Fried Pumpkin Pie from some place attached to a gas station off I-45

So, stopped for a leg stretch potty break while transporting 2 Pit Bulls from DFW area shelters to rescue group near Conroe. The gas station where I stopped (in scenic Buffalo) had this Fried Pie Store attached to it. Normally, I don't pay much attention to roadside pie shops because, well, THEY ARE ROADSIDE PIE SHOPS! But this one caught my eye with the handmade "We have pumpkin and sweet potato pies."
Now, from my experience, most "fresh" or handheld fried-style pumpkin pies are generally on the low end of good (Whataburger, McDonald's) although the Northern TastyKake pies are actually pretty decent. I think I have an idea why that is.
In my neck of the woods, there is a Mindy Lu pie factory/outlet store where they make the pies that the ship out to local shops (for local people). They also keep some on hand that are fresh and hot for folks to pickup. I had bugged these folks 2 or 3 times about making pumpkin pies and they finally explained the problem. Apparently, fresh pumpkin has a short shelf life unless it is all preservatived up. They haven't come up with a recipe they deem worthy of selling.
But that doesn't stop Gas Station Carnies from doing it.
As you can see, it's a large half moon thing, kind of like a calzone. Since they also make meat pies, that isn't surprising (I thought about trying one of those too, but didn't want to wait). The crust is pretty good... Very similar to funnel cake. That is a major yum factor.
The pumpkin filling was disappointing and pretty much supported Mindy Lu's assertion. It did have some pumpkin flavor, but it was also heavily influenced by a lemony citrus flavor, which I'm pretty sure was something to give it a longer life. Also, it had the consistency of apple butter... And some of that flavor too.
This will never replace a good ol' fashioned pumpkin pie. Still, I don't regret getting it because it was the only thing I had to eat while I sat in traffic while the idiot holiday drivers made fools of themselves.

Blue Bell Spiced Pumpkin Pecan

I think this first showed up last year. I didn't try it because I really didn't want to buy a full half gallon of it, mainly because I hate pecans.

Yeah, yeah... I live in Texas, pecan country and it's Texas ice cream blah, blah, blah... I don't like 'em. Pumpkin desserts and pecans are like beans and chili... I don't care how one area of the country likes it, they don't belong together.

So, anyway, I finally broke down and bought one because it's pumpkin ice cream and that is Kryptonite to me... I can't fight it, it's going to win sooner or later. It was on sale this week for like $5 or something, which made me think, "You know, back in high school, Blue Bell was usually like 2 for $5... and when it went on sale for like $1.50, I went nuts!" Makes me want to go OccupyBrenham just so I can help them eat all they can before they sell the rest to the 1% that can afford it.

Whatever.

Popped it open and scooped out some. First thing I noticed was that it had swirls of caramel. Well, that's a plus.. pumpkin and caramel do go well together. So I grabbed a spoon and a plastic cup and went to watch those wacky Ghost Hunters investigate Waverly Sanatorium in my ancestral home of Louisville, KY.

Both the ice cream and the show were pretty much what I expected. The BB entry into the pumpkin ice cream category is pretty standard. It has a nice pumpkin pie flavor with the right amount of spice and the caramel was a nice touch, not overdone. And the pecans were annoying.

If you paid much attention to the paragraph just before the last paragraph, you may have asked yourself, "Why did he get a plastic cup?" That was for the pecans, which I would spit into the cup upon melting the ice cream in my mouth. EFF YOU, pecans!

Ace Pumpkin Cider

Kasteel Cherry Ale

Chapeau Banana Kreik

Pinkberry Pumpkin Pie Yogurt

I remember back in the '80's when frozen yogurt was all the rage. There were fro-yo places everywhere, notably TCBY and I Can't Believe Yogurt or whatever.
For my family, we loved this place near the house called Yumi Yogurt. We went probably at least once a week for a while and even got to know the owner on a first name basis. That was some good stuff. Not far off from regular soft serve ice cream.
But, like most trends from the '80's (except those effing Dippin' Dots), yogurt fell out of fashion. Now there are only a few places left for fro-yo.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I find out that there is actually some new yogurt place in town. It's called Pinkberry and it's hip and hangs out in one of the fashionable retail areas in town. You know it is hip because the name sounds like a Rodeo Drive handbag and the employees treat you like somebody with class and not some schmuck that wants a cup of yogurt.
Anyway, Pinkberry has a Pumpkin Pie yogurt. It's been a looooooong time since I've had fro-yo, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I do know I wasn't expecting what I got.
Sure, you taste the pumpkin flavor, deep in it somewhere, but what you mostly taste is cold, tart yogurt... With a hint of something citrusy. Too be honest, it reminded me more of an Orange Push-up than anything pumpkin-y.
Hell, I LIKE yogurt, but that was just too much yogurt and not enough pumpkin flavor. I've had pumpkin pie flavored non-frozen yogurt and it was way better than this.
Most interesting part about the thing was I got the "whipped cream" topping. It was also made out of yogurt. So it was really fluffy tart yogurt.

Woodchuck Limited Batch Pumpkin Cider

You know, I had high hopes for this. Woodchuck, while it's still a totally American Cider company (i.e. way too sweet for me to get super excited about), generally produces pretty good stuff. So when I heard that they were producing a "pumpkin" cider, I think I started to drool.

I love my Belgian Style beers and my pumpkin ales, but my true passion is cider. I mlove the stuff. I've had all types of cider... British, French, American, Dry, Sweet, in-between, sparkling, practically apple juice... and it's my preference in most instances. I've long wondered if pumpkins could be successfully fermented, for a "true" pumpkin cider... I may have to try that in the lab someday.

At any rate, the Woodchuck Limited Reserve Pumpkin is not actually pumpkin. It is apple with what are supposed to be pumpkin flavored stuff added to it. I say "supposed to be" because I'm not sure what they added to this concoction, but I'm pretty sure it ain't pumpkin. As best as I could nail down, it tasted more like a sparkling cranberry drink although a friend of mine thought he tasted peaches. Whatever it tastes like, it doesn't taste like pumpkin.

Woodchuck supposedly limited production of this stuff to just 2 1/2 hours so it should be relatively rare. But don't feel disappointed if you don't find it. I do however enjoy the horrifically designed flourescent orange label...