In Santa Cruz customers at The Bookshop can get a bag of nuts with every purchase of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue: An American Life." It's a clever idea, but if any bookstore really wants to cash in on Palin it should offer a box of Eggo frozen waffles.

Now, there's an offer no one could refuse.

To be fair, there probably won't be all that many buyers of Palin's book in Santa Cruz anyway; or even California at large for that matter. So it makes sense to offer a loss-leader such as "Just Plain Nutz" to go with her book.

Bookstore manager Casey Coonerty-Protti has done this sort of thing before. When Rush Limbaugh's book "See I Told You So" came out in 1993, the shop weighed the book and sold it for the price of baloney. Former Congressman Newt Gingrich's 1995 book "Contract With America" came with a barf bag.

Even with baloney and a barf bag, I wouldn't buy books by Limbaugh and Gingrich. The difference is that those two can write. I may despise Limbaugh, but he's a genius when it comes to radio. And Gingrich is a joke, but he used his brains to mold a new image for Republicans that resonated across the nation. I can dislike someone and still respect them.

But Palin? Well, it would take at least one package of Eggos -- most likely two -- for me to buy her book. And none of those low-fat, frozen whole grain, waffles either. It's Eggos or nothing.

There's also a report that poor weather has imperiled the pumpkin harvest this

year, which means there will be fewer canned pumpkin available to make pies.

Nestle -- which sells nearly all the canned pumpkin in the U.S. -- says heavy rains have hurt its harvest, creating a potential shortage of its Libby's pumpkin pie products through the holidays.

Nestle is the largest national brand for canned pumpkin, with 80 to 90 percent of the market. It plants a special type of pumpkin at a farm in Morton, Ill., which provides nearly all its products. If you turned all the pumpkins on its farm to pie, it would total 90 million pies.

Now, this is a national catastrophe. If I don't get my specially created pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's then the old year has been a bust and the new year simply can't start.

So, put this way, if Palin were to offer a pumpkin pie with her book there's no question that I'd be first in line. Heck, I'd even let her autograph it, as long as there was a hint of pumpkin spice lingering on the pages.

We know Palin can handle sled dogs, catch salmon and field dress a moose. But can she make pumpkin pie? Most people can make a pumpkin pie, but the real talent lies in making the crust. How good is she at that, I wonder? I won't be so bold as to suggest baking pumpkin pie should be a criteria to be president. That would be silly. But a bake-off between for those seeking the vice presidency wouldn't be bad.

And that begs the question: If Palin can bake a great pumpkin pie, would I vote for her in some upcoming national election? Hopefully, I will never have to make a decision of such magnitude. For years, I've lauded my wife's pumpkin pies as the best in the land. It would cause me grievous injury (both mentally and physically) to acknowledge Palin can make a better pie than my wife.

And that begs an even bigger issue: Forget Palin. Forget whether or not President Obama bowed too low to the Japanese emperor. The real question is what would you rather do without this holiday season: Eggos or pumpkin pie?