Tag: pumpkins

Categories
Taste Tests

Review: Pillsbury Pumpkin Caramel Delight

Pillsbury Pumpkin Caramel Delight mix

Pillsbury Pumpkin Caramel Delight mixI’ve had my eye on this mix for awhile. I never purchased it because I really didn’t have a reason to, other than curiosity. But, this weekend I found it on sale and curiosity won.

The instructions are easy to follow and the cake was simple to make and assemble.

Although you bake the cake in a 13 x 9 pan, because you cut the cake into thirds, you end up with a small layered cake that is approximately 4 x 9 in size.

The cake is just what I expected … a spice cake with a hint of pumpkin. The almonds and caramel drizzle make it look lovely … it is perfect for bringing to a pot luck.

The one down side is that the cream cheese frosting is so sweet, it tastes more like sugar than cream cheese. If you don’t have that much of a sweet tooth, it might be worth getting some cream cheese and beating it into one of the cream cheese pouches (the filling is separated into two pouches, making assembly almost a no-brainer!).


Categories
Product Reviews Special Occasions

Review – Betty Crocker’s Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix

Photo provided by Amazon.com

Photo provided by Amazon.com
Photo provided by Amazon.com
Yesterday, I was shopping at Wal*Mart for some basic stuff and saw their holiday food stuff display. Betty Crocker’s Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix caught my eye because of my overall love of things pumpkin. So I placed it in my cart and continued on with my shopping.

When I got home, I took out a cube of butter to let it soften. The mix only needs you to add three things: a softened cube of butter, a tiny bit of water and an egg.

The dough was a little sweeter than I prefer, but had a nice balance of pumpkin and spice flavors. Once reason I don’t normally use cookie mixes is because I can’t reduce the sugar and most are too sweet for me. I was afraid this might be the case upon tasting the dough.

I also did as the instructions said and stirred the ingredients together without the aid of an electric mixer. If you’ve softened the butter enough, this works just fine.

I tasted the cookies both fresh from the oven and after they were thoroughly cooled. Both were quite nice. They remind me of a cross between a snicker doodle and a molasses cookie with a hint of pumpkin. These are perfectly decent cookies. The edges are crispy and the centers are mildly soft. I love the crispy part!

The cookies are still a bit too sweet for my tastes, but they aren’t as sweet as other cookie mixes I’ve tried. The mix said, depending on the size of the cookie, it made up to 3 dozen cookies … I ended up with two baker’s dozen plus one. Once the butter was softened … I left it on the kitchen table for about an hour … preparation takes about 15-20 minutes.

If you want something different for your cookie jar this holiday season, I recommend you try out Betty Crocker’s Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix.


Categories
Food Fiction & Essays Taste Tests

Simple Pleasures Are the Best

Carma eating a pumpkin pecan pancake

Carma eating a pumpkin pecan pancakeI never shopped at Fresh & Easy until I moved to Long Beach. And then only because it was the closest grocery store. And I’m sorry it turned out that way because I’ve had a “Where have you been all my life?” experience since I started shopping there.

First, the one I go to is tiny, but it still stocks an amazing array of gourmet and unusual items. Case in point, they sell creme fraiche! I’ve never seen that in a store before!

Anyway, awhile back I tried their Greek Style Yogurt and am now hooked. I’ve tried other brands and was unimpressed, but the Fresh & Easy brand is so smooth and creamy and has just the right balance of sweetness and tartness. I eat the Honey flavor like it was ice cream … slowly, savoring every delectable moment.

I bring this up because this morning I tried another of their store brand products, Pumpkin Pecan Pancake and Waffle Mix (that’s me chomping on one in the picture above). Unlike me, I decided to follow the instructions to the letter, including melting butter instead of using oil.

The pancakes were just this side of sweet … enough that I didn’t need maple syrup at all, but not so much as to make it taste like a cake or cookie. The spice was light … I couldn’t identify one or the other, like I can with so many other pumpkin flavored mix products. The balance of the pumpkin with the spice with the pecans was deftly done, leaving me with an overall “autumn” flavor, nothing overpowering the other.

I was pleasantly surprised. This is two store brand products that have wowed me … I’m going to have to try some more!

Categories
All Things Pumpkin

Weather Affects Quality of Pumpkins

“The ideal climate for growing pumpkins lies 4-5 degrees north and south of the 45th parallel,” says Joe Ailts of SeedOutlet.com. “Climates in these areas have sunny warm summers, with an appreciable amount of rain from May through September.” They also don’t get frost in July. In addition, pumpkins thrive when the relative humidity is about 60%.

Weather Affects Quality of Pumpkins

But, you can’t guarantee the weather and when things stray from the ideal or even the norm, crops can be adversely affected. In regions that have experienced heavy rainfall, pumpkins are particularly affected by Phytophthora blight, according to The American Phytopathological Society.

Phytophthora blight “has been described as the ‘most destructive disease of cucurbits’ because ‘nothing causes greater loss’,” says Margaret Tuttle McGrath of Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center. “Total crop loss has occurred in some fields.”

So, as a cook, how does all this affect you? Well, if you’re going to use fresh pumpkin in your recipes, you’ll need to know what to look out for when choosing your pumpkin. Here are few tips offered by The American Phytopathological Society.

  • Check for moldy areas or soft spots and be sure to check the bottom.
  • Healthy stems are green and can support the weight of the pumpkin, so be sure to test the stems.
  • Only use orange pumpkins — yellow ones are not mature and will not have the right flavor.
  • When storing the pumpkin, before cutting, keep it in a dry, shaded place.
The owner of this website has made a commitment to accessibility and inclusion, please report any problems that you encounter using the contact form on this website. This site uses the WP ADA Compliance Check plugin to enhance accessibility.