Pumpkins have been donated by Balsam Farm. • Photo by Kelly Ann Smith
Sign up for a pumpkin pie eating contest at the new East Hampton Town Historical Farm Museum on Saturday, October 25. Don’t want the calories? Sign up for the pumpkin roll. Don’t like pumpkins? Bob for apples.
This autumn marks the first time the 2.5 acre property, at the corner of North Main Street and Cedar Street, is open to the public since the town purchased it with Community Preservation Funds in 2001.
The recently resuscitated Barnes/Lester house is suggestive of what life was like when Selah Lester, a fisherman and farmer, lived in the Cape Cod-style home, around the turn of the 20th century.
The house actually dates back to the Revolutionary War and was moved when Lester bought it from Captain Jonathan Barnes. The moving of houses, in this case, from Amagansett to East Hampton, was so commonplace. the museum is working on the topic for a film to be shown in the media room.
Other events this fall include East Hampton Town Trustee Diane McNally talking about town government, circa 1900 on November 8 and Helen Harrison, of the Pollock-Krasner Museum, will speak about the Arts on November 22.
Interesting, but if truth be told, pumpkin pie eating sounds like a lot more fun.
Balsam Farms (who already planted garlic on the farm) has the donated the pumpkins. Prudence Carabine, the museum’s director and a descendant of one of the founding families of East Hampton, has been busy in the kitchen cutting, roasting, mixing and baking with the help of dedicated volunteers.
“I am baking, as well as Alice and Mary,” Ms. Carabine said, “The events are for all ages from six to 90! Seems like a winner of an idea.”
The games begin at 1 p.m.
Here’s Ms. Carabine’s pumpkin pie recipe:
Take a pumpkin, cut into quarters, scoop out all seeds. (Dry seeds and roast the next day, sprinkle with Amagansett sea salt, and eat as snack.) Roast pumpkin in a 350 degree fahrenheit oven for one hour or until knife goes in easily. Scoop out all pumpkin pulp and blend in food processor until smooth. Take 16 ounces of pumpkin pulp, mix with 2 eggs, 1/2 sugar, 1 can evaporated milk, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger and 1/8 teaspoon ground clove. Mix all together, then pour into 9″ pie shell and bake for 45 minutes. When cooled, cover with whipped cream or ice cream or both.
Rain date for the pumpkin pie eating contest and pumpkin roll is November 1.
The East Hampton Town Historical Farm Museum is at 131 North Main Street in East Hampton and open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through December 6, when everyone is invited to help decorate the Christmas tree and make holiday cookies after the parade down Main Street. A $5 donation is suggested.
