Is carving pumpkins supposed to be enjoyable?! I only say that because every year I get pumped, get all my tools together, and am so excited to carve a pumpkin. Every year I tell myself I'm going to carve something "COOL!" And every year it turns out to be something I wouldn't exactly call enjoyable.
And why I don't remember that from a year ago, I don't know. I guess it's kind of like child birth...OK no relation but you get my point.
So, this is how our carving went this year:
Husband came home with the biggest pumpkin he could find! It was quite large! Great start to the evening!
We laid out the newspaper, put the pumpkin in the middle, and gathered up all the carving tools that come in those packets with the carving outline pictures. Then we took a big knife (not the biggest one we had, but up there in ranks) and start to cut a big circle around the stem.
When the circle is almost complete, the big knife snaps in half. Yep, snaps...like it was made of plastic. Now you're probably thinking, "they have cheap knifes." But that's not the case. Although they may be like 6 years old, they are Calphalon brand. I was always under the impression that Calphalon is a good brand to buy. I think they're even Lifetime warranty...no idea. But whatever the case, they should not snap in half while carving a pumpkin.
Now, with the top almost completely cut out, Angelo takes his fist and just bashes the top IN the pumpkin. I explain to him that it's not supposed to be inside the pumpkin...so he takes a few minutes to wiggle it back out.
Yes! Time to get the hands dirty. I give Sophia the little shovel/scraper to gut the pumpkin. She doesn't want anything to do with it and refuses to put her hands inside. Nelpe just enjoyed looking into the big hole and banging on the outside of the pumpkin a couple times. They both run off to go play on the playground.
I think the gutting is the most fun part of this whole thing, so I clean out the inside of the pumpkin, get my seeds all laid out on the newspaper, and at this time the girls want to go back inside, it's getting dark out, and we still have to eat dinner. So there the pumpkin stays, on the back porch, uncarved. Hopefully it will get carved by tomorrow!
Well, at least I got the seeds out! I love roasting the seeds! I roasted them this afternoon after letting the seeds dry out overnight on some paper towels.
Honey Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
What you’ll need:
1-2 cups of pumpkin seeds
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
Salt
What you do:
1-2 cups of pumpkin seeds
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
Salt
What you do:
Preheat oven to 325.
Make sure all your pumpkin seeds are washed and without any pumpkin residue.
Lay out pumpkin seeds on paper towel and blot to get all moisture off. (I left my laying out on paper towels over night to dry them out.)
In a skillet, heat up olive oil.
Pour in pumpkin seeds and sauté for about 3 minutes until lightly browned.
Drizzle honey over seeds in the skillet and stir, making sure all seeds are coated.
Transfer the seeds onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and roast for 20-30 minutes. With a spatula, move the seeds around at least once during the cooking time.
When fully cooked (you want them to be crispy), take out of oven, sprinkle with salt, and allow to cool.
Make sure all your pumpkin seeds are washed and without any pumpkin residue.
Lay out pumpkin seeds on paper towel and blot to get all moisture off. (I left my laying out on paper towels over night to dry them out.)
In a skillet, heat up olive oil.
Pour in pumpkin seeds and sauté for about 3 minutes until lightly browned.
Drizzle honey over seeds in the skillet and stir, making sure all seeds are coated.
Transfer the seeds onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and roast for 20-30 minutes. With a spatula, move the seeds around at least once during the cooking time.
When fully cooked (you want them to be crispy), take out of oven, sprinkle with salt, and allow to cool.
Enjoy!
XOXO
