Traditions

Just as memorable as my Dad helping us carve our pumpkins each year is my Mom cleaning and roasting the pumpkin seeds so we could eat them. So while DH and DS got to work on our traditional jack-o'latern I got to work on the motherly task of washing, seasoning and roasting the seeds.

I had DH and DS scoop all the pumpkin guts into a big bowl.

I separated all the seeds and rinsed them in a colander under cold water (you want to make sure you get rid of all the guts because it burns quickly. this is best done by rubbing them with your fingers under cold water.).

Place back in the bowl and let soak for approximately 8+ hours in salt water.

I drained the water and dried the pumpkin seeds on a paper towel (notice it is getting dark now, we carved our pumpkins in the morning but you could let them soak over night if you carved your pumpkins in the evening).

I decided to try two different methods to find our which would taste better (I will give you our taste test results at the end).

Method 1: I made a "sweet" seasoning of cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg. For my seasoning shaker I used a clean glass baby food jar and had DH poke holes in the top. It worked perfectly and easy to store and save for future cinnamon toast (mmmmmm). I put a little butter in a sauce pan, seasoned the seeds and roasted them on the stove top. I used medium heat and constantly flipped them. (I actually think I let them cook slightly too long and could have taken them off sooner then I did because some pieces were slightly burnt).

Method 2: I tossed the seeds with a little olive oil, sprinkled with kosher salt, placed one layer of seeds on a baking sheet covered with foil and baked on 300 degrees for approximately 40 minutes (I also flipped these a few times during baking time).

There you have it: two types of seasoned seeds (you can actually season in many ways - garlic salt, seasoning salt, etc.). Our fave and the ones we will make again next year: kosher salt seasoned pumpkin seeds baked in the oven.

This is a fun tradition to add to the traditional carving. DS had fun watching and was interested in the results but wasn't willing to try them (do I have the pickiest eater or what?! grrrr).