pumpkin shortageWithout a doubt the best part about fall is the fact that the cool weather season lends the opportunity for everything to be pumpkin-ized. Think about it: There are pumpkin lattes, pumpkin beer, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin ice cream ... need I continue? Pretty much everything edible can be -- and is! -- infused with pumpkin flavor. But this year, instead of a the annual pumpkin onslaught, we may be faced wtih a pumpkin shortage (resulting from an extra rainy summer and Tropical Storm Irene bringing too much water to parts of the Northeast).

Panic in the streets! Is fall completely ruined?

Now, before you fall into a pumpkin-related depression, there are a few things you should know: First of all, you'll only be affected by the shortage if you are in the market for an actual pumpkin (for baking, carving or eating the seeds) at, say, the farmers' market or a pumpkin patch. That means, of course, that muffins and ice cream -- which are typically made with canned pumpkin -- will likely be okay.

That doesn't mean the pumpkin shortage won't be the source of disappointment for some come Halloween. Check out this solution for an "alternative" to the Jack O'Lantern:

It isn't quite the same, but draw ghosts on milk jugs. The white jugs (as opposed to the more translucent ones) look great at night. Just cut a hole in the back to put the candle in.

A milk jug? Really? Whoever suggested that idea is truly a fall hater.

And don't even get me started on the folks at Hairpin, who are suggesting such blasphemous items as the Apple O'Lantern and the Watermelon O'Lantern. Is nothing sacred anymore? Hopefully, they were kidding.

Bottom-line: If you're one of those people who absolutely has to have a carved pumpkin on the porch, then it's recommend you buy your pumpkin early -- before they sell out. Oh, and be prepared to pay through the nose for it; apparently, 1-foot pumpkins in parts of the Northeast are going for are going for $9.99 per pumpkin.

 

Image via solyanka/Flickr