It’s pumpkin spice season! Already! Are you ready?

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Hi, again, Dear Readers:

After my last blog on The Whistle Stop coffee shop in Denham Springs, I figured I was done blogging for a few days. And then I looked up and September is staring at me. Oh, well. I did send a note to them later and got a very nice “thank you” email back. We’ll visit them again.

Chances are you’re still running your A/C. But pumpkin spice season is here, whether you want it or not. Let’s talk about the what and why, in a minute.

RIP, Dolly Parton

Last week came the news that Dolly Parton, country music singer/songwriter and celebrity icon, had passed away at the age of 80.

I can’t say I was a big Dolly fan, but I liked her. Like many people, I thought she was, indeed, a national treasure. James and I were both saddened to hear the news. It happened quickly, and she was buried last Friday.

These Dolly songs have been stuck in my head since then:

• Theme from the movie 9 to 5, which we watched that night
• Jolene, the Olivia Newton-John version and her duet with Dolly, right before Olivia passed in 2022 as part of her Duets project, Volume 1 and Volume 2. (Jolene is on Volume 1.)
• Here You Come Again, from I don’t even know when
• Potential New Boyfriend, a song I only heard a few times back in the 80’s
• I Will Always Love You, the Whitney Houston version of Dolly’s song used in the film The Bodyguard

 

Multiple interviews with Dolly have surfaced on social media, both recent and ancient. In one of them, Dolly said the first time she heard the last one on the radio, she didn’t recognize it at first. Unfortunately, she was driving at the time. When Dolly suddenly realized Whitney Houston was singing her song, with that fantastic David Foster arrangement, she nearly crashed her car.

Also watched Steel Magnolias this weekend, because it was available on PlutoTV.

Everyone knew Dolly

Tributes from people everywhere, celebrity and not, are flowing into social media and news outlets. Sting, as in The Police, posted on IG yesterday that Dolly called and asked him to participate in making her final album, Rock Star. When Dolly calls, Sting smiles and says, “you just say, ‘Yes, Ma’am.'” (That CD is on my Amazon wish list now.) Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran was another who worked on that album along with so many others. And of course, her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.

Another Dolly duet was with Sabrina Carpenter on a cleaned-up version her song from a couple of years ago, Please, Please, Please. Sabrina has also posted on her IG account about working with “Mama Dolly.” Dolly didn’t like the swearing in the song so they removed the more offensive lyrics. (If you want to see the more offensive version, it’s on YouTube as well.) There are so many collaborations and duets that there probably isn’t a comprehensive list.

Like the late Tina Turner, Dolly Parton knew nearly everyone. And Dolly was also inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, the year after Tina was inducted as a solo artist.

Business and Philanthropy

Dolly was also a businesswoman and philanthropist.  She donated more money than she kept, prompting her to say that she would have been a billionaire if she hadn’t given all that money away. But she truly used that money for good, and I’m sure her businesses and charitable works will continue.

One example: her reading program for children, the Imagination Library, now sends three million books a month to children in the US and overseas. She created it in her father’s memory, who was illiterate his entire life.

Rest In Peace in the comfy cotton, Miss Dolly. You’re done with the heavy rhinestones.

PSL is back! Yes, already!

So, it’s getting on that time of the year, and Starbucks recently announced the return of the PSL on August 25th.

I was with James at the VA Medical Center on the 25th. When we left, I told him we had to stop at Starbucks to get our first PSL. Oh, the face he made. Mind you, he doesn’t drink coffee, and after my first and last taste of the PSL in 2015, y’all know I was just being facetious.

Comedienne Carollynn Xavier posted a short video on Instagram a couple of days ago about PSL season: “Without Starbucks, we wouldn’t know that the seasons changed.” It’s not long, and her deadpan delivery makes it highly amusing.

She describes herself as a “recovering Californian” who left The Golden State, kept driving, and found Tennessee. Her IG videos are very quietly funny as she describes discoveries she’s made in the South after leaving California–like butter, which is “legal in Tennessee.” (She’s also become a born-again Christian.)

Now, one question that many are thinking about: is it pumpkin spice season already? Let’s have a convo with my BFF ChatGPT to answer that question.

It’s Still Hot Outside—So Why Are We Already Eating Pumpkin Spice?

Walk into a coffee shop, grocery store, or big-box retailer in late August, and you may notice something a little strange.

It’s 95 degrees outside. The air conditioner is running nonstop. You are still wearing shorts and trying not to melt while walking from the car to the store.

And there it is: Pumpkin spice.

Pumpkin spice coffee, creamers, cookies, candles, cereal, and this one:

(I couldn’t resist.) And there’s also apple cider and cinnamon everything.

Apparently, fall has arrived.

Wait, When Is Fall?

Never mind that the official first day of autumn is still weeks away. (September 22, if you’re interested.) Never mind that much of the country is still dealing with summer temperatures that make turning on the oven feel like a questionable life decision.

