Happy Halloween!
My Dad and I at Parent’s Weekend.
Once a year we have Parent’s Weekend at my school. My Mom and Dad came for two days and sat in on all of my classes. Yesterday we arrived home for a long weekend. Since I’m not due back at school until Tuesday, I have time to cook, try new recipes, and revisit old favorites. Halloween, one of the most fun holidays, is coming up, so we bought a pumpkin at our local health food store. I don’t really like the taste of pumpkin, but I love the seeds.
Here’s a simple recipe for baked pumpkin seeds:
Using a paring knife, cut off the stem of the pumpkin.
Scoop out the seeds & separate them from the meat of the pumpkin. Place the seeds in cold water & let them soak while you scoop out all of the seeds.
Strain the seeds using a colander.
Transfer the seeds to a sheet pan & blot off the excess water using a paper towel.
Lightly drizzle olive oil on the seeds.
Crack black pepper on the seeds, to taste.
Sprinkle spices on the seeds. I decided to use salt for one half & garlic powder + cayenne pepper for the other half.
Bake the seeds at 400ºF for about 15 – 20 minutes, tossing occasionally. Let cool and serve.
Pumpkins CHARACTERIZE Halloween, but it wasn’t always that way. Prior to the 19th century, turnips were carved into jack-o’-lanterns in Ireland and Scotland. Americans prefer pumpkins over turnips for their festive color and because they are CAPACIOUS, which makes them much easier to carve.
CHARACTERIZE (verb): to describe distinctively
CAPACIOUS (adjective): large
Charis
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