Salty Pumpkin Seeds

In honor of the Halloween season Greg and I decorated decorated our front porch with corn stalks and pumpkins.  Decorating with corn stalks, though it seemed intimidating at first, was actually quite easy.  I used about 10 stalks per pole and tied them with twine.  Not gonna lie, I did need a lil help from my hubby ;-)

Now, please disregard the couch on the front porch.  We had just brought it home and hadn't moved it in yet, lol.  We are  not THAT hickish!  I added a LOT more pumpkins but can't find that picture...and there's no couch in that one!

Though the porch turned out cute, we had to remove one of the pumpkins from its perch to carve!  After all it was close to Halloween and who doesn't love a lit carved pumpkin.

Didn't my hubby do a great job!  We had a fleeting thought to spell out our whole last name with more pumpkins but that seemed a bit too ambitious for a Tuesday night. :-)

If you do your own carving do NOT let your seeds go to waste!  I have been making pumpkin seeds since college and have learned that, as long as you don't leave the oven unattended, they are foolproof!  Some recipes say to clean them but I leave the pumpkin goop on because they seem to be crispier and more flavorful that way.  We like ours really salty but you could also use any type of spice, seasoning, or sauce to make them reminiscent of a dish you love!  Use cinnamon for a sweet flavor or add a bit of tabasco for a kick.  And remember to lay out newspapers before you get to carving, it will make clean up way faster.  Get creative and have fun!

Per Cup of Seeds:
1T melted butter
1T salt

Heat oven the 350 degrees.  Place the seeds, melted butter, and salt in a bowl, toss to coat.  Spread onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, flip and bake for another 5 minutes.  Watch closely making sure they don't get too dark.  Keep in mind you can slow roast for an hour at 250 degrees, flipping occasionally, or use your broiler to do an even quicker batch.