I Ate Only Pumpkin Spice Products For One Whole Day

Call me a basic if you so choose, but I love pumpkin spice. I'm not afraid to say it. The very second that mid-August rolls around, I'm scouring the shelves of Target to see what pumpkin spice products are already out. I don't care that it's actually still 85 degrees outside here in New York City. If I'm going to be stocking up on coffee, it had better have the sweet, warming flavors of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.

And because I love pumpkin spice so dang much, I decided to challenge myself to eat nothing but pumpkin spice-flavored foods for an entire day. Would my love of this signature fall flavor withstand endless pumpkin-flavored foods?

The day started off easily enough, with a cup of pumpkin spice coffee from Archer Farms. I dragged my Keurig from its spot on my kitchen table to the outlet and brewed myself an extra-large tumbler. Of course, I flavored it with some pumpkin spice creamer from Nestlé and a little extra pumpkin spice I mixed up and drank it out of my tumbler that is an ode to pumpkin spice everything.

I am nothing if not dedicated to my pumpkin spice aesthetic.

The morning sailed by easily enough, and before I knew it, 12:30 p.m. (aka lunchtime) arrived. I pulled a Thomas' pumpkin spice-flavored bagel out of our office freezer and toasted it up. I slathered that baby in some pumpkin butter infused with pumpkin spice from Trader Joe's, and it was oh-so-delicious. Let's be real: Breakfast pastries are where pumpkin spice really is able to shine. Though the pumpkin butter definitely overpowered the much more subtly-flavored bagel, this was a very satisfying first course.

But then, things quickly went downhill.

I always worried about the savory side of pumpkin spice. I had heard the horrors of pumpkin spice sausage, pumpkin spice cheese, and even pumpkin spice hummus. I wasn't sure how to approach lunch and dinner, and it frankly led to me procrastinating my pumpkin spice experiment by a few days. And then, I tried to drink some pumpkin spice-flavored soup from a brand that shall remain nameless. I will just say it was less than amazing, and I decided simply tossing it was a better idea than tossing my pumpkin spice-flavored cookies, which I might have done if I'd tried to finish choking it down.

Luckily, when I ate like Khloe Kardashian for a week, I learned that almonds can apparently be a meal. I have a healthy supply of pumpkin spice-flavored almonds from Planters in my desk drawer, so I snacked on those throughout the afternoon. With a sugary taste with light hints of cinnamon and clove, these candied nuts have been a staple in my September snack rotation. I also munched on a pumpkin spice muffin I baked from a Krusteaz muffin mix last week and an Oikos pumpkin pie-flavored yogurt, so do not worry. I did not starve. I know you were concerned.

However, I was in some desperate need of salt. It had only been, like, 18 hours since my last savory meal, but I found myself dreaming of potato chips, perfectly-seasoned chicken breast, and garlicy vegetables while sitting at my desk. But I pushed through this craving and decided to go to the mecca of pumpkin spice: Starbucks.

I would never say that Starbucks started the pumpkin spice craze, but its increasingly popular pumpkin spice latte certainly has helped matters along. Who knows if we'd have dozens and dozens of other pumpkin spice products if this particular coffee brand didn't market the heck out of their signature seasonal drink. So I simply had to get a pumpkin spice latte! I decided to sip on this drink as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up instead of in the morning because it's pretty caloric, and I see this beverage more as a treat than as an actual espresso beverage to jumpstart my mornings.

Because the high temperature on Sept. 20 was actually 81 degrees, I opted for an iced pumpkin spice latte (without whip), which I had never experienced before. It actually had a lot of pumpkin flavor in it, which really came through in the iced version. And it was the most wonderfully seasonal shade of light orange.

My tumbly was a little grumbly because of my carb- and sugar-heavy lunch and snacks; it felt like the meals just passed right through me. So when I got home from work at six, I was simply ravenous. Thank goodness for Trader Joe's — they had offered a pumpkin-filled (and spiced) ravioli on sale this week that promised to boil up in just two minutes. I put a pot of boiling water on the stove (seasoned with salt and just a dash of pumpkin spice) and cooked those little pillows of pumpkin dough. I tossed them in olive oil and a little pumpkin spice. It was... good? The filling more or less tasted like pumpkin pie, so while it was pretty delicious, it was not the salty dinner I was looking for.

But halfway through my meal, I couldn't stand the lack of salt and the redundant pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg flavors, so I doused my ravioli in grated Parmesan cheese. I justified it by telling myself that the highly processed shaky cheese was barely food anyway. I'm not sure if my argument holds much weight, and maybe I failed at making it an entire day with only pumpkin spice flavored foods, but man, I'm only human. And I'm a human who hates redundant eating.

After my pumpkin spice crisis of faith, I had a shining beacon of light at the end of the pumpkin-colored tunnel: beer. I love pumpkin beer. And I'm not ashamed to say I doused my pumpkin sorrows in a few Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ales. It's a subtle pumpkin-flavored beer and one that's actually totally refreshing at the end of a long, hot day filled with cinnamon and cloves.

So after a day of eating nothing but pumpkin spice-infused products, I had to be totally and completely sick of the flavor, right? Actually, not really. I brewed another cup of pumpkin spice coffee the very next morning. This was partly because I wanted to finish up my box of K-Cups, but mostly because it just sounded pretty good. And while I am in no rush to buy pumpkin pasta or pumpkin soup anytime soon, I'll probably continue to munch on pumpkin spice almonds, cookies, and bagels throughout the fall. What can I say? I'm a sucker for seasonal products.

Want to have your own all pumpkin spice day? Click here for the guide to (almost) every pumpkin spice product in existence.