Pumpkin

I just popped my first pumpkin spice flavored Hershey’s Kiss in my mouth.  It was love at first bite.

I absolutely love pumpkin flavored anything, so every year I anxiously await the special pumpkin treats that appear in grocery stores in the fall, and this year, it seems, the pumpkin patch has exploded.  The options I now have available to satisfy my pumpkin cravings are mindboggling. 

The other day I nibbled on pumpkin muffins while sipping pumpkin flavored Chai tea.  Last week I woofed down an entire pack of almonds, which were coated in white chocolate and a lovely pumpkin spice flavor. Those babies were addicting.  I bought them at Costco so it was no small bag.

For lunch on Sunday I dove into the bag of pumpkin flavored pita chips because Saturday I’d finally polished off the enormous bag of pumpkin flavored corn chips.  I had pumpkin butter on my toast a few days ago - the same day I ate pumpkin bread at a friend’s house.  Yum.

I stopped by Panera Bakery a week ago and savored every bite of the pumpkin bagel they offer only this time of year.  It had a lovely cinnamon crunch topping that just made me want to go back for more – so I did.

It hasn’t been warm enough for me to actually stop anywhere for pumpkin flavored ice cream, but that flavor is high on my list of delights anytime of year.

Starbucks sells a fairly decent pumpkin scone, which must be chased down with a pumpkin spiced latte, since the scones are often drier than I like.  Maybe that’s part of their marketing plan.

I love pumpkin cake, which can easily be made by adding a can of pumpkin to any spice cake mix and baking it just the same.  I was treated to that last Thursday. I really love pumpkin cheesecake, too, but have yet to get my lips wrapped around a slice of that little piece of heaven this year.

At Trader Joe’s I did buy some pumpkin soup to have for lunch but I delayed gratification by not buying any of their pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin biscotti, pumpkin croissants, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin pancake mix, pumpkin flavored coffee, pumpkin macaroons, pumpkin bread pudding, pumpkin tarts and pumpkin yogurt.  I thought it was nice they also had pumpkin flavored dog treats, since surely we wouldn’t want our pets to miss out on this special time of year when our processed food choices have turned, like Cinderella’s coach, into all things pumpkin.

I was tempted to buy their pumpkin scented lotion, but decided after all the pumpkin flavored things I’ve been eating lately, my skin just might start smelling like pumpkins anyway.   

I almost bought my husband their pumpkin oatmeal though, but I was sure he wouldn’t go for it.  He likes his oatmeal to taste like oatmeal and just wants his pumpkin in the traditional pie.  Imagine that.