The holiday season has begun!

When pumpkins on porches appear, everyone knows it’s the beginning of three months of celebrations. Pumpkins, gourds and cornstalks are the joys of fall. Halloween fans (like me) are happily placing witches, ghosts and grave yards in their yards. I hope my big smiling pumpkin will bring a smile to my neighbors.

Since it is the season for pumpkins, I thought I’d learn more about them. The most surprising thing I read were the recipes. Now, I love pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie is a Thanksgiving staple, but pumpkin chili and pumpkin cocktails do not sound appetizing. The pumpkin cocktail called for vodka and pumpkin puree. I just thought, yuck!

Since a Hallmark movie features pumpkin as a facial cream, I was interested to read about that. I liked a recipe for Pumpkin Body Butter. It’s ingredients were simple, coconut oil, pumpkin puree and cinnamon. All the facial recipes touted the vitamins in pumpkins and how that would benefit the skin. There was even a hair conditioner recipe that called for honey and pumpkin that was sure to fix frizzy hair. Once again, I say yuck!

I must say I don’t have a desire to branch out in my uses of the pumpkin. My pumpkins are sitting on the porch now and some will be carved into jack-o-lanterns. For me, they represent fall and unlike most decorations, they are good for two holidays! I hope you all are enjoying these cooler temperatures and perhaps a trip to a pumpkin farm. Yes, they are open!