I love pumpkin everything. I do think you can go overboard and kill a good thing. All things in moderation, right. One thing I am trying to go overboard on is happiness. Commuting to doing what makes our family happy. One of the ways we are accomplishing this is by purposefully and mindfully spending time with our kids.
A few weeks ago we took a fun trip to Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch. We spent the afternoon with only the six of us.
After a few days we enjoyed carving pumpkins together. The look on the kids faces when they pulled out the pumpkins guys was hilarious. They were completely disgusted.
I on the other hand have loved getting dirty from birth. Working in barns has always been one of favorite things to do. Each pumpkin was loaded with seeds, I was impressed and excited. I knew we would get to dry, season and roast them later.
After each of the big kids drew faces on their pumpkins it was time for carving. Very carefully they carved eyes, noses and mouths.
We pulled the seeds from the pumpkin strings, rinsed them, lined a cookie sheet with a cloth towel and spread the seeds out on the towel. It took about a week for them to fully dry.
In the spirit of fall I wanted to try to make pumpkin pie flavor with the seeds. I am happy to tell you I succeeded.
Recipe:
3 cups dried pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar
Pinch pumpkin spice
Dash of cinnamon
Sprinkle of vanilla
1/4 cup butter
Mix dry ingredients together with pumpkin seeds. In a roasting pan with high sides grease pan with butter. Put seeds with seasoning mixture in pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 250 degrees and bake for another 35 mins stirring every 15 mins.
They are done with they are golden brown. Allow to cool in the pan completely.