Celebrate!: Wow, so this was literally both my first and last traditional pumpkin pie of 2012! Thanksgiving’s requirement was satisfied with a delectable pumpkin cheesecake, but I just couldn’t ring in the new year without biting into a piece of an old classic at least once this year…

Timing is Everything: Though this year almost didn’t happen because good god, since when do pumpkin pies take so long to bake?! This thing literally sat in my oven for almost two hours, and then required a couple more hours on top of that to cool back down again because, well, 450 degrees is hot!!! Clearly I haven’t baked a true pumpkin pie in a while – maybe this is normal? Or maybe it’s just the deep dish requiring a little extra heat because an hour is what seems familiar in my old noggin.

Deliciously Deep: Nevertheless, four hours later when I was finally done cookin’ and coolin’, Mrs. Smith’s Deep Dish delight was actually a really good pie. Mind you, it didn’t seem ridiculously thick … there’s some extra, though arguably not really enough to warrant 1/6 of my day just for cooking a frozen pie … but it was yummy all the same and I was ready to go to bed and it was good! It didn’t exactly knock HoneyBaked’s award-winning pie off its pedestal or anything, but I wouldn’t exactly kick this pie out of bed on account of crumbs or stray Cool Whip, either…

Over 50 different pumpkin products can be found at Target, and although that may still be a bit shy from Walmart’s impressive 60+ products, it’s still most certainly a force to be reckoned with!

Below is a comprehensive list of everything I’ve managed to find at the Target nearest me (in Tampa, FL) this pumpkin season here in 2012. Got something that I might’ve missed? Leave a comment down below so that I can add it to this magnificent list of ours…

Bakery

• Archer Farms Pumpkin Muffins
• Archer Farms Pumpkin Streusel Breakfast Bread
• Archer Farms White Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Cookies
• Target Bakery Pumpkin Pie
• Einstein Bros Pumpkin Shmear

Breads

• Thomas’ Pumpkin Spice Bagels
• Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice Swirl Bread

Snack Foods

• Market Pantry Pumpkin Cheesecake Sandwich Cookies
• Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax Crunchy Granola Bars

Hot Beverages

• Celestial Harvest Pumpkin Spice Black Tea
• Starbucks VIA Pumpkin Spice Instant Coffee
• Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Coffee (grounds)
• Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Spice Coffee (grounds)
• Godiva Chocolatier Pumpkin Spice Coffee (grounds)
• Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice Coffee (k-cups)
• Maxwell House International Pumpkin Spice Latte Beverage Mix
• Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup

Baking Needs

• Betty Crocker Pumpkin Bar Mix
• Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix
• Krusteaz Pumpkin Pie Bar Supreme Mix
• Libby’s Iced Pumpkin Bread Kit with Icing

Cereal

• Archer Farms Pumpkin Pancake & Waffle Mix
• Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Cereal
• Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Instant Oatmeal
• Kellogg’s Frosted Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts

Refrigerated Stuffs

• Philadelphia Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese
• Yoplait Light Pumpkin Pie Yogurt
• Country Crock Pumpkin Spice Spread
• Nestle Pumpkin Spice Coffee-mate
• International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer
• Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Low-Fat Latte
• Shock Top Seasonal Collection – Pumpkin Wheat Ale
• Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Scents (Grocery Section)

• Air Wick Sweet Vanilla & Pumpkins Candle
• Renuzit Pumpkin Spice Air Fresheners

Freezer Section

• Healthy Choice Pumpkin Squash Ravioli
• Eggo Seasons Pumpkin Spice Waffles
• Edy’s Slow Churned Pumpkin Ice Cream
• Ben & Jerry’s Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream
• The Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Sara Lee Oven Fresh Pumpkin Pie
• Mrs. Smith’s Pre-Baked Pumpkin Pie
• Marie Callender’s Pumpkin Pie

Candy

• Pumpkin Spice Hershey’s Kisses

Baby Stuff

• Ella’s Kitchen Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin, Apples & Blueberries Baby Food
• Up & Up Banana and Pumpkin Baby Food

Scents (Housewares Section)

• Home Scents Pumpkin Spice Candles & Diffuser
• Heritage Pumpkin Soy Candle
• Melt Spiced Pumpkin & Amaretto Candles & Diffuser
• Threshold Hand-Poured Pumpkin Wax Candles
• Threshold Flameless Pumpkin Scented LED Candle
• Nature’s Wick Pumpkin Nutmeg Candle
• Nature’s Wick Pumpkin Nutmeg / Cinnamon Ginger / Bonfire Nights Three-Layer Candle

Now that’s a lotta pumpkin!

