I love pumpkin pie. In fact, it’s my favorite part of Thanksgiving and the only food I really require. If I can’t have anything else, as long as I have pumpkin pie and a tub of Cool Whip to smother it in, I’m a happy camper.
Imagine my surprise yesterday to see a story in the news about Tennessee State Representative filing a resolution to make pumpkin pie a state symbol. Yes, really.
Lowell Russell calls pumpkin pie an “iconic American delicacy” and he feels that this taste treat made from gourd guts should represent the Volunteer State.
Now when I think of a state symbol, I think of what’s on the flag. So in our case, it would be the three stars and I can’t quite picture the Tennessee flag suddenly emblazoned with a pie where the stars once lived. It turns out though that all states have several “symbols”; different categories and things that represent the state.
For example, our state flower is the Iris; state bird is the mockingbird. We can also boast the tomato as our state fruit and milk as our state beverage. Perhaps having pumpkin pie isn’t such a bad idea? Judging from the language of the resolution, however, Russell failed to use the word “dessert” to clarify to us regular folk that this delicious pie would be added to the list of state symbols and not the flag. The Resolution reads as follows:
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 23 By Russell HJR0023 001246
A RESOLUTION to designate pumpkin pie as a symbol of the State of Tennessee.
WHEREAS, a symbol of the harvest often eaten during the fall and winter months and the traditional dessert at Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie is an iconic American delicacy; and
WHEREAS, pumpkin pie can be traced back to the days of the early American colonists who were introduced to the fruit by Native Americans; pumpkin was an indigenous fruit to the Americas and was used by Native Americans in a variety of ways, including as a food source; and
WHEREAS, pumpkin pie recipes have been found in seventeenth-century English cookbooks and a century later began to appear in American cookbooks; initially, pumpkin pie was prepared by stuffing the pumpkin with apples, spices, and sugar, then baking it whole; and
WHEREAS, today, to make a pumpkin pie, the pulp of the pumpkin is mixed with eggs, evaporated and/or sweetened condensed milk, and sugar and is typically flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; and
WHEREAS, a true American classic, it is most appropriate that we select the delicious and wholesome pumpkin pie as a symbol of the Volunteer State; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE CONCURRING, that we hereby designate pumpkin pie as a symbol of the State of Tennessee.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy.
As long as there is enough Cool Whip for the appropriate pie to Whip ratio. With my particular ratio, I might have to write a resolution amendment to include the topping.
The Pumpkin Pie Resolution, by the way, was filed for induction on January 10th and will be voted on by the Tennessee House and Senate.
