scary pumpkin seeds!
Ask my husband and he’ll disappointedly tell you I am NOT a fan of Halloween. He LOVES Halloween. He came home from school today and immediately put on his halloween skeleton shirt. I blame my mother for my dislike of all things Halloweenish. I do not like the scary movies, haunted houses, face-painting, and creepy teens too old to beg for candy wearing scary murderers masks with regular clothes! I’m sorry teenagers, but it’s not a costume if you wear mask with jeans and a sweatshirt! My mom still doesn’t like all that stuff either and I guess she passed it on down to me. I can remember the pressure of finding that “perfect costume” as a kid and then pleading my mom not to paint up my face. I was a painfully shy kid and running to stranger’s doors and asking for candy; it simply went against all the principles I’d been following since birth! But I did it for the candy and the sugar rush. Had there been no sweet reward, I probably would have passed on Halloween altogether. I am sure, come next October, I will be embracing Halloween with newfound zest, dressing my little tot in whatever adorable costume is currently the hottest on pinterest (adorable cowardly lion onesie, anyone?).
Halloween 1980: note Tari’s parka beneath her Superman costume. No doubt it was snowing and miserable outside.
In my attempt to show some Halloween Spirit, I roasted our pumpkin seeds. It’s the simplest of recipes, so be sure not to throw out your seeds!
spicy, warm and salty seeds!
Indian Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
Prep time: However long it takes you to scoop out the guts of a pumpkin, then add 5 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Serves: 1 small bowlful
- Seeds from one large carving pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon garam masala spice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Using a large spoon, scoop out the guts and seeds from the carving pumpkin into a large bowl. Remove pulp and strings from seeds as much as possible by hand.
- Place the seeds into a colander and run under water, swishing around with hands, for a few minutes. Take the time to pick out the rest of the pumpkin guts.
- Shake the colander to remove excess water and pour seeds onto an oiled baking sheet (cooking spray is ok too, just lighting coat the sheet with oil).
- Roast at 300 for 30 minutes to dry the seeds.
- In a small bowl, stir garam masala with olive oil until well mixed. Pour over seeds and sprinkle with coarse salt, like kosher. (I did about 4-5 2-fingered pinches of salt).
- Roast seeds at 300 for another 20 minutes, until crisp and golden.
