recipe: roasted pumpkin seeds

My friend Valerie -- who grew up down the street from me in Ohio and by sheer coincidence now lives down the street from me in D.C. -- came over last Sunday for an evening of pumpkin carving and a seasonally appropriate dinner. (I made minestrone soup in the crock pot and and homemade pull-apart rolls -- recipes coming soon!)

Valerie and I each carved pretty awesome pumpkin faces. Tony also carved a pumpkin. But I can't think of a nice way to describe it with words. Pictures are at the end of this post.

And after we finished carving the pumpkins, we ended up with a boatload of pumpkin seeds, which means ... roasted pumpkin seeds!

(Sidenote! I have a thing for vintage Pyrex bowls. And this Amish pattern is probably my favorite pattern of them all.)

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

• Pumpkin seeds
• Salt

After scooping the seeds from your pumpkin, wash away all of the pumpkin guts.

Place pumpkin seeds on cookie sheets. Sprinkle with salt and toss with a rubber spatula to coat. Ensure seeds are in a single layer

Bake at 275 degrees for 40 minutes or until seeds are dried out, stirring once.

<3

Now, and I know you're dying to see what our carved pumpkins look like. 

Ta-da!

And I know you're thinking, wtf is wrong with that pumpkin closest to the camera? Yeah, that was Tony's pumpkin.

Valerie's cute Nightmare Before Christmas pumpkin is in the middle, and mine is on the end. (Pumpkin carving tip, courtesy of Valerie -- rub vaseline on the exposed areas of the pumpkin to hold off the rot.)

Here's a close-up of my pumpkin:

That face, by the way, is kind of my signature thing. Triangle eyes, triangle nose, big grin with a few teeth.

Observe, Halloween 2011:

Halloween 2006:

Halloween 2005 (with what appears to be a bonus Harry Potter-inspired scar):

Hey, if you find a good thing, stick with it.

<3

So I have the pumpkins on the porch. The inside of my house isn't quite so festive, but I do have a few Halloween decorations. My favorite: these small vintage jack-o-lanterns. My mom bought a box of them at a flea market for $1, and she gave me three, which I have in my living room, dining room and kitchen.

And on my dining room table, I have a pile of gourds. I tried setting them out in a bowl for a centerpiece, but I didn't like how they looked, so I just put them in a pile, and I kinda dig it.

So now we're all set for Halloween! Except for the candy for the trick-or-treaters. That has to be a last-minute purchase because chocolate doesn't last in this house for too long.