Ideas

“Please pass the crickets” would be an anomalous grouping of words during the usual American family meal. Most people in America also won’t be giving their sweetheart a tin of chocolate coated ants for Valentine’s Day.

Fruitcake.

It’s either loved or hated; there is rarely an indifferent opinion. Many people see this as a cloyingly sweet confection that is dense and hard enough to break a truck windshield. Just seeing the little plastic containers of the candied fruit mix in the grocer’s produce section can turn the stomachs of those who are not a fan.

Pumpkin hype during the months of October and November has us seeing orange. Pumpkin products, beverages and foods swarm our grocery stores, coffee shops, recipe books and news feeds. Health and beauty aisles even display pumpkin hair products! Our high pumpkin fever would make the fabled Great Pumpkin proud!

Pumpkins are commonly an icon for autumn and an American symbol for the Thanksgiving holidays. As October approaches, we can almost taste the pumpkin pie. About 80% of the pumpkin harvest in the United States occurs in the coming autumn month.

While pumpkins are related to the American Thanksgiving holiday, they were actually imported from south of the border. Some sources say that pumpkins came from South America and others says Mexico, but archaeologists found seeds in Mexico that they believe to be from a pumpkin that date from 7000 to 5500 BC.