Roasted Pumpkin Seeds and a Pumpkin Carving

Yeah, I’m one of those people who likes to enter into every contest, giveaway and raffle. Some person, somewhere, is going to win free stuff, and that person might as well be me! It so happens that my boyfriend is a tech enthusiast (I didn’t say “geek”, ok? You did. Didn’t you? Oh, you didn’t. Ok…) and told me about this contest that IntoMobile was having for some great shiny new toys provided by Nvidia. Mostly, all I heard was that I get to carve a pumpkin and my mind wandered off with the possibilities of how I would execute this, while he went on about how awesome the prizes were (a Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, a Jawbone Jambox and a $25 gift card).

The day before Halloween, we set out to find a pumpkin. We strategically consulted some neighbors and learned that the best place to get pumpkins was at the Trader Joe’s… in the Valley. I briefly considered a Coach purse and some Juicy Couture sweat pants to blend in with the natives but abandoned that idea when we decided to expedite the process to fit in a beach day as well (wouldn't have worked without a Range Rover anyway). We were gonna go into this store with shields up - quick and dirty!

Well, after stumbling over a few bales of hay, elbowing a couple of pre-teen girls and narrowly avoiding a head-first dip into the giant pumpkin bin, we succeeded in securing the largest, orangey-est, most gorgeous two pumpkins, if I do say so myself. We happily went on to enjoy an such a fantastic picnic on the beach that we neglected to realize that it would mean not getting home to start the carving until very late! Seven long, infomercial filled, exhausting hours later (including ice cream breaks), this is what I got:

To do this, we printed out a logo image in grayscale and taped it to the pumpkin. Then I used an exacto knife to make perforations along all the lines I wanted to carve. Exacto blades (that were completely dull by the time I was halfway through) were used for almost the entire thing, with the help of a sharp paring knife for some of the clean up. I used a serrated steak knife for the lid, of course. The texture in the negative space is a familiar one I'd done before in making this watch carving a few years ago from a bar of soap. I love exacto knives. Exacto knives and silicone spatulas. And puppies.

Oh yeah, the pumpkin seeds! Well these were a total bonus. I haven’t carved a pumpkin in years, I almost  threw these away as an afterthought. Glad I didn't, because I'm chomping on them right now. Here they are, all dressed up and yummy!

 

Cinnamon-Sugar Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

from Serious Eats

1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds

2 tablespoons melted butter (or olive oil)

2 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Wash pumpkin seeds and lay out on a paper towel on a cookie sheet to dry. In a medium bowl, toss the seeds with the melted butter, coating thoroughly. Add the remaining ingredients and toss. Spread the seeds out evenly across a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the seeds are golden brown. Stir the seeds every so often while they're baking, so that they toast evenly.