Tuesday, October 30, 2012

The Pumpkin, Deconstructed...

Today we are all thinking about everyone in the East dealing with Sandy...

Hold on tight, Friends...  We are praying for you.


Okay, so I thought I knew everything 
there was to know about good old Jack O' Lantern...  

It seems I do not...  

Here is what I found...

  • Jack-o-lantern fungus: a large poisonous agaric with orange caps and narrow clustered stalks; the gills are luminescent

  • A jack-o'-lantern (sometimes also spelled Jack O'Lantern) is typically a carved pumpkin. It is associated chiefly with the holiday Halloween, and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, 
  • called ignis fatuus or jack-o'-lantern. ...

  • Jack O'Lantern, in comics, may refer to: * Jack O'Lantern (DC Comics), from Ireland and fictional country Bialya * Jack O'Lantern (Marvel Comics), incarnations of a supervillain, from U.S. and England

  • Omphalotus olearius, commonly known as the Jack o'Lantern mushroom, is an orange- to yellow-gill mushroom that to an untrained eye appears similar to some chanterelles, and is most notable for its bioluminescent properties. Unlike the chanterelle, the Jack o'Lantern mushroom is poisonous. ...

  • This is the most significant / important Halloween symbol. This is a pumpkin which has been carved and cleaned. The most common way is to have a face on it, like in the picture. These days there are all kinds of different designs which people make.


A Jack O Lantern present in your dream indicates some form of protection that you have. If you are carving a Jack O’ Lantern, your dream signifies a fake tough exterior.

There now, don't you feel smarter already?

Here's a tasty recipe for what to do with those seeds.  
Note:  In the recipe it says 
to soak the seeds overnight in salty water.  
You can also just boil them for 10 minutes 
in salty water for the same, plump seeds...
Since the seed haul from every pumpkin is different, you might have to play with the ingredients a bit here – I scraped my seeds from 3 large pumpkins, being diligent with the first two and a bit lazy with the last. But play you should. I’ve added my favorite pumpkin pie ingredients (maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom), but a few pinches of clove, nutmeg, or allspice certainly wouldn’t hurt.
 TIME: 10 minutes prep (not including seed excavation)
MAKES: 3 1/2 cups roasted pumpkin seeds
3 1/2 cups raw fresh pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger














1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Place the seeds in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of the salt and add hot water to cover. Let sit for 4 hours (or overnight), until the seeds are puffy. Scoop the seeds off the top of the water, avoiding any leftover pumpkin bits, and transfer them to a large tea towel. Use another towel to pat them mostly dry – they’ll still be a bit slimy, but do what you can.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees; line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Transfer the seeds to a large mixing bowl, and stir in the olive oil and maple syrup. Blend the remaining ingredients, plus the remaining teaspoon salt, in a small bowl, and sprinkle the mixture over the seeds as you stir them. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then spread the seeds on the baking sheets in a thin layer.


Bake for about 25 minutes, rotating sheets and stirring seeds once or twice, or until browned and crisp. Remove seeds from the oven, sprinkle immediately with additional salt, and let cool on baking sheets. Break seeds apart and enjoy, alone or on salads. Store cooled seeds in an airtight container.
 

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