Is this Pumpkin thing gone too far?

I was driving by one of my favorite summer eateries the other day...I confess...I'm hooked on Dairy Queen Blizzards. Ground cookies in ice cream, what is there not to like?

Well, the sign outside said, Pumpkin Pie ice cream and Pumpkin Blizzard. So you know what happened. I had to try one.

Well, the Cheesecake one has chunks of real cheesecake in it so you know what I was thinking. There was probably going to be chunks of pumpkin pie in the pumpkin pie ice cream.

NOT SO.

Disappointment crept into my soul as I tried my newly purchased confection. No pie. It was a pumpkin ice cream of sorts with cookies in it to mimic the crust. I can't take being fooled by these fast food consortiums. IF YOU CALL IT PIE, I WANT PIE. The spicing was at best mediocre and as for the pumpkin flavor. Not too pumpkiny if that is even a word.

But then it got me thinking.

How many pumpkin things are there at this time of year? And for the love of food, WHY?

Pumpkin coffee.
I was in Starbucks and they have a pumpkin latte. Pumpkin. In a coffee. Now I do have trouble with some flavors of coffee. I can handle the nut flavors after all, coffee is really a nut of sorts. And anything that usually goes with nuts should go with coffee. Now some spices will, like cinnamon and nutmeg (I have seen others put it on their cappuccino although I don't like it). But, some of the weird flavors put me off.
I cannot wrap my head around blueberry coffee under any circumstances. The local morning mart carries it, and the girl working there said it tasted like the flavor in your mouth after you've eaten a blueberry muffin and followed it with a drink of coffee. NAAH. No it isn't, its a nasty, fruity coffee gone wrong is what it is. And its younger brother raspberry isn't any better either. I am afraid that pumpkin coffee has a similar type fate in my life. I haven't tried it yet as they don't make a sugar free version . Starbucks, get on the bandwagon!!! Diabetics like more than just two flavors, Vanilla and Hazelnut and the occasional Caramel! (and most sugar free caramel flavors have a very strong flavor reminiscent of evaporated milk anyway. What's not to love?)

Pumpkin pasta.
I kid you not. I was in the supermarket and saw it there. Now I can understand pumpkin ravioli. Aren't there are many versions of stuffed pasta made out of butternut squash, served with deep fried sage and in a brown butter sauce? And truly, pumpkin isn't that far off of a relative of butternut squash in both the flavor profile and texture sense if it is treated properly. But this was pumpkin in the actual pasta. I'm not sure how the texture would be. I could see pumpkin as a gnocci (they can be soft and pillowy and handle less flour). But, I don't know how a long, dried linguine could have enough pumpkin flavor or not fall apart when cooking it.

Pumpkin cheesecake. A long standing favorite for many, including a gingersnap cookie crust for the best of presentations. Yum.

Typical standbys are pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies.
We also must not forget pumpkin soup. Both as a stand alone soup and in other soups too.

How about pumpkin drinks? Some of my professional chef websites have things like Pumpkin smoothies, and even an alcoholic drink with sweet candied pumpkin cubes in it.

What about pumpkin seeds? A usual part of a vegetable that is discarded, is here cleaned, roasted/dried/salted and used in many cuisines. Pumkin seeds ground is used as thickener in some African and Moroccan recipes as well as in Latin American Mole sauces.

I guess I misjudged the mighty pumpkin. We should celebrate it and find other ways to use it.

Now to research to find the perfect pumpkin pie. That is a quest worth doing.

DP