The tools of the trade... I feel like every year I talk myself into buying one of those kits... which lands me with about 10 serrated crappy knives. Remember when our parents would use the kitchen knives, and we'd be ORIGINAL!? Well, my husband went with that this year... I did a stencil and though it looks cool, I always feel a bit awkward about it. I mean, Jack-o-Lanterns... three triagles and a mouth... TRADITIONAL.
In Keeping with tradition, Aquaman decided to lick himself silly on pumpkins. Later in the evening I caught him with a small piece of it chewing it like a bone. This dog loves himself some pumpkin!
We ended up carving 3 of the 4 pumpkins. The big round one took more effort, than we thought, and it was getting late!
This year though I tried something different with the seeds... They are TO DIE FOR!
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, then follow these steps:
Step 1 : Clean most of the gunk off the seeds
Step 2: Boil the Seeds in hot water and salt (season to taste) for 10 minutes.
Step 3: Strain boiled seeds, and remove any additional "gunk". Then, toss with Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper and if you don't mind a little spice, Cayenne Pepper.
Step 4: Flatten out seeds on a cookie sheet, and top them with a little more salt, pepper and cayenne.
Step 5: Bake for 5 Minutes, then toss and spread flat again, then bake for 7 Minutes and toss, bake for 4 minutes, and toss and then bake for 3 minutes and toss.
Depending on the heat of your oven, keep your eye out on the last few increments though... We like ours crispy! I usually only eat a couple seeds a season, and I couldn't quit putting these seeds in my tummy last night!
