Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, work in progress and a moment of Self Realization

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

 

Every year I roast pumpkin seeds to share with friends and although I always go back to a few core ingredients I have never made them the same way twice.  This year I hit the pumpkin seed jackpot...3 gallon bags of seeds brought home from a pumpkin carving party.  Because of the large amount of seeds I had, my recipe changed once again and I think these are the best ever.  There are no measurements here...you'll need to follow your instincts and dip your finger in to test the flavor before you roast.  I have tried to list ingredients in order of volume (in other words much more Worcestershire sauce than cayenne pepper.)

Ingredients

low sodium Worcestershire sauce

kosher salt

ground cumin

brown sugar

cinnamon

cayenne pepper

Remove pumpkin seeds from pumpkin, straining them out by hard is easiest to separate them from the pumpkin "guts."  Remove as much of the guts as you can, but don;t worry if .  DO NOT RINSE THE SEEDS.  This will add a lot of flavor.  Add all the ingredients above to the pumpkin seeds to taste.  Depending on the amount of seeds you might be using tablespoon-fulls of the first 4 ingredients, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a few dashes of cayenne.  

Layer thinly on a cookie sheet.  Bake in preheated oven at 300.  If you have a convection oven, use the convection setting.  Stir every 10 minutes or so to keep the seeds from sticking to each other and to roast them evenly.  I like my seeds a bit crunchy but not overly roasted.  Keep checking and stirring until the are roasted to your liking.

A work in progress

A moment of self realization

 
Today I was in my Bikram Yoga class and the instructor said something that really resonated with me.  She was telling us that instead of thinking about all the things about ourselves we see as negatives; I'm too fat, I'm too skinny, I'm too old, I don't earn enough, drive the right car, etc, we need to realize who we are.  We are not defined by these things that can consume so much of our thoughts and energy.  What matters is how we feel about ourselves.  Our real selves, not our shape or bank accounts.

It made me think about this blog and my art and all of creative endeavors.  Instead of worrying about being untrained or not as talented as someone else, instead of worrying if what I have to say is relevant or wondering why in the world anyone would even care, instead of being embarrassed or self conscious about what I see as my shortcomings, I am going to be daring and and creative and ARTISTIC.  I'm going to embrace this blog and share what makes me happy and I'm not going to worry about how it is perceived or received.  And I might even dare tell people I have a blog!