Anti-Halloween Halloween

Here in Arizona, we don't really have much of an autumn season.  Sure, the nights are getting a bit cooler but we don't have any of the beautiful fall foliage that we are used to from back east.  Neither of us are really pro-Halloween, so in order to make the most of our October, we decided to pack up on Sunday and head about an hour outside of Tucson to visit a pumpkin farm!  

We got to walk around a HUGE field of pumpkins and literally pick our pumpkins off the vine (note to selves: remember to bring a knife and gloves next time!).  It was interesting to see all the different kinds of pumpkins - the white ones were especially cool.  Stacie couldn't resist the irony of the white pumpkin snowperson.  : ) 

 

In our typical fashion, although we intended to visit and maybe get a decorative pumpkin or two, we walked off the farm with a total of seven (yes, seven) pumpkins.  Two big ones to carve and several smaller ones for decorations.   

 

When we got back from the farm, we cleaned our pumpkins by scooping out the seeds and guts and then carving them.  Stacie's is the white pumpkin with the artistic owl design and Sarah's is the orange one with the funny face. 

Finally, we decided we needed a snack after all that carving, so we cleaned the seeds from both pumpkins by separating them from the pumpkin flesh, rinsing them, and patting them dry with some paper towels.  After that, the rest was easy!  Here's our recipe:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups (approximately) of cleaned, rinsed, and dried pumpkin seeds

1/2 stick of butter

Seasonings (We made three kinds - Salty Garlic, Asian-Inspired, and Sweet & Spicy)

*Here's what you will need depending on the type you want to make: 

Salty garlic:

 (generous sprinkles of granulated garlic and salt)

Asian-inspired:

(2 TB of soy sauce, 1 ts sesame oil, a 1/4 ts of powdered ginger, 

generous sprinkles of granulated garlic and salt)

Sweet and Spicy:

(3 heaping TB of brown sugar, a few good shakes of ground cayenne pepper, 

and generous sprinkles of granulated garlic, salt, & paprika)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, pour butter over the clean seeds.  Add the seasonings and mix well.  Pour out onto a foil-lined baking sheet (or two).  Spread out seeds so they are in a single layer.  Pop them in the oven for about 30-45 minutes.  You'll have to watch to make sure they don't burn, so don't go far from the kitchen!  You should use a spatula to turn the seeds around at least two times during the roasting process.  After they turn a light toasted color, take them out of the oven and let them cool down before you dig in! 

Also, thanks everyone for your votes on our poll!  Look out for our pesto recipe, coming soon!