Although this particularly handsome fellow is now guarding Dave & Cheryl’s doorstep in Manhattan, he wielded up a plethora of pumpkin pits…errrrr seeds (sorry I was lost in the alliteration for a moment) which in turn were transformed into a tasty toasted treat <sigh>…with very little effort.  In addition, he also provided an evening’s worth of creative entertainment, and now lights their doorway….and we haven’t even gotten to pumpkin pie yet!!!!

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

• Separate the pumpkin seeds from the stringy pumpkin innards.
• rinse
• place in a saucepan and cover with salted water (for every 2 cups of water, use 1 Tbl salt)
• simmer for 10 minutes
• drain (but do not rinse off salt) on paper towels and pat dry
• melt 2 Tbl butter in small saucepan, toss seeds in butter to coat
• layer on cookie sheet
• roast the seeds in a 275 degree oven for 35 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally

The crisp seeds can be eaten whole.  Store in airtight container, unless you’d rather eat them…..hahahahaha  in which case they will mysteriously disappear quicker than you can photograph them for your mom’s blog!!!!