Are you making a pumpkin pie from scratch this Thanksgiving? Don’t throw out the best part!

I’m talking about the seeds, of course!

After you wash and cut open the pumpkin, scoop out the pulp and seeds. Place them in a big bowl and then call one of the little kids into the kitchen. Tell them their job is to remove the seeds from the “slime” (use that word, they’ll think it’s cool). Have your helper drop the seeds into a separate bowl.

After the seeds and pulp have been separated, rinse the seeds in a colander and then lay them out on paper towels to air dry. Put them in a re-sealable plastic bag until you’re ready to use them (they’ll hold for about a week).

There are so many ways to roast pumpkin seeds. Here’s my recipe for how to make Candied Pumpkin Seeds, which are great to snack on, top a salad or sprinkle in your oatmeal. They also make sweet little hostess gifts!

I made these very Spice Island spicy, not hot spicy. Click here to read more and to get the recipe!

Applesauce.

That’s what makes these Unbelievably Moist Pumpkin Mini-Muffins so, well, moist.

The ginger and the pumpkin pie spice balance the sweetness of the muffins without overpowering the pumpkin flavor. So easy to make. So delicious.

Kickoff your fall baking with these cute little bites of goodness!

       Print this recipe.    

More than any other holiday, Thanksgiving inspires all kinds of culinary creativity… some of it not particularly appetizing.

Here are a few of the more interesting Thanksgiving-related food items that I’ve come across this season.

Pumpkin Beers have been around for a while, but the Jones Soda Company has a really interesting non-alcoholic offering… and it’s vegan. 

If you need your Thanksgiving fix first thing in the morning, Kellogg’s Pop Tarts has you covered.

If you don’t like pumpkin pie, don’t worry. Baskin Robbins says, “Let them eat cake!” And, no, it’s not made of turkey-flavored ice cream.

Not cooking this year? Well, here are a few video snippets to remind you of what you’re missing… or not!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Eat up!

Have you picked your pumpkin yet?

When the kids were younger, we’d drive to a pumpkin patch nearby and let them pick out a pumpkin. The only rule: they had to be able to carry it to the car.

(It was a blast watching the youngest ones try to negotiate the biggest pumpkins back to the car.)

Sadly, the pumpkin patch is now a condo patch, so the only pumpkins we pick are the ones at the supermarket… but that’s okay, too. Just like we did way back when… we still salvage the seeds from inside so we have something to munch on while we carve.

The kids used to like them roasted, with just a little bit of salt. But now, just like their lives have become, the process is a little more involved… some spice here, a little sweetness there… everyone puts their own individual twist on this recipe. They love it.

And the only rule? You have to eat everything you make!

       Print this recipe.