Pumpkin seeds emerged from creative tradition
- col-bobbie-randall
- October 24, 2024
- 894
The legend of Stingy Jack is said to be the origin of the Jack-O-Lantern. A deal was made with the Devil, and Stingy Jack was destined to roam the world with a glowing ember embedded inside a hollowed turnip.
As the fable came to North America, Jack’s turnip was replaced with the pumpkin. Now the jack-o'-lantern is the traditional symbol for the Hallowed Eve holiday of Halloween.
A trip to a pumpkin patch this weekend ended up with a delightful hayride to a field littered with orange orbs just waiting to be transformed into jack-o'-lanterns. Via a hay wagon, the five adults in our party bounced back to our car with 10 prized pumpkins.
Once home and with sharpened knives, the dissecting of the pumpkins began. One by one they were converted into candle holders to ward off the evil spirits associated with Halloween.
I cut out the traditional toothless grin of a jack-o'-lantern. The knives kept flying as a cat, a werewolf and a skeleton were carved into the soft orange pumpkin flesh. My daughter took a nontraditional approach with a power drill and drilled a hundred holes into a hollowed-out pumpkin for a polka-dot effect.
Using the drill bits, she personalized one with our last name in a scroll and added flowers.
The innards of the pumpkins were saved, and we separated as many seeds as possible. After my jack-o'-lantern was created, I collected the seeds and proceeded to the kitchen to roast them.
The orange pulp and slimy film were rinsed from the seeds. I do this with a large colander, and the feel of hundreds of pumpkin seeds sliding through my fingers is a once-a-year experience. Nothing else feels like Halloween as making roasted pumpkin seeds.
After blotting dry, I poured a single layer of drained seeds onto a baking pan. Then I sprayed a few squirts of olive oil on them and lightly sprinkled a few shakes of salt for seasoning. Placing them in a hot oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes fills my house with the aroma of autumn memories.
Ten pumpkins generated a lot of seeds. The last of the pumpkins were being carved as the final batch of roasted pumpkin seeds came out of the oven.
These tasty, little, crunchy morsels are high in the minerals phosphorus, magnesium and manganese. They are also a good source of zinc, iron and copper. In addition, unshelled pumpkin seeds are a good source of fiber, protein and vitamin K. Their fat content, mostly unsaturated, is over 50% of the seeds.
The meat of the pumpkin, which was extracted from the cavity, was set aside to be baked. Once softened, it will be mixed with our dog’s food. Dogs who eat pumpkins have a reduced tendency to consume their own fecal matter. They eat pumpkins, not poop.
For my family, the jack-o'-lantern weekend started with a seed of a great idea. The excursion fulfilled a family tradition. It ended with us munching roasted pumpkin seeds while admiring the work of our imaginations. The Devil would not dare to cross our path.
Bobbie Randall is a Registered, Licensed Dietitian. Contact her at bobbierandallrd@gmail.com