October Blog

Pumpkin Spice Starts With Pumpkin

Everybody else is looking for a jack-o’-lantern. We’re looking for the pumpkin that’s going in the bag.

Walking into the pumpkin patch, everybody is looking for something.

My kids go to the pumpkin patch looking for pumpkins.
I go looking for ingredients.

At first, we’re all doing the same thing.

There’s the hayride. Pumpkins everywhere. Little pumpkins. Big pumpkins. Those giant ones everybody looks at like they might actually take one home. People are taking pictures, grabbing something to eat, drinking hot chocolate, and walking around trying to find their pumpkin.

The kids are thinking about jack-o’-lanterns. What face are we going to make this year? Where’s the book with all the different designs? Which pumpkin has the right shape?

And, of course, we need an extra one because somebody is eventually going to cut something they weren’t supposed to cut and the masterpiece is going to need a backup plan.

Then there are the seeds. Once those pumpkins get opened, the kids already know some of those seeds are headed for the oven.

That’s their pumpkin mission.

Mine is a little different.

I’m Looking for the Blue-Gray Ones

While everybody else is checking out the traditional orange pumpkins, I’m looking around for Jarrahdale pumpkins.

Blue-gray on the outside. Bright orange underneath.

That’s when my business brain usually starts working.

How many do they have? Will they have more? Who runs this place? And can I make some kind of deal with them before everybody realizes I’m over here hunting pumpkins for granola trail mix?

Because our Pumpkin Spice doesn’t begin when we open a container of spice. It doesn’t begin with a pumpkin-flavored ingredient.

It begins with an actual pumpkin.

Even Jack-o’-Lanterns Have Timing

There’s a funny connection between the pumpkin the kids want and the pumpkin I want.

Timing matters for both.

You don’t want to carve the jack-o’-lantern too early. Do that and you might have a beautiful pumpkin sitting on the porch for a few days — and a collapsed, moldy mess by the time Halloween actually gets here.

Wait too long and now everybody is trying to carve pumpkins the night before.

There’s a window.

Our Pumpkin Spice has one too. We have to wait for the pumpkins to become available. Then we have to get them, prepare them, and give them the time they need before Pumpkin Spice can come together.

That’s part of working with real seasonal ingredients. You can’t rush the calendar.

The kitchen process starts with the whole pumpkin.

From Blue-Gray to Bright Orange

Back in the kitchen, we wash the Jarrahdale and put the whole pumpkin into a large pot. We soften one side, flip it, and do the other — just enough to make it workable. Then it goes into an ice bath to cool quickly.

Once that blue-gray skin starts coming away, the bright orange pumpkin underneath finally takes over. We open it, remove the seeds, and now we have what we came for.

Blue-gray outside. Bright orange underneath.

Then We Make the Pumpkin Filling

The pumpkin still isn’t ready for the mix.

We combine the real pumpkin with warm fall spices and our signature Vanilla Glaze, building a filling that brings pumpkin-pie character without pretending the pumpkin is something it isn’t.

That filling gets spread onto our dehydrator trays. Then we let the dehydrator do its work. Moisture comes out, the texture changes, and eventually that pumpkin is ready to become part of the mix.

Pumpkin filling headed for the dehydrator.

Now It Becomes Pumpkin Spice

This is where all the pieces start doing their jobs.

Nuts bring the crunch. The oats carry the Vanilla Glaze and warm spices. Persimmon brings fruit and natural sweetness. Then the pumpkin comes through differently again — another texture, another flavor, another layer.

Mix them together and now we have Pumpkin Spice.

Not because we called something Pumpkin Spice.

Because pumpkin actually made the trip.

Different ingredients. Different jobs. One finished mix.

The Eating Experience

This is the part we care about.

We don’t want every bite to feel exactly the same. Reach into the bag once and maybe you get more nuts and oats. The next handful gives you some persimmon. Then you hit a piece of that dehydrated pumpkin.

The ingredients move around. The texture changes. The flavor changes with it.

Different ingredients. Different jobs. One eating experience.

And Back at the Pumpkin Patch…

Eventually, everybody finds what they came for.

The kids get their jack-o’-lantern pumpkins. Hopefully we remember the backup pumpkin. Somebody starts talking about which face they’re going to carve. The seeds are already being claimed for roasting.

And I leave with my pumpkins too.

We just have very different plans for them.

Their pumpkins are headed for the front porch.

Mine are headed for the pot. Then the dehydrator. Then the mixing bowl. And eventually, the bag.

Because around here, Pumpkin Spice starts with pumpkin.

snacks for life!