HORN AND HARDART'S PUMPKIN PIE

That's Horn and Hardart's automat above, a noble restaurant that no longer exists now, but which is fondly remembered by everyone who took a meal there. What I remember best was their pumpkin pie. For kids its appearance in the Fall was a major event, eclipsed only by giant super holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving. 

Like I said, Horn and Hardart's is closed for good now but I discovered that the recipe they used is available on the net now. That means this mouth-watering food of the gods is available to anyone who's willing to take the trouble to make it. Now THAT'S news! Imagine it...no more plain brown pumpkin pie. The glorious original awaits...

...the glorious, textured ORANGE original, just like the innards of a real pumpkin!

On a practical note, I'll add that If you make this pie, don't buy the pumpkin mash in a can...what you want are real baking pumpkins (small), and real evaporated milk, not condensed milk, which is different.

Here's the recipe:

The recipe doesn't tell us how H&H made the pie crust. I seem to remember it tasting a bit like shortbread. And I can't tell from the wording if the pumpkin mash is pre-cooked. I don't think it is, but it would be nice to be certain. Also, I'll hazard a guess that H&H used a little more butter and spices than is allowed here. After all, people loved butter in those days! And where's the teaspoon full of orange peel scrapings!?

CHRISTMAS GIFTS/THANKSGIVING

I don't have much money to spend this year, so I'm lucky that the gifts I have in mind are crafts, which is a field where bargains abound. Like the shadowbox diarama above...I love Mexican sculptures and the prices aren't too bad. That's because the box is actually pretty small, it just looks big here. The figures are made out of potato starch and gypsum. 

Or the Moroccan fabric on the left above...My daughter likes stuff like that. That bureau's kinda nice too, but who gives bureaus for Christmas?

This (above), believe it or not, is a pad of paper from a stationary store.

 Here's a nice Mexican beadspread. It's so cheerful!

More pricey, but still a bargain, is this (above) embroidered bedspread. There's better examples, this picture just happened to be handy.

Here's (above) another diorama. It only costs a few bucks.

 Here's one (above) with a theme common to all cultures...the table resplendid with good food.

 How about a Chinese dragon? They come in little paper cutouts like the one above...

...or in big sculptures like the dragons you see in New Year parades.

This guy (above) made his own paper dragon. The dragon could use some improvement but I like the way it's supported by little sticks.

What would I like for Christmas? Maybe a paper dragon kite. I'd hang it from the ceiling. I've heard that it takes an experienced kiteman to fly them. The head has to be light enough so that the disks that make up its body can support it in the air.

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Well, that's all on that subject. Later on this afternoon comes Thanksgiving dinner with friends. I love that holiday. When you think about it, we have lots to be thankful for, even in these times.

BTW: If you're making pumpkin pie be sure you use small mashed baking pumpkins and not the big jack-o-lantern pumpkins that you see at Halloween. The now defunct Horn and Hardart's restaurant made the best pumpkin pie but they were an East Coast outfit and I don't know if anyone on this side of the country ever tasted it. Too bad. That's like never having had pizza.

On the West Coast everyone thinks pumpkin pie is supposed to be brown, the way it comes out of a can.  Not true. A real pumpkin pie is orange like in the picture above, not brown, and it's made with condensed milk. Condensed milk tastes horrible when drunk, but it works great in baked goods. And did I mention orange zest? It'll need some of that too, but not too much.