October joys . . .

Instagram photo of my drive home everyday

My house smells amazingly of roasted pumpkin right now! I love the warmth of the smell and the way it puts me in the mood for snuggling on the couch with my hubby and watching the fire flicker. Fall is my husbands favorite season and although I love the warmer weather there is something magical about autumn. The changing colors, the warm sweaters, yummy food, and the sight of snow creeping down the mountain all have their charm.
Some of you may remember an older post about Pumpkin muffins (which are my favorite this time of year) and that is the reason I'm roasting the pumpkin. That recipe is actually one of my favorite gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free ones and my little sister and I practically survived off them a few autumns ago because we were too lazy to make anything else and they taste amazing anyway! So, after I cleaned my pumpkin out and as I am waiting for it to roast, I find myself in a quandary. What do I do with the seeds? Sure, I could roast them, but I don't want just regular old pumpkin seeds! I want some with kick! Some with BAM! So, I started looking around on the internet and found Heidi Swanson's website "101 cookbooks" and she has several recipes that make for some very interesting pumpkin seed flavors, such as curried or black tea and butter!! You can find the original recipes here, but this one was my favorite:

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
1 egg white
1/4 cup natural cane sugar (I actually used Stevia)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grained sea salt
1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the egg white, sugar, cayenne and salt. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off any excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Try not to use a cookie sheet or a sheet with a very thin bottom or they may burn easily. I also sprayed with cooking oil just to make sure they didn't stick. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar and cayenne pepper when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Makes one cup.