Getting in under the wire: Grow Your Own 2007, Part 3

Sorry Andrea! I am really doing this at the last minute but didn't have too much of a choice!

You see, that lovely pumpkin I grew in my backyard grew a friend, and just recently was harvested, just in time to be carved up for Halloween! (The second one did not have enough time to turn completely orange before we got frost and all the vines shriveled up and fit nicely into a yard bag.)

For those of you who like pumpkin for eating and are now sitting there thinking, "Oh what a waste of a good pumpkin - carved into a jack-o-lantern!" Yes, it is true, my little guy is going to get a face, but he was always planted for that purpose and was specifically a jack-o-lantern type pumpkin, not a sweet pie pumpkin, to begin with.

His seeds, however, were always destined for snacking! The only part of a pumpkin that my children like to eat, and every year look forward to. They don't enjoy taking the seeds out of the "guts" but once they've been toasted and salted, they love them!

Simple is how I toast up pumpkin seeds. One year I tried something a bit more spicy and the seeds went untouched until I finally threw them out. But when tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, then roasted on a sheet pan at 425F until golden and crispy? They are a hit!

Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with from their garden fare! It has gotten a little to cold for gardens here in Ottawa (though it was beautiful today and supposed to be even nicer for the kids out trick-or-treating tomorrow night!) so I am looking forward to seeing what comes out of the ground in other, warmer parts of the world!

Now to rush this off to Andrea and hope I made it in time!