I love Fall. I love everything about the season – brilliant colors of changing leaves, cooler weather, tailgating football games, and baseball playoffs. But, two years ago, I moved to Arizona. In case you were wondering, Fall doesn’t really exist here. In the final days of September, the high was 101°.
Even if the climate outside isn’t playing the part, there is one thing that always puts me in a “Fall” mood – pumpkin. I’ll admit it. From now till Thanksgiving, I’m obsessed. I could blame Starbucks and their tasty Pumpkin Spice Lattes, but it goes much deeper than that.
Think about it. Is there another food that you are encouraged to gut, carve and then display on your doorstep? What other produce do people visit its “patches”? Nobody cares about overgrown cantaloupes, but a 1,810 pound pumpkin (the current world record) makes the news. And most importantly, is there another fruit that can be made into so many fantastic things? Here are just a few:
Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin bread, cake, muffins, cookies … (you get the idea)
Pumpkin pie
Pumpkin soup
Pumpkin coffee
Pumpkin ice cream
Pumpkin bagels (with pumpkin cream cheese of course)
Pumpkin pudding
Pumpkin lasagna
Pumpkin butter
Pumpkin stew
Pumpkin pancakes (not to mention pumpkin waffles)
So, get in the spirit of the season by indulging in everyone’s favorite gourd-like squash. Happy Fall!
