Pumpkin

#1
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 6:05am
  • Joined: December 2009
  • Location: beyond the yellow brick road
  • Post Count: 230
I use quite a bit of canned pumpkin. Have noticed during the last 3-4 grocery shops that it is MIA. My pantry is empty and I am starting to detox. What's up? Will I have to switch to sweet potatoes? (Which the price of has sky rocketed!)
Reply
#2
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 6:20am
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 4,102
Might just be a local problem.

We bought some just a week ago, and had no trouble finding it.

Have you asked the store manager why it's not on the shelves?

“I could do with some kippers for breakfast.”  Nick Charles

Reply
#3
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 7:24am
  • Joined: December 2009
  • Location: beyond the yellow brick road
  • Post Count: 230
I get a blank stare and a personal escort to the shelf. "I donno...I ordered it".
Reply
#4
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 10:34am
  • Joined: February 2009
  • Location: Maine
  • Post Count: 164
This year Libby pumpkin didnt grow well and they lost a good portion of their crop. They said it might mean shortages. Perhaps that is what your running into.

Having Trouble finding LIBBY'S Pumpkin - NESTLE Very Best Baking
Reply
#5
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 10:35am
  • Joined: April 2008
  • Location: Auburn, CA
  • Post Count: 1,041
oh holy cr@p! I googled canned pumpkin shortage and sure enough Libby has announced that indeed there is a shortage. Basically they lost the 2008 crop which caused a shortage for 2009 Halloween and Thanksgiving. While the 2009 crop is/has been harvested it isn't on the shelves yet. Who knew?

Edit: ok JustPJ beat me to it

Sometimes I sit and wonder what Escoffier would think of the deep fried twinkie.

Reply
#6
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 10:38am
  • Joined: February 2009
  • Location: Maine
  • Post Count: 164

Sorry about that...hehe Next time it will be your turn to beat me to the punch ! :)
Reply
#7
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 11:02am
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 4,102
I wonder what happened to cause a crop failure.

If you think back, there was one heck of a jack-o-lantern harvest in 08. The world was covered up with them.

True, jack-o-lanterns and sweet pumpkins (actually, whichever squash Libby is now using---probably hubbard) are not the same animal. But growing conditions are the same for them.

Is a puzzlement.

“I could do with some kippers for breakfast.”  Nick Charles

Reply
#8
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 12:02pm
  • Joined: December 2009
  • Location: beyond the yellow brick road
  • Post Count: 230
Ok...I had heard about the shortages . I guess the warehouse finally ran out. bummer.
Reply
#9
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 12:52pm
  • Joined: January 2010
  • Location: UK
  • Post Count: 167
have you tried using Butternut Squash as an alternative to pumpkins?

we're as good as our last meal.

Reply
#10
Rating: 0
2/8/10 at 1:44pm
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Melbourne, Vic, Australia
  • Post Count: 2,318
I much prefer the butternut. Easier to cut, tastes better, have never found any "stringiness" in one.

 Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein
 

Reply
#11
Rating: 0
2/9/10 at 4:33am
  • Joined: December 2009
  • Location: beyond the yellow brick road
  • Post Count: 230
I have a case of an organic brand on it's way from Amazon. I know I can sub for other squashes but pumpkin is the only veg my DGS will eat...except for FF and loaded mashed potatoes. Cheese pizza gets some tomato in...
Reply
#12
Rating: 0
2/9/10 at 5:02am
  • Joined: February 2010
  • Location: Paris
  • Post Count: 2
I agree! It must be a local problem.
Reply
#13
Rating: 0
2/9/10 at 2:22pm
  • Joined: February 2010
  • Post Count: 13
Yes. Pretty much any winter squash will do the trick, they're basically all the same with different colors on the out side and different shapes. And a little bonus: earlier this year I made sweet roasted acorn squash... but instead of butter, I used half marg and half diced uncooked (but smoked) bacon.
Reply
#14
Rating: 0
2/9/10 at 2:33pm
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 4,102
A slight disagreement, PureInstincts.

Winter squashes can be used interchangeably in just about any recipe, it's true. But interchangeability doesn't make them the same.

Winter (technically "hard-shelled") squashes come in different shapes, sizes, and outside colors its true. But the insides (i.e., the flesh) comes in a diversity of colors (albeit orange being the most common), textures, and brix counts as well.

That last is particularly important because it affects not only the squash's flavor profile, but its keeping ability as well.

“I could do with some kippers for breakfast.”  Nick Charles

Reply
#15
Rating: 0
2/9/10 at 2:39pm
  • Joined: February 2010
  • Post Count: 13
True. I wouldn't want to make a pie out of a spaghetti squash. Hahaha... ew.
Reply
#16
Rating: 0
2/9/10 at 7:20pm
  • Joined: January 2010
  • Post Count: 264
hmmmm.. try other stores maybe. I dont think theres pumpkin scarcity nowadays
Reply
#17
Rating: 0
2/10/10 at 3:54am
  • Joined: December 2009
  • Location: beyond the yellow brick road
  • Post Count: 230
Update...the hubs brought home 3 cans yesterday from a Fiesta store near his office. It isn't the solid pack but will do for a few pies. It seems there are pockets of availability here and there. OBTW...he was a sweetie and left one on the shelf!
Reply