Pumpkin Carving

Carved pumpkins with the kids, and roasted the pumpkin seeds...

My angry bird pumpkin

Dave's bear pumpkin

the kids' and our friends' pumpkins

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Here's a quick and easy recipe for pumpkin seeds:

Rinse seeds, and separate from the orange flesh.

Salt to taste.  Bake on a flat cookie sheet (one layer... spread them out)  at 275 degrees.
Come back in about half an hour, and use tongs or a spoon... to stir them around.

Flatten back to single layer, and put back in the oven.
Keep them in there until desired done-ness.  Some people like them a little moister so the shells can be opened and the seed meat taken out on its own.

Some people like it Crisp so you can eat it whole....  up to you.   I just keep tasting them 'till they are at the crispness I want.
This year we had about 17 pumpkins.  Not all were carved, but man.. it was alot.

Pumpkin Carving

Had a few of our friends come over tonight, and we all carved pumpkins.
I've always wondered why the smaller pumpkins are pie pumpkins, and the bigger ones are just jackolantern pumpkins.
Most likely it's related to flavor, and sweetness due to size (is it like veal where the younger is more tender?), but when the pilgrims had giant pumpkins, did they only carve them and NOT eat them? I have no idea.

Since I don't know any better, I keep all cut pieces of pumpkin from pumpkin carving, Minus the skins, and liquefy it in the blender. The guys were nice enough to put all the pumpkin seeds in one bowl, and the pulp into another.
I ended up with about 8 cups of pumpkin mush for future breads, or pies.

Once in the past, I froze a gallon size ziplock of mush, and BOY WAS THAT EVER A MISTAKE! chiseling out pumpkin ice to make 1 loaf of pumpkin bread... ugh.
Now I've been freezing them in sandwhich size bags... 2 cups at a time.

The seeds were rinsed, salted, and roasted at 200 degrees for an hour or so.
Every so often, I took a spoon and scraped the seeds around the pan, so they wouldn't get stuck to it. In the past, I've used recipes that say 350 degrees, and have burned them. This year, I just put it on 200, and kept tasting them until they were the correct mouthfeel. I like to eat the shells, so it needs to be exceptionally crispy! :)

OH you know what else I've learned in the last few months. I've been saving the Dessacant (sp?) Packets from some other food bags and putting them in with my dried foods (nuts, seeds, and nori). Wow that stuff is magical! It keeps them crispy, and not a chance of mold anywhere! Why didn't anyone ever tell me this secret?!?!