Pumpkin EVERYTHING

I'm very much in harmony with Starbucks when it comes to pumpkin flavored delights and the holidays.

September 1st? Pumpkin Spice Latte.

October 1st? Salted Caramel Mocha.

November 1st? Gingerbread Latte.

December is filled with Chai Tea and a mixture of all of the above.

January is a drag (obviously, because the holidays are over).

Pumpkins are wonderful for many reasons:

#1 Pumpkin flavored dishes produce the most heavenly aroma

#2 Pumpkins are quite versatile

#3 Pumpkins are just now coming in season (and you know how we love seasonal ingredients)

Pumpkin seeds can be toasted for a salty, healthy snack.

Image courtesy of Nourished Kitchen.

Pumpkins are a gourd, so many dishes which call for different types of squash can be substituted with pumpkin.

Photo courtesy of Taste of Home.

Pumpkin pie spice tastes lovely sprinkled on just about anything. Add a pinch to coffee grounds before brewing, sprinkle over a bowl of oatmeal, or mix in with a batch of cookies.

Thank you, Starbucks.

I'm almost positive that my love for pumpkin came along my freshman year of college. I would drink Pumpkin Spice Latte's in The Grove before a football game, crave my mother's pumpkin pie as the holidays approached, and swoon over the pumpkin patch at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Oxford, Mississippi.

Borrowed from Lostaire.

It's almost Fall, y'all.

Sarah