Mmmm, pumpkin pie

A television clip yesterday taught me that what my family calls "Irish Pumpkin Pie" may in fact be Canadian. In any case, the correct way to make it is with seven different spices.

Of course, since it's dairy, it must be served prior to your turkey dinner, and after the homemade salsas, guacamole, chips, and beverages everyone's been eating all day as they lurk around the kitchen waiting for you to finish preparing the meal.

MARY ELIZABETH DEVLIN’S DARK PUMPKIN PIE

(sorry for the non-metric measurements)

Piecrust:
Prepare the night before and refrigerate so it’s easy to roll out
2½ cups of flour
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
two sticks of butter (room temperature) or one cup of Crisco
if necessary: add ½ cup of icy cold water, a little at a time
(after placing in pie plate, poke holes in the crust to keep it from shrinking)

Pumpkin filling:

Bowl One: Combine
4 well-beaten eggs
29 oz. of pumpkin (watch out! they are making already sweetened stuff!)

Bowl Two: Combine
1½ cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice
¾ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. mace
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. pumpkin spices
Mix the contents of both bowls together
Add 12 oz. of canned milk
Pour into two pie crusts and bake
15 minutes at 425 degrees F and then
45 minutes at 350 degrees F

Whipped cream:
1 quart heavy cream
large splash of vanilla
if you must: 1 tsp. powdered sugar
whip until peaks form
then whip again for the same amount of time to keep it from turning back into liquid later

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!