It's Pumpkin Week!

I don't really like pumpkin. Or any of those winter squashes, really - butternut, acorn, etc. Or even sweet potatoes, which also fall into that sweet-and-savory-starch category. Blech.

I mean, at Thanksgiving I'll have a sliver of pumpkin pie, with a large portion of whipped cream on top. And it's OK. But I don't really like pumpkin. Which is why I'm doing Pumpkin Week.

I like the idea of pumpkin. I love autumn and the spicy kitchen scents we associate with harvest time. And as you know, I love Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread and Muffin mix, so I thought there might be hope. I figured if I could find seven pumpkin recipes I like, then I'd have a foundation to work from each fall. I would be able to participate in festive harvest baking and actually like eating what I make. And maybe, just maybe, I could get to the place where I can say, "I like pumpkin, sometimes."

It hasn't been easy. Pumpkin Week almost didn't happen. I collected about 15 recipes several months ago and started working my way through them, all the while trying to keep up with regular non-pumpkin VGP posts. And it's not like I could make several pumpkin recipes in a row; I had to pace myself. So when three out of the first five experiments were mediocre or disappointing, I almost gave up. How could I get to seven? So I stopped for awhile.

Then some of the holiday baking magazines started coming out and I found some new concoctions that inspired. So I tried again. And would you believe I ended up with so many successes I had to make cuts to fit into a week? So go stock up on pumpkin and meet me back here tomorrow for Day 1.

Hooray for expanding horizons and HOORAY for Pumpkin Week!