So . . . this is embarrassing . . .

I've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's awesome Animal, Vegetable, Miracle over the past couple of days, otherwise I doubt this would have come up.  Or, at least, it wouldn't have been quite so shaming. 

I love pumpkin.  I would eat pumpkin all year round if it were available.  In fact, during pumpkin season I like to spend a weekend cooking and pureeing and freezing pumpkin and other winter squash, just so I can keep eating them all winter long.  There are probably better ways of storing them, but I like the convenience of having a freezer full of pureed squash that will quickly and easily add bulk and flavor to any meal.  Of course, none of this started until I realized that a pumpkin was an actual delicious vegetable, and not either a canned puree for pie-making or a jack-o-lantern.  I only figured that out about two years ago, and the first year I tried to eat my jack-o-lantern.  However, once I figured out cooking pumpkins - sorry, only ate frozen green beans growing up, it's a learning curve - I fell completely in love and used them in everything.  Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cupcakes and muffins, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin pasta sauce, pumpkin lasagna, pumpkin soup.  If it's edible, I'll try to make a pumpkin version of it. 

Which brings us to my busy week.  The last time I was at a farmers market was ten days ago, and I didn't see any pumpkins there.  My neighbors don't have any pumpkins yet.  My freezer has been pumpkin-free for months.  But I was ready to cook with pumpkin.  So I fished around in my cupboard and pulled out a can of pumpkin puree that I had probably been there since before I "discovered" actual pumpkins.  I used it in the muffins on Sunday and thought it looked bizarre and too orange, but didn't really notice the difference in taste (especially with all the other fruit mixed in). 

Fast forward to tonight, after having read in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle about how bizarre Kingsolver finds it that we would ever eat out of season or overly processed fruit and vegetables, since they don't taste nearly as good.  In general, I agree with her, but we all have busy schedules and sometimes quick meals are more important than "from scratch".  I needed something fast to make for dinner, so I pulled the leftover canned pumpkin out of the freezer and whipped it up with some shallots, peas, milk, and parmesan into a (usually tasty) pasta sauce.  Not only does it taste nothing like this dish usually tastes, it's also orange!  The pumpkin is weirdly mono-flavored.  My favorite thing about pumpkin is that it tastes earthy and rich without being overpowering.  This was simultaneously stronger and flatter in flavor than a real pumpkin.  I can't tell if I'm more sensitive to it because this book is reminding me of the value of fresh food, but if so I'm grateful for the reminder.  I knew when I grabbed the can off the shelf that I was letting convenience win out over common sense.  But I figured that I'd bought the can years ago, so the damage was already done.  It turns out the worst damage was yet to come . . . canned pumpkin ruined my dinner!