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Family Traditions
When our first of three sons was born four years ago, I decided
that we would have at least one family tradition for each holiday.
Traditions are what help keep memories alive. For Halloween, I
chose to pass down the tradition that I had growing up. My dad
would bring my brother and I each a gigantic pumpkin to paint
or carve. This year, I decided to start two other traditions with the
boys for Halloween (you can never have too much fun!): picking
their own pumpkins, and baking pumpkin seeds.
We brought our two oldest boys to our Rouse Family Farm in
Mississippi and let the boys roam the pumpkin patch and pick
a variety of pumpkins. This year they picked Jack-O-Lantern
pumpkins, pie pumpkins, and cushaw pumpkins. The boys were
fascinated and had so much fun picking their own pumpkin not
only to decorate, but to cook.
After “gutting” their pumpkins, I showed them that the seeds could
be replanted for next year’s crop or roasted for a yummy treat. Here
is the recipe that we used:
PUMPKINS
Donald Rouse, Holden Martinolich, Britton Martinolich, Lillian Rouse
Donald Rouse picking pumpkins with grandchildren.
Holden Martinolich, Halloween 2013
Roasted
Pumpkin Seeds
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
1
medium sized pumpkin
Rouses Salt
Rouses Olive Oil
HOW TO PREP
Cut open the pumpkin by cutting a circle around the stem end with a sharp
knife (knife blade angled in) and pulling off the top. Use a strong metal spoon
to scrape the insides of the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and strings. Place
the mass of pumpkin seeds in a colander and run under water to rinse and
separate the seeds from everything else.
Measure the pumpkin seeds in a cup measure. Place the seeds in a medium
saucepan. Add 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to the pan for every
half cup of pumpkin seeds. Add more salt if you would like your seeds to be
saltier. Bring the salted water and pumpkin seeds to a boil. Let simmer for 10
minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat the bottom of a roasting pan or thick baking
sheet with olive oil, about a tablespoon. Spread the seeds out over the roasting
pan in a single layer and toss them a bit to coat them with the oil on the pan.
Bake on the top rack until the seeds begin to brown, 5-20 minutes, depending
on the size of the seeds. Small pumpkin seeds may toast in around 5 minutes
or so: large pumpkin seeds may take up to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the
pumpkin seeds so they don’t get over toasted. When lightly browned, remove
the pan from the oven and let cool on a rack. Let the pumpkin seeds cool all
the way down before eating.
Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion,
unnecessary) or eat whole.
RECIPE,
try me!