Do You Know the Muffin Man?: I was actually pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite of one of these little beauties – I’ve seen them in Target for weeks, and even just the other day found an old picture where I guess I bought them once for review but just never got around to posting it! A lot of time baked goods can get kinda tedious because not very good is a pretty typical response, but this time … better!

Not Just a Pretty Face: Admittedly the muffin top itself is very cream cheese dominated by that frosting drizzle, but once you dig down into the muffin itself, there’s a distinct pumpkin flavor, and it’s not super awesome strong like some other muffins who shall remain nameless, but as far as muffins that were mass-produced for a grocery store, Target actually did a pretty good job with theirs.

Looking Back: I guess I’ve really only done one review for pumpkin yogurt, and that was for Target’s store brand – Archer Farms – which didn’t end up being very good, but I often times put a little more faith in the national brands when I see them weighing into this territory because on average they tend to boast a better quality than their generic counterparts, and this is one example that rings very true in that regard.

It’s What’s for Breakfast!: Well, not really in my home because I’m not much of a yogurt fan, although it looks like for at least the next three days I will be to use the rest up, but I still enjoyed the flavor a lot more than I have with other yogurts, both pumpkin and non. This one is sweet, but not overwhelmingly cinnamon like a lot of the items I seem to be reviewing so far this year, and although it doesn’t completely, I think the pumpkin makes a decent effort of neutralizing that tart flavor that I don’t particularly care for with yogurts in general.

Also…: Only 2 Weight Watchers Points, if you’re the kind of person who that might be important to!

Quick Review: It’s basically Raisin Bran Crunch … and note that I didn’t say that it was Raisin Bran Crunch, with Pumpkin!

Quandary: Is it possible that this stuff is only intended to be mixed with coffee-like beverages???

Dilemma: …because I tried mixing it with hot chocolate, and it did not end up tasting very good.

Elaboration: Very cinnamon-y and very, very little pumpkin – I’m honestly not sure if there was any pumpkin flavoring at all, but it was hard to tell on account of this bizarre aftertaste that also accompanied the cinnamon. That’s why I was wondering – maybe there’s something in it meant to blend better with something acidic like coffee, thus resulting in it tasting more sharp than smooth in my own mug, whereas I was hoping for something a little more in relation to the flavors I’ve found with coffee creamers in the past. Either way, the cinnamon was just way too strong, so for all I know, it’s entirely possible that maybe they just relabel a bottle of Cinnamon Coffee Syrup with a pumpkin-y orange label this time of year and call it a day…

I came across these while wandering around Target in search of both pumpkin and non-pumpkin related items earlier this evening – kinda cute, though I think I liked the Angry Birds Pumpkin Carving Kit even better!

An A for Effort: I guess you’ve got to give Archer Farms credit for something - at least they’re trying to embrace our seasonal, pumpkin lifestyle with fresh, new product offerings each year, whereas some other big box stores don’t really seem to show much interest. So I’ll at least give them credit for having lots and lots of intriguing pumpkin products for us to choose from…

…But the Problem is…: A lot of them just aren’t very good, and this bread was certainly one of them. For what it’s worth, the Peppridge Farm version that I discovered last fall wasn’t really very good, either – they both tasted like a perfectly fine cinnamon spice bread, but I went through the entire loaf (not in one day, mind you!) and was never quite able to taste anything more than a glimmering hint of what pumpkin would’ve tasted like had they opted to include some of it in this bread!

I was just as surprised as you are to come across this collection of pumpkin products already been the likes of Walmart and Target – not only is there still more pumpkin out there for this aficionado to review, but it seems that pumpkin season is upon us even earlier than ever here in 2012!

Soy???: Although I’ll freely admit that I don’t exactly know what the difference between a soy candle and a regular candle even is, I picked this one up at Target because even off the shelf without being lit I found that it had a much deeper pumpkin smell than most other candles outside of that ridiculously overpriced place in the mall that I’ve smelled. Lit, its scent is quite rich, but not necessarily room-clearing … very pleasant, much akin to baking a particularly high quality pumpkin pie!