Don’t eat the jack-o-lantern!

Credit: ScottHeimendinger

ScottHeimendinger

Before carving out your favourite pumpkin face, be sure to scoop the seeds

Looking for some pumpkin-carving inspiration? Check out these nerd-tastic jack-o-lantern ideas.

Once you’ve carved your pumpkin to look like Bill Gates, Harry Potter or Wolverine, and you’ve kept it outside for a few days (or weeks!), no part of that pumpkin is safe for human consumption. So pumpkin pie is out! (Instead, add your jack-o-lantern to the compost bin or bury it in the garden, where it will decay quickly and enrich the soil.)

You can, however, make delicious toasted pumpkin seeds with all the seeds you scoop out:

Toasted pumpkin seeds

Ingredients

One medium-sized pumpkin

Salt

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400° F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.

In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water—about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a half-tablespoon of salt for every cup of water (more if you like your seeds saltier). Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer.

Bake on the top rack until the seeds begin to brown; 10–20 minutes. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either eat whole or crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and, in my opinion, unnecessary).

Recipe from Simply Recipes