As I was helping her clean up, I rinsed out one of the cans of evaporated milk and noticed there were thick white chunks in the bottom of the can. The expiration date was almost a year old. Was there a risk eating the pies she just made with old evaporated milk?
We certainly didn’t want our Thanksgiving guests to get sick, so she decided to make two new pies. She stopped at the store to get new ingredients including two new cans of evaporated milk. However, when she got home she realized she had bought two cans of pumpkin pie mix instead of just regular canned pumpkin. So, she sent me back to the store to get the canned pumpkin so she could make two new pies.
Did I mention that our son-in-law called while she was making the new pies? He did not know about the previous pies. He was at Costco and offered to buy a pie there. No thanks, she was fine. Later that evening, we decided to sample the new pies. They didn’t taste very good. Something was wrong. She forgot to add the sugar!
What do you do at nine o’clock the night before Thanksgiving with no pumpkin pie? We called Marie Callender’s and asked if they had any pumpkin pies left and how late they were open. Yes, they still had a few pies and they were open until ten. I rushed over and got two of the remaining pies. I was surprised to learn that a small Marie Callender’s pumpkin pie cost over thirteen dollars each, but I was willing to pay any price to make sure we had pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!
Let me encourage you to check the expiration date before using a can of milk from your pantry. You may want to let your son-in-law buy the pumpkin pie next year. And, if you decide to make your own pies, don’t forget to add the sugar! You will be glad you did and your guests will too!
You can read 365 more stories (one for every day of the year) by the author in his book “Let Me Encourage You” by Mark Hopper. The price is $20 plus $5 for postage. Order your book at markh@efreedb.org. Happy Thanksgiving!
Let Me Encourage You by Mark Hopper 