by Sandra Merville Hart

My mother made the best pumpkin pie when I was a little girl. Thankfully, she shared her recipe—and her secrets—with me.

I make the pie every year, usually for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, baking the pie again brought back many childhood memories of cooking the festive meal with my mother, grandmother, and sisters. It’s just as delicious now as it was back then!

Ingredients

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 ½ cups canned pumpkin

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 2/3 cup (13 oz.) Evaporated Milk

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

Mix eggs, pumpkin, and spices in the order given. I’m never stingy with the cinnamon in this recipe, making it a heaping teaspoon or almost doubling the amount required, just as my mother did.

Another secret she had was adding a teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice. This is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. Though this is completely optional, it rounds out the flavor of the pie.

Stir together and mix the pumpkin with all the spices before adding the last ingredient, a can of evaporated milk. Stir this together until blended and pour into an unbaked pie shell.

Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the pie comes out clean. Let it cool before slicing.

May garnish with whipped cream. Most guests prefer a dollop whipped cream with their pie. My husband covers the pie with the sweet topping. 😊

Doubling this recipe makes three 9-inch pies.

My daughter now makes “Grandma’s” pumpkin pie recipe. The torch has been passed!

Hope your family enjoys this pie as much as mine does.