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How 9-year-old Me Won the Pie Contest

When I was little, one of my earliest memories is helping Woo-Woo (my grandmother) make pumpkin pies before each holiday. She would make the dough a day in advance and then spend a morning making enough pies to feed our huge family as well as numerous neighbors that would pop in or get a special delivery Thanksgiving day. She was so patient teaching me how to form the dough (despite the fact that I always wanted to overwork it), and I will always remember how super-cozy her kitchen smelled the rest of the day.

When I was 9, we moved to Tennessee and our church was preparing for it’s annual end of summer social. Naturally when I heard that there was a baking competition I wanted to make Woo-Woo’s pumpkin pie. Little did I know, it was (at the time) a contest for all the blue-haired ladies of the church.   So there my pie went on the table with all the ladies’ entries and, after a blind taste test by the judges, guess who won? The only thing I really remember is that I couldn’t wait to get home and call Woo-Woo! But I was thinking about that the other night and thought, in the spirit of giving, I should share the recipe for Woo-Woo’s *Award-Winning* Pumpkin Pie with you… Enjoy!

Woo-Woo’s *Award-Winning* Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbls. molasses
2 eggs (well-beaten)
1 1/4 cup evaporated milk or heavy cream
1/4 tsp. salt
unbaked pie shell*

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1.) Preheat oven to 450°

2.) Mix ingredients & cook in an unbaked pie shell at 450° for 10 minutes.

3.) Reduce heat to 350° and cook for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when stuck in the filling.

* This time of year, I tend to keep store-bought pie shells in the freezer, but if you’re looking for a great crust recipe, I’d recommend Emma’s on A Beautiful Mess.