Another Fall Fave

My hubby requests these bad boys every fall. Especially once the kids and I have brought home the pumpkins from the farm. Thank you Miller Farm- what an amazing place to be. Way more than pumpkins, this farm also offers huge selection of seasonal vegetables, and they are a very popular CSA around here.
So, we brought home the pumpkins on Monday, carved them yesterday (and of course saved the seeds). Today My dear husband came home "did you roast the seeds yet!?" He gets childishly excited about these, so whom am I to dissapoint!

The hardest part of roasting pumpkin seeds, is the separation of the seeds from everything else. I put the kids to work scooping out the pumpkins yesterday. I put all the pumpkin innards in a large bowl and filled with water. The seeds float to the top, and it makes the process alittle easier.
Once you have all the seeds separated, dry them off with paper towels. They will still feel "slimy" after they've been dried, but remove as much of that as possible.
Turn on the oven to 350 degrees.
The rest is depending on taste. I've done these with olive oil and sea salt, I've done them with a touch of salt, brown sugar and cinnamon too.. This is my hubby's favorite:
Melt butter (about 1/2 stick), mix in the seeds. Add salt to taste.
Spread evenly over cookie sheet, pop in the oven, and stir every 5 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Devour.

Happy Halloween and Yummy Pumpkin Seeds

 Yet another one of those fabulous American holidays- Halloween! After all the farm visits and pumpkin patches you can rest assured we had enough pumpkins for carving, cooking etc, etc. This year we decided to try one of them new fancy patterned pumpkin carvings. The result, in my opinion, cute but a little boring. Next year we will make a traditional jack-o-lantern.

The best part about carving pumpkins is the seeds! It's alot of work, but well worth the effort to remove, clean, dry and roast these little gems.

I put the kids on sorting seeds from "anything orange", they managed to extract about 4-5 seeds each, then got tired of it. So, it was all on me.
So, extract seeds and separate from all things orange. I find that it is easier in a bowl of cold water. Then pour into a colander, and rinse really well. They will continue to feel slippery, that's ok, and will first disappear when you dry them.
Let them sit in the colander to dry, then take a hair dryer to them, stirring with your hand constantly, until mostly dry. The next step depends much on personal preference, but I am sharing our family favorite.
Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter, mix in about 2 tsp salt. Mix the seeds in the butter until coated, then pull them out with a slotted spoon, onto an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet. Roast in the oven at 275 degrees for about 30 minutes. Do keep a close eye on them, and stir every 5-10 minutes. Pull out of the oven when they are a deep golden brown and fill your home with a wonderful aroma!
Serve warm for greatest joy :)