Squash

Hey, it's nearing Halloween!

We're getting into prime pumpkin territory, and since I love any kind of pumpkin-flavoured baked good, I decided to try making pumpkin cookies from scratch.

The recipe calls for:

1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

and sounds delicious.

I went to Tesco to pick up the ingredients, pumped for pumpkin. I loaded my basket with most of the stuff, but then had to ask where I could find the shortening.

I got some blank stares.

The staffers didn't seem to be familiar with it, but helped me scour the shelves, just in case. (Turns out that it's also called "Cookeen" here, though that didn't help.) They didn't have it at all, so I thought, "Eh, I'll substitute it for some kind of cooking oil." (You can tell I'm a hotshot baker, eh?)

I got everything else, after some hardcore searching (they sent me to three different aisles to find chocolate chips), and then it was time to get the canned pumpkin.

No canned pumpkin either! They have fifty kinds of canned meat, thirty flavours of baked beans, some carrots, peas, and even canned new potatoes, but no pumpkin.

Granted, I could have bought a huge, fresh pumpkin for only £1.50, but they were the huge, dirty ones suitable for carving, and the thought of sorting out all the pumpkin seeds was not in my game plan.

I put everything back, and I may try Waitrose for all the proper ingrediants over the weekend. Just know that when you get pumped to cook something that requires some American staples, you may wind up disappointed. At least at Tesco.