Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Got a pumpkin left uncarved?  Dig in and get those seeds out.

Wash the seeds thoroughly.

Dry the seeds on a paper towel.

Mix the seeds with melted 1 TBSP of butter and 1/4 tsp salt.

Optional: add 1/2 tsp of chili powder, garlic powder, or wasabi powder for some extra spice.

Spread the seeds out on a cookie sheet.   Try gently shaking the sheet to spread them evenly.

Bake in a 350 ° F oven for 30 minutes turning the seeds over once or twice while they cook to get an even roast.

Enjoy!

Fresh Pumpkin Treats

Mother in Law of Food brought two pie pumpkins by for Halloween.  The girls wanted to carve them, but we all also wanted to cook them for pie and cookies.  Let me tell you this.  You can cook a pumpkin or you can carve a pumpkin, you really don't want to do both.  The good thing is that they are really easy to carve after cooking for an hour and a half, the bad thing is that they are not so structurally sound.  

Cooked Pumpkins do yield terrific mashed pumpkin for pies, cookies, and muffins.  We know because made them all!  We made all that and yummy roasted pumpkin seeds for snacking.  The pie was OK, but could have used a little more sugar, the muffins went fast and were solid, the pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips were fantastic.  

Here is the pumpkin pie recipe, straight from a sticker on the pumpkins:

Cooking the pumpkin

Cut Pumpkin in half w/o stem.

Scoop out seeds and Strings (set seeds aside for roasting later).

Place cut down on foil lined baking sheets.  Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 ° F 'til tender - 1&1/2 hours.   
Cool.  Scoop out flesh and mash with potato masher or food processor until smooth.
Drain if too watery.  

Beat together just until smooth: 1 1/3 Cup smooth pumpkin, 1 1/3 Cup Sweet Condensed Milk, 1 Egg, 1 1/4 tsp Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp Nutmeg, 1/2 tsp Ginger, 1/4 tsp Cloves, 1 Cup hot Water.  Pour into 9" pie shell.  
Bake at  375 ° F 55 to 65 minutes
(Center will move slightly.)  Cool and enjoy.
(Mashed Pumpkin will hold 5 days in refrigerator.)


Here is the Pumpkin Muffin Recipe adapted and adjusted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (Better Homes &; Gardens Plaid), mine is the 1981 edition and the original recipe can be found on page 87:

1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 beaten Egg
1/2 Cup Fresh Cooked Pumpkin (see above)
3/4 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Cooking Oil
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 ° F


In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Make a well in the center.  Combine egg, pumpkin, milk, and oil.  Add all at once to flour mixture.  Stir till just moistened; batter should be lumpy.  Grease muffin cup pan or line with paper baking cups.  Fill each cup with mixture until 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 ° F for 20-25 minutes or until golden.  Remove from pan and serve warm.


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
We used this recipe from Joy the Baker, and apparently originally from Big Fat Cookies
using fresh cooked pumpkin instead of canned and using mini chocolate chips.
Joy, this is a fantastic recipe.  I am quoting it here for my use in the future because I really want to make these again and I will not have it if you ever take your link down.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola or corn oil

1 cup canned pumpkin (or fresh see above)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips, or any chip you like

Position a rack in the middle of the oven . Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper.

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips.

Using an ice cream scoop with a 1/4-cup capacity, scoop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 1/2-inches apart. You could also simply use a 1/4-cup measuring cup if you don’t have a scoop. Use a thin metal spatula to smooth and flatten the rounds.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 16 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool cimpletely.

Dust the cooled cookies lightly with powdered sugar. The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Roasted Pumpkin Seed recipe coming up next.  I have to trick or treat now.  Hope you enjoyed these treats.

Happy Halloween with Bat Bento Box

Today's bento was inspired by the most wonderful time of the year, Halloween! Family of Food is big on a holdiday where people give you not only food, but some of the most wonderful food there is... CANDY. No doubt this bento is only the first of the spooky lunches for my twins. Last night I was inspired to make Pumpkin Pie (which the girls loved) so I have to figure out how that works into my next bento. This one, called Bats Flying in a Moonlit Sky, contained two almond butter and jelly sandwiches on wheat cut into bat shapes. The night sky was graham cracker with swiss cheese clouds. A hard boiled egg and sungold tomato made for a misty moon. Lastly, the whole image was framed with green beans and string cheese.

Halloween with the Kiddies

Our one year old twins are too small to eat candy, but we wanted them to enjoy the Halloween festivities going on in our neighborhood. We dressed them in their costumes, a dragon and a monkey, and answered the door for the trick or treaters. They really loved seeing all of those kids. When we would close the door after giving the candy, the babies would want to open the door back up to go out with the other kids. We did venture out to one house, our next door neighbor's, mostly to check out his elaborate decorations. We refused the candy for the girls, but the givers insisted. So, Mom and Dad were each treated to a snack sized candy, which we promptly traded with each other. The girls had a great time, even without the candy. This goes against the Family of Food creed, but I'll say it anyway; sometimes, food isn't everything.

BOO

One of the biggest advantages of getting older is having more memories. One of my fondest memories of my childhood was Halloween trick or treating. Times were different then. We would actually go from house to house in groups, with usually no adult supervision. No need to, the neighborhoods were full of kids and parents were standing at their doors passing out candies and all of the porch lights were on. I would meet with my buddies and we would go up and down the streets begging for goodies. Almost no one wore a commercially made costume, certainly none of my gang. Costumes were homemade; a little coal on your face, some old clothes and you were a hobo. Put a sheet over you and now you're a ghost. We didn't carry any little cutesy pumpkins, we hauled big shopping bags. Trick or treating then was a two day affair. Halloween eve and Halloween night. Darkness didn't stop us but the unofficial rule was no knocking on doors after nine.

The treats were great and the best houses gave out homemade cupcakes, brownies and chocolate chip cookies sometimes still warm. Today if you give a kid something that was not hermetically sealed you probably would get a visit from homeland security. I remember the candy corn, candy bars (Oh Henry was my favorite) and gum. The cheapies gave you a stick of gum while the big spenders let you have the whole pack. Sometimes people actually would throw coins into our bags. In those days you could actually buy things for a penny! Some nights the pickings were so good that you would have to go home and unload. and then go back out. The best part - trading something you didn't like for something you wanted. Yep getting old, talking about the good old days.

Location - Ohio .... late forties early fifties.