There are many things you can do with a pumpkin: carve it, bake it, toss it, catapult it and, when it’s very big, plop it onto a scale and weigh it. If you attend the Pilger Pumpkin Festival, you can do them all.
Following my taste buds, I went to Pilger (just north of Humboldt) in late September on the promise of some good down-home pumpkin pie, preferably made with Pilger’s pumpkins. My Grandma O’Hara made fabulous pumpkin pie, which I miss this time of year. Perhaps it’s not so much the pie I miss, as the family gathering on a crisp fall day, grandma in her floured apron, wonderful smells emanating from the kitchen.
Following my taste buds, I went to Pilger (just north of Humboldt) in late September on the promise of some good down-home pumpkin pie, preferably made with Pilger’s pumpkins. My Grandma O’Hara made fabulous pumpkin pie, which I miss this time of year. Perhaps it’s not so much the pie I miss, as the family gathering on a crisp fall day, grandma in her floured apron, wonderful smells emanating from the kitchen.As is the case in so many families, grandma passed away before I took an interest in making pies, so she wasn’t there to teach me. Fortunately, my mother-in-law Alma was no mean pie maker herself. Alma’s mother ran a little cafe in Harvard, Illinois, where her pies were a specialty. A young fellow named Jack was a regular at the cafe, where he fell in love with the pies and the pie-maker’s daughter.
Since my husband John was the result of this pie alliance, I thought he would
enjoy attending the Pilger Pumpkin Festival, too. Upon arriving, we made a beeline for the pie. With the $10 entrance fee, it’s all-you-can-eat, so I sampled more than one or two. With pie in hand, we checked out the other festivities..
The Pilger Pumpkin Growers (a club started by local seniors) produce hundreds of pumpkins for the festival, from a few pounds to a few hundred pounds. The bigger the better. During the weigh-in, three burly men are required to carry each pumpkin to the scale. The Pilger record is 417 pounds, held by festival organizer Felix Fischer. “The festival is truly a family affair,” he tells me. “We made the prize money for the junior class way bigger than the senior class. ($150 vs. $100) This is starting to get around.”
In addition to the giant pumpkin competition, there is a pumpkin carving competition, pumpkin decorating competition (a popular theme is Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage), pumpkin shot put competition (where the smaller pumpkins come in handy), a giant pumpkin catapult and, the culinary apogee, the pumpkin pie contest.
I was curious to ascertain if the winning pies were made with store-bought canned pumpkin or with home-grown Pilger pumpkin. The 
answer is both.
First prize winner, Colette Hauser, employed canned pumpkin for her entry, which holds the record as the winningest pie in Pilger: her daughter and son also won first in the past with this pie.
answer is both.First prize winner, Colette Hauser, employed canned pumpkin for her entry, which holds the record as the winningest pie in Pilger: her daughter and son also won first in the past with this pie.
They found the recipe on the internet but, she assures me, they have their own special twist which, like a true competitor, she refused to divulge. Second prize winner, Louella Bregenser made her pie with Pilger pumpkin grown by her daughter-in-law, which she chopped and canned herself.
“I like the idea using your own pumpkin,” she says, but concedes it does take some experience to produce pumpkin pulp that isn’t stringy and watery when cooked down. “Raw canned pumpkin is a good alternative,” she says. Yes indeed, I am quite sure my grandma didn’t chop and boil pumpkin for her pies either. I’m not sure I tasted a pumpkin pie as good as grandma’s at the Pilger Pumpkin Festival, but then, nostalgia might be my secret ingredient. Since pie is a bit tricky, I’m including the recipe for my favourite pumpkin muffins.
Pumpkin Muffins
1/2 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup pumpkin purée
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
Heat oven to 375°F. Cream together butter and sugar; add eggs and mix well. Mix baking soda into pumpkin purée. Sift together remaining ingredients.
Blend half the flour mixture into the butter, then half the purée. Repeat with the remainder, stirring just enough to blend the ingredients. Spoon the batter into muffin tins (if it isn’t a stick-free pan, line with paper or silicone cups). Bake 20-25 min., until the top is firm.
Post title : Newspaper Column - PUMPKIN MUFFINS
URL post : http://global64.blogspot.com/2009/10/newspaper-column-pumpkin-muffins.html
URL post : http://global64.blogspot.com/2009/10/newspaper-column-pumpkin-muffins.html
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