Every year when we carve out our jack-o-lanterns for Halloween I always save the seeds and bake ‘em in the oven. This year I decided to use a different recipe, and I’ll be damned if they’re not the tastiest, crispiest, lip-smackin’est pumpkin seeds I’ve ever had (made, bought, or otherwise), so I wanted to share the recipe with, well, whoever the hell wants it. The only thing I added was to sprinkle some spicy Cajun-style seasoning salt to them after I pulled them out of the oven, but that’s because I usually like my salty snacks with a bit more kick. (By the way, I baked them for 25 minutes as opposed to 20 as it calls for below… but that’s just how long it took them to get slightly browned in our oven. Your mileage may vary.)

Fall has arrived and with it, the pumpkin season. There are always plenty of pumpkins to carve up around Halloween time and a great way to make use of the pumpkin seeds is eat them, salted and toasted. Our preference is with the shells on – if they are toasted properly they are wonderfully crunchy and easy to eat. It helps if you are going to eat them with the shells on that you use seeds from sugar pumpkins, somewhat smaller than the mega-sized carving pumpkins (not really pumpkins but large squash). The trick? Boil the seeds in salted water first, and then toast them in the oven.

• One medium sized pumpkin
• Salt
• Olive oil

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.

2 In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a tablespoon of salt for every cup of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

3 Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack for 20 minutes or until the seeds begin to brown. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.

I ain’t shittin’ ya… these are delicious! And absolutely no diacetyl!!