Save those pumpkin seeds!

I love all the fruits of fall. I can’t pass by the displays of colorful squash, squatty pumpkins or warty gourds without grabbing a few and putting them in my shopping cart.

Besides looking lovely on the kitchen counter, they can be used in all kinds of recipes.

Whenever I cook with squash, I always save the seeds as a special treat for the squirrels. But when I carve a pumpkin for Halloween, I keep those seeds to make a roasty toasty snack.

Pumpkin seeds, also called pepitas, are a healthful, delicious snack and a good source of protein.

To prepare the seeds for roasting, remove all the pumpkin’s innards and separate the seeds from the stringy and gooey pulp.

Put the seeds in a colander and rinse well. Shake off the excess water and dry slightly. Place seeds on a rimmed cookie sheet.

This recipe for Mad Scientist Soup is a dreadfully delicious Halloween supper, especially when served with a loaf of Dead Head Bread.

Let loose your inner Mad Scientist this Halloween and experiment with different fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables to concoct a steaming pot of soup.

Every batch is different depending on what garden-grown goodies are chopped and tossed into the brew. This recipe included tomatoes, green beans, small potatoes, and thin slices of summer squash, but you can add whatever vegetables and herbs are preserved from your gardening efforts.

For a vegetarian soup, substitute vegetable broth for the beef, omit the ground turkey, and use more veggies (like canned or frozen Green Giant peas or corn).

Mad Scientist Soup isn’t complete if you don’t call ingredients by their scary, seasonal names: garbanzo-bean brains, frog eye pasta, and real kidney beans.

Ingredients

Halloween is a holiday we can really sink our fangs into. Here’s a tasty home-made bread recipe to get you into the spirit.

Start your seasonal celebrating by baking up a loaf of Dead Head Bread.

This is an enjoyable way to bake a loaf of bread from scratch. It’s not difficult at all, it just takes a little bit of time to let the dough rise.

It’s a perfect way to spend a cold day inside and use some of your home-grown herbs to sprinkle on top.

It’s also great fun to shape the dough into something scary. Your family is sure to howl for more.

Dead Head Bread Recipe

Ingredients
1 and ½ cups of warm water (divided)
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorn
4 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon dried sage
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

Got basil?

Large leaf Italian basil like this can be whirled into a delicious pesto in less than 15 minutes. I cut back this plant by about half. Then washed and dried the leaves to fill 2 cups (tightly packed).

For a nice, creamy pesto I grated about 3 ounces of Parmesan in my food processor and then set the cheese aside. Then I finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic. I added the basil leaves, cheese, 1/4 cup pine nuts (or walnuts) and 1 teaspoon or so of salt.

Pulse the mixture until it’s combined. Then add about 1/2 cup of olive oil while the processor is running. Mix until smooth.

This makes enough pesto for 1 pound of pasta, like my favorite whole-wheat penne. Serve with a salad and crusty bread for an easy summer meal.

Pesto also freezes well and I’ve often doubled this recipe and filled small containers or ice-cube trays for the freezer. It makes an easy winter meal, too!

This recipe for old-fashioned Molasses Sugar Cookies uses ingredients like cloves, ginger, and cinnamon to create a treat that’s crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Finding an old recipe is like seeing a long-lost friend. I was reminded of this yesterday after finally finding the recipe for Molasses Sugar Cookies. I was afraid I had lost the list of ingredients and carefully printed instructions for this delicious old-fashioned treat.

These cookies are easy to make and they bake up crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Because molasses is the key ingredient, these cookies are almost good for you. Molasses, a sugar derived from sugar cane or sugar beets, gives these cookies their delicious dark brown color and adds a deeper kind of sweetness. The thick brown liquid also contains vitamins and minerals, like iron, calcium and potassium.

That’s enough to make you feel downright healthy eating them.

This recipe for Curried Butternut Squash soup is an ideal starter before a holiday meal. It can be served hot, cold, or at room temperature. Serve in bowls with a dollop of sour cream or in shot glasses for slurping.

I stocked up on butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) at the market the other day because the price was right and I had several recipes in mind.

The checkout clerk rang up the squash and then stopped what he was doing.

“Could I ask you a question,” he said. “How the heck do you cut these things?”

I understand his frustration. It takes a powerful key to unlock the combination to a butternut squash and their odd shape makes peeling especially difficult. I’ve tried peeling these squash while still whole, but an easier way is to cut the squash in half and remove the seeds before peeling. Then slice the fatter, bottom portion into rings, then peel and cut into chunks.

Baked garlic is one of my favorite appetizers and this recipe keeps hungry Thanksgiving guests satisfied until dinner is on the table.

But, if you’re pressed for time, garlic can be cooked in just minutes in a microwave oven.

Baked Garlic Recipe

Ingredients

One or two whole garlic bulbs
Extra virgin olive oil
Dried herbs such as oregano or leaf thyme
Assorted crackers or fresh crusty bread

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel the loose, papery skins off the outside of the bulbs.
3. Slice about 1/4-inch off the top of each clove.

Because Thanksgiving is next week, I thought this would be a good time to revisit some of my favorite holiday recipes, like this one for Stuffed Pumpkin.

It can be baked into a vegetarian entree, served as a a side-dish, or used as an edible centerpiece.

Stuffed Pumpkin Ingredients

1 small-to-medium pumpkin
Worcestershire or soy sauce
Salt and pepper
2 3/4 cups quick cooking wild rice mix*
3-5 sliced scallions
3-4 sliced carrots
1 1/2 cups kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup pine nuts (or shelled, roasted pumpkin seeds)
1/3 cup shelled sunflower seeds

Directions

1. Prepare wild rice according to package instructions. While it’s simmering prepare the pumpkin.
2. Cut a medium-sized circle in the top of the pumpkin.
3. Remove the seeds and pulp; clean thoroughly. Save seeds to roast.
4. Season inside of pumpkin with Worcestershire or soy sauce.
5. Let rice cool slightly and then mix together with the remaining ingredients.

The end of every gardening season leaves me with what seems like a gazillion green tomatoes. This year I put every one of them to use.

One of the challenges of gardening in the Rocky Mountain West is dealing with a short growing season–and some of them are shorter than others. At the end of every season, I have an abundance of green tomatoes that will never have the chance to ripen on the vine.

I also feel sorry for all the little yellow tomato blossoms that will never get to grow into fruit.

I always pick the green tomatoes and try to ripen as many as I can inside. If the tomatoes are a good size and have started to turn color, they’ll ripen either in a bowl on the windowsill or wrapped in newspaper and set aside in a cool, dark place.

But that still leaves a lot of little green tomatoes that won’t ripen no matter what I do to them.

Roasted pumpkin seeds are an easy-to-make seasonal favorite snack and come free with every pumpkin.

Halloween is just around the corner so I know a lot of pumpkins will be picked, carved, and used to decorate front porches everywhere.

As much fun as that is, my favorite part of this fall tradition is taking advantage of the pumpkin’s free seeds.

Pumpkin seeds, also called pepitas, are a delicious snack and a good source of protein.

The easiest way I’ve found to roast them is to remove all the insides from the pumpkin, separate the seeds from the stringy and gooey pulp, and place seeds in a colander. After they’re well rinsed, I place them on a rimmed cookie sheet, sprinkle them with Kosher salt and then slow-roast them in a 300-degree oven for 45-60 minutes or more until they’re nice and toasty. Turn at least once while baking.