Pumpkin. It’s as bad as the national obsession with bacon and cupcakes, only worse. I can tolerate bacon and I’ll always eat a cupcake (unless it’s a bacon flavored cupcake), but I never liked pumpkin anything. In fact, as a flavor, it sucks. I hate it.
Most Americans can’t live without their pumpkin pie every fall. I sure can. I’ll gladly substitute an Apple Crumb or even a Shoo-fly pie in place of a nasty, mushy, flavorless, gag-inducing pumpkin pie.
But lately things have gotten really weird. It’s not enough to have your pie taste like an overgrown squash, now it’s de rigeur for cappuccino, ice cream, cookies, potato chips, breakfast cereal, and fudge to taste like it too.
Yes, I said fudge. I just received my Vermont Country Store catalog, and Pumpkin flavored fudge is featured this month. Here’s what the nasty stuff looks like:
Blech. Why anyone would eat fudge that tastes like a vegetable is beyond my comprehension–or my taste buds. In my opinion, pumpkin is a terrible flavor–it doesn’t really taste like anything, but I guess it has a slight squash-like flavor, and to be honest, I was never a fan of squash. It certainly doesn’t belong in any dessert, but Americans can’t seem to get enough of the nastiest-tasting squash of them all.
I like pumpkins just fine, but as seasonal decor, not as food. They look nice on a doorstep or as a centerpiece, not as a baby-poop colored main ingredient of the food sitting on my plate.
So that’s one more reason I’ll be glad when we’re past the annual string of fall holidays (including Christmas, which I always thought of as part of that even though technically it’s a few days after the winter solstice).
For even more pumpkin-flavored insanity, read this article from Salon.com. Yes, we’re talking Pumpkin Spice Lay’s, Pumpkin Spice Hummus, and Limited Edition Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts.
I have to stop writing about this now. I’m feeling a little sick.
