Pumpkin Time??

For years at Thanksgiving, I have baked a maple-pumpkin cheesecake. It was our annual pumpkin treat for years. Six or seven years ago at Tex & Shirley's  I started a pumpkin waffle for the fall. We did that to fill the gap before sweet potato pancakes started the day after Thanksgiving.

Over the last three or four years the number of pumpkin items has exploded as growers and food producers have finally realized that pumpkins are good for more than decoration and a pie on Thanksgiving day. I actually think that we may be into "pumpkin overload". You can't sling a dead cat without seeing something in "pumpkin pie spice" flavor. Nestlé's even makes a pumpkin spice flavor chip in the fall. I made some cookies with a bag of those last year. YUM!!

As an example of overload, on Sunday I had a pumpkin cheesecake milkshake from Arby's.. The first half was really good, but by the second half I was starting to OD on the flavor. Memo to Arby's: serve a smaller shake on that flavor. Memo 2 for Arby's: We were at the drive through window. They gave us our drinks while we waited for our food. I was more than half way through my shake when the food came out. It's supposed to be fast food, guys!!

I love Lance Nekot cookies. They are sweet cookies with peanut butter between them. My wife bought a package of Pumpkin Cheesecake Nekots. I carefully opened a pack and tried one. They were great!! Unlike the milkshake at Arby's, the portion was just right. It satisfied my craving but didn't leave me feeling like I had eaten an entire pumpkin cheesecake, something that only a coyote or one of my sons could do.

Now I am looking forward to baking that maple-pumpkin cheesecake this Thanksgiving!!