I told Katie to pick one out and went inside to get some Chinese food. (If you are from the Madison area and know of a better place to get Chinese food, please let me know. I have lived in this area for over ten years and I haven't found a great Chinese food restaurant yet.)
It took a while before I spotted Katie and her pumpkin. She put it in a cart because it was so big. Yes, she picked out the biggest one she could find. She was very cute pushing her pumpkin and smiling :o)
When we got home we took pictures.
Stats: Aperture 1.8, ISO 250, lens 50mm 1.4
At check out the young man asked about our pumpkin. He said, "How do you cook your seeds?"
I was surprised that this 19 year old asked me that...I was surprised he knew about cooking pumpkin seeds and that he asked me like everyone did this. It is so sweet.
I said, my mom always made them but mine never turned out as well.
He said he used butter and salt and Worcestershire and he cooked them until they were very crisp. Almost burnt. But not.
Our pumpkin seed conversation made my day. I liked that boy.
So many times I feel like the invisible old lady.
Not today. I felt like a person who would cook her pumpkin seeds.
It felt good.
Do you cook your pumpkin seeds? How do you make them?
Encourage one another,
Donna
"I felt like a person who would cook her pumpkin seeds.
ReplyDeleteIt felt good" Donna, you are THE BEST!!
I do cook the seeds of any squash, because home-cooked squash seeds make life worth living. Even more so than bubble wrap.
I soak them in water for 15 minutes, massage the gook off. You know, all that stringy stuff? Then I put them in a paper towel and squeeze them dry. I put a bit of olive oil in a small bowl and with oily fingers massage the seeds. I know, it's a lot of massaging. I'm a tactile baker.
I put the massaged seeds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. And sprinkle sea salt on them. I don't know how long I cook them, but I keep the light on in my oven and dance in anticipation.. I like them crisp.
YU_UHM!! The best snack EVAH. The most encouraging thing.
Thank you for your recipe...and details!! Soaking and massaging. Gotcha :o)
Delete"Even more so than bubble wrap." Wow! I am listening carefully to the seed prep. Better than bubble wrap? I am impressed.
DeleteDi
Thanks Carol, now I want to cook some seeds. You made it sound fun and yummy!
Deletejep
Oven temp? approx time? TY !!
DeleteThat is a perfect pumpkin!
ReplyDeleteI love pumpkin seeds, but really, there isn't many things that I loathe more than carving a pumpkin and cleaning out the seeds! YUCK!
But, when I do tackle that project, I soak them in salt water for an hour, drain and dry. Spread on a parchment lined baking sheet, spray with my olive oil mister and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.
I roast them in the oven on the "convection roast" setting at 425 until they are crisp.
Sometimes, I change things up and toss in garlic butter and then put on the parchment to roast. So delicious!
Yes! love roasted seeds - especially pumpkin. I wipe and pull the flesh/strings off. Put them in a shallow pan with salted butter. Bake low heat (200-225) until dry and crisp. Stir every now and then.
ReplyDeleteI am going to use a drill on our pumpkins this year and make an artsy design. We will see how it goes. Yours is the perfect size! I hope I can find a good price around here.
ReplyDeleteWe never make pumpkin pie unless it is a holiday, but I just thought last night that we should make some NOW. Yumola.
Great colors on Katie, and the hair is really fun. She's doing a good job with it.
Love,
Di
Sweet story of the boy. Not many young men know how to speak to people in general.
ReplyDeleteNo good Chinese in Madison, AT ALL. I miss my NYC Chinese food so much, but maybe it is for the best.
LOVE the pics. Katie looks so grown up.
Our years in Madison are the reason I no longer eat Chinese food - the Thai food was just so fantastic, and I never looked back.....
DeleteAmen to Thai over Chinese. It's the same here: great Thai. Chinese is meh.
DeleteDonna, our day in China Town ruined Placerville Chinese food for me. Whatever the name of that place was, the food was so yummy!
DeleteDi
What a sweet young man and he knows a nice lady when he sees one, no wonder he talked to you. Does anyone else think that Katie's maroon sweater makes a heart shape around the pumpkin in the second picture..may just be me. Such a perfect shape and color for a pumpkin...good job Katie. The pumpkins we have here are more expensive this year. Must be from the drought. Such beautiful Katie moment photographs...like her nail polish, too.
