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.
...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!?
4 comments:
Ralph's sells an orange pumpkin pie, in their refrigerated cakes section. I've sampled it. "Slightly rough" and "stringy" just about describes the texture. (It was also a bit soggy, but maybe I just didn't defrost it enough.) The label says: CENTERPIECE DESSERTS, California Grown Pumpkin Pie made with Organic Pumpkins.
Give it a try, it may be what you're looking for. It certainly tasted different from any pumpkin pie I've ever had before. I can't say I preferred it exactly, but you might like it.
Mike: Wow! Many thanks for the tip. I'll check it out!
Hey, you wanna go out on Black Friday and take some pictures in the stores?
Arrrgh! No!!
Mike: For the benefit of readers I'll mentioned that you and I took a look at the Ralph's pumpkin pies on Friday afternoon and they were not up to snuff. I appreciate the tip, though.
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