Our Share of the Harvest

Pumpkin Spice Fudge

It’s everywhere I look–pumpkin waffles, pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin beer, pumpkin bread and, the most tempting of all, the Pumpkin Spice Latte.  The urge to be thrilled by pumpkin-flavored foods is not just coming from the corporate world who wants to sell me a $5 coffee; pumpkin purchases are being exclaimed in my Facebook feed, bloggers are rolling out their pumpkin recipes and message board members are sharing tips on where they found that often elusive can of pumpkin puree.

Well, I’m taking a stand against pumpkin until September 23, the first day of Autumn.  Knowing I care so much about issues like ending Big Ag subsidies, making farmer’s markets available to everyone, ensuring farmers are paid fair wages and keeping nasty chemicals and fake ingredients out of the stuff we put in our bodies, you might think it’s odd for me to take a stand against something as innocent and delicious as pumpkin.

Pumpkin Roll

And it is odd.  But, in the years I’ve been caring about where my food comes from, how food tastes in season, eating locally and organically and trying to eat things that are grown and prepared by “real” people, I’ve learned a few things about letting the seasons tell you what to eat.  Most importantly, I’ve learned that food really tastes best when it’s eaten at the right time.  Eating peas in February or a watermelon in June relies far more on the anticipation of eating it–on the other experiences and occurrences that would normally coincide with eating that thing, than on the actual pleasure of eating it early.  We like to eat strawberry shortcake in March because it makes us feel like the sweet, dewy days of early June are right there, if we just taste hard enough.

But, by the time those gorgeous green days of June are upon us, we’re tired of it, all strawberried out–we’ve been trying to get to June since March and it’s run its course.  So, we let the watered-down juices of a pathetic June watermelon trickle down our chins in a vain attempt to bring on those sun-soaked, lightening bug-studded evenings of August instead of relishing those strawberries when the season says we should.

Pumpkin Kahlua Cheesecake

Ok, so you’re with me on seasonal produce because it tastes better when it’s actually ripe but it’s not just about ripeness.  Yes, my mother’s pumpkin patch is only boasting baby gourds right now but all our pumpkin stuff comes from Libby’s–why care about eating canned pumpkin in season?

Because seasonal eating is not just about ripeness, it’s about the experience.  About being fully in the season we’re in, tastebuds and all.

Flavors we associate with Autumn makes us feel cozy and makes us think about fluffy wool sweaters, cute boots (or cute girls in cute boots, depending), jumping in leaf piles and that stunning smell a chilly October night has.  Our taste is tied to memory and we want to anticipate having those good experiences again.  But trust me, those things will happen, just not in September, no matter how many butternut squash recipes you star in your Google reader this month.

Cheesy Butternut Squash Soup

Which brings us to today.  Instead of using the last shiny days of summer to haul in the sweet corn and create a million recipes with those late-harvest tomatoes, we head to Starbucks and wash down a pumpkin caramel muffin with a pumpkin spice latte.  We completely miss out on living and tasting September because we’re so ready to anticipate Fall.  Then, by the time we’re actually into pumpkin season, pumpkin’s played out and we’re craving gingerbread and eggnog, getting holiday menu ants in our pants.

And so on.

Harvest Muffins

Not this girl, not this season.  I fully intend to lavish my culinary attentions on the flavors of the moments.  Oh, rest assured, I’ll have more than my fair share of caramel apple pie, Oktoberfest beers and definitely a pumpkin spice latte or five–but I’ll be having mine when I actually am wearing cute boots and eyeing up that leaf pile.

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