Buying Pumpkins From a Local Farm
At halloween this year, the students in my culinary class went to the pumpkin farm and picked out pumpkins.The farm was on the coast in Watsonville, CA. It was filled with gourds and varieties of pumpkins.
Carving Pumpkins
We took the pumpkins back to the school, and the following week, the students carved the pumpkins.
Of course, we saved the seeds and roasted them. They take about an hour to roast, so be sure you have plenty of time. I put some of the seeds in the fridge and roasted them later. I had them in a bowl with a lid, and they kept fresh for 5 days.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe
Ingredients
- One large pumpkin
Directions
- Cut the top off the pumpkin. With a large spoon, scrape out insides of pumpkin, removing loose pulp and seeds.
- Place pulp and seeds in a colander.
- Once the seeds are out of the pumpkin, pre-heat the oven to 300°.
- Pick out the large pieces of pulp and discard.
- Transfer the seeds to a large bowl, and fill it up with cold water. The pulp will fall to the bottom and the seeds will float. With your hands, rub off any pulp that’s still sticking to the seeds.
- Scoop the seeds out of the water with your hands and place them back into the colander.
- Rub a light coat of oil onto a baking sheet, spreading it around evenly with a paper towel. Add seeds, distributing them evenly.
- Place the pan in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven, drizzle with additional oil and move seeds around using a spatula. Sprinkle with salt.
- Place seeds back in the oven for 25 to 35 more minutes.
- Remove seeds from oven. Place them in a bowl using a spatula and let cool. Store in an air-tight container when cool.
