Our Halloween plans this year are kind of nonexistent. JG has class tonight and I’ll be by myself, so there won’t really be a festive atmosphere. He’ll get home around 7pm and we’ll chow down on slow-cooked beef burritos as we hide from wandering ghouls. Terrible as it might seem, we’ve chosen to abstain from handing candy out this year due to our neighborhood’s striking number of who I would deem to be ineligible trick-or-treaters. I don’t mind the kids in their costumes; I could do without the sponging parents, infant siblings, and teenage mooches. I have accepted the fact that I’m a Scrooge whose porch light will be off tonight and that is just fine with me.
That is not to say that we are completely bereft of any Halloween spirit. JG loves to carve pumpkins, so no October is complete without picking pumpkins, swathing the dining table in newspaper, and hacking away at a gourd. This year, we decided to go nerdy with our jack-o’-lanterns — surprise, surprise — and I was pretty pleased with the results. JG’s pumpkin pi came out really well, but my Scrabble BOO was not quite as clear when it was lit. I had to piece together the pattern on my own and it wasn’t quite the clean, sharp, Scrabble-tile look I imagined. I think I should have cut out larger pieces, but I am paranoid that the pumpkin will cave in on me. A dimly-lit jack-o’-lantern is my reward for caution.
JG finished his pumpkin in about 30 seconds, so while I chipped away at my letters, he roasted up pumpkin seeds for snacking (approximated recipe after the jump) and the house smelled warm and yummy. Our Halloween will be pretty low-tech tonight, but salty pumpkin seeds, a cozy house, and a snuggly puppy more than make up for it.
Right now, I’m donning a tiara and making my way to the hospital’s annual costume parade, which I hear is an event not to be missed in these parts. Happy Halloween!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Yields: 3 cups
Ingredients:
- 3 cups fresh pumpkin seeds (or the contents of two medium pumpkins, give or take)
- 2-3 tablespoons butter, melted
- Salt
- Other seasonings of your choice*
Directions:
- Under running water, rinse off the glop from the seeds. (“Glop” is a technical term, FYI.)
- Dry them as best as you can.
- Toss seeds in melted butter.
- Spread seeds out in a single layer in a baking sheet, using more than one if necessary.
- Sprinkle seeds with salt (or other seasonings of your choice).
- Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and delicious.
* Typically, JG only uses salt, but he is curious if anyone has other ideas for seasoning. In his words: Maybe you could do a cinnamon and sugar one…cumin maybe? garlic? I also had an idea to mix some hot sauce in with the butter and make buffalo seeds but I don’t know if that would work.
4 comments
I’m not handing out candy either. We only have one family on our street with children young enough to be eligible trick-or-treaters; the rest of the kids just show up in their regular clothes and just look at you when you open the door.
Instead, I will be curled up on the couch watching America’s Next Top Model.
Ooh, that sounds like a great plan. The trick-or-treating thing weirds me out in general, but being rude about it is just not okay.
That’s so disappointing! I always look forward to the day when I can hand out candy to trick or treaters, but I would be irritated by the non-costumed, too-old, too-young set, too.
It’s fun when you get the rare cute, courteous little bear or Phillies player, but the rest of them are evil. It really is disappointing.
Tim put garlic and salt on our seeds this year — it was pretty darn tasty! But then, I will love just about anything covered in garlic.
I love your nerdy pumpkins!
Let me tell you, JG is with you on the garlic front. My brain gears are already spinning with punny, nerdy pumpkin ideas for next year…
I usually am a halloween scrooge too (AND a nablopomo scrooge!) but since it’s the first halloween in the new house, I bought some candy. I’m sure we will run out in 20 minutes and I’ll have to hand some out to non-costumed teens, but I live in an urban area and I do not want to face retaliation if I skimp on the candy…eek.
Two years ago, we moved in to our house on Oct. 29, so handing out candy was the first thing we really did in our neighborhood. It was all very novel and ohmygoshwehaveahouse, but last year was rife with rudeness and general punk. Boo.
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