I don't know how I can much follow up Emma's last post with something as banal as what I'm about to review, but I will start by saying that I, too, visited a pumpkin patch this last Friday with friends and had a great time. There was a corn maze (both regular and haunted), carnival rides, petting zoo, pig races, train ride, pumpkin picking, live music and delicious chili-chicken-pulled-pork dinners. Since I was broke enough as-is, I did not pick up a pumpkin (my roommate, Liz, got a small one from the grocery store before we even entered October, so we've got that one and a bowl of candy to keep us cheery).

Because we did not find any pumpkiny treats at Schnepf Farms (out in Queen Creek, Arizona), we stopped on our way home at - brace yourself - Whataburger. I abhor Whataburger. It's one of those fast food chains that is so awful I can't even imagine eating there if I was a totally shit-canned drunk homeless person. Chris, however, is homeless, poor, and usually completely obliterated, so he knows all about this inglorious offence against fast food. We stopped in for seasonal Whataburger "pumpkin pies," which are a lot like the McDonald's apple pies but with pumpkin filling.

No lie - these things are the SHIT. And for $.99, a good deal to boot. While the outside is crispy and fried and makes me want to die of a heart attack just by thinking about it, the filling was not fake and disgusting like I would have expected. It was almost like a pumpkin pureé: not too thick, a rich orange color, not overwhelmed with spices. It was sweet but, like Emma likes to say, a bit "vegetable-y." And burning-lava hot, too!

I really liked this treat. It was well-balanced, cheap, fast and, most importantly, pumpkin! I probably won't stop in Whataburger again any time soon, but I can say that I'm glad I did in this instance.

Edit: Teresa Gubbins over at Pegasus News also loves the Whataburger pumpkin pie! She notes that:

"But it did not fulfill my negative expectations about what a fried pie would be -- i.e., greasy and overly sweet. The crust was firm yet flaky, and seemed to be utterly greaseless (though its cardboard container sported an oily residue, so obviously that impression was deceptive). Also excellent: the filling, which was not just some generic sweetened puree flavored with cinnamon and cloves but was instead noticeably pumpkiny, and not all that sweet."

She also notes that this is probably due to the fact that the first ingredient in this is actually real pumpkin! I don't know why that's surprising, but I guess I figured it would be food starch or another additive. As Gubbins says: "Bravo, Whataburger!"