When you think of “Thanksgiving” you really think about the beginning and the end of the big meal. The beginning would be the turkey and the end would be pumpkin pie. You simply can’t call Thanksgiving complete without that slice of pie. To celebrate that pumpkin pie, you might want to share some of these fun factoids:
No Pie for You
The first Thanksgiving with the pilgrims most likely didn’t have turkey as the main dish. It also didn’t have pumpkin pie for dessert. Back then, the settlers used pumpkin but as a binding agent in the crust. So, every painting you see of pilgrims and Native Americans celebrating Thanksgiving with turkey and pumpkin pie is just wrong.
The First Recipe
The first recorded recipe for what we know as the modern pumpkin pie popped up in 1796 in a cookbook called “American Cookery” by Amelia Simons. Back then, it was called “Pumpkin Pudding.” Here is the official recipe if you want to make it from scratch:
Pumpkin Pudding No. 2. One quart of milk, 1 pint pumpkin, 4 eggs, molasses, allspice, and ginger in a crust, bake 1 hour.
What Libby Does
Libby’s has dominated the pumpkin pie filling since 1929. That’s when they put out their first can of the stuff. You might be surprised to discover that the pumpkin pie filling that Libby’s uses is not from a pumpkin. It’s from another type of squash called the Dickinson. In fact, Libby’s bought the “genetic rights” to the Dickinson and perfected its growth. Now the Libby Select No. 12 is what goes into the 50 million pies that use Libby’s pumpkin pie filling.
That’s Some Pie
The record for the largest pumpkin pie ever made stands at 350 pounds. It took 80 pounds of pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar and 144 eggs to whip it all together.
Two Days
The pumpkin pie is so popular that is actually gets two national days. Those would be October 12th and December 25th.
