Last weekend, when we were carving pumpkins, I realized I’m missing the mark on why we carve pumpkins.
It’s not for the sake of the season, or for our kitty-kids, or to even show off my artistic integrity (because I have none).
Mine is on the left. No, those aren’t random stab wounds. It’s supposed to be a face. Proof of my lack of caring talent.
It’s so I can bake up some toasted pumpkin seeds.
Ends up this task is pretty easy.
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Rinse pumpkin seeds, remove any pumpkin fleshy bits, and pat dry.
3. Coat with butter or a light dusting of olive oil (I used a spray olive oil to keep it light)
4. Flavor with salt or a combination of spices and bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden-brown. Be sure to move seeds around periodically while they are baking.
I flavored half my seeds with savory spices and the other with sweet (thanks for the inspiration, Whole Foods!). Add the spices to seeds before baking.
Savory:
1/2 tsp of garlic salt, cumin, coriander and cardamon (I didn’t have this last one on hand, so I used Allspice).
Sweet:
1 tsp of ground cinnamon, cloves and ginger. 1 1/2 TBSP brown sugar.
teal and tulle 
I forget why we carve pumpkins too. I can draw a creative enough face but by the time I carve it, it basically looks like a mushed gaping hole. Still it’s worth it for the delish pumpkin seeds!
My efforts are like a derailed train. Everything starts fine, but a tipsy conductor (my hand) takes the whole thing off course. Before I know it, I have crashed the design into a firey pit of pathetic effort, and created a complete abomination of a pumpkin face.
Oh come on, that’s a cute pumpkin! Reminds me of a funky Japanese anime character!
Thanks for the kudos – but let’s be honest. Art isn’t my strong suit. It’s not even my weak suit. It’s no better than a birthday suit!