I'm happy to report that this week will be another pumpkin dessert — please, please hold your applause.

Happy Pomegranate Month! Yes, my friends. November is National Pomegranate Month. As I sit here enjoying the beauty of the Flatirons, the snow shimmering in the sun, sipping my PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur, all is right in the world. OK, so it is afternoon, and I’m hitting the sauce. But I must do my research and know what I’m writing about, right? Excuses, excuses.

So, if happiness were a flavor, what would it taste like? I vote any dessert made for the Thanksgiving Day table. Something about the smells, colors and the taste equals pure happiness. Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Cream Cheesecake has all the above covered, Sing Hallelujah! Come on get happy!

Ah, Halloween is over, and on to Christmas we go. Wait, Thanksgiving comes first, even though these days, who would know? I happen to love Thanksgiving and everything that comes along with it. Some things just go together naturally, sugar and spice, football and beer, Jon and Kate, and pumpkin desserts at the Thanksgiving Day table.

Man, the search for Halloween costumes can be simply exhausting. A Playboy bunny, a naughty nurse or a witch. What to do, what to do. I was thinking about being a dessert, you know, a “tart.” The flavor of tart to be determined. As usual, I will probably stay home and hope for many cute little trick-ortreaters. I do love handing out the candy.

Okay Boulderites, I’m going for cozy this week. Usually by the middle of October I have made at least five pumpkin-based desserts for TV, but this year I’m slacking. November will have to be “pumpkin dessert month,” which makes sense. What the hay was I doing making all my pumpkin desserts in October anyway? (I said “hay” deliberately. I would never swear in the Weekly, and it is very timely, with hayrides being so in season right now.)

Well, I'm another year older and another year wiser. Yes, my birthday was Sunday, and now I must remember what age I told everyone I was last year to make sure that this year I follow suit. I don't mind belated birthday gifts, so please contact me, and I will show up wherever and whenever to grab the gift. I had the good fortune of going back to the Pacific Northwest to celebrate with my family. My mom and niece and nephew threw quite a bash complete with party hats, party horns, balloons, paper plates, plastic forks and it was just what I wanted. And the icing on the cake literally was the dessert. Good ol' gigantic, layered, frosting-everywhere bakery cake.

Back to beautiful Colorado from the beautiful Riviera Maya, Mexico. I'm having a hard time adjusting to no cerveza on the beach.

Bars or squares? That was my big burning question of the weekend. Yes, my life is exciting. I knew what I was making and what would be in it. But what I didn't know was what to call it. Does Blackberry Almond Squares sound better than Blackberry Almond Bars?