ReplyDeletelove and prayers, jep
YES to the heart :-)
DeleteI see the heart, too!! <3
DeleteMary Z
Yes, I saw the heart! And I think that you should go back and invite that pleasant young man to dinner. Why not? I think you and your husband would enjoy his company and maybe that of his parents as well. Please let us know how it went....
DeleteRegards-Jamie
I just really like this post! It's been a long time since I commented, but I think you are so cute Donna!
ReplyDeleteAmen Mary-----just a plain, old, big Amen--as cute as a button----or in this case, a pumpkin seed !!
DeleteGreat and wonderful pics. Is Katie all settled in with her "new do" ? That is one thing I have never cried over. Somehow I grasped that it would grow and that it wouldn't take long. The seeds sound so good. Happy Fall y'all from someone in the deep south !!
ReplyDeleteI love Hy-Vee Chinese food. I went there for Chinese food lunch (sweet and sour, sauce on the side, with fried rice & a crab rangoon) every monday for about a year and a half.
ReplyDeleteLove these pumpkim pictures and am now craving pumpkin seeds! Sunflower seeds are my usual go-to. Love them to snack or in salads, but I think I'll have to branch out this October.
ReplyDeleteKatie picked an awesome pumpkin and I'm so glad the young man made such an impression on you. You're a good, insightful person to notice that -- and to notice how good it made you feel. :)
Mary Z
My husband, Kris loves HyVee Chinese food, too.
ReplyDeleteAll the pictures of Katie are great, but the last one is my fave. I like the color of her sweater.
Sarah P. from Iowa
I love love love love pumpkin seeds. Mom always roasted them with butter and seasoning salt. Lowry's. the. Best.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to say that I have a dear friend in Nebraska and she and her family loves the HyVee Chinese food. We don't have HyVee stores down here. On occasion a pretty young woman passes out samples of sushi at the grocery store, but I have not ever tried it. Sounds like Patrick, my dad and our youngest son share a love for Chinese food. love and prayers, jep
ReplyDeleteDonna, we loved "China Wok" in Middleton when we lived in Madison. They had a buffet that was always fresh with a wonderful shrimp stir fry and excellent dumplings. We liked Chang Jiang for take-out. It is pretty Americanized but we were good with that. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you joy!
ReplyDeleteWow ... never THOUGHT of roasting seeds from the pumpkins and I LOVE pumpkin seeds. Read an article recently touting their healthful benefits, too. Will have to give them a try ... the young man's suggestion with Worchestershire sauce sounds intriguing because I love that flavoring. Lawry's seasoning salt is a staple in our house. No answer for you on the Chinese food ... I'm still looking for a good one in Northern Michigan AND a decent Chicago-type pizza place ... have to "import" them every time I visit since in Chicago area! LOVE Katie's hair ... we weren't blessed with children and if we had been would have loved a daughter like her ;-) So enjoy your writings ........
ReplyDeleteI like them with salt but my kids love it when I add some melted butter then sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful way that that young man made your day, and maybe he didn't even know he was. Bless him, and bless you!
ReplyDeleteI am much too lazy to get, clean out, carve a pumpkin, much less roast seeds! My children harumph.
I find pumpkin seeds hard to clean, which you have to do before baking, right? But I use some oil and salt. "Invisible old lady." LOVE that ... I feel it too sometimes. And agree that it's uplifting when a young person takes time to engage.
ReplyDeleteI think soaking them & getting the gunk off is key. I soak in salt water. Then bake in olive oil or butter, seasoned with salt or sometimes garlic salt. I think I've microwaved them instead of baking, too. Searched the internet a few years ago for suggestions & just do that each Oct when I have a pile of seeds in front of me. =)
ReplyDeleteLove the story about the nice cashier.
Rachel in ND
Hong Kong Cafe on Regent Street...I'll admit that it was 15 years ago and it may have changed, but it was great back then! Love your photos, thanks for noting the settings--super helpful to a newbie like me!
ReplyDeleteI love that he made you feel special.
ReplyDeleteYou are special.
Never invisible.
^^What she said. You should never feel invisible. You have way too much impact to be invisible. I think I'm inspired to roast some pumpkin seeds for my kids this year. I also died a little when I saw the price of your pumpkins. We pay 40 to 89 cents per POUND for pumpkins here. My son wanted one of the really big ones at the grocery store today. For 80 bucks. I told him he can have it when he pays for it himself.
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