I clipped an article out of the Star a week or so ago, for a Gooey Butter Cake recipe that uses pumpkin, ala Paula Deen. Seriously, anything Paula Deen does has to be good because it’s gonna involve a half-ton of sugar, at least a stick of butter, and usually the advice to top it all off with a big ol’ spoonful of whipped cream. So no big challenge there, all the ingredients are very normal, ordinary things.
Being unemployed means I get to go to the grocery store when all the old people are shopping. It’s rather nice. I went to Price Chopper on Monday, and in the baking aisle, where all the canned pumpkin should be? Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing. Like there’d been a giant recall or a giant rush on the canned pumpkin. OK, I still had some time before I needed to make this. So today, after hanging & commiserating with Pensive Girl, I went to Aldi’s. (Aldi’s! Yes! My first time ever! Being frugal can really be an adventure. More on that later. I will say I researched it online so I wouldn’t look too new or stupid.) No pumpkin. They did have cranberry sauce, though. Ok. So, no biggie, Aldi’s doesn’t have everything, I’ll just swing into the ghetto Price Chopper on my way home. (Sing it in your Cartman voice, “In the gheetttooooo”…) SAME THING. Completely empty shelf. What?! The?! Fuck!? Is everyone in the mood for pie, suddenly?
I decide, ok, Ward Parkway Target. I know, it’s not a full-service grocery store, but they’ve expanded…. maybe they’ll have it. Nope. They did have some evaporated milk with a photo of a SLICE of pumpkin pie on it, which fooled me for two seconds, and then I was angry at the can label for having suckered me in. Turns out the gorgeous Rashan, who tried to help me, and also had a canned pumpkin need (he was making cheesecake), had fallen for the same duplicitous photo on the milk can. And he also determined that no, there was no pumpkin to be had. They’ll have it later, as a seasonal item.
So I don’t know what the dealy-bob is with the run on canned pumpkin in the regular grocery store – I can’t imagine that many people raced to the store after seeing that recipe – but I may have to try Hy-Vee or -eek- WalMart if we’re going to have this cake before November. Because I am not going to buy a pumpkin and cook it, just to be able to make a recipe that involves using a box cake mix. If you see canned pumpkin out there, lemme know!
I’ll check Hy-Vee for you. But only if I can have some cake
what?!?! i can’t BELIEVE aldi didn’t have any!
my first instinct was to tell you to just call around and ask first. but then i remembered you are just like me and have lots of time on your hands. so why not drive around the city in search of the pumpkin. it might actually be fun :)
I think I have some. How many do you need?
No conspiracy, just the Law of Unintended Consequences. Thanks to our glorious federal leadership and their meddling in energy, think ethanol, the farmers planted corn instead of pumpkins. Don’t bother checking Hy-Vee, they don’t have it either. There may be canned pumpkin by the end of the month, otherwise, we’re just all going to have to buy the real thing and do it ourselves.
Why do I foresee a pumpkin patch in our backyard next year??? ;-)
I *know* I have some pumpkin at home. How much do you need?
Our local store had a sign up near the missing cans of pumpkin. It stated that there was a crop shortage and there would be more later. I have made the Paula Deen Gooey Butter Pumpkin cake and it is heavenly! I like it better than Pumpkin Pie…which is my fave pie of all time!
Confirmed – the crop is apparently dreadful this year, and they’re waiting as long as possible to harvest. However, there ARE some stores which have organic canned pumpkin (including Hy-Vee in Mission, at least as of last weekend). Just keep in mind that most regular grocery stores keep their organic stuff in a separate section. Also, it’s organic, therefore it costs a little more. But what’s an extra dollar when it comes to gooey butter cake?
maybe that’s a sign that you should use real pumpkin and not crappy canned junk which looks like somebody already ate it before
Can’t wait for the pumpkin harvest!!! I also use can pupmkin for Xander when his stools aren’t ahh as firm as they should be. Can pumpkin is good fiber for him per the vet.
Just back from Publix in Alabama and NO pumpkin. I’ll have one sad son wanting a pumpkin roll up cake for his birthday on Saturday. Do stores not think we use pumpkin other times of the year?
Hey,
Aldi’s is where you can save some money. As a former KC resident (I am forever a representative – Southside) who now lives in sunny San Diego, Ca, I tell you I wish we had an Aldi’s like store.
No pumpkin in ND either but I had appointments in Rochester, MN this week and I checked HyVee. There was lots of the HyVee brand so I bought 25 cans @ 94 cents a can as I make pies for our restaurant. Looking at ebay, maybe I should have bought more, forgot about pies and sold it on ebay!!!