clean seeds, and soak in a strong salt brine solution 24 hours. Grease baking sheets well and layer seeds in 1 layer deep, bake at 350 degrees for 20+/- minutes.

Fun for all and good for you?

Oh don't forget to put a few seeds aside for next year!

Do you bake your pumpkin to can it, or do you peel it and steam it, or boil it in water?

I have heard that the peeling and boiling is safer, but I am in danger of cutting off my finger. I have always baked it till soft, and then canned it.

I only use it in baked goods, so that should be ok, I would think. Mrs.K

Gosh, you don't need to go through all that for tasty roasted pumpkin seeds!!

I just scoop mine out of the pumpkin, clean off as much stringy pulp as possible, spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet & toss with melted butter, salt, & whatever spices I want to use. I usually make several batches with different flavors: garlic; chili powder, cayenne pepper, & oregano; garlic, cumin, & coriander - you can experiment with anything you like. Then just roast them in a 400-425-degree oven for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until crispy-done to your taste.

No need to bother with a brine - just have them toasting along while you make a nice jack-o-lantern out of the rest of the pumpkin.

I do the same as Breezy. I try to avoid salt whenever possible, and I've found the flavor this way is exceptional.

I have one recipe that is for "sweet n spicy" seeds (or nuts, etc) that involves sugar, melted with butter I think, toss the toasted seeds in that, then dump into a sugar/cinnamon/cayenne mix to coat. Sounds like a sticky mess this way though... I'll try to find the actual recipe and post the real thing! When done right, they're exceptional - not sticky, not too sweet, with a little bite.

Mmmm...

This one sounds good too... (From Allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS
2 cups pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 drops hot pepper sauce


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking pan with aluminum foil.
Stir together the pumpkin seeds and butter in a bowl. Add the salt, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and hot pepper sauce; stir. Spread the seeds in a single layer on the baking pan.
Bake in preheated oven until crispy, about 45 minutes.

Ugh... sorry for the multiple posts. About had a heart attack when I couldn't find my recipe! But this is it. It's being weird to cut & paste, so I'm just posting the link (hope that's ok).

http://www.recipezaar.com/Swee...-Pumpkin-Seeds-45108

These are absolutely YUMMY - excellent combination of mildly sweet and mildly spicy (of course you can add more spice if you like).

About pumpkin for pies... I cut a pie pumpkin in half, seed it, then bake in a pan with about 1/2" of water in the bottom. Then puree the pumpkin flesh in a food processor and freeze it in pie-sized containers (2 cups). I also freeze some in 1-cup containers for making pumpkin bread or cookies and maybe some 3-cup containers for soup. Though I have limited freezer space and do can other things, I do not can pumpkin.

I don't soak PS's in brine either. My dad did when I was little, but I find I like the pumpkinny taste when there's still some guts stuck to the seeds. I throw on coarse pink salt and sometimes chili powder.

Jen, that recipe does sound great.

A real taste treat: roasted butternut squash seeds, which are great coated with olive oil and some salt.

To prep pumpkins I do the same as Liz. I found boiling infuses them with too much water, and dilutes the flavor.

Liz - you got the pressure canner, now you can do pumpkin! mk

When it comes to pumpkin seeds, I usually do what Breezy does. I keep it simple.

quote:

Originally posted by Mrs. K-og:
Liz - you got the pressure canner, now you can do pumpkin! mk

I think they still don't recommend it. Will check again, but I'm pretty sure not. Anyway, it doesn't take up that much space in the freezer. Pumpkins get processed in November! Nearly done with tomatoes, thank goodness (I love 'em of course...).