To everything, there is a season. And I have to say, that the fall and winter holiday season-that candy and food filled trio of Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas-is my favorite, because I can indulge my passion for punkin flavored everything without people thinking I'm like, totally weird. I can't help it. I like gourds, okay?!

Last year was a difficult one. The lady at Tesco thought I was crazy when I asked if she had pumpkin pie filling. In fact, pumpkin anything seems to be a n0-no in England. At least, as an edible food.

So, okay, maybe I'm going a little overboard this year to compensate for the great Pumpkin drought of 2004. I've already bought a few mini-punkins to scatter around my apartment, because in addition to being delicious, pumpkins are actually really cute too. I usually treat myself to coffees on Mondays and Fridays on my way to school, and I've been gorging on pumpkin lattes (nonfat, no whip of course) at Starbucks instead of my usual sugar-free vanilla. And on the way home today, I stopped by Choices, the organic supermarket, for some delicious pumpkin fritters...not like, pastries, but little pieces of pumpkin lightly coated in chickpea flour, to dip in some yummy chutney. And then, um, on the way home from Choices, Cobs' had a pumpkin seed bread, so I bought some of that to stick in the freezer...

Okay, yes. I'll admit it. I am obsessed now. But I have yet to buy a pumpkin pie, so if anyone finds a whole wheat crust, no sugar added, all-pumpkin-all- the-time pie, well, let me know....