Brielle's Avalon

Every year the traditional pumpkin sacrifice happens. Carving, for better or worse, before the obligatory candy and goody hunt. Then there’s the pumpkin brains…with all those seeds. The easiest thing to do is just throw them out, but why? Sure, the seeds are a bit of an inconvenience to separate from the rest of the brains but they’re so yummy! It’s worth the time (it really doesn’t take long) to get the seeds ready to make a nummy nom for holiday snacking. Better than popcorn (which, BTW, they go well with), so pick out your favourite viewing, get the carving, roasting and popping done, then snack away.

And if you make pumpkin pies from scratch on Thanksgiving and other fall/winter holidays this is a good way to occupy the kids or even the guys then, too.

Cut open the top of the pumpkin (unless your design calls for a different approach). Scoop out the brains, seeds and all, into a bowl. Do whatever it is you’re going to do with the pumpkin. Carve, bake…whatever.

Give the pumpkin brains and random bits of rind that came off with the stem to the chickens. They may or may not like the stringy brain bits but the rind is interesting to peck at…at least for a bit. If there’s still seeds in there the chickens won’t mind.

Pick the seeds out of the brains and put them in a colander. This is a good thing for the kids to do while you deal with the rest of the pumpkin, keeps them out from under foot, lets them get their hands all ookie-gooey and they’ll probably get noisy so be prepared for fun. Rinse well and drain. You can save a handful to plant next year if you want. Don’t forget where you store them, it should be a cool, dry place and including a bay leaf with stored seeds helps keep bugs from getting to them.

Put cleaned (they don’t have to be perfect) seeds in saltwater, bring it to a boil, boil for about 10 minutes then strain. 1 Tbsp salt to 1 pint (2c) water…or a little more water to cover the seeds. Oops…I forgot to do this this time…I’ll remember and update with a picture next time.

Strain, dry and season for roasting. Start with olive oil, butter, bacon fat…whatever you have handy that sounds good. Then sprinkle with pepper, garlic, paprika, curry powder and/or any other things you think might be good, including more salt.

Bake until golden, about 15 or 20 minutes more or less.

When done put in a nice bowl and nosh.

These are, BTW, Paco approved.

But he doesn’t like posing for me. And yes, I’ll be cleaning his cage tomorrow.

If you want to go sweeter with cinnamon, sugar, honey, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spices then try that, too. You could even boil the seeds in sugar instead of salt first.