Holiday Guide 2008: Pumpkin and pie  Modern desserts and
delights for the hungry and historically minded  For most of us,
pumpkin pie is as much an integral part of Thanksgiving as
turkey and stuffing. It's been that way since the beginning,
when pilgrims included pumpkin-based delights in their harvest
meal.  But early versions of the dessert were much harder to
come by than our canned-puree (or Marie Callender's) variety.
The original New Englanders used pumpkins from the American
Indians' harvest, of which they received a large share after
arriving in Plymouth, Mass., in 1620. They filled pumpkin shells
with a mixture of pumpkin, milk, honey, and spices, and baked
them in hot ashes to get that puddinglike, orange deliciousness
that so many of us crave by mid-November.  Back then, every part
of the pumpkin was used. Pumpkin seeds were medicine. Mats were
made from flattened, dried strips of shell. It even came in
handy if you didn't like your freckles or wanted to get rid of a
nasty snakebite, or so the pil