We are prepared to see plenty of pumpkin food between now and Thanksgiving - pumpkin cookies, risotto, beer and, of course, pumpkin pie. Some of these edible orange improvisations are good. Some aren't.

One of the best pumpkin foods we've tasted this season is the Spicy Pumpkin Coffee Cake ($4.65) , made by Servatii Pastry Shop (five locations). Incredibly soft and moist, the cake is loaded with plump raisins and topped with a swirl of rich cream cheese icing. (Think carrot cake with fewer layers.) If you don't like raisins, Servatii's offers similarly flavored Pumpkin Rolls ($4.15) without the dried fruit.

There's nothing low fat about these pumpkin treats - we don't want to know what makes the cakes so moist. But there must be plenty of healthy orange beta-carotene in there. Right?

Chuck Martin