Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

My pumpkin always has eye lashes!

 My husband and kids take great pride in their pumpkin carving.  It is a wonderful tradition that he started with the kids when they were very little.  When they were toddlers they had  lots of fun just scooping out the insides of the pumpkins with their hands!  As they got a little older they would also draw pictures of the face they wanted my husband to carve on their pumpkin.  These days they all scoop out and carve their own pumpkins. My husband always does mine and always adds the little eye lashes  - -don't you love it?
The other tradition is roasting the pumpkin seeds that come out of the pumpkins.  My mom always did this with me and my siblings and I am happy to carry on the tradition with my kids.  My youngest really loves getting the seeds ready and can't wait for them to come out of the oven.  Delicious!

Everyone gets a pumpkin at our house.

My son's scary pumpkin face is between my older daughter's happy face and my younger daughter's doggie face!

Mine and my husband's pumpkins make a nice pair.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Separate pumpkin seeds from pumpkin pulp and rinse in a colander under running water. Place the seeds in a medium saucepan. Add 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to the pan for every half cup of pumpkin seeds. Add more salt if you want your seeds to be saltier.  Bring the salted water and pumpkin seeds to a boil. Turn down and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.  Dry lightly on paper towels.

Dump the seeds onto a large sheet pan and toss in a little olive oil (1-2 tablespoons) to coat. Spread seeds in sheet pan in a single layer. Bake until the seeds begin to brown, 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the seeds.  When lightly browned, remove from the oven and let cool.  Taste a few –be careful as they are very hot.  Season with a little more salt,(if needed), while the seeds are still warm.

Let the pumpkin seeds cool down before eating.

My youngest added a little more salt and now they are perfect!