We grew sugar pumpkins in our garden this year. Our plants produced a total of six pumpkins. To be honest, they didn't do very well. We battled downy mildew for most of the summer and eventually, our poor leaves succumbed to the disease. Sadly, the plants died before the pumpkins fully ripened. I left them in the garden for as long as possible. I decided to harvest them once I noticed that our neighborhood chipmunks were eyeing up the garden.
 |
| Preparing pumpkins to be roasted. |
Despite the fact that they make good decorations, I decided that today would be a good day to preserve them for the winter.
I rough cut each pumpkin into similar-sized pieces. Then I scraped out the insides and separated the seeds. I roasted the pumpkin pieces in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Once they were fork-tender, I scraped out the roasted pumpkin and pureed it in the food processor. Lastly, I froze the puree in 2 cup quantities. I will use this later on for a variety of recipes, including pie of course!
 |
| The finished product for the freezer. |
Now, back to those seeds I separated out. I've really been craving sweet snacks but I'm pretty limited with my choices. So I cleaned up the seeds and dried them lightly with a towel. I had about 1 1/2 cups of seeds. I added 2 Tbsp of maple syrup, 1 Tbsp of melted butter, and 2 tsp of cinnamon. I mixed this all together and spread the seeds out evenly on a foil-lined baking sheet.
 |
| Pumpkin seeds mixed with maple syrup, butter, and cinnamon. |
Lastly, I sprinkled a tiny bit of salt over the top of the seeds. I baked the seeds until dry and crispy, about 30 minutes at 325 degrees. This experiment was a huge success! The seeds are delicious and fulfilling without being too sweet.
