I can remember mom expending great effort to cut up a pumpkin. Dad helped out most of the time. Pumpkins are tough little boogers and don’t give up easily. She would scrape out the insides, throw away the seeds, then cut them up into manageable pieces, peel and boil the chunks. Ugh. Not my idea of a good time. I’m going to try and make this as easy as pie . . . pumpkin pie. Which really is pretty easy. But I’m going to save that for another day. Keep reading. Giveaway coming up! First, pick out a Sugar Pumpkin that is about 3-5 pounds. These are the really smooth, dark orange variety that we have all known and loved throughout the ages. I just never knew they were called “Sugar Pumpkins” until this year. Yep, I love living under my little rock. I really am very naive . . . Now that you have your Sugar Pumpkin, wash the outside thoroughly. Then, take a large, sharp chef’s knife and cut the pumpkin in half, lengthwise. Don’t think you are going to use the stem for a hand-holt because that puppy is going to pop off there like a cork on a champagne bottle. Well, at least mine did. Plunging the knife in, point first, then slicing down and rocking the knife back and forth got the first cut going. Then I turned it on its end and worked the knife back and forth a couple more times to finish off the cut. Perfect! Scrape out the innards, the guts, stringy part and seeds and set them aside for more fun later. Get out a large baking pan and fill with about 1/2″ of water. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place halves of pumpkin “face down” in the water. *Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle* Bake for about 35 to 45 minutes. Keep reading. Giveaway coming up! Now, right after you pop the punkin in the oven, get out a cookie sheet for roasting your seeds. Separate the seeds from the innards and rinse the seeds off. Pat dry. Throw away the stringy part. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Dump the seeds onto your cookie sheet, spread into a single layer, and place in the oven with your pumpkin halves. Bake for about 15 minutes, then using a spatula mix them around and spread them out again. […]
{ 33 comments }
