The Great Pumpkin Shortage

I have been craving pumpkin pie since July. And I'm not even pregnant yet. As it gets closer and closer to fall, I continue to check the aisles of different grocery stores in search of a can of Libby's. Then, I remembered -- The Great Pumpkin Shortage of '09. This guy is hoarding all of the canned pumpkin. He's like the Scrooge of Thanksgiving.


No, not really. The real story is that heavy rains caused all sorts of trouble for the pumpkin making folks and their crops last year. It's just science, people.

Heavy rain + muddy fields where equipment won't work + rotted pumpkins =
No Pie Up In Here

I've read conflicting reports about the crop this year. Some say the supply will be tight and some say it's getting back to normal. Either way, I wasn't going to wait around any longer. Someone suggested to me to use a real pumpkin. You can do that? Sad, I know. I found instructions and a recipe online and gave it a shot last night. I love to bake, so I wasn't too worried. I just didn't know it was going to be such a workout.

Let me just say that the instructions suggested using a hand saw to cut the pumpkin in half. I thought they were joking. They weren't. I was ready to run into the jungle and get some dynamite to blow up the stupid thing. (This reference is not me admitting that CP had me start watching Lost and I actually like it and we are on Season 2). I am lucky that along with the pumpkin guts I scraped out my own guts weren't all over the kitchen too with the way I was hacking away at that thing.

After much struggle and sweat that pumpkin was mine. Aside from cracking the pumpkin code, it was an easy process -- just a long one. Here is a piece of said pie taken by CP on his phone. No the crust isn't burnt - it's just a graham cracker crust. The biggest difference to me in the taste was the texture.


If you want to try it yourself. I used the information and recipe from this site: http://www.pickyourown.org/pumpkinpie.php

Make it Work-
Jam