My good Mother In Law was kind enough to pick up a couple of beautiful pumpkins with a color of what I like to describe is a near-cinnamon/orange.
We finally got around to making one of those Pumpkin Masters carvings of a cat sitting by the moonlight (I would have loved to do a more complex design, but it would probably frighten the children as is). As is with many-a-pumpkin carver, gutting the pumpkin is my least favorite task. We have always dealt with a flesh of even consistency when scooping, but this particular pumpkin it was like scooping out spaghetti-strings. I had never seen anything like it, and upon researching the Internet have not been able to identify the type of pumpkin it was. And it drove me crazy since I could not get the inside of the pumpkin clean as well as I would like. So the innards is not smooth, but stringy, choppy…just overall sloppy; not even a good paring knife could clean this up. Well when the candle was put in and the Jack ‘O Lantern lit up the strings made it look like spider webs covered around the carved trees. Nevertheless it was beautiful in it’s own way.
To end the night I clean, bake and season the seeds. For those who have never tried it, I promise you, it is easy.
Pumpkin Seed Snack
Preheat Oven to 325 degrees.
Thoroughly was pumpkin seeds and remove any remaining ’sinews’. Damp dry between a clean dishcloth or paper towels.
Cover a large cookie sheet with tin foil and evenly spread seeds. Spray seeds with olive oil or canola cooking spray. Sprinkle lightly with seasonings of choice* and bake for 25 minutes.
* Seasoning Ideas
- Sea Salt
- Cayenne Pepper and Paprika
- Pumpkin spices of powdered ginger, nutmeg, and ground cloves.
