There's gold in them thar pumpkins!

Okay, excuse the hokey title, but I really felt the need this morning. After all, I'm trying to renovate the disaster area known as our toy shelves in the second living room. More on that in the next few days after I get it done (teehee).

After discovering that two of our local grocery stores were completely out (yes, really) of carving pumpkins this Sunday, I panicked. Monday night, I took the two kids with me to yet another local stores which (yay!) had plenty of nice pumpkins to choose from. They both chose really nice ones and of course, I had to pick up two for Mr. K and myself. Not only for the joy of using a knife on something to get out my frustrations (I kid, I kid), but for something that's been a tradition in my family for a while.

Look closely in the picture below and see what I mean:


No, no. Look CLOSER. Like in the center of the table where the most important things go:


Pumpkin seeds = gold to me.

You see, one of my favorite things about Halloween is eating roasted pumpkin seeds for a couple of weeks after carving, depending upon how 'seedy' your pumpkin is. *THAT* is why I buy at least 4 pumpkins and harass my friends into giving me whatever pumpkin guts I can get my hands on. Seriously.

You can find the nutrition info on pumpkin seeds here. I think it's probably without the shell, since the fiber content is so low. Also, they mention no salt (ahem). I found a cute video of Alton Brown's stovetop method on FoodNetwork; click here to see the short video. Also, there's a great recipe from Emeril Lagasse (no video, sorry to disappoint LOL) for spicy pumpkin seeds that you bake instead; click here.

I personally prefer to do mine in the oven. I can do LOTS more this way and I usually do a few batches spiced differently. The important thing to me is that I'm getting all the mileage out of the pumpkin I can and the smell of roasting seeds takes me back to childhood. You know, childhood; when the house magically cleaned itself and presented you with hot, home cooked food every night . . . a big thanks to you, Mom!

And here, my post would be woefully incomplete without sharing the ultimate finished product of our labors!



What do you do to get the most out of your Halloween? Feel free to share your ideas!

Love,

Kellacious