leader of the free (pumpkin spice) world

i'm a law student specializing in international human rights law and loving pumpkin spice flavored products on the side. here is a testament to that love in the form of fun reviews. #notawhitegirl

[pumpkinspiceandhumanrights]

yoplait light pumpkin pie fat free yogurt

this is my first review where i did not enjoy the product at all. the yogurt tasted like some generic fall flavor, but it didn't even come reasonably close to a pumpkin flavor. i think y'all know by now that i'm okay with experimenting with pumpkin flavored stuff, but this was a bit of a failure.

the yogurt was too sweet, and the taste lingered in my mouth after every bite. it's believable that the flavor was pumpkin, but if i didn't know the flavor beforehand and tasted the yogurt, i don't think i would have been able to guess it was pumpkin.

there's definitely a fall spice taste to it, but the sweetness is overwhelming. it was honestly hard to get through the entire serving. i thought some of the off taste may have been because it's fat free yogurt (i don't eat diet or fat free stuff usually, so i'm not used to it), but i've had yoplait light yogurts before, and they always taste fine, so it's probably just the pumpkin pie flavor that's weird.

i'm giving this 1 star. i guess this goes to show all pumpkin food experiments aren't successful.

[pumpkinspiceandhumanrights]

pumpkin pancakes from IHOP

today is my brother's last day in town, so my parents, my brother, and i decided to have a family brunch at IHOP. i got the pumpkin pancakes even though they also have pumpkin cheesecake pancakes. but i figured since i had pumpkin cheesecake gelato yesterday, i'd go for something pure pumpkin this time. i also got the hot apple cider, and it was amazing.

the pumpkins were really good! there wasn't as much of a spice taste as the gelato yesterday, but they still tasted like actual pumpkin, instead of some generic pumpkin flavoring. they were really soft and fluffy. i felt they were a tiny bit dry, but it wasn't that bad, and i prefer slightly dry to too moist.

to me, the pancakes tasted like pumpkin pie, and of all the pumpkin flavored things in the world, pie is my favorite. so it was nice to get that familiar pure pumpkin-y taste, as opposed to something new that might have lost the authentic pumpkin feel along the way.

i'm going to say 4 stars because of the slight dryness. also, i'm sure most people are familiar with IHOP already, but i love IHOP.

[pumpkinspiceandhumanrights]

pumpkin cheesecake gelato from SPAGnVOLA chocolatier in national harbor

my family and i went to the national harbor today in maryland, and it was a lot of fun! while there, we stopped into SPAGnVOLA chocolatier for sweets. the shop was adorable and had holiday decorations up everywhere! they also have artisan gelato, so my dad and i got those. i got pumpkin cheesecake gelato.

right off the bat, i noticed the gelato tasted very pumpkin-y. it was supposed to be pumpkin, so this may seem obvious, but a lot of pumpkin flavored or pumpkin spice things don't taste quite like pumpkin (for example, the starbucks pumpkin spice latte, the review for which is coming later). so it was great for accuracy and that special fall taste.

the pumpkin wasn't overwhelmingly sweet, like it has the potential to be, and there was definitely a spice undertone to it, which was nice. there were small chunks of cheesecake in the gelato, so that made it more sweet, but overall, the gelato had the special twang of pumpkin spice.

the cheesecake and the pumpkin flavor worked together pretty well. i think the gelato could've been just as good without the cheesecake, but the cheesecake was a nice touch. the cheesecake wasn't overwhelming either, but neither was the pumpkin flavoring.

i'd give the gelato 4.5 stars, if only because it wasn't the best pumpkin thing i've ever tasted, and i'd like to save the 5 star rating. i'd also recommend checking out this place if you guys are ever in the area or know about their other locations! my favorite part was the shelves of cute, beautifully-decorated chocolates (see photo above).

[pumpkinspiceandhumanrights]

introduction

i have a love of all things pumpkin, and it's become a bit of a joke among me and my friends that i get all the pumpkin spice products wherever i can find them. this blog will be an effort to catalog and review the pumpkin/pumpkin spice flavored stuff i find (mostly edible, i'd imagine).

i'll use a star system of up to 5 stars. my reviews are probably going to be pretty brief, since i don't know that i'll have time to write anything long. also, i don't have anywhere near expert level knowledge about food, including food terminology, so my reviews are going to be my own personal feelings and preferences and probably won't follow a format of Actually Legitimate Food Reviews (if there is such a thing).

i hope readers, if ever i have them, enjoy the blog and join me in embracing the pumpkin spice revolution. it's taking over whether you like it or not, so you might as well learn to like it!