NV Pumpkin

A consumer wrote in..."Have you discontinued your canned pumpkin? I can't find it anywhere, online or in stores that used to sell it."

So I wrote back...">> We have been selling the Dickinson pumpkin for years and years, and last year, the crop was basically a total failure and we didn't get any product to sell...we hope to have some this year...thanks"

So she wrote back and sent pictures..."I hope so! On my veterinarian's advice, I feed it to my cat, and she only likes your product or homemade. So last night I cooked up a butternut squash for her..."

Here are pictures of (aptly named) Black Cat

Beki's Pumpkin Pie Recipe

While Beki and I were looking online to find her Pumpkin Pie recipe, we came across a blog post about it...

The link for it is:
http://unschoolme.blogspot.com/2009/10/pumpkin-pie.html

Friday, October 23, 2009
Pumpkin Pie

On the way home from the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival, we picked up some pumpkin pie making supplies from a local community market called New Leaf. They turned out perfect and Boo and Little Sister had a great time putting the filling together.

Beki's Pumpkin Pie from Natural Value Canned Pumpkin

Directions:
Preheat oven 425 degrees.
Beat 2 Eggs, then stir in:
15 oz canned pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 can evaporated milk

Pour into pie shell. (We used Maple Lane Bakery Unbleached Pie Crust)
Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.

Got left over filling? Pour it into an oiled pie pan and bake it along with your pie. We doubled this recipe and ended up with two whole pies and one crustless pie -- enough to last us exactly 3 days.

Pumpkin shortage

Because of a poor crop in the Midwest, we aren't going to have our canned pumpkin to sell this year. It's too bad - our canned pumpkin is a good product. We even won the Taster's Choice award for the Best Tasting Canned Pumpkin in the San Francisco Chronicle a few years ago. Hopefully we will have some next year.

I remember when we first came out with it several years ago. My daughter Beki developed the recipe on the back of our can. We tried lots and lots of versions, and settled on one that had more cinnamon and less allspice in it. My contribution to the process was eating lots of pumpkin, accompanied by Reddi Wip whipped cream topping :).

So today we are doing a taste test. We're trying out the Arrowhead Mills ready to eat pumpkin pie mix in an aseptic package...and comparing it with a pumpkin pie made from our 100% canned pumpkin, left over from last year. They're in the over now...results will be posted later :)