Tuesday, October 30, 2012

An Ode to the Pumpkin

I must confess that I am discovering a new found love for all things pumpkin this fall.  It is surprising because up until this point I merely saw the pumpkin as an adversary. 

As a child I turned my nose up at any offer of pumpkin goods - no pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving or any other pumpkin treat for this girl...I just couldn’t seem to stomach that spicey sweetness even though my sister claimed it was the greatest thing ever to touch her taste buds.  And I was terrified of jack o’ lanterns as a child too - they seemed spooky and ominous, and the one time that I actually tried to carve one the knife slipped and the lantern’s eyes merged with the nose making for an unsightly mess that I was embarrassed to say was mine.

So for years I have kept my distance from the orange produce refusing to cook or decorate with fall’s bounty.  But something happened this year.  Selah and I were at the grocery store and we found ourselves walking through the pumpkins and it was as if I saw them through her eyes.  Some were large while others were dainty and my little girl begged and begged for a pumpkin of her very own.

We left the store that day with 5 small pumpkins, one large and an assortment of gords to boot.  I was unsure what was happening but it felt right and I started to remember the many cute pumpkin crafts I had seen on pinterest.

And so, may I present the many ways we are embracing all things pumpkin this fall - perhaps you should join in the fun!



Painting Pumpkins

The first craft we embraced with our little pumpkins was to simply paint them!  I had visions of making chevron patterns or polka dots on my pumpkin to be cute and crafty, but Selah took charge and I actually fell in love with her creative mess.  The colors melded together in the most lovely way...and we have since painted 5 pumpkins that lie around our house!





Pumpkin Trail

Our local garden and arts center had one weekend where the Pumpkin Trail was opened.  Over 2,000 carved pumpkins had been donated and they lined the pathways to our delight.



I loved seeing people’s creativity and was almost tempted to go home and carve my own pumpkin...almost is the key word.  Perhaps we will embrace that next year!




Pumpkin Treats
Two weeks ago I was still on the fence about using pumpkin in any type of sweet treat, but then I took a bite of Carol Gary’s dessert (I don’t know what it was called but I think it should be named "super delicious pumpkin goodness") and all of my preconceived ideas about pumpkin staying away from desserts left.  Her dessert was divine & I realized that my taste buds should be reintroduced to the option of pumpkin.

As a result I have tried Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte (I give it a thumbs up)...

And I’ve been eying a few pinterest recipes.  Here is one that I’m planning to make this fall.  It is called Pumpkin Lust Cake from SweetTreats


What about you?  How are you enjoying the illustrious pumpkin?  Any crafts or desserts that I should be aware of?

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