Fall is approaching and with it the festiveness of the season, such as hay rides, haunted houses, and of course pumpkin carving.

For those die-hard waste-not-want-notter’s, here is a great idea for turning Jack-O-Lantern into a tasty and healthy family snack!

When your purchase a pumpkin for carving, you should know that any pumpkin worth carving is worth eating. (However, if you are buying for food purposes only – stick with a  smaller-sized pumpkins.) There are different types of pumpkins and my grandma did prefer the long-necked variety for pies but overall, any pumpkin is edible.

SNACK ONE: PUMPKIN SEEDS

Pumpkin seeds are a personal favorite snack and are just as easy to make at home as they are to buy in a grocery store. I prefer them over the tinier, harder to crack sunflower seeds.

When you bring home your prize, start by cutting out the top of the pumpkin as you normally would for carving. Using a long-handled spoon or your hand, carefully remove all of the seeds and stringy stuff from inside the pumpkin. Be careful not to scrap off too much of the inside just yet.

When the seeds have been collected, wash them well until clean and lay out on a towel to dry. When the seeds are sufficiently dry, place them on a shallow pan and set the over to 250°. Sprinkle seeds with a course salt or a variety of your own favorite spices. Go sweet or spicy, depending on your tastes. Pop them in the oven for an hour and carefully shake them around every 20 minutes or so. When they are toasted, let them cool off and store them in a container or resealable sandwich bag.

SNACK TWO: PUMPKIN PIE or BREAD or CAKE or SOUP

After removing all of the seeds and guts of the pumpkin, you need to remove the pulp, which is the orange “meat” of the pumpkin. If you plan on carving the pumpkin, it is important that you remove the pulp carefully so as not to ruin the carving surface. Using a scraper, a strong spoon or a knife, remove the pulp in pieces, leaving about an inch or so on all of the sides for carving. (Leaving too little pulp on the inside will make it harder to carve the pumpkin’s face without breaking it.)

If you do not plan to use the pumpkin for carving, cut it open and remove the pulp as if you were cutting a watermelon. Pulp can be tenderized by steaming in pot over another pot of hot water. After about thirty minutes, you can remove the pulp, allow it to cool and then freeze it.

Research some of your favorite family recipes and use the pumpkin accordingly. Nothing will ever replace my grandma’s pumpkin pie for me but for impatient kids, here is an easy recipe to make to celebrate the carving of the jack-o-lantern.

Halloween Milkshake

When the pulp cools off, toss in 4 tablespoons of purred pumpkin in a blender along with a cup of vanilla ice cream, ¼ cup of milk, and your favorite fall spice (think nutmeg and vanilla). For lots of kids, you may have to double the recipe. Serve immediately and enjoy the time with the kids. Start a new family tradition and teach the kids about the importance of not wasting food.

Pumpkins: Festive Decoration and a Yummy