<p>Pumpkin Pecan Spread
Mix one half jar of Williams Sonoma Pecan Pumpkin Butter with 2-3 teaspoons chopped pecans, 3-4 chopped green onions, 2-3 pieces of crumbled bacon. Spread on top of a bar of cream cheese. Serve with Wheat Thins.
D & I sampled this at Williams Sonoma a few years ago and it is addicting! The Pecan Pumpkin Butter is a seasonal thing and is only available for 6-8 weeks a year. Best bargain is to by 2 at once. The Pecan Pumpkin Buttter with the recipe tied around the jar makes a nice hostess gift.</p>
<p>Mathmom- Thanks for the link to MANY pumpkin soup recipes! I spend a small fortune in the fall at Wegman’s on pumpkin soup…sooo good! They grow their own pumpkins behind the store to make the soup fresh!! The chef came from the White House, so he’s pretty good but I’d feel funny asking for the recipe. ;)</p>
<p>DW made this last nite:</p>
<p>Cubed 3/4" pumpkin, two layers in a 2-3" casserole. Top squash with teriyaki’d country pork ribs (sliced to 1-2" pieces). Steam or bake until squash is tender.</p>
<p>My pumpkin bread recipe is very similar to 2VUs, but we add a cup of chopped pecans and a cup of craisins.</p>
<p>Great thread. Pumpkin is a great thing to eat. High in fiber. I’m going to try some of these.</p>
<p>I have been searching recently for my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe, which I have apparently lost. It was a healthy recipe and called for whole wheat flour.</p>
<p>Stopped at my regular supermarket tonight with plans to fit some pumpkin bread into my week, but couldn’t find any canned pumpkin on the shelves. The clerk told me it was available only at the customer service desk, because it wasn’t part of the chain’s official product line and the manager had to buy it at another local store and sell it separately for cash. Imagine, contraband pumpkin! This store carries some pretty exotic items, so I can’t imagine what genius at HQ decided that there was no need to stock canned pumpkin in the fall. To top it all off, the contraband pumpkin had run out anyway, so I have to make another stop tomorrow at a hopefully saner store. I will not give up!</p>
<p>What the heck? No pumpkin? I hope they restock behind that customer service desk before Thanksgiving or they are going to have some seriously irritated shoppers. We may be early bird pumpkin shoppers, but in several weeks it’s going to be flying off the shelves…along with cranberries, green beans, potatoes, french fried onions, and everything else we use to make our family recipes.</p>
<p>The canned pumpkin shortage was a MAJOR problem last year - after fall, you seriously could not find canned pumpkin around here (Midwest) - apparently last year’s pumpkin crop was terrible, thus little pumpkin to can!</p>
<p>I’m not sure if the supply is any better yet this year. I haven’t noticed it in the store and this time of year you can usually find end caps at the grocery store full of it. :(</p>
<p>I do seem to remember being told once that my beloved Pumpkin Bisque wasn’t ready and waiting for me at Wegman’s due to that pumpkin crop. Something with the rain I think. Urgh. I hope it’s not the case this year. Pathetic, but I’ve been looking forward to it. To me it’s like cider. It’s just part of autumn.</p>
<p>Pumpkin is still not available in some supermarkets here. I spotted some at one market, and bought several cans, but now I’m regretting not having bought a lot more.</p>
<p>I use a restaurant/baking supply place for my business, and they had a notice up last time I was there that they have plenty of pumpkin available. I’m tempted to drive up there and purchase a flat of cans!</p>
<p>I have not had trouble finding it in a local supermarket in my area. I will say, that they did not have it on end cap, at least not yet.</p>
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<p>I’m smiling only because I am no stranger to buying every can of something in the store. I had my DH buy out every can of a specific seasoned diced tomatoes last weekend. We couldn’t find this variety last year and I use it to make chili in the crock pot. Even the kids noticed something wasn’t the same. He called from a different store like a kid who had found something great ‘Honey, remember those tomatoes? I think I found them! How many do you want?’ ‘Check the date and buy every flipping can!!’.</p>
<p>^ Blueiguana, that is so funny. I do the same thing. If I’m in a city that I know has something I use often, I’ll sometimes make a point to go to the grocery store there and buy several. When I lived in Switzerland, I’d pack my suitcase with the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies when returning from America (because the ingredients there are just different). Once I made them for a party for my daughter, and after I brought out the first batch the teenagers wouldn’t leave the room; they stayed near the oven, waiting for each successive batch. </p>
<p>Back to pumpkins–I read recently that there shouldn’t be a shortage of canned pumpkin this year; the excessive rain and flooding that caused the problem have not returned this year.</p>
<p>You know we are all still going to be hoarding canned pumpkin now!! :)</p>
<p>By request to my family in DK I take taco seasoning, shells if I have room without breaking them, koolaid mix, and marshmallows.</p>
<p>We bring back marzipan, various candies for the kids, and spices I can’t get here.</p>
<p>Success! Found canned pumpkin at another store (not the Libby brand I’m used to buying, though). It was shelved with the pumpkin pie filling and other canned pie fillings in the baking items aisle, not in the canned veggie aisle where I would have expected it to be. But then I’m never very good at figuring out how other people categorize things–you should see me at Blockbuster trying to understand why what I see as a comedy is shelved under suspense, etc. </p>
<p>I’ve been thinking that pumpkin flavored items have really taken off lately–Dunkin Donuts has pumpkin muffins, donuts and coffee (barf) at this time of year, and I don’t think that was the case a few years ago. This may be contributing to the shortages.</p>
<p>A tip for pumpkin baked goods–make sure those critical spices (cloves, cinnamon, nurmeg) are fresh–they’ve lost potency if they’re left over from last year. Happy baking!</p>
<p>We don’t have any pumpkin anywhere here unless you want to buy a six pound can from Gordon’s Food Service. I have searched everywhere for the last six months because I was on a baking binge and found a good pumpkin bread recipe. I bought the 6lb can, baked four or five loaves of pumpkin bread, and froze what was left. Hope that works out.</p>
<p>Thanks to this thread, I have pumpkin bars (using a yellow cake mix for the bottom crust and top crumb with pumpkin in the middle) cooling in the kitchen right now. :)</p>
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<p>MommaJ, I can see that you and I run in entirely different circles 
See the chat about spice expiration dates here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/786681-expiration-dates-whats-oldest-youve-ever-found.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/786681-expiration-dates-whats-oldest-youve-ever-found.html</a></p>
<p>I made the pumpkin bread pudding over the weekend; it was perfect fall comfort food. Next time I will add a little bourbon to the sauce to cut the sweetness a little and add some depth.</p>