Tag: halloween

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds – the best snack!

Every year this is the best treat after carving your pumpkins and getting the inside guts all over you!  As you are carving your spooky or funny face into your pumpkin, remember to separate the seeds into a bowl apart from the gross guts of your pumpkin.  These are a great and easy snack to have late in the day and can keep for weeks in an air tight container!

Here are the easy steps to follow…

  1. Separate the pumpkin seeds as you carve your pumpkin doing your best to keep the gunk out of the seed bowl. The less guts the better.
  2. Once you’ve finished carving and cleaned up your carving station. Be sure to take a moment to read the blog about keeping your pumpkin from molding. Then come back to how to Roast your seeds.
  3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
  4. Dump the seeds into a colander and rinse them trying one last time to separate the pumpkin guts from your seeds.
  5. Take a medium sized pot and fill with about 4 cups of water. Add the seeds and 3 Tablespoons of water. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes.
  6. Remove from heat and drain.
  7. Pat dry with paper towels, this just gets them slightly dry, but not completely. Its ok, they will still bake just fine.
  8. Decide the flavor you want for your seeds. Some great options are as follows: Garlic Salt, Adobo, Ranch, or cinnamon and Sugar. (I prefer two flavors and this year did Ranch and then mixed Garlic Salt with Adobo. They were a hit with my family)
  9. Add the seeds to a large Ziploc baggie and add the flavor of choice. If you choose to do more than one flavor, only add half of the seeds into the baggie and do a second baggie for the second set of seeds. The amount of flavoring you add is up to you, but keep in mind that too much salt can be over powering.
  10. Take a large cookie sheet and cover with aluminum foil completely.
  11. Spread the pumpkin seeds across the foiled cookie sheet. If you are doing more than one flavor, keep your flavors separated on the cookie sheet as well.
  12. Bake on the top rack of the oven for 5 – 20 minutes.
  13. Check the seeds regularly. As the seeds feel dry and crisp, they are done.   Be sure not to let them burn.
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Don’t let your pumkpin mold

Lots of people know bleach can be used to help cut flowers stay beautiful longer, but may not know that the same bleach solution can also help keep that gross fuzzy mold from making a home inside your cute (or scary) Halloween pumpkin.

Items needed:
– Bleach
–1 clean 5 gallon bucket (or bucket large enough for the pumpkin)
–1 quart measuring cup and Measuring spoons
–A pumpkin
–Sharp knife, spoon, marker or pencil or stencil (for cleaning and carving)
–Paper towels

–Spray bottle

What to do…

  1. Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. (Remember to keep the stem to use as a handle when removing the top). Try to remove as much of the stringy fibers on the inside of the pumpkin by scraping them away with the spoon. Be sure to clean the underside of the pumpkin top, too. NOTE:  Keep thee seeds if you plan to cook them later for a great snack.
  2. Rinse the pumpkin inside and out with water.
  3. Draw a face and carve it out.
  4. Measure 3 gallons of water into the bucket.
  5. Add 3 teaspoons bleach the water in the bucket, and use the measuring spoons to stir the bleach solution. (always be careful when using bleach not to splash onto your clothing – Can’t fix a bleach stain)
  6. Immerse the pumpkin in the bleach solution. Pumpkins float, so be sure to stir it around to cover all surfaces with the bleach solution for a full two minutes. (The top too!)
  7. Remove the pumpkin, and let it air dry on a few paper towels, but save the water mixture.
  8. Easy clean-up—just fill the spray bottle with some of the water mixture for misting of your pumpkin should it dry out as the days pass on and pour the rest of the bleach solution down the drain.
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