After reading Sula's piece I decided to try making them at home, with reasonable success. (I described the result to Sula on Twitter as "satisfying, but bland" and he said that sounded about right.) I used
this recipe but cut the sugar down to 2 cups. And it's OK. It's sweet, the cinnamon and nutmeg are pretty well balanced (I used freshly-grated nutmeg so I cut back on it just a bit 'cause it can be overwhelming), and the custard set up nicely. I also got the nice brown layer on top that he mentioned, though it didn't look quite as crisp as the one pictured in his story.
I used a store bought crust because I am lazy basically
Bean pie by
jdb0927, on Flickr
Check out the browned layer on top
Bean pie by
jdb0927, on Flickr