Pumpkin but not pumpkin pie—that is likely what colonists new
to the United States ate. Why no pie? I will explain, but first let me share
about the pumpkin’s history in the Americas.
Squash and pumpkins originated south of the United States.
The oldest seeds have been found in Mexico, so it was a plant that was brought
into North America,
Many indigenous people groups relied on it in their diet. They
ate the seeds, flesh, flowers, and even the leaves. Little wonder those people who
landed at Plymouth Rock discovered how useful the humble pumpkin would be for
them.
Colonist in my country’s history came to rely on the pumpkin as a staple in their diet. The seeds were dried from those first pumpkins shared by native tribes and planted. It was easy to grow, and the vines produced a great deal of fruit.
The heroine in my new release, Custard Pumpkin by Claire, makes this very thing:
Mrs. Zehnder had shared a recipe with her yesterday. She told her to create a custard and add nutmeg and cinnamon to it. Poured into a hollow pumpkin, it would bake in the ashes.
Claire watched her husband inhale the aroma. The pumpkin nestled in the fireplace. She had heaped the hot coals around it, careful not to let any get into the open top where the custard browned.
Making the custard had required every egg she had in her small bowl. Hans had bought her four hens and a cow while they were still in Saginaw. She was blessed to have them. Many people in the community did not have the money to buy animals.
The recipe had used up her small store of sugar. She hoped the men might travel to Saginaw soon for supplies. Last evening, she had heard the three men discuss a trip upriver to do that.
When she serves her custard, my heroine will also scoop out
part of the baked orange flesh of the large fruit. It is the beginning of our
traditional pumpkin pie.
By the way, I include a recipe for the custard baked in the
shell in my new release. It is modernized and ready for you to enjoy this Thanksgiving.
Available Now in Amazon. Free with Kindle Unlimited:
His
guilt separates them. Can a mystery create a bond of love between this couple
forced into an unwanted marriage?
For Claire's small German village, it is a black summer. Typhoid hits the
townspeople and surrounding farms. With Claire's parents dead, she struggles to
know how she will survive.
When a call for volunteers goes through her part of Germany—a chance to settle
in Michigan and Christianize the local tribe—she seizes the opportunity. She
hopes to forge a new future--one filled with possibility rather than
starvation.
As a single woman, she must travel as the unpaid servant to a couple, the young
carpenter Hans Mueller and his wife. Unfortunately, Claire's prospects change
radically when the man's wife dies during the voyage. The minister of their
group pushes Hans and her into marriage. Reluctant but determined, she agrees.
She and her husband arrive in a new land carrying their old grief. Hans ignores
Claire. She is sure he hugs his grief for his wife. He throws himself into the
work of building the settlement for their community. She is at a loss on how to
be a wife to a man who does not want one. Instead, she spends her time befriending
women from the Chippewa tribe.
Mischief and outright vandalism threaten the settlement. Are the Chippewa—the
people Claire views as friends—responsible? What can stop the sudden surge of
hate that springs up in the missionary community they founded to reach out to
the indigenous people?
Claire and Hans are determined to discover who wants to drive away the German
immigrants. But at what cost? And why does a certain fur trapper target
the women in their settlement?
Discover how custard pumpkin plays a role in allowing this couple to reveal
their hidden passion for one another. If you enjoy well-researched
historical romance with a cozy mystery, grab your copy of the book
now.
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