Precious Cargo

You wouldn't know it from the food blogs but we are in the throes of a pumpkin shortage.
Recent heavy rains in the Midwest are putting pumpkin pie in short supply this holiday season.

On Tuesday, food giant Nestle, which controls about 85% of the pumpkin crop for canning, issued a rare apology and said that rain appeared to have destroyed what remained of a small harvest this year and that it expected to stop shipping the holiday staple by Thanksgiving.
- Los Angeles Times, 11/18/2009

When I got my hands on 2 large cans of Libby's I planned to stash it in the back of my pantry to save for rainy day but it's just not Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. I used one whole can to yield 2 pies, one for some cousins taking a trip up north, and one for us- because tomorrow is as much about being thankful as it is about giving.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Reduce Reuse Recycle

Admittedly, there was a time when I was wasteful. Never a big leftover fan, meals I cooked would often go from table to tupperware to trash, without ever giving a second thought to how much mileage I was getting out of my food. Now that I try to cook every day, I want to try new recipes without spending a fortune on groceries so I've taken to seeking inspiration for meals by rummaging in the fridge rather than trolling the grocery aisles. This year, Thanksgiving leftovers yielded much more than turkey sandwiches- although I sure ate a heck of a lot of those. Leftover filling from my Butternut Squash Turnover appetizer became
Butternut Squash and Mushroom Cous Cous.

Slow cooked turkey stock became an excellent base for Matzo Ball Soup. And, thanks to Nicole at For The Love of Food, leftover pumpkin puree found a new home in a deliciously light Pumpkin Custard.

What's in your fridge that can be re-purposed?