Better than Popcorn!

I love this time of year! Last night Aaron and I carved the pumpkins we got from our local pumpkin patch. Great fun that always takes me back to my childhood...especially when Hocus Pocus with Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker is on tv. That and ET. It was a perfect night. What I want to share is certainly not news to many of you, but I know that there are those who don't think to do this when carving pumpkins: roast your pumpkin seeds! Make sure the pumpkin is good quality and grown without pesticides and/or certified organic first before deciding to eat the seeds. Since ours were, I gathered as many seeds as I could from the pile of mush that was left over after cleaning our pumpkins.
After rinsing (it's not necessary to get everything off of them, but don't leave chunks or big strings), I tossed them in a bowl with organic melted butter and sea salt, and then laid them out on a cookie sheet (single layer). I set the oven to 300 degree and the timer to 45 minutes, and we settled in on the couch just in time to watch Bette Midler sing, "I Put a Spell on You." When the timer dinged, my husband Aaron pulled the sheet out and we all tasted immediately, while they were hot of course. And oh my goodness they were fantastic! I have roasted pumpkin seeds with salt before, but never with butter. Aaron found the recipe online. We all agreed they were better than popcorn, and they were gone in a matter of minutes! Give this a try if you haven't carved your pumpkins already. A great snack for the whole family, pumpkin seeds are high in Manganese, Zinc, Copper, Vitamin E and fiber. And now, in the spirit of Halloween--and because we were pretty proud of our pumpkins--here is a photo showing them all lit up. Aaron's pumpkin is Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas, and I decided to decorate mine with stars...which ended up cooler than I thought because bright stars appeared all over the walls and ceiling! We are taking these into the school where Aaron works to decorate the enchanted trail for the harvest festival tomorrow night.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all you crunchy, chic witch-mamas! Be safe and radiantly healthy this week.