Hey, there! Log in / Register
Enough is enough, Stop & Shop
By adamg on Fri, 09/04/2015 - 7:28pm
M. Mantis picks up a tub of pumpkin hummus and declares it's the pumpkin-scented straw that broke the camel's back:
New England's pumpkin fetish has gone TOO FAR.
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
That's what you get...
when you pick up a national store brand hummus instead of one by a local company like Cedar's or Joseph's.
I don't get it
Cedars makes Pineapple Jalepeno hommus
Joseph's makes buffalo style and avocado hommus.
Pumpkin hommus bad
Jalepeno or avocado good.
Pumpkin is the "new Limoncello"
Literally speaking. This summer, Stop And Shop brought out a whole line of "limoncello"-flavored products. (And yes, there indeed was limoncello hummus.) Now it's pumpkin's turn. Any guesses on what the winter gimmicky flavor will be? ;-)
(To be fair, some of the limoncello products I tried were good - though the comparison to the liqueur flavor was more than a bit of an exaggeration - calling it all just plain "lemon" would have been more accurate. And I have tried the pumpkin hummus. It's fine. Paired with sweet potato chips, it was actually pretty good.)
But yeah, the whole seasonal programming thing is really a bit much. It's kind of like whenever there's a slight hint of a Jewish holiday on the horizon, they make a special display of all the "Jewish" foods, even though most of those foods don't apply to every, or any, holiday in particular. I know they mean well, but it's also rather strange - and for some, perhaps, even a bit insulting. (Featuring a display with matzah in September is akin to putting out the chocolate Santas for Easter, etc.)
'' Any guesses on what the
'' Any guesses on what the winter gimmicky flavor will be? ;-) ''
Sriracha
Or is that already passe?
Yesterday
At Market Basket yesterday, I saw sriracha hummus for the first time. My first reaction was to wonder why they didn't come out with that two years ago.
I wonder if...
...there was ever pomegranate hommus, back when that was the produce du jour? (Or acai hummus after that?) Does any hummus advertise as gluten free? ;-)
Seasonal Programming
It's all part of the "we must always be in a season of something" mentality that has grown and grown since about the 90s. Halloween, for example, was once a one day "holiday" for children, now it is a full blown season for adults. Of course, all of this "seasonal" stuff is profit driven, but there are no end of consumers who are happy to comply.
That's simply not true. There
That's simply not true. There's a whole song about Christmas being a twelve-day holiday, (although granted, that's about the twelve days after Dec 25 instead of the lead-up to the date) and people have been stretching the holiday out across multiple days since the days of Saturnalia. (And Saturnalia-inspired aspects of Christmas could be quite adult, taming Christmas to be more of a kids' holiday is sort of a Victorian thing.)
And focusing on more modern traditions, things have been stretched out before December 25th long before the 1990s. Holiday specials have been airing throughout December and even November for a while now, Thanksgiving Day Parades often include Santa Claus, etc.
Pumpkin in Everything!
There is a bunch of jokes in there somewhere
But I am going to just back out of the room and laugh heartily to myself lest I offend anyone.
Pumpkin Spice
Bleh.
(People who love Pumpkin Spice everything should use this, except Swirly)
Adorable!
Starbucks Fleet Enema
For when you need more than your wallet cleared out.
Simply Enjoy?!! — To Enjoy Pumpkin Hummus Is Simply Impossible!
They are finally taking pumpkins seriously
For years they were a strange hallmark joke crop that fetched money for rotting stoop sculptures.
Sure you had pumpkin pie, but the effort to attain pumpkin saturation as a food product was still nascent.
Now there's some catching up underway as they regain their lost status as a significant food.
Pumpkins... the new Cranberries.
Only, it's not pumpkin flavor
It's generally allspice flavor that people refer to as pumpkin. Most of the "pumpkin" flavored lattes, etc should really be called allspice flavored.
Anyway, people might like the "flavor" in various foods but few enjoy eating the crop if it isn't in pie form.
There seem to be variants.
Here we have Pumpkin Bread sans allspice.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6820/downeast-maine-pumpkin-bread/
Southern Living has many pumpkin options including Pumpkin Fudge.
http://www.southernliving.com/food/holidays-occasions/10-pumpkin-recipes...
Mother Earth News has a fairly engrossing overview of pumpkin culinary history and heirloom varietals.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/heirloom-pumpkin-variet...
Duke Ellington even got involved.
https://youtu.be/asLA20jtnRc
Joking aside
pumpkin spice hummus actually doesn't sound that bad.
A few weeks ago I saw pumpkin
A few weeks ago I saw pumpkin spice flavored dog biscuits. After that, I can't even get mad about this.
To be fair, your dog would probably love "Bird-That-Died-
Three-Days-Ago Flavored Biscuits", but he can't pay for anything, so the biscuits have to conceptually appeal to you, his human, the same way most pet food does.
Dogs do seem to like pumpkin
I made some biscuits with pumpkin for the neighbordogs - they were very easy, cheap, and healthy. Then again, they also seem to like biscuits made from juicer leftovers.
It's good for digestion (good
It's good for digestion (good for cats too, but good luck getting one to eat it when they already feel poorly enough to need it). Pumpkin treats, good idea!
But that's not what this was. Pumpkin SPICE has nothing to do with pumpkin.