I subscribe to an online (and print) magazine called “Cultivate” by homesteader and food journalist Holly Hickam, produced by the School of Traditional Skills. If you are at all interested in food, homesteading, or food freedom, you should totally subscribe as well. The weekly newsletters are a very entertaining read.
In last week’s issue she shared an excerpt from “Good housekeeping,” a publication from the late 19th century in Springfield, Massachusetts (archived by Cornell University), a recipe for “Old-Time Pumpkin Pie.”
Since we have been reading a lot of Redwall for the last few months, I though this sounded a lot like a Redwall quest poem.
Middlest Girl thought so too. Some of the archaic phrases were as obscure as riddle clues to her, but she figured them out with a little prompting, and it turned into a scavenger hunt around the kitchen.
Clearly we didn’t plan on doing a cooking blog today. I would apologize for the mess, but I have no intention of actually doing anything about it, so…
Mommy’s favorite apron. But she is getting so tall now that she doesn’t trip on the hem! Why?!
Nothing like a little harmonica accompaniment.
We were amazed at how much volume the recipe produced. One of our small sugar pumpkins produced just a tiny bit over a quart of mash, but the 9 eggs and two quarts of milk necessitated us using our largest mixing bowl, and more than easily filled a 9-inch pie crust.
Mommy crimped the edges to make it prettier.
Not even half of the filling was used up, so we decided to make a 9 x 13 faux custard as well. (We just baked it with the pie, not in a water bath, and it did admirably).
Ellie’s pumpkin pie, Mommy’s mincemeat pie.
Typical, dessert is ready, but the rest of the meal isn’t even cooking yet.
Little Farm in the Big City 