ROASTED PUMPKIN OR SQUASH SEEDS

Don’t toss the seeds after opening a squash or carving a pumpkin Make a simple salty crunch or try jazzing them up with cayenne pepper, garlic powder, grated Parmesan or even sweeten with sugar and cinnamon.

• 1 1/2 cups seeds
• 2 teaspoons melted butter, olive oil or vegetable oil
• Salt, to taste or other spices you might like (garlic powder, seasoning salt, cayenne pepper, grated hard cheese, etc.)

Preheat oven to 300°F. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper. Clean strings from seeds. It’s okay to leave some strings and pulp on seeds (it adds more flavor!); remove any large chunks. They may burn in the oven. Add cleaned seeds to a bowl along with salt or other seasonings. Pour melted oil over seeds and mix. Spread seeds in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes or until seeds are golden brown. Stir seeds occasionally. Cool on baking sheet. When ready to eat, either crack the seed’s shell to remove the inner seed or eat them whole.

PUMPKIN DIP

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate

Blend all ingredients. Chill. Dip can be used with varied fruit, graham crackers or Teddy Grahams.

Notes: This makes a very large batch for a dip. The recipe could be cut in half.

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