Pumpkin

Last year's pumpkin picking made quite the impression on Levi. He's been asking to go back ever since. When pumpkins appeared at a local fruit stand it was all over. The boy neeeeeeeded one.

Pumpkin carving is not one of my talents. Thankfully, children don't notice such things. It was perfect in his eyes.
Later, he begged me to turn it into a pie. I told him we'd have to wait for the pie pumpkins to come out, so he settled for roasting the seeds.

He practiced patience while they cooked...

Then he ate them all before I could snap a photo. I did manage to grab a few for myself though.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

We kept ours pretty simple. Rinse the seeds. You can also use other winter squash seeds such as butternut and acorn. Pick out the pulp (as Levi calls it the "cobwebs". The whole time I was cleaning the pumpkin we had a running story going about the spider who lived in the pumpkin and made all the cobwebs.) Some people dry their seeds overnight. We aren't so patient, and it works out fine. Coat the seeds lightly in oil. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle on some salt, and bake at 325 F until toasted (about 25 minutes), stirring halfway through. Yummo!