How To: Roast Your Own Pumpkin Seeds

Perhaps you don't need to know how to roast your own pumpkin seeds because, after all, today is Halloween and you carved your pumpkins long ago.

But we're running a bit behind schedule this year.

I am 6 weeks pregnant, tired beyond belief and sick as a dog.  Halloween preparations have been low on the priority list the past couple of weeks.

In addition, we seem to have been struck by some mysterious flu bug, working its way through the family this weekend.  People seem to be awfully sick for about 12 hours and then feel amazingly better.

Needless to say, Halloween preparations have been low on the list this weekend.

But this morning while Daddy was sick and still asleep, and Lilly, just starting to feel bad, was laying on the couch watching Peter Pan, James, William and I carved the pumpkins.  Pumpkins just purchased yesterday.  Better late than never, and just as much fun as it always is.

I love to carve pumpkins.  Besides costumes, it is the best part of Halloween.  I don't go in much for the spooky stuff, scary movies and all the store bought decorations.  But a glowing jack o lantern is something I love.  

And I have, for as long as I can remember.  

See that pumpkin carving knife?  We had one just like it when I was a kid.  It was just for carving pumpkins and I loved using it year after year.  This might even be the same knife.  Maybe my mom gave it to me when I grew up and moved out?  She does that sometimes

And each year, we scooped the goop out of our pumpkins and saved it all in a bowl.
Once the pumpkins were carved, we washed the seeds free of their pumpkin slime, or as clean as we could get them cause some of that stuff never comes off, then set them on paper towels to dry a bit.
Then we'd oil, salt and pop them in the oven to roast them.
The smell of roasting pumpkin seeds is fantastic.

I still roast pumpkin seeds every year.  Even this one.

Because it is just so easy and worthwhile.

Not to mention they are incredibly delicious.

As soon as they came out of the oven, I enjoyed a plate full.  If I liked beer, and if I wasn't pregnant, I am sure they'd taste perfect with a tall, cold glass of beer.  I tried them with root beer and it was pretty wonderful.

Even if you threw out your seeds long ago, bookmark this for next year, or make some for a Thanksgiving appetizer.  Pumpkins work beyond Halloween, you know.

Simple Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Empty a fresh pumpkin of all its seeds.

Wash seeds in a large bowl of water and clean off as much pumpkin "slime" as you can.

Drain seeds in a colander and rinse a bit under cold, running water.

Lay pumpkin seeds in a single layer on dry paper towels.

Let dry for at least an hour.

Put seeds in a bowl and drizzle with enough olive oil to coat each seed.  (I don't measure--but I'd guess at least at least a table spoon or 2)

Sprinkle generously with kosher salt (please, please use kosher or sea salt--it tastes so much better than regular table salt)

I also like to sprinkle with a bit of paprika.  I think it looks pretty.

Give the seeds a good stir and then pour in a single layer of a cookie sheet. (I find my baking stone works really well for this, but a regular cookie sheet works fine too.)

Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.  

Do not over cook, as the seeds will all taste bad if they are the slightest bit burnt.

Wait as long as you can for them to cool (about 1 minute for me)  and then, enjoy!

....................................................................

Confession: For a very long time, I did not realize you were not supposed to eat the shell of pumpkin seeds.  I don't know why I didn't know this.  I don't eat the shells of sunflower seeds.

Maybe it's because when you roast your own pumpkin seeds, the shell is quite soft and goes down very easily.  It doesn't really taste like a shell to me at all.  A little extra fiber, right?

But Aaron thinks I am crazy.

All the more for me, I say.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Love from,

Greta

How To: Make a Scuba DIver, Sea Lion and an Octopus Costume

All right, here is the info on how to make these costumes, just in case there is ever the need for an octopus costume in your future. Technical writing is not my strong point, I find it rather boring, so I will do my best.

First the scuba diver. I cannot take credit for the idea. I had saved the picture from a magazine. You can find the website here, with instructions and a materials list. They also had a lot of other great costumes.

I'll share my modifications.

Here are most of the materials I used. They called for silver sponges, but since the store I was at didn't have any, I just got regular ones and spray painted them.

I also used a wide band of elastic for the belt and thin elastic for the straps which held on the scuba tank. I used a small strip of Velcro to attach both ends of the belt together. Lastly, I used reflective tape around the scuba tank and on the belt. I thought it looked better than the plain black they recommended.

