Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

How the Jack-O-Lantern Came To Be.

The story goes that a crafty and stingy man named Jack was approached by the Devil and told that it was his time to die. As a final request, Jack asked the Devil to get him an apple from the top is his favorite tree, which the Devil did. The crafty man quickly carved some crosses around the tree, trapping the Devil. In exchange for allowing him to get down, Jack made a deal with the Devil that he wouldn't take his soul.

A short while later Jack fell out of that same apple tree, hit his head on a rock and died. Being a wicked man Jack was turned away from the gates of Heaven, but because of his deal with the Devil, he couldn't go to Hell either and was cursed to wander the earth as a spirit in torment.

Without a light to guide him he asked the Devil for one final favor, an ember from the fiery underworld to guide him on his way. Jack carved out a turnip (later transferring it to a pumpkin as he came to America) and placed in inside. On dark fall nights, people would often see the light floating down the lane with the horrible images Jack had carved out and cry out, "Beware of Jack of the Lantern (Jack-O-Lantern)".

Carving pumpkins is one of my favorite things to do at Halloween time and is a fun way to spend time with my kids. But I hate wasting anything, especially food. I have in the past used the pumpkin pieces and trimmings for things such as pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and my kids favorite, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. But I had always thrown away the seeds.

Last year that changed. After seeing the outrageous price of pumpkin seeds in the store, I decided to make my own. Roasting pumpkin seeds is one of the easiest parts of the Jack-O-Lantern process. I decided to post the process here in tribute to one of my customers (if she reads this she'll know who she is) who was carving pumpkins with her own children and asked about me about it. So here goes.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Pumpkin seeds have a nutty flavor and makes a health addition to salads, topped on soups or mixed in or on top of your favorite breads. Salty or Savory, Spicy or Sweet you are only limited by your imagination when you follow these three easy steps.

1. Rinse the seeds under cold water removing the pulp and strings. (This is easiest when the seeds are fresh).

2. Place the seeds in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet and coat the seeds completely. (You could also spray the seeds with a non-stick pan spray).

3. Salt (or season) and bake at 325 degree until toasted (about 25 minutes). Cool and store in an air tight container.

Season options I have tried or will be trying this year: Salt, Cinnamon and Sugar, Salt and Pepper, Dill (soak briefly in a dill pickle brine if you prefer), Salsa or Taco seasoning, your favorite dry BBQ rub blend, etc.

Have fun and enjoy.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Happy Memorial Day. Being home from work today and not having church to get ready for, I have time to make a fun breakfast. Not that I don't make breakfast that often, on the contrary, I get to make breakfast once or twice per week, most weeks. But this is the first time I have been able to both make breakfast and blog about it.

Last night I ask one of my lovely daughters what she wanted for breakfast this morning and she replied, "chocolate chip pancakes." I love chocolate in all its splendid glory and varieties (I've even used chocolate in a wonderful chicken recipe - Caribbean Chicken (see previous post), however, I've never really cared for them in pancakes. The gooey chocolate oozing out of the pancakes is wonderful for the first bite or two, but for me who is diabetic, more than a few bites is just too sweet.

Well, I was rummaging through my pantry last night and I came across some pumpkin pie filling, so I had an idea. If I'm going to please my girls, why not go all out. Instead of normal chocolate chip pancakes, why not pumpkin pie chocolate chip pancakes. So that is the recipe I start my morning with. Here goes:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

adopted from a recipe from the Woolverton Inn, Stockton, NJ

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups flour

Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves to taste

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

8 eggs (separated)

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 cups pumpkin (1 15oz can)

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 stick of melted butter, slightly cooled

A aandful or two of Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

With a hand mixer, whip egg whites until stiff but not dry.

Mix together buttermilk, pumpkin, sugar, vanilla and butter. Make a well in the dry ingredients and fold in buttermilk-pumpkin mixture; do not over mix.

Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Cook on a hot grill until bubbles form at the edges. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips onto the raw batter on the grill. Flip and cook 2 – 3 minutes more.

Cinnamon Sugar Compound Butter

1 lb unsalted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar or Splenda

5 drops Wild Orange Essential oil or orange extract

Whip Butter with Cinnamon, Sugar and a few drops Orange Oil.

Enjoy!