It's October and only a week till Halloween which only means one thing, pumpkins are in full affect! Last night was the first time that we decided to have a pumpkin carving family party. It was beautiful out so we set up everything on the deck and started the party!
Being that it would be all the kids first time of carving pumpkins, I was so excited to be the parent that got to carve and finally have someone else do the slimy work or taking all the seeds out of the pumpkin! (I know, I'm a wuss, I think that's why I haven't carved out a pumpkin since I was little was because I thought the cleaning out of the pumpkin was just too gross!) But, boy was I wrong! All the kids picked their theme for their pumpkin, but as soon as it was time for them to clean it out they all thought it was too slimy to put their hands in. I guess I can't blame them since it took me 30 years to appreciate it! So in the end the pumpkin carving party consisted of myself and my husband carving, cleaning, and fighting off all three children from getting the carving tools. In the end we all had fun, and the best compliment came from my son that said, "mommy, my pumpkin is so awesome!" I'll take that as pat in the butt and a good game any day!
The finished product!
Admiring their pumpkins and wanting to play with fire!
See pumpkin carving is so much fun!
The evidence of the pumpkin carving party!
With three hollowed out pumpkins we had a lot of seeds and there's nothing better than some roasted pumpkin seeds. They are super easy to do, so don't you dare throw those seeds away!
So we start with the seeds and all the pumpkin pulp attached to them.
Put all the seeds into a strainer and rinse them really well. Notice I put a bowl that is bigger than the strainer so that it can eventually fill up and sit in some water.
You will notice the rinsing will start separating the pumpkin from the seeds and the pumpkin will fall to the bottom of the strainer while the seeds will float to the top.
Nice and cleaned, now all you have to do is skim the seeds off the top, shaking the excessive water off the seeds and put them onto a sprayed sheet tray.
Spread the seeds out onto the sheet tray.
Using your hand to help you create a single layer of seeds in the sheet tray.
Now you can add your seasoning of choice. I decided to just go with the basic Kosher salt and I sprinkled a generous amount, about 1/4 c. on the seeds.
**Recipe note: because these seeds are bigger, and it's hard to salt the actual seed some people opt for boiling the seeds in salt water before roasting them, but that's an extra step that I choose not to do because I don't feel that it gives the seeds that much better of a product for the time it takes**
After the seeds are salted, put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 8-25 minutes.
**Recipe note: I know that time is a wide range but it all depends on your size of pumpkin seeds. Mine were pretty big so they took about 23 minutes.**
Check the seeds every 5-7 minutes to check in the seeds, they can burn easily.
Once the pumpkin seeds are toasted to your liking, I shut the oven off, open the door, keeping the sheet tray in there, and let it sit for another 5 to 7 minutes. This just helps crisp them up and dry them all out! Plus it helps heat up the house a little! I know I will stop no I sound like a crunchy granola mom! Which I am far from but maybe secretly aspire to be!
-Cool
No comments:
Post a Comment