Pumpkin Passion

It seems as if others are just as eager for the return of fall and pumpkins as I am. Comments have increase this month and I appreciate every one of them.

Also, people have been sending me some interesting looking pumpkin finds. Coincidentally, they’ve both been found in other countries.

The first is from Kat who found Pumpkin Beef flavored Soup mix at a grocery store in Barbados. It’s from a company out of Jamaica called Grace. I’m not sure if she tried it or not but this website describes it as “This spicy noodle soup is great eaten by itself or to enhance the flavor of your favorite beef, chicken or vegetable soup.”

Another PumpkinPassion.com visitor, Randy, pointed out a Japanese product Pumpkin Pretz. When he first mentioned them I thought of Pumpkin Pocky, which are like a stick cookie dipped in chocolate. But the Pretz sound more like a savory cracker rather than a cookie. Randy describes them by saying, “I spend a fair amount of time in Japan and found a crunchy snack treat called ‘Pretz’. Along with regular flavors such as basil, and tomato, they make a pumpkin version as well. The taste was curious to me at first and I thought maybe I didn’t like it. But after chowing down a few, I could not put them down so easily.”

I’ll have to go on the hunt for both of these soon.

Name: Pumpkin Pie
Purchased At: Hof’s Hut
Price: $5.99
Availability: Year Round

Remember my last blog about early pumpkin sightings? Well, I failed to mention that I was in such a pumpkin mood that I had to run out and buy myself some pumpkin pie from Hof’s Hut. While eating my mini pumpkin pie I couldn’t remember if I’d ever blogged about them. It turns out that I never have, which is surprising because I probably eat these more than any other pumpkin product.

There are tons of different pumpkin pies in the world but Hof’s Hut pumpkin pie is my Go-To pie when I need some comfort food. It’s not fancy. There’s no pecan crust or spices plucked directly from a tree only moments before being grated and baked into a $50 pie. Nope, it’s just your simple pumpkin pie that tastes so much better than mom’s…if your mom, like mine, made hers by taking a cardboard box home from the freezer section of the grocery store.

What makes this pumpkin pie my favorite is 3-fold:

1.) Crust: There’s plenty of yummy tasting crust because it’s a mini pie and it tastes fresh.
2.) Filling: It’s properly seasoned with enough cinnamon and nutmeg plus they serve it chilled so the texture is firm like a proper pumpkin pie should be.
3.) Topping: They give you plenty of real whipped cream if you pay a few quarters extra.

There’s simply nothing to complain about. It’s a good pie but it clearly doesn’t inspire me to scream it from the mountains or even to previously blog about it.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Mostly for its “comfort food” qualities and its simplicity.

About two weeks ago, the weather in Southern California was unseasonably cool. In fact, it was so cool that I could easily imagine that fall was right around the corner. Then, Shannon and I went to dinner at Lucille’s BBQ in Belmont Shores and while waiting for our table we walked over to CVS (disclaimer: it may not have been an actual CVS…I tend to call all pharmacies/drug stores “CVS”). They had and an entire shelf of pumpkins and other fall paraphernalia. I had to check myself and ask “what month is this?” JULY! It was the middle of July and they’re already bringing out their pumpkins? I guess my plans for Year-Round PUMPKIN DOMINATION have almost succeeded.

It made me itch to start blogging again.

Name: Pumpkin Pie Flavored Jelly Belly Beans
Purchased At: Oak Glen, CA
Price: Forgotten Again!
Availability: Seasonal but I found them in July

I adore me some Shannon! She found me a community that’s practically stuck in the fall season the whole year round. It’s the community of Oak Glen, CA. Located in the San Bernardino Mountains, Oak Glen is primarily a series of apple farms.

In the fall months, you can pick your own apples right off the trees and shop for a ton of country related nic-nac crap at the many gift shops. Most of the points of interest are open only in the fall months but others remain open continuously.

The great thing about a Fall obsessed community is that there’s plenty of homage given to our favorite squash-like fruit, the pumpkin. In fact, at the very first orchard that you come to while traveling up Oak Glen Road has an entire section of its store dedicated to the pumpkin.

It was here that I came across the Pumpkin Pie flavored Jelly Belly beans. I later found out that these are a seasonal item but I guess they had some left over from the 2007 Pumpkin Eatin’ Season, which could explain why they were so blah. The flavor was off, tasting very artificial but mostly not tasting at all. They made me sad. I finally find a pumpkin product in the middle of July and we didn’t even finish the tiny bag that we bought.

I’ll be back to Oak Glen in the fall and hopefully there will be more and better pumpkin finds.

Rating: 2 out of 5