Mom's Pumpkin pie!

I was lucky growing up to have the most motherly,  homemaking kind of mother! 

This picture below is was very typical!  A big family of kids and grand kids and Mom/Grandma in the middle keeping everyone happy :-) But that is what gave her joy! (She is the one in the white shirt in the middle.)

 My Mom and Dad a few years before she died of cancer.

We had the best childhood because of  our wonderful parents :-)

I'm the littlest one in this picture and Paula is the one with the really short skirt ;-)

We have 6 kids in our family, This picture was taken sometime in the late 70's of us 4 youngest girls and our dolls.

My mom was a fabulous cook because she grew up on a Potato farm in Idaho and decided that she preferred doing all the cooking for her family instead of working in the potato fields.  So she started cooking as a young girl. So with Thanksgiving coming I think of my Mom and her wonderful Thanksgiving meals!  My sisters pictured above are also wonderful cooks So over the next week I am going to post some of my Mom's recipes and other family recipes from me and my sisters  that always make our Thanksgiving Dinners super Yummy!

So first off Mom's Pumpkin Pie!
This recipe was passed to her from her Mother and I don't know where it came from before her, but it is wonderful!  I have the best memories about this pie.  We would eat our Yummy Thanksgiving meal until we were sick and thought we would pop!  and then a few hours later (Maybe just a couple ;-)  We would break out the pie with homemade whipped cream!   Then for the next two days we would live off Turkey sandwiches made with the super yummy leftover homemade rolls my mom would make and left over turkey and left over pumpkin pie :-)  Those were the days when I could eat what ever I wanted and nothing happened to my body shape!  Those days are long gone, but it does not keep me from gorging myself at Thanksgiving still :-)  Two keys to what makes my Mom's pumpkin pie so good is #1  Don't add cloves!  She said that is what makes other pumpkin pies taste too strong.  #2  She used winter squash (usually grown from our garden)  instead of canned pumpkin it gives a nicer flavor, but we have used canned pumpkin before and it tastes really good still.  so with out further ado here is the recipe I don't have picture yet, but I will post some when I make my pies in the next few days, but just trust me!  This recipe tastes so yummy!  It is the only pumpkin pie my family will eat!

Mom's Pumpkin pie recipe
(makes 3 pies) heat oven to 350

4 cups squash or pumpkin
4 cups  rich milk
1 cup white sugar
1cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (blend well)
Pour into pie pastry plates.
Bake 45-60 minutes or until the center bubbles.  (  bubbles mean big rolling movements in the center of pie.  It almost looks like something is moving around inside the pie. ) It also works best if you put tin foil around your crust edges so they don't over bake.

Mom's Pie Crust

3 cups flour
1 cup Shortening
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp B.P.
3/4 cup water (add more if needed to make a more workable dough)

Roll out barely thin  and place in pie plate cut off excess dough from edges and then flute the edges.