After I spray painted the 2 liter soda bottle and the sponges, I used the hot glue gun to attach the sponges to the belt. That was a lot easier than the way the directions say to do it. I also hot glued the reflective tape to the bottle and the belt.

Close up of the belt.

To make the straps for the tank, I just cut 2 strips of elastic and hot glued them to the tank, backpack style.

The rest of the costume was just black leggings, a black, hooded sweatshirt, safety goggles, and the tube from an old pump we had. It was all stuff we had, except for the leggings.

James loves his costume and wants to wear it constantly. I think that is the best vote on its success, don't you?

The octopus costume was the easiest. It was a quick costume to make. After searching online a bit, I decided this was the best design. You can find the directions and materials list here.

The hardest part was finding a plain, hooded sweatshirt that wasn't $25 dollars. In the end, I used a garage sale sweatshirt that had writing on it. I just turned it inside out. I also had to cut off the pocket and cut the sleeves shorter because the sweatshirt needs to be a couple sizes too big.

After I cut the bottom of the sweatshirt into strips, I used fabric glue to attach the sides of each "tentacle" together, making 6 all together. The sleeves made the other two. The directions suggest duct tape for this, but I found fabric glue to be easier.

They also suggested round, white stickers for the suctions cups, (the kind found in an office supply store, but I didn't think those would stay on. Instead, I cut circles from white felt and used that trusty fabric glue to attach them.

You can see here that I also used white felt and black felt to make the eyes. I added blue rick rack to the front just for decoration and Lilly wore a pair of striped leggings. In all, the costume probably too under an hour to make.

And then, the sea lion. This costume was not easy. There was not a single sample online, or anywhere else that I could find. I had a general idea of what I wanted, and figured I'd use brown felt and a brown, hooded sweatshirt to achieve the look.

Problem. A brown hooded sweatshirt was impossible to find. I looked everywhere. EVERYWHERE. In stores, online, thrift stores, asked around. In the end, the only one I found was $27 dollars and they couldn't guarantee getting it to me on time. Sooo, I improvised.

Brown beanie--$1.

We gave him a black nose and whiskers like a little sea lion.

At first, I thought of attaching flippers cut from felt to his sleeves, but you really could not tell what they were. So Aaron helped me come up with this poncho like design. You still can't really tell what it is supposed to be, but....oh well.

For his bottom flippers, I made a kind of mermaid tail design. I just made a front and back and fabric glued them to some brown leggings. Normally I would have sewed it on, but that would have entailed asking Aaron to climb around in the garage and find the box that it is still packed in. It wasn't the right time for that.

I think if I was a more talented seamstress, I would have made a whole suit with a stuffed tail and flippers. I would have made a hat that allowed just his little face to peek out. But I'm not that good.

And William like it. He was happy, and that makes me happy.

By the time we were done making costumes, the boys had already picked out costumes for the next 3 Halloweens. I guess I should get started.

I Like Homemade Costumes

I love homemade Halloween costumes. I do. I love the look of them. The clever use of one thing as something else. The costumes you can't find in a store. Making them. Wearing them. And now, making them for my kids.

It started with this guy: the scuba diver

Then William said, "I want to be a sea lion." He loves sea lions.

And they both said Lilly could be a pink octopus. So she was.

And here they all are. 3 costumes, all homemade and handmade. Using garage sale sweatshirts, fabric glue, silver spray pint, a glue gun, lots of brown felt, sponges, and 3 pairs of girls leggings.

Tomorrow I'll show you how I made them. You never know, next year your son might want to be a sea lion. And let me tell you, there are no sea lion costumes to be found, even on the world wide web.

But now there is.

Sorry for the poor picture quality. We were on our way to a party and the kids were raring to go. Not raring to stand still for photos. The good thing about a pre-Halloween event is that it gives you time to discover the costumes possible flaws or malfunctions and fix them. For example, William's upper flippers kept turning around and then he just looked like a brown angel. With whiskers. Oh well.

I'll have better pics on Halloween.

On a side note, I have been finding that creativity begets creativity. Good ideas beget more good ideas. I am full of good ideas right now. If only it wouldn't take me so long to complete them. But that's another post all together.

One of my ideas involves my vintage book collection and some Mod Podge. I can not wait to get started. In the meantime, check out Mod Podge Rocks to enter Amy's Mod Podge giveaway. Who knows? It might inspire you to get going on a Mod Podge project of your own.

Happy Monday to you!