Forget pumpkin spice! A cookbook author has brilliant ideas for how to add pumpkin to your menu

(CNN) — For Dan Pelosi, the first whisper of crisp autumnal temperatures means one thing: It’s pumpkin season.

For far too long, pumpkin, and pumpkin spice in particular, has been “dinged as basic,” Pelosi said — the territory of “messy-bun sporting and scarf-wielding” coffee shop patrons , he noted in his new cookbook, “ Let’s Party : Recipes and Menus for Celebrating Every Day.”

But Pelosi fully embraces the cliché, slipping on wool socks, rocking a cozy sweater, relishing in the vibrant fall foliage and proudly declaring, “I’m a Pumpkin Spice Girl.”

“I adore it so much there’s an entire ‘Pumpkin Spice Up Your Life’ chapter in my book. This is something that many of us love, but we’ve been shamed about,” the New York-based recipe developer, cookbook author and food personality kn