So, a few things happened. First, it was my mom’s awesome pumpkin chicken chili at the beach last weekend. Then it was being asked to weigh in on a Yahoo Health article about the new & improved Pumpkin Spice Latte hitting Starbucks stores this fall. The next generation of PSLs will now include real pumpkin puree and will ditch the caramel coloring. Of course, you’ve still got all this business in there:

• Espresso
• Milk
• Pumpkin Spice Flavored Sauce (Sugar, Condensed Skim Milk, Pumpkin Puree, Contains 2% or Less of Fruit and Vegetable Juice for Color, Natural Flavors, Annatto (Color), Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Salt)
• Whipped Cream (Light Whipping Cream [Cream, Mono and Diglycerides, Carrageenan])
• Starbucks Vanilla Syrup (Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Citric Acid)
• Pumpkin Spice Topping (Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Clove)

I’m not saying you shouldn’t have this ever, but consider it a once-in-a-while treat instead of an everyday thing. Trying to pound a Venti on your morning commute is not the way to savor a seasonal treat. To save yourself some sugar and other madness, you could skip the whip and ask for one pump of syrup/sauce instead of the standard gazillion.

Anyway, so now I have pumpkin on the brain. The chili thing is totally happening. I used this recipe as a jumping off point to which I added ground chicken.

I’m also thinking about pumpkin meat loaf again. Apparently my ground meat tooth has resurfaced. Must be hormones or something.

Of course, pumpkin oatmeal a sweet must-do whenever I open a can of pumpkin. Too bad cranberries aren’t in season yet because this sounds really good right now.

OMG what the f*** is wrong with me and my tastebuds?

Are you a Pumpkin Spice Latte fan? Any other seasonal favorites you’re looking forward to this fall? Anyone else dealing with premature pumpkin cravings?