a tale of two pumpkin (drinks).

all pumpktoberfest long, we've got guest posts from some of my favorite bloggers. so far, the posts from erica of FIPS & junk food guy have been nothing short of pumpktastic. today we've got the return of the eatinist bitch, who contributed a guest post on snacks & drinks in puerto rico to eat!drink!snack! this past summer. she kinda cracks my shit up. inside joke: don't ever get her on a boat & make her prepare guacamole for you.

fall isn't particularly my favorite time of year, but it's pretty special because it's her time to shine. by "her," i mean that curvy orange delight, the pumpkin. pumpkin pie, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin ice cream...pretty much anything pumpkin's added to is made better with its beautiful color, rich flavor, and dare i even say it...nutrition. when i saw that jamba juice had a seasonal smoothie called the "pumpkin smash" (almost sounds like a wrestling move...or a bad dance move from the 50's), of course I had to give it a try.

when you open the lid of the smoothie, you get a strong whiff of pumpkin and a faint hint of spices. basically, it smelled like liquid pumpkin pie...how could you go wrong with that? i took a long sip and prepared myself for the deliciousness...

...except deliciousness never came.

GOOD GOD THIS THING WAS SWEET! it tasted like a pumpkin that had been doused in sweetened condensed milk, rolled in brown sugar, and then dropped in a sugar bowl. the only ingredients are pumpkin puree, vanilla frozen yogurt, soy milk, ice and spices...but i only got a whisper of actual pumpkin taste. a good pumpkin pie is redolent with earthy squash and spices; so you would hope that something mimicking that flavor profile would take note of all that. i could only make it halfway through my size 16 oz cup (it doesn't come smaller) before i got nauseous and had to give up. i don't know how this one got past their focus groups or whomever they use as guinea pigs, because this was pretty disappointing. way to take a ride on the failboat, jamba!

now sonic on the other hand, they know how to handle a pumpkin. it may not be healthy, but dear christ, was it delicious!

after a long time of wishing and hoping, there's finally a sonic drive-in here in new york. after seeing a concert at jones beach, i realized that we weren't far away from their newest location in north babylon, long island. after a 10-15 minute wait, which went rather quickly, we ordered an insane amount of food and for dessert, i got their pumpkin pie milkshake and well...it was nothing short of glorious.

what's in it? pumpkin puree, vanilla ice cream, the requisite pumpkin pie spices, and an extra special touch: PIE CRUST PIECES. i mean really, guys, this is the lynchpin of the whole damn shake. YOU NEED TO HAVE THE PIE CRUST PIECES. the buttery crunch of the graham crackers is what really makes this over the top. then they up the ante with whipped cream and MOAR pie crust. it's sweet, but not insanely so. you have the texture from the crust and the balance from the spices, and it just makes for a tastier treat. it's not healthy, but i'm okay with that. i drank a bunch of water afterward and i felt just ducky.

eatinist bitch hails from queens, NY and loves food almost as much as she likes to talk. she's been blogging since summer 2010 and is currently interning for robicelli's cupcakes in brooklyn. check out her blog and like her on facebook to get recipes, reviews, and other tasty nibbles.