Halloween and Pumpkin Seeds

 Yummy Sauteed Pumpkin Seeds

Confession up front that I love Halloween.  I don't love the scary, creepy ghoul part; it's the kids, it's the dress-up, carve pumpkins, party and cook pumpkin seeds part.  For many years we did minimal Halloween with our son.  He's much like his mom in that he doesn't like to be scared and Halloween can be very scary for the wee ones.  Heck, life in it's normalcy can be scary, throw a little skeleton or two and eek, enough already.  Anyway, now that Connor is eleven he's starting to see the fun in it all.  Plus he knows unless there's a costume involved there will be no access to free candy.  I figure I have maybe a couple years before it's all done, at least with any involvement of moi.  So I will enjoy, perhaps for the last time, being the safety ghost, stopping traffic so all the kids can cross safely.  Knowing Connor will pass me a twizzler every now and then when he gets one.

Connor's Costume-the scariest yet!

My own mother loved Halloween too.  I'm sure that's how it's trickled down.  She used to make all my costumes and help with the make-up.  She, however, did not like me to go trick-or-treating so instead she would always host a party at our place.  Looking back I now know why.  We always lived in apartments in sunny Los Angeles.  In spite of the lovely nostalgia of the old days being so much safer.  Like anything in life, that is subjected to the viewer.  We didn't always live in the safest neighborhoods so in her infinite Mom wisdom (single mom wisdom) she kept me as safe as she knew how.  If we lived in the Leave it to Beaver world I'm sure it would have been a much different experience.  Yet, I don't feel the least bit jilted by it all. I have a wonderful memory of making a maze out of appliance boxes she collected.  All the kids had a blast going through the many twists and turns.

So in memory of my mom and to all moms and dads; enjoy the time while you can as it passes so quickly.  Know, we are all creating memories.

Oh, and here is a guaranteed successful recipe for those pumpkin seeds left on the carving table.

SAVORY SWEET PUMPKIN SEEDS
Rinse your seeds thoroughly-get as much slime off as possible ; )
Over Medium heat
In a saute pan melt a tablespoon of butter (I'm sure you could use something lower in fat but not me)
Add your seeds
Sprinkle garlic power, salt and if you like spice, a little cayenne
Constantly stirring as they cook you might hear a pop or two which is aokay, they start to plump up.
As they brown sprinkle about a tablespoon of sugar over the top.
Keep your stirring so you mix all the savory sweet together.
The whole process takes about 15 - 20 minutes.
Taste to make sure they are crunchy and cooked through.
Enjoy!
Happy Halloween, one and all.
Be safe!