The Great Pumpkin

Pumpkin.


It's EVERYWHERE. And I couldn't be happier about it. Truth be told, I've been putting pumpkin in pretty much everything since it appeared on Whole Food's shelves in mid-August (smoothie's, yogurt, oatmeal, spooned directly into my mouth you get the picture).

I've always loved pumpkin, but until this year, I chalked it up as just another one of my strange tastes. Don't get me wrong, I know most people love the pie, but I figured that was pretty much the only reason anyone was buying the canned stuff.

Oh, I was wrong. Seems there is a whole bunch of healthy-living bloggers (here, here and here, for example) who are just as obsessed with the pumpkin as I am. And here's another funny thing - they're all shockingly brand loyal to the Libby's.

I didn't get it. Sure, I'd HAD Libby's, but I figured all canned pumpkin was created equal, no? Glance at the ingredients list. There is precisely ONE ingredient in all the major brands - pumpkin. So what difference does it make, right? Wrong.

Inspired by Libby's mania, and determined to see what all the fuss was about, I grabbed a super-size can as soon as it appeared on the shelves of my neigbhorhood Fresh & Easy (shameless plug, Kiki) and stockpiled it away with the rest.

And, inspired by Emily's post I decided to do a little pumpkin-off of my own.

The contenders:

Trader Joe's Organic - last purchased at TJ's for $1.99/15 oz.
The verdict: What was I thinking? Watery, runny, mushy and BROWN. How did this used to be my go-to pumpkin?


Farmer's Market Organic - last purchased at Whole Foods, for $2.39/15 oz. (on sale)
The verdict: Better. Orange (at least) and generally less watery. A good fall-back plan.


Libby's - last purchased at Target, for $1.29/15 oz. (on sale)
The verdict: I finally get it. Of the three, this tastes the most like PUMPKIN.


(And yes, you read that right, $1.29 at Target as of last night week. I made A buy me 7 more cans. And then carry them home.)

So I guess Libby's can add 1 more convert to their cult-following. I still don't get WHY it tastes so much better, but it SO DOES.