Grandma's Crustless Pumpkin Pie

One of Lila's favorite seasonal desserts by far is pumpkin pie. Savoring the spicy pumpkin filling she will usually scoop it all out and leave the crust. If she could just have a bowl pumpkin pie filling, she would be in heaven.


And so, Grandma's Crustless Pumpkin Pie was born! Taste-tested and approved by Lila, this light, simple pie is sure to remain part of the holiday tradition for years to come. From our kitchen to yours. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin
• 1 (12 oz) can of evaporated milk

Be sure to use organic ingredients!

 

Directions:

• Preheat oven at 325 degrees.
• Lightly butter a glass baking dish (preferably a 9 inch round pie dish).
• Prepare filling by blending all of the ingredients. Scoop and smooth the mixture into the dish.
• Bake for about an hour or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (The longer it stays in the fridge the better it gets!)

 

Place cards on our Thanksgiving table

One of the most important elements of our Thanksgiving dinner is the personalized place cards for each guest. As a child, this was my responsibility. By the time Clara was four years old, she was ready to carry on the legacy. 

The format is usually the same. We fold in half a blank index card (or sometimes colored construction paper). On the front she draws a decorative Thanksgiving image, usually a cornucopia or turkey. Inside, we write why we are thankful for that person. Now, Clara can write the whole card herself. When she was younger, she would dictate what she wanted to say, and I would write it for her.

One of my favorite name tags of recent years was Clara's drawing of her grandparents as two sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. 

These place cards provide such a simple and yet nourishing tradition. We have hosted Thanksgiving in our home for many of the past ten years. I keep some of the name cards from year to year, and they serve as a reminder of that time and place as well as who our guests were around the table that year.

Besides enjoying the place cards, I do also like to eat on Thanksgiving. My favorite recipes remain those passed down by my grandmothers. My maternal grandma's pumpkin bread is always a great appetizer to have on hand although with the amount of sugar in it, it might better qualify as dessert. We often serve it with cream cheese on top to make it feel a bit more savory rather than sweet.

My paternal grandma's cranberry relish is the right combination of sweet and tart. My stepmother's sweet potato casserole was probably the inspiration for Clara's yam-focused place card from last year. I like this dish because it is easy to do most of the preparation the day before and just heat it up with the marshmallows and raisins right before sitting down for the Thanksgiving meal.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families! 

-Ellyn

Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes from my Grandmas

As I get older, I wish I had paid closer attention to my grandmas when we were cooking together in the kitchen. Fortunately, Thanksgiving was a relaxed time in which I had more time to pay attention to what they were making, and probably the repetition of making these same dishes together year after year helped to reinforce the recipes more than others. So, I'm sharing with you two of my favorite Thankgiving recipes from two of my favorite people- my grandmas.

The pumpkin bread recipe is from my maternal grandma and the cranberry orange relish is from my paternal grandma. The pumpkin bread serves as an excellent appetizer to have out before the big meal, and this cranberry orange relish is very tart- a different type of flavor than most cranberry relishes I've tried. We often serve a sweeter cranberry dish as well, but Thanksgiving is not the same for me without this tarter version.

PUMPKIN BREAD

15 oz can of pumpkin

1 tsp nutmeg

3 cups sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup oil

4 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup water

2 tsp. baking soda

3 cups flour

walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS: 

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat spice, oil, sugar, eggs, and salt.

3. Add pumpkin, soad, water, flour (add water separate from flour or clumping will occur- I learned this the hard way one year!)

 4. I usually add walnuts to some of the loaves and keep some of them plain.

5. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees.

The pumpkin bread is good by itself or served with cream cheese.

CRANBERRY ORANGE RELISH

2 cups cranberries (1 12-oz bag is also enough)

1 medium orange, quartered (ends removed)

¾-1 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Slice unpeeled orange into eighths and remove any seeds.
2. Place half of the cranberries and half of the orange in food processor. Pulse until evenly chopped.
3. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the other half of orange and cranberries.
4. Stir in sugar to taste and store in refrigerator of freezer.

I like to store my cranberry relish in mason jars because it 

reminds me of how my Grandma used to store it.

 I hope you get to enjoy some family recipe favorites this Thanksgiving, too.

 Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

-Ellyn