Do You Like Pumpkin?
Okay, Carly…now that I have *YOUR* undivided attention!
Note to those reading: Carly is my eldest child. She was born the day after Thanksgiving and she has a total love of anything *pumpkin*. I guess it was all the pumpkin pie I ate the evening before her birth!
Last week, she assured me, as a matter of fact, that Starbuck’s had a pumpkin scone that was “to die for”. After this report, I mentioned it to Mark as we had to go to Rochester one day.
As I was returning some things at the store, Mark called around to several Starbuck’s stores. He finally located the said scones. We drove a few miles out of our way to obtain these wonders….I came back to the truck, paper bag containing scones in hand. I opened the bag, took a bite, and well….perhaps it would have been more tasty with a cup of tea? I wasn’t thrilled, thinking the little scone tasted more to me like spice cake. I felt terrible telling Carly, but honesty is the best policy, no? That is OK…I have never been a fan of scones, anyway. Give me something sweeter and moister! Cookies, anyone?
Well, since the somewhat disappointing scone caper, I have been thinking about how tasty pumpkin pie would be.
Last Thursday, when Michelle and I went shopping, I found a big box of Jalapeno Poppers in the frozen foods. Glory! I LOVE these things. Arby’s had them and they sold them with a little cup of Loganberry Jam to dip them in. The sweet, mixed with the heat of the Jalapeno pepper inside was….just yummy!
Michelle and I picked up the box of Poppers, then headed over to the jams and jellies aisle to see if there would be any Loganberry jelly there. I guess we should have known better, as we weren’t at Wegman’s…..we went to Top’s. We examined all the standards……Smucker’s, Welch’s, Polaner’s. Nada. Zilch. Nothing that even sounded good. Grape jelly or strawberry jam just wouldn’t do it.
It was then that we spotted the “exotic” stand. Yes, at the end of the aisle, there was a big black metal stand, offering out-of-the-ordinary delicacies. This is the type of display that provokes Mark to lovingly (or otherwise!) tease “Mrs. Bigbucks”!
We looked deliberately through the fancy little bottles and jars, trying to narrow down our options. Michelle spotted a jar of Lime Curd that she begged me for…Although no Loganberry was found, we settled on a jar of Black Cherry Preserves from Switzerland. We decided that might taste good with the Poppers. It was shortly afterward that I spotted the intruiging little jar of Pumpkin Butter.
I suppose it was the beautiful jar with its label that first caught my eye….And, the fact that a little yellow sign hung under it, announcing that this product was on sale. I picked up a jar, looking at the beautiful presentation and the contents…..golly, it looked *just* like pumpkin pie! I put the jar into the shopping cart, then a few seconds later, removed it. As we turned to go, I grabbed it back once again, and placed it in the cart.
The little jar sat on my counter since last Thursday evening. I kept looking at it, wondering if I was going to be sadly disappointed by my silly compulsive purchase.
This morning, I decided to have a cup of tea, and as I was making it, I grabbed the Pumpkin Butter, opened it, and dipped a spoon into it. Oh MY! I again poked the spoon into the jar, thinking perhaps it wasn’t quite as good as I had first thought. I toasted a small piece of Italian bread I had bought from the Top’s store, and although the Pumpkin Butter was good on it, I think I have an idea for something even *better*!
The most surprising element to this whole thing is that the Pumpkin Butter is from a place called Oxnard, California! It isn’t even imported!
I am going to try out a recipe later and use some of this. Stay tuned…
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MMM jalapeno poppers – delicious. My mouth was watering reading your post.
I think that during my “weekend break,” I’m going to treat myself to a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte and a baked good ~ maybe one of those scones (I *love* scones!). Sorry that they didn’t taste all that great to you, though. I have a strawberries and cream scone mix that I can’t WAIT to bake! Too funny about your daughter loving everything pumpkin. I do, too! How neat that she was born the day after Thanksgiving. We have special birthdays relating to fall holidays in both of our families!
I ate fried chicken right before going into labor with Meredith, and we’re going to fix that for her first birthday party in honor. 
I wonder whether she’ll love fried chicken? 
Don’t think I’ve ever tasted pumpkin anything let alone pumpkin scone or butter! Yesterday when I clicked on the link to your blog it kept bringing up a web page selling soap and yet to today it’s back to normal, how odd!
I just came back from Starbucks and thoroughly enjoyed a pumpkin scone on the way! Erin tried to steal it from me, offering me her cinnamon chip scone in its place. She of course failed in trying to convince me that the cinnamon are just as good! Perhaps next time you go to Starbucks you should try a Cream Cheese Danish. They are very tasty and I often enjoy those in the “off season” for pumpkin scones.
Perhaps I will have to go to Tops and try to find the pumpkin butter. Or perhaps I should get a pumpkin and make my own. I love the apple butter I made last year. HMMM…
For the record, I do not like everything pumpkin…I once tried pumpkin soup…in a small pumpkin/gourd thing and it was AWFUL! I nearly spit it across the table as my gag reflex did a double take! Of course, that is the ONLY pumpkin thing I have ever had that I didn’t love! Although I hate to admit this, I do really like sweet potato pie a little more than I do pumpkin. It must, however, be really good sweet potato pie, or pumpkin wins out!
Oh, I forgot to mention, the pumpkin scones are best enjoyed with a cup of Chai Tea Latte….
Sorlil! Are pumpkins not grown in Scotland? I guess part of the American (US) heritage is the story of the “First Thanksgiving”…so deeply ingrained in every child is this story with Pilgrims and Indians eating corn, turkey, squash (thus, pumpkin) and cranberries!!! Those are the traditional fare for Thansgiving….AND, for Christmas as well! Wow, wish I could send you some of my cookies and not have them crumble all apart. Not sure how they would fare going such a distance. Perhaps when you visit our northern neighbor, we can meet and I will gladly bring some pumpkin cookies and a pie, too!
Carly, I am going to see if I can find a pumpkin butter recipe online. It cannot be hard. I am sure it is basically pumpkin, sugar, and lotsa pumpkin pie spice! The kids love the cookies SO much!
Pumpkin butter sounds interesting…wonder if they sell it here in the UK. Had a look at the recipe in your post above….looks scrummy
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I suppose we had to disagree somewhere. I have to say I’m not a fan of pumpkin – it’s very hard to get in the UK so I suppose I may not have acquired the taste. However when I was visiting the States for work I tried a few pumpkin items and was left very unimpressed and even getting it made over here by American friends didn’t help.
Mind you, I don’t know what you’d make of haggis!
Ah Bill…having owned the Scotties for a while, we have attended some Scottie gatherings. The joke, of course, is always “Is haggis being served? If so, I’ll bring a sandwich!”
When I was a wee little girl, my mother and I always got into some fine arguments on Sundays in partcular:
1. because I was not allowed to wear my cowboy boots to church (I grew up watching Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, Maverick, and all of those wonderful American cowboy westerns!!!)
2. because I refused to eat the “traditional” roast! I was always stubborn and pig-headed, and I cannot remember any time in my life that I ever craved meat of any sort. I still would prefer a salad with a little turkey on it than a juicy steak.
Haggis…..well, I think I shall pass. Sheep “pluck” just doesn’t cut it for me! I will take my Pilgrims and Indians and pumpkins!
Diversity….isn’t it grand?