Note from Cathy: With the air crisp and the holidays approaching, I started craving pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, you name it. I asked a dear friend, Sandra Merville Hart, for her mom’s pumpkin pie recipe to share with you. One of my favorite things about Sandy’s writing is the way she mixes historical recipes into her blog, Historical Nibbles. I confess her historical fiction is a guilty pleasure for me!

A Gift From Sandra Merville Hart: Her Mom’s Recipe!

My mother made the best pumpkin pie when I was a little girl. Thankfully she shared her recipe—and her secrets—with me.

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 ½ cups canned pumpkin

¾ cup sugar 

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 2/3 cup (13 oz.) Evaporated Milk

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

Mix eggs, pumpkin, and spices in the order given. I’m never stingy with the cinnamon in this recipe, making it a heaping teaspoon or almost doubling the amount required just as my mother did. 

Another secret she had was adding a teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice. This is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. Though this is completely optional, it rounds out the flavor of the pie.

Stir together and mix pumpkin with all the spices before adding the last ingredient, a can of evaporated milk. Stir this together until blended and pour into an unbaked pie shell.

Bake in preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the pie comes out clean. Let it cool before slicing. 

May garnish with whipped cream. Doubling this recipe makes 3 9-inch pies.

My daughter now makes “Grandma’s” pumpkin pie recipe. The torch has been passed! I hope your family enjoys this pie as much as mine does. 

Sandra’s Personal Story

Don’t miss the two podcasts we did with Sandra on Fireside Talk Radio about growing up with a desire to write against all odds. Especially if you’re raising young geniuses at your house, you won’t want to miss what Sandra has to say. (You can find our interview with her here, Raising Creative Kids: The Written Word Sparks Imagination with Sandra Merville Hart.)

Now, if I can just get organized, I’m sending Sandy my own mom’s amazing Pecan Pie recipe! So watch for that. It seems only fair to share the wealth. (For the fun games we like to play with toddlers this time of year, click here.)

By the way, if your mom had an Apple Pie recipe you inherited, I’m looking for one now. Please share! (For more holiday ideas, check out Spend Less, Give More: 5 Tips for Making Holiday Magic or Musically-Challenged Mommy? Inspiration for Music Loving Kids with Anna Krafve Pierce.)

More About Sandra

By clicking on these links, you can find Sandra’s blog and Amazon Author Page. Sandra’s writing is one of my guilty pleasures. On Sundays I put aside all the research reading I do throughout the week and I settle in for some delightful fiction.

With Christmas around the corner, I want to mention her books make a nice stocking stuffer for the history lovers on your list. I love the way Sandy weaves romance into her stories without making me feel slimed. She definitely has the Hallmark touch when it comes to romance. Plus, I always feel smarter when I put down one of her books.

For more of Sandra’s credentials, I pulled this from her bio:

Award-winning and Amazon bestselling author Sandra Merville Hart loves to uncover little-known yet fascinating facts about our American history to include in her stories. A Musket in My Hands, a Civil War romance where two sisters join the Confederate army with the men they love, is 2019 Serious Writer Medal Fiction Winner and a 2019 Selah Award Finalist. A Rebel in My House, set during the historic Battle of Gettysburg, won the 2018 Silver Illumination Award and second place in 2018 Faith, Hope and Love Readers’ Choice Award. 

Her debut Civil War Romance, A Stranger On My Land, was IRCA Finalist 2015. Her novella, Surprised by Love in “From the Lake to the River” is set during the 1913 flood in Troy, Ohio. Trail’s End, in “Smitten Novella Collection: The Cowboys” is set in the wild cattle town of Abilene, Kansas. Not This Year, her story in the “Christmas Fiction Off the Beaten Path,” released in the fall of 2019.

We love to hear from YOU!

What recipes conjure up happy moments from your childhood? In what EASY ways are you creating fun memories in your kitchen with the kids you love? Do you have a treasured Apple Pie recipe in your family to share with us?

May we pray together?

Dear Father, lots of personalities and perspectives come together as our families gather for the holidays. We get busy and it’s easy to get grumpy. Please give us grace to love others the same way you love each of us. Patiently! Help me use my mouth to bless others. In order to rein in my mouth, first my heart has to be right. Help me turn my heart toward you. O Lord, with joy you bless us in every way! We celebrate Thanksgiving because of your goodness. We rejoice because your Son, Jesus, came to earth and we celebrate more! Bless us now as we remember you are the reason we celebrate. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen!

Cathy Krafve, Columnist, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and Christian Writer, invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.