Pumpkin Delight

If you know me personally then it wouldn't come as a surprise that October brings out my love and devotion to all things Halloween, especially when it relates to pumpkins.  I can't remember when I first started to love pumpkins, but it was quite early.  Here I am on a family trip to Iowa, where I begged my parents to pull the car over so I could get my picture taken with this orange beauty.  I also had a strong devotion to the color green, Mickey Mouse (on my hat), and baseball caps.

The signature orange of the notable squash just makes me pause to take a moment to appreciate it's shape, it's color and texture.  

Having moved out to Portland, my mother was so nice to send me a lot of Halloween decorations from my old bedroom that never made it to my apartment in New York.  I was reunited with some fantastic retro blown-plastic pumpkin luminaries, which are becoming highly collectable.  This year I found an elusive pumpkin candy holder from Target, that probably could hold 4-6 gallons of candy!  I don't have plans to fill mine with candy, but the shape and the size made a jolly combination that I couldn't resist.

Pumpkins on door steps, counter tops, on bars and beyond -- the autumnal icon never lets me down.  It brings out the festive spirit in lots of people and tastes great too!  It's incredible to think about the obsessive cult following the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbuck's has, which is celebrating it's tenth anniversary.  Also, I highly recommend the Pumpkin macarons from Trader Joe's (great deal).

So it might be silly for me to spend a blog entry extolling my appreciation for an already notable thing, but like all fancy things just because it's fun doesn't mean it's any less fancy.  Have a happy and safe Halloween!  

(An enclosed pumpkin display at Zupan's grocery store in NW Portland.)


And if you also delight in some pumpkin destruction, check this out!