Answer my stupid question(s)! Please!

No. Castor sugar = baker's sugar
Icing sugar = confectioner's sugar

Jaq - that may explain why my pavlovas have been collapsing. Ive been substituting confectioners sugar. Still tastes GOOD though. Also, who knew corn was in EVERYTHING?

You guys are helpful! thanks!

"Everything Australian" sounds like a great store!

Corn is in everything - I started trying to bake all our bread because everything in the grocery has HFCS in it! As does everything in the freezer section. Infuriating.

Ally, yes! I have seen butternut squash soup at our local Kroger (little rock, AR). I know what a butternut pumpkin is but a butternut squash is a mystery. Do they taste similar? The picture on the can I saw looked a little pumpkin soupy.
Everything Australian is kinda goofy but still very cool to have close by when I get a food craving America can't sate. I still say they have the best bikinis in the USA, but they sell a whole lot of this kind of thing too:

http://us.st11.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/I/evryaustralian_1883_45577179

Jaq, my mother-in-law recently developed an allergy to corn. i cant even imagine what she eats now.

I think it must be a not-in-the-south thing. I've never seen it. I'd bet real folding money that they have it at the Dekalb Farmers Mkt. outside ATL, but couldn't swear to it.

Just chop up as much pumpkin as you like, fry some onions and garlic, chuck in the pumpkin, cover it with veg or chicken stock and simmmer it til its cooked (20 mins or so), then remove most of the liquid (not down the drain! reserve it), food process/bamix stick the pumpkin to a puree, then add the liquid you poured off back in til its the consitency you like.

Also good with some potato and or carrot to round out the flavour, and adding some cumin gives it a real boost. As does tomato, tho that can overpower it.

canned butternut squash soup should also satisfy your craving as it's pretty similar to pumpkin, but again watch out for the sugar content. why manufacturers think that people want candy soup, i have no idea.

tapioca starch works best as a replacement for corn starch..rice flour can work, but has a tendency to be a bit polymery in my brief expereince. try mixing in a bit of potaote starch too. my ex couldnt eat wheat or corn, so we did plenty of playing around...unfortunately when she moved out, the GF cookboks went with her.

Haha, I wish. Most of my relatives are "My Dixie, right or wrong... AND MY DIXIE AINT WRONG, THESE COLORS DONT RUN, BLAH BLAH BLAH" But yeah, it's a topic for ILE, though I don't have the stomach to start that thread.

I don't have a stupid food question to redeem this post.

South Africa uses "shiraz" as well. Here is a wiki article about it. I know nothing about pumpkins, other than that I didn't cook anything successful out of my Hallowe'en one, but I made some very nice butternut squash soup the other day.

Oh forgot to add: Jaq, I think I did post a kumara scone recipe yeah, it rings a bell. I havent MADE it mind you but I've made pumpkin ones plenty enough.

1st you need seafood stock, which I just made up by throwing in shrimp shells I'd been saving in the freezer and the shells from the lobster tails into some olive oil (NOTE keep it closer to 1tbsp oil, I used 2 and I think it made the bisque a little too thin in the end). Sautee those til they're all nice and bright colored and then pour in 3/4 - 1 cup white wine, let that go til it reduces almost completely out. Add about 3 cups of water, 2-3 bay leaves, coarsely chopped unpeeled onion, two coarse chopped carrots and celery, some saffron (you can leave out if too $$$$$) and some sage. Let that simmer for like 30 minutes then strain et voila really, really fast seafood stock.

Now, while that's going and simmering you have to get the pumpkin pureed. NOTE: I used butternut squash instead, you need around 2, 2 1/2 cups of puree and I found it easier to just lop off the bottom half of the squash and call that 2 cups or so. ALSO NOTE: You can do Lauren's thing with the canned pumpkin instead and it'll work just fine. I always find the easiest way to accomplish pureed squashes is to just cut 'em into largish chunks, steam 'em for 15 minutes, and then force Tom to mash them up.

Add the puree to the strained, finished stock on low heat and mix well. Whisk in 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Let that simmer for about 10 minutes then add cayenne (I used about 1/8 tsp), pinch kosher salt, black pepper to taste, and about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice.

LOBSTER: I just bought lobster tails, deshelled them for the stock, etc. Then chopped 'em up into bite size chunks and sauteed them for a few minutes in a pan with a little olive oil and decent amount of ground sage. Sautee til they are ALMOST done and then remove from oil and put sagey lobster chunks into the soup.

Stir around til lobster is done (about a minute) and you have delicious fake-pumpkin and lobster bisque.

Sorry my recipe explaining is so jittery. It makes it sound like you have to do too many things at once but most of the steps are kind of unattended, just an occasional stir, so it's easy.