America has collectively decided that if the pumpkin spice products are on the shelves, fall has begun. So why does fall food season seem to start earlier every year?

The answer has a lot to do with marketing, nostalgia, seasonal anticipation, and one coffee drink that somehow became powerful enough to influence America’s unofficial calendar.

Fall Is More Than a Season—It’s a Feeling

Part of the reason fall food arrives so early is that people aren’t necessarily waiting for the actual weather.

They’re waiting for the feeling.

Summer can be fun. But by late August, people are ready for something different. The endless heat starts to get old. School is starting again. Vacations are ending. New fall fashions are showing up in stores, magazines, and online. Stores are beginning to fill with Halloween and other holiday decorations, and football season is approaching. The idea of sweaters, soups, baking, and cooler weather starts sounding pretty appealing.

If you’re one of us who has experienced and lived through menopause, you know exactly what that means and can appreciate autumn.

Fall represents a change, and food is one of the easiest ways to experience that change.

Having it early

You may not be able to make the temperature outside drop, but you can drink something flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin. Bake an apple dessert, just use the countertop oven. Make some chili. Light a candle that smells like someone baked an entire pie in your living room.

In other words, seasonal food allows us to pretend that fall has arrived before Mother Nature gets the memo.

There is also something deeply comforting about fall flavors. Pumpkin, apple, maple, cinnamon, pecans, brown butter, and warm spices all tend to be associated with baking, holidays, family gatherings, and home cooking.

They feel familiar and comfortable.

And after months of salads, grilled food, cold drinks, and trying to find meals that don’t require heating up the kitchen, people are ready for food that feels warmer and more substantial.

Even if they still have to eat it while the air conditioner is running.

The Retail Calendar Keeps Moving Earlier

Of course, consumers aren’t solely responsible for this early start. Retailers have figured out something important: people get excited about seasons long before the calendar says they officially begin.

Christmas decorations often appear before Halloween. (Hello, Hobby Lobby.) Valentine’s Day merchandise shows up shortly after New Year’s, if not right before. Easter candy can arrive when some parts of the country are still dealing with winter weather.

Fall food follows the same pattern. Seasonal products create anticipation, and anticipation creates sales.

Why They Don’t Have It Year-Round

There is also a limited amount of time for companies to sell seasonal products. Pumpkin spice products aren’t meant to stay around forever. The fact that they are temporary is part of their appeal, even though you can buy canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice all year long. (If you don’t believe me, check your grocery. Pumpkin pie spice is easy to make, just find a recipe and shake it up.)

If your favorite pumpkin-flavored coffee creamer were available every day of the year, it probably wouldn’t feel quite as special.

But tell people that it will disappear in a few months? Suddenly, they need three bottles.

Seasonal food creates a sense of urgency that regular products simply don’t have. It gives consumers something new to look forward to, and it gives companies a reliable way to create excitement around products that might otherwise seem fairly ordinary.

After all, “coffee creamer” is not particularly exciting.

“Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer Available Only This Fall”?

Now we’re talking.

Starbucks Didn’t Invent Fall, But It Sure Helped Put a Start Date on It

You can make a pretty good argument that Starbucks helped create the modern phenomenon of starting fall before summer has officially packed its bags.

The company’s Pumpkin Spice Latte debuted in 2003 as a limited test in approximately 100 stores. According to Starbucks, the idea was developed by a team experimenting with flavors that paired well with espresso, eventually settling on a combination inspired by the spices commonly associated with pumpkin pie. The drink rolled out nationally in the United States the following fall.

What started as a seasonal coffee drink became something much bigger. The Pumpkin Spice Latte became a cultural event.

It’s A “Thing” Now

Suddenly, the return of the PSL wasn’t just about ordering coffee. It became an announcement that pumpkin season had arrived, whether the temperature outside agreed or not.

The return of the drink became something people anticipated every year. Social media helped turn the first PSL of the season into an event. Coffee shops, grocery stores, restaurants, and food companies all took notice.

Pumpkin spice wasn’t just a flavor anymore.

It was a season.

And Starbucks is still helping set the unofficial calendar.

And The PSL Is Back!

In 2026, the company brought its fall menu back on August 25—weeks before the official first day of autumn. Starbucks reported that August 25 became its strongest fall-launch day ever across the United States and Canada. (Investors like the sound of that too.) More than two decades after the Pumpkin Spice Latte first appeared, its return still has enough cultural power to make people start talking about sweaters, soup, football, and fall baking while many of us are still running the air conditioner full blast.

The company has also expanded far beyond the original PSL. Its 2026 fall lineup includes multiple pumpkin drinks, pecan-flavored coffee drinks, and other seasonal offerings. Once a company successfully convinces millions of people that a particular flavor signals the beginning of a season, it makes sense to keep giving them more ways to participate. Clearly, they want to.

For better or worse, Starbucks helped establish the idea that fall doesn’t necessarily begin on a specific date. Fall begins when the seasonal menu comes back.

Social Media Made Seasonal Food Even Bigger

There was a time when seasonal food was mostly something you encountered at a restaurant or grocery store.

Now it arrives in your social media feed weeks before it arrives on your table.

Someone posts their first pumpkin coffee. Then someone else shares an apple cider donut. The slow cooker chili shows up next. The fall charcuterie board, soup recipes, and the “cozy dinner” videos follow.

Before long, you may find yourself wondering why you’re suddenly craving cinnamon rolls when it was 98 degrees yesterday.

Social Media as a Catalyst

Social media has accelerated seasonal food trends because people can see what everyone else is eating.

Food has always been social, but now it is also visual entertainment.

The first pumpkin spice drink isn’t just a drink. It’s a photograph.

An apple dessert isn’t simply dessert. It’s content.

And once enough people start sharing the same seasonal foods, those foods become part of a collective ritual.

The calendar might say August.

Instagram says it’s October.

Who are you going to believe?

We Start Thinking About Fall Before We Actually Experience It

There is another reason fall food season begins early: anticipation is often more enjoyable than waiting.

People start looking forward to fall while summer is still happening.

The first appearance of pumpkin products signals that cooler weather is coming eventually. Even if you live somewhere that won’t actually experience anything resembling sweater weather until October or November, you can still participate.

You can buy the candle, make the soup, and drink the PSL.

Fall food gives us a preview of a season before the season actually arrives. And honestly, that may be the entire point.

We’re not necessarily eating pumpkin spice because we’re cold. We’re eating pumpkin spice because we would like to be.

Pumpkin Spice Isn’t the Only Flavor of Fall

As dominant as pumpkin spice has become, fall food is much bigger than pumpkin.

Apple is having its annual moment, and for good reason. Apples work equally well in desserts, drinks, breakfast dishes, and savory meals. Apple cider, apple butter, apple crisp, apple pie, and roasted apples all bring a different kind of fall flavor to the table.

Then there are pecans, maple, sweet potatoes, brown butter, caramel, cranberries, pears, squash, mushrooms, and every warm spice in the pantry.

Non-Pumpkin Fall Foods

Some of the best fall foods don’t contain pumpkin at all. Apple pie, for instance, as well as other squashes and gourds.

That might be the most interesting thing about the increasingly early fall food season. It gives us an excuse to revisit ingredients and flavors that don’t always get much attention during the rest of the year.

Summer food tends to be fresh, light, and quick, but fall food is where we slow down.

We bake, simmer, and roast. We make food that fills the kitchen with smells worth lingering around.

That’s probably why people are so eager to start early.

So Is Starting Fall Food Season in August Too Early?

Probably. But also, maybe not. It depends, as any attorney will tell you.

There is something objectively ridiculous about drinking a pumpkin-spiced beverage while sitting in a car hot enough to cook an egg. (Unless it’s iced, of course.)

There is something slightly absurd about seeing Halloween candy next to beach towels.

And yes, some people would prefer that we allow each season to have its turn before rushing into the next one.

Fair enough.

But seasonal food is supposed to be fun. If eating an apple cider donut in August makes someone happy, there are certainly worse things they could be doing.

The real question may not be whether fall food season starts too early. The question may be why we are so eager for it to begin. And the answer probably comes down to comfort.

More Than Just Food

Food helps mark the passage of time. Certain flavors remind us of certain experiences. Seasonal food gives us something to anticipate.

 

Pumpkin and cinnamon can remind us of holidays like Thanksgiving in November. Apple cider can remind us of fairs and football games. Chili and soup can remind us that cooler weather is coming.

So if the grocery store wants to put pumpkin spice on the shelves while it’s still summer, that’s fine.

We don’t have to immediately start decorating for Christmas. Let’s not get crazy.

But we can enjoy a pumpkin coffee, bake an apple dessert, and start thinking about soup. Need some recipes? They’re on the recipes page. (I need to update that soup blog with WP Recipe maker.)

And if you’re sitting outside in August heat while holding a Pumpkin Spice Latte, just remember:

• According to the calendar, it’s still summer.
• According to Starbucks? Fall has been here for days.

 

Enjoy it all.

I Made a PSL Today

Much as I disliked the PSL I got in the store years ago, I do like making the iced one:

 

If you haven’t seen it before, it’s the Iced Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Gimme Some Oven.  I first made it in 2023, and have enjoyed it occasionally ever since, much to James’ dislike. He even retched again last night at the mention of making one. But with ready-made iced coffee in the fridge, it comes together quickly and froths up nicely in the blender.

Until Next Time

I’m always looking for and thinking about new topics to bring to the blog. I’ve got a couple in mind but haven’t started them yet. My iPhone is also full of pictures I intended for blog posts. . .but they’re still on my phone. At least I have a BFF that can help me out when I’m lost for ideas. Still need to get back with BFF on making Trello work for me instead of it adding more work.

It’s still summer. . .but that first cold front will be here before you know it, so enjoy what’s left of summer while you can.

Even if you do have a PSL before then.

Happy Dining!