DECEMBER 25, 2013 NATIONAL PUMPKIN PIE DAY

           NATIONAL PUMPKIN PIE DAY

Pumpkin pie is one of Americas favorite pie flavors and December 25, of each year, celebrates this pie on National Pumpkin Pie Day.  
Often eaten during the fall and winter months and very popular at Thanksgiving and Christmas, in the United States, pumpkin pie is a traditional sweet dessert.   The pumpkin itself, is a symbol of harvest.
To make a pumpkin pie, the pulp of the pumpkin is mixed with eggs, evaporated and/or sweetened condensed milk, and sugar and is typically flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. 
Pumpkin pie recipes were found in 17th century English cookbooks, such as Hannah Woolley’s 1675, The Gentlewoman’s Companion.  It was in the early 19th century that the pumpkin pie recipes began to appear in American cookbooks.
Pumpkin pie became a common addition to the Thanksgiving dinner in the early nineteenth century when the pilgrims brought it back to New England.
Originally the pumpkin pie was prepared by stuffing the pumpkin with apples, spices and sugar then baking it whole.
There are many seasonal pumpkin pie flavored products that are now available including, ice cream, pudding, coffee, lattes, cheesecake, pancakes, candy and beer.

In the 1844 Thanksgiving poem, “Over the River and Through the Wood” written by Lydia Maria Child, there is reference to pumpkin pie in one of its verses: “Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!” 

 The song, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” contains the lyric, “Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie and we’ll do some caroling”.