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It’s the Great Pumpkin (shortage), Charlie Brown
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By Sharon Short,
Contributing Columnist
6:05 PM Sunday, October 17, 2010
Awhile back, my friend Jennifer shared with me her recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
They were super yummy (even without chocolate chips), so naturally, I decided I wanted to make them again this year.
Well, actually, I thought I’d make them in late October. After all, I like to spend the first half of October each year being in denial about summer ending.
But then I saw not just one — but several — articles about the imminent canned pumpkin shortage.
My first reaction was to think: oh, puh-lease.
Why, if everyone reacts to that report, I thought, and runs to the store, and buys up canned pumpkin, then sure enough, a pumpkin paucity pandemic would be perpetuated.
But surely, I told myself, people wouldn’t overreact.
However, a little later, I went to the store for nonpumpkin items.
I happened to wander down the baking goods aisle, by the canned pie filling shelf, where the canned pumpkin would have been — if there had been any cans of pumpkin.
Instead, there between the mince and strawberry, was only an empty space where canned pumpkin should be.
I was, I admit, a bit panicked.
I may even have had a flashback to The Great Pumpkin of “Peanuts” comic strip fame, in particular, the TV special I remember from my childhood — “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” — in which Linus waits and waits for the Great Pumpkin, never giving up hope, despite the doubts of his friends, and despite the fact the Great Pumpkin never does rise out of a pumpkin patch to deliver gifts to the good little boys and girls.
I tried to tell myself that I should just relax. The shelves would soon be re-stocked with canned pumpkin, but then I wondered: what if I waited and waited, never giving up hope, but the canned pumpkin didn’t rise out of a delivery truck?
Then I wouldn’t get to make those yummy pumpkin muffins after all!
Well, I did wait, but after awhile, one starts to get stares for loitering too long in one spot in a grocery, so I finally headed home, dejected.
And happened to pass a farmer’s market. And spotted out of the corner of my eye a whole pile of small sugar pumpkins, perfect for pies and pumpkin muffins.
Who needed to wait for canned pumpkin? Not I! I screeched to a halt, grabbed a pumpkin, and bought it in a jiffy, and hurried off with it.
I went right home and whipped out my recipe for baking fresh pumpkin to use in place of canned pumpkin. Well, no. I went right home and looked all that up on the Internet.
A few days later, I followed the baking method and had more than enough fresh pumpkin to use in the muffin recipe.
I started mixing up the muffin batter and realized that I was out of chocolate chips.
So, I hurried back to the grocery and quickly found the chocolate chips in the baking aisle.
Near the canned pie filling. Where the canned mince was all snuggled up with — you guessed it. Plenty of cans of pumpkin.
I hesitated for just a second, then scooped up three cans.
You just never know when there might be a sugar pumpkin shortage at the farmer’s market.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Mix together in one bowl:
1¾ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. ginger
¼ tsp. cloves
In another bowl, stir together until blended:
½ cup Canola Oil
½ cup Sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
To the oil/sugar/egg mixture, add:
¼ cup water
½ cup pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix in the dry ingredients. Mix in 3/8 cup chocolate chips (mini or regular). Spoon mixture into muffin cups treated with cooking spray.
Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 15-18 minutes. Makes about 1½ dozen regular muffins.
Sharon Short’s column runs Mondays in Life. Send e-mail to sharonshort@sharonshort.com.
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