I decided I was going to make another attempt at the two-point chocolate cake, only this time, instead of a can of Diet Vanilla Coke, I was going to use a 15 oz. can of pumpkin.  That’s what Louise, my Weight Watchers leader, suggested.  So, we stopped at the PathMark on the way home and headed for the baking aisle.  We picked up the Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake mix and began searching for the canned pumpkin.

We looked in near the canned fruits, the canned vegetables, in the produce section and near the health foods.  Finally, a gangly-looking individual in the near the meats section asked if he could help us find anything.

“We’re looking for canned pumpkin.”

“Yeah, but not pumpkin pie mix, just plain old canned pumpkin,” I added.

“Oh,” the guy said, “not sure if we have any of that now.”

“You’re out of pumpkin?”

“Let’s check.  It would most likely be over here in baking goods.”

So, he pointed us in the direction of the pumpkin pie mix.  I guess he hadn’t heard me correctly when I said we just wanted plain canned pumpkin.  We thanked him for his help and trekked over to the Customer Service counter.

“Excuse me,” I asked.  “Do you know where I could find some canned pumpkin?”

“Oh dear,” the woman replied.  “We really only carry that around the holidays.”

“Not pumpkin pie mix,” I said, “just plain old pumpkin.”

“Yeah, we really only carry that around the holidays.”

“Grocery, please contact Customer Service.  Grocery,” the second woman shouted into the intercom system.

I saw the same gangly-looking guy making his way over toward us.  “No, no,” I said.  “We already asked him.”

“Oh,” she said. “Cancel that, Grocery.  Cancel.” Gangly guy kept walking toward us. “CANCEL that, Grocery.”

I shook my head and stomped off in a huff, putting the cake mix down next to some bananas before I walked out.

On the way over to FoodTown, I pondered the fact that PathMark considers canned pumpkin a holiday food.  Do they put it in the seasonal aisle with the holiday M&Ms and the red and green Hershey’s Kisses?  Does it go on clearance on  January 2?  Does no one attempt to use canned pumpkin for anything between the months of January and October?

Once inside the next grocery store, I headed straight for the baking aisle, and there it was — canned 100% pure pumpkin.  Score.  There were at least ten cans.  I guess FoodTown considers canned pumpkin a staple.

After purchasing the canned pumpkin, the chocolate cake mix, and two magazines, we headed home and I began the stirring process.  If you’ve never tried to stir a box of cake mix into 15 ounces of pumpkin, then you won’t understand the difficulty of this task.  24 minutes, two spoons, and a spatula later, I finally managed to get my cake into the oven.

If you’re thinking I’m crazy for putting this concoction together and actually eating it, don’t worry.  It’s actually pretty good for 2 points per piece.  Well, it tasted pretty good when I had it all over my face post-spoon licking, so I’m assuming it’ll be okay baked, too.  If you’re a Weight Watchers fan, here’s the recipe:

                                    2-Point Chocolate Cake

Ingredients: 1 box Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake mix, 1 15 oz. can 100% pure pumpkin

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix pumpkin and cake mix in large bowl.  (If this stirring takes more than 30 minutes and you weight more than 175 pounds, you may earn 1 activity point depending on the intensity of your stirring.)  Spread into greased pan.  Bake for 20 minutes or until done.  Makes 24 servings; 2 points per serving.

Anyway, after all that, I’m off to enjoy a piece of chocolate cake and a huge glass of milk.