New Hampshire’s Favorite
Pumpkin pie is usually a food and flavor we associate with Fall, but for New Hampshire, it’s something they enjoy year round. For the rest of us, it’s a special flavor that many ice cream parlors roll out when the weather starts getting cooler. It’s got an identity all its own and even if it’s not one of my special multicolor ice creams I often rave about there’s something solid and substantial to it, like sturdy Shaker furniture. (Can I use a furniture analogy for ice cream? Well, I just did!)
The flavor comes from pumpkins, of course, but also those special spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
Pumpkins are grown just about every country in the world, but in the United State the majority (roughly 40 percent) are grown in five main states including Illinois, California Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Texas.
For me, the scent of Pumpkin pie is inextricably linked to Thanksgiving and the cooler days of Fall. The orange/brown color also evokes the changing color of leaves. Although I must add we don’t get much of that here in the Los Angeles area. Still, there’s something in the psyches of every American that conjures up changing leaf images no matter where we are.
New Hampshire seems to favor this ice cream year round and why not? Why not enjoy a taste of November while it’s a hot August day? It’s also available commercially. Turkey Hill sells theirs seasonally as does Kroger so you’ll need to buy some during the season and indulge when temperatures have started going up.
For those who can’t wait for ice cream makers to put their products on the shelves, you can make it yourself and it couldn’t be simpler. Ingredients include milk, sugar, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, heavy cream and you can even top it with some graham cracker crumbs for a crunchy piece de resistance! You can find one of those recipes here.
The more I think about it, the more I think New Hampshire has the right idea.