravy though), but we all know it’s allllll about the side dishes anyway. Gobble gobble and give thanks!

This recipe makes 2 pie crusts, though I’m not sure if she meant four crusts total since most pies use 2 crusts? Might wanna half (or fourth) it, and freeze any extra.

Mix dry ingredients and coconut oil / butter in a large bowl until crumbly (pea size crumbs). In another bowl, beat the egg with ½ cup cold water and the vinegar. Now pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well until all is moist. Put in the fridge to chill for 2 hours.

Once chill, sprinkle flour on the counter and break the dough into two balls. If you’re making only one pie, you can wrap the other ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze it. On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out one ball into a big circle, big enough for your pie dish with a little extra overhang.

Press the crust gently into the pie dish. Fold any excess crust over and pinch the edges into a rippled wave all around. Granny would pinch the crust between two fingers in alternating directions and she made it look so easy, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Chill the crust until you’re ready to make the pie filling.

This recipe is from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, with a couple modifications. I’ve made a decent vegan version with silken tofu instead of eggs before, and if you’re gluten free you can chop up pecans and dates in a food processor and press them into the pie dish as a crust, and substitute with a gluten free flour.

Prepare the crust (recipe above or any single pie crust recipe). For the filling, beat the eggs in a large bowl, then mix in pumpkin and cream. Stir in sugar, flour, and all the spices (down to the allspice in the recipe).

Pour the pumpkin filling into the crust-lined pie pan. To prevent browning, cover the edges of the pie with foil or crust protectors. Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a smaller bowl stir the brown sugar, pecans and melted butter until combined. After 25 mins in the oven, remove the foil and sprinkle the pecan mixture over the top of the pie. Bake for 20 mins more or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean and the topping is golden and bubbly. Cool, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

This recipe makes about 2 cups, which should be plenty for one pie. You can use a monk fruit “sugar” to cut down on the sugar content.

Chill the bowl and electric mixer beaters before starting. In the chilled bowl, beat whipping cream, sugar and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed. Take turns with the beater, or use a whisk and pass the bowl around so everyone gets a turn vigorously beating the cream until soft peaks form. Plop a nice fat dollop on each slice of pie, or spread it over the whole thing before slicing.

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