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UPDATE: I talked to Kroger spokesman Carl York this afternoon, and he said the shortage is definitely affecting supplies of canned pumpkin in our area. Kroger stores are getting it "on allocation," which means they cannot get all that they order right now. He said he isn't sure when the rationing will end, but he does know that it has not affected supplies of frozen pumpkin pies or the pumpkin pies you can buy in the Kroger bakery.

"I know for some customers, that might not be an alternative," he said.

If you go to your Kroger store and cannot find canned pumpkin, check with the customer service desk. They may be able to tell you if another order is coming in or if they can get some from another store. Also remember that fresh pie pumpkins are a delicious alternative to canned pumpkin. If you can find pie pumpkins, all you have to do it split them in half, remove the seeds and stem, place them in a microwave-safe dish with about an inch of water on the bottom, cover and nuke until soft. Then scoop out the flesh, puree it and go from there as you would with a recipe that calls for canned pumpkin. Another good idea came from my co-worker Tonia Moxley, who is a great cook: try subbing butternut squash instead.

I don't know if you all have heard the news, but we may be facing a bit of a pumpkin shortage come holiday time (L.A. Times story; Baltimore Sun article). It's hard to believe, seeing the Halloween pumpkins stacked in front of grocery stores and spread across fields at the orchards, but it's true -- canned pumpkin is scarce right now, and when the shelves do get stocked, you might be paying upwards of an additional dollar for one can of Libby's, the leading brand.

Apparently, it was wet weather last pumpkin season that is negatively affecting supplies of canned pumpkin this year. That's because the canned pumpkin companies generally use surplus from the previous season to supply stores in September and October. Then, once this year's harvest begins, they can start stocking fresh cans.

I have to wonder if this year's harvest is going to be much better, though. At least in these parts, it seems a lot of people's summer squash harvests were ruined by too much rain. Maybe the harder shelled winter squashes are a different story. But it seems that most of the canned pumpkin comes from out west anyway.

Has anyone had trouble finding canned pumpkin at local grocery stores lately?

Wings of gold

Last week, a blog reader forwarded me a fascinating business article from The New York Times about chicken prices. According to the story, lots of restaurants have dropped wing specials or dropped chicken wings from the menu entirely in favor of "boneless wings," which are really just breaded chunks of chicken breast meat.

According to the article, this is happening because chicken wings, once little more than a throwaway part, are actually MORE EXPENSIVE now than chicken breasts. This may be more obvious to restaurant food buyers than supermarket customers because grocery stores may be trying to "preserve their margins on breast meat."

Is this happening because chicken wings have gotten so popular? In part, but the NYT reporter also found that when the economy took a nosedive, people stopped eating out as often and chicken breast sales slumped. But chicken wings were apparently still viewed as a cheap indulgence.

I haven't thought of chicken wings as "cheap" in quite some time. We buy them and make them at home pretty often, and by the time you factor in the work it takes to clean and trim them, we might as well go out to a restaurant and order a plate. We do it for fun and because our wings are pretty darn good.

Do you guys think boneless wings are a reasonable substitute for bone-in? If any chefs and restaurateurs are reading this entry, what do you make of the price flip-flop?

Mark your calendars now for these upcoming food-related happenings:

* Tomorrow, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. - Fall Open House at Foggy Ridge Hard Cider in Dugspur. This will involve free cider tastings (this stuff is soooooo good) and wood-fired pizzas for sale by Dogtown Pizza. Also, apple expert Tom Burford will be there identifying apples, so if you have an apple tree and would like to know what kind of apples they are, bring a few along to show to Tom. He is a most fascinating character. If the weather is nice, I can promise you this will be a gorgeous drive. For more info, go to foggyridgecider.com.

* Oct. 17, 3 to 6 p.m. - Fresh Flavors cooking demonstration at Fresh Market in Roanoke. Learn to prepare seared chicken thighs with warm Malbec plum glaze. For more info, call 344-5490.

* Oct. 6, 13 and 20, 6 p.m. - Brewmaster dinners at Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill in Blacksburg. A seven-course dinner, each course paired with one of the Bull & Bones craft beers. I've seen the menu and it looks really frickin' awesome. Includes a tour of the brewing facilities. Hosted by the brewmaster himself, Jim Strickland. Costs $50 per person or $90 per couple. Seating is limited; advance reservations are recommended. All of this is leading up to the Oct. 24 Blacksburg Brew-Do, the town's first craft brew festival. More details on that to come!

*  Nov. 7 - Children's Miracle Network "Miracles for Children Ball" at Hotel Roanoke. Includes an "Iron Chef"-style cooking competition. I'll pass along more details as they come to me.

* Also on Nov. 7 - Teach a Friend to Brew Day will take place at the Blue Ridge Hydroponics & Home Brewing Co. at Lamplighter Mall on Williamson Road in Roanoke. The Star City Brewers Guild is teaming up with Blue Ridge Hydroponics for the event. It will include food, beer tastings and instruction on how to make your own beer at home. For more information, call Blue Ridge Hydroponics at (540) 265-2483.

Two items of breaking news on the food scene this afternoon:

* Ukrop's grocery store in Roanoke, which has been struggling for the past few months, has announced it will close in late October. For more info, go here.

* The historic Olde Liberty Station Restaurant in Bedford was damaged by fire today. Here's a breaking news brief by reporter Rex Bowman.

Keep your browser on www.roanoke.com for updates to these stories, and look in tomorrow's paper for the full stories.

I've been saying for 5 or 10 years now that if I had the money to start my own business in downtown Roanoke, it wouldn't be a restaurant. It would be a gourmet grocery store - something like a Tinnell's Finer Foods in South Roanoke, except bigger and with even more selection.

Of course, 10 years ago (and maybe even 5 years ago), we probably wouldn't have had the customer base in downtown Roanoke to make a go of it. Now that so many people are moving into revitalized downtown buildings, it's the best time ever for an endeavor like this. So I was excited (and a little jealous) when I read Jenny Kincaid Boone's story in the Business section of The Roanoke Times this morning about four investors who hope to open just such a store on Church Avenue.

Just two years ago, you couldn't even find a convenience store in downtown Roanoke. Now we have two. But the problem has remained that besides the farmers market, there's no place to buy groceries. I don't think this store will be a boon to just downtown residents; I can't tell you how many times I've wished I could run downtown on my way home and pick up some household staple I needed or some dinner fixings I wanted so I wouldn't have to go to the grocery store. Downtown workers will undoubtedly find this very convenient, but the store owners are going to have to stay open late enough to serve the customers who don't get off work until 5 or 6 p.m., maybe later.

According to Jenny's story, the project is in the very early stages. They're going to have to do a lot of remodeling and then find folks who want to rent from them and open shops. I hope they can keep the dream alive, and I also hope they don't spend so much time thinking about the health club and the food court that they lose sight of what we really need downtown: Groceries!

What would you like to see in a downtown grocery store? And would you shop there?

This is my granola bar. It's a Quaker "True Delights" Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut granola bar. And let me just say that it is delicious -- all two bites of it!

I don't want a granola bar the size of my leg, but seriously, look at this tiny thing. I had to place it next to my stapler for context. When you buy a box of these (they were on sale for $2.49 this week), you get five bars. And then you open them and they are miniscule. Hey, I think Barbie might be hungry, guys. If I give her one of these, she MIGHT have enough to share with Ken.

Maybe it's my imagination, but I still think we are getting less food for our money in some cases at the grocery store. Has anyone else continued to notice this? If so, got any specific product examples?

Yesterday, I saved $19 on my grocery bill at Kroger. And it was all because of coupons.

Lots of people don't use coupons because they think it is a nuisance to clip them, or because it just isn't worth all of the extra time and planning in the end. But I have grown to be a big coupon user over the years, particularly with the recent plunge in the economy.

A few of my co-workers and I recently started up a little coupon exchange. On Sundays, we go through the coupons from the newspaper and clip out what we want. On Mondays, we bring the leftover coupons to work and tell each other which ones we were interested in. Then, we trade off. And it works out well because while some of them have children, I don't. And while I have cats, some co-workers don't. And, of course, everyone has their own preference for name brand food products.

Photo editor Natalee Waters delivered a small stack to me last week with the words, "that's nine dollars worth of savings!" Indeed, much of my savings at the store yesterday came from the exchange. Three dollars off some contact lens solution, three dollars off some disposable razors, a free tube of Crest, 45 cents off cheese, 25 cents off juice... it all adds up in the end!

If you are looking to save money on the grocery bill, consider a coupon exchange with coworkers, neighbors, church members or other members of your moms' club. If you find a better way to do it than we have, please pass that on. And if you have other great coupon tips, please share!

Do you find that you are limiting yourself to one lunch out per week? Packing more bologna sandwiches? Choosing a bag of frozen broccoli over a head of fresh?

If so, you're probably not in the minority. Even as the food writer (and someone who is supposed to be on top of all the new food trends and restaurant openings), I find myself trimming a bit off the old food budget these days. The economy is in the garbage disposal and Christmas is coming. How in the world are we to be learned foodies, much less put money away for savings?

This may seem like a very obvious topic, but I think it's worthy of discussion. In an effort to scrabble together a list of tips that I could share with the general readership of The Roanoke Times, I wonder: What is your best money-saving tip as you tighten your belt on food spending? And do you have a recipe that feeds a lot but costs a little?

Personally, I continue to check the Manager's Specials in the meat department at my Kroger store. I've found all sorts of excellent deals there, and I just try to cook or freeze the meat right away. I have also gone to more frozen vegetables, particularly spinach. I always keep a bag of frozen spinach in my freezer. It is such a versatile veggie that it can be incorporated into all kinds of dishes, from casseroles to pasta to pizza.

Coupons are also a big help. If you aren't the type of person who clips coupons or looks at a sales ad, now might be the time to do it. In addition to the coupons that come out in the Sunday paper, you can get personalized coupons in the mail from Kroger or visit the coupon kiosk at Ukrop's when you enter the store.

Other ideas: a Diner's Club card, a designated day every week when you get to go out to lunch, a designated day each month when you get to have a nice dinner out, more cooking at home in general, requesting gourmet food items as Christmas gifts. What else?

Whatever you do to remain calm-- whether it be breathing deeply, keeping up with your meds or shouting "Serenity now!"-- you should be prepared to do it if you head to Ukrop's today, their grand opening day.
I'm not trying to discourage anyone from going, I'm just warning that the wait for a parking space is reportedly about 10 minutes. I know I sat behind a line of cars filled with people trying to find spots in the underground parking garage for about that long when I ventured over this afternoon.
If you think it's annoying when a driver stops and waits in front of you for a car to pull out of the first space they see, just imagine what it's like when that happens in a parking garage. Not fun.
However, most folks seem to think it's worth the wait once they get inside the store.
Not since Fresh Market first opened have I seen grocery shoppers with such delighted expressions on their faces. They're standing patiently in line for free hot dogs, chili and cheese samples or just a look at the fresh meats and seafoods in the meat cases.
Kevin Hade, Ukrop's vice president for sales and operations, told me the bakery, sushi, meat and seafood cases had been the biggest draws throughout the day. The store had already run out of their signature White House rolls by about 2 p.m. and were expecting an emergency truck at any minute.
In addition, the store already had 10 orders for decorated cakes after only two hours of being open this morning. Perhaps the July 4 holiday and all the summer birthdays were keeping them hopping.
I watched many shoppers head back to their cars with no bags in hand, a sign that some folks ventured out just to get a look at what the store had to offer. But just as many were leaving with loaded carts, and Hade says the opening today could break records for the company.
I left with a small cup of broccoli-cheddar soup, which was a little on the bland side. A sample of the chili revealed that the kidney beans were slightly undercooked, but the flavor was good. I figure the chefs are still new to the store and deserve a little time to perfect their food production, just like any new restaurant needs a few weeks to work out the kinks.
From the look of the parking lot and the wide-eyed shoppers, it's going to take more than a couple of hard beans to ward Roanokers off Ukrop's. Especially when "courtesy clerks" will walk you out to your car in the rain with an umbrella.

I took advantage of Media Day at the new Ukrop's on Franklin Road today to get a sneak peek at the store and do a little comparison pricing between Ukrop's and the nearby Kroger at Tower's Mall.
While our business reporter, Jenny, did a very efficient job of interviewing Ukrop's personnel and shooting a video interview with Ukrop's president Bobby Ukrop, I basically wandered around the store, ogled the food and jotted down prices for a very unscientific comparison with the nearby Kroger.
When I left for Kroger, I had no preconceived notions about which store would be more affordable. I've already said that I think the two will match up pretty closely on typical grocery items, but Ukrop's will top Kroger's prepared foods in both quality and price.
Here's how my shopping list turned out. Keep in mind that these are REGULAR prices on everything and that both stores run weekly sales on certain items. I can't tell you whether one store puts more food on sale more often. I have bold-faced the winning store on each comparison:

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