Hunger site

One more plug for the hunger site... If you didn't read my earlier post, please read my earlier blog about it.

Pumpkin seeds

Now that Halloween is over, you probably guess what's next. Yep, pumpkin seeds. Normally, I just do the plain old salt-em, and roast-em pumpkin seeds, but this time, I decided to try something slightly different. For those of you who want to try something new, here's what I did (note These amounts are approximations. I'm the kind of cook that just kind of throws everything together, and occasionally something good happens):

• Two pumpkins worth of seeds (maybe 2.5 Cups?)
  
• 1.5-2 Tbsp of butter-margarine
  
• Salt (to taste, whatever that means when you're putting salt on something before you're cooking it...)
  
• Cayenne pepper (to taste... that means just a little bit... maybe a teaspoon? I really haven't the faintest idea, because I just kind of sprinkled it on, and then thought... 'hmm.. that wasn't very much... I hope I can taste it...')
  

After gutting your pumpkin, explain to your four year old that you're not killing it, then take the seeds and rinse off all of the pumpkin goo (which you should now stop calling pumpkin guts just before carving eyes, nose, mouth etc, in this thing that -- to your four year old -- is beginning to take on life).
Soak your pumpkin seeds in salt-water overnight (how much salt? How much water? Who knows... Just guess, it'll all work out in the end)
After soaking, spread them out on a pan or something and let them dry. This can take well over a day.
Once dry, combine the seeds and butter in a big bowl, and add the salt and cayenne pepper (just a little bit.. not too much here)
Pre-heat your oven to 300°F
Spread your seeds out on a cookie sheet, and roast until they begin to turn slightly brown (usually 15 minutes) stirring every 5 minutes.

Good Luck!

A bit too cold for Halloween

As temps dropped into the teens, it was a bit too cold to march the kids outside at night. As an alternative, there was a trick or treat event earlier in the day at work. The kids got all dressed up, and came to work, and along with many of my co-workers kids, followed a pre-drawn path around the entire site for almost two hours. While that was fun, I think Drew had much more fun handing out candy to the kids as they came to our door later that evening.

At one point, some kids came to the door, and there were only five pieces of candy left. As Ann went to get more, Drew was explaining to the 10-12 kids standing there that we were out of candy. "Sorry.... we've run out of candy, we only have five pieces left." Fortunately, Ann returned to the door before the egg-throwing and rioting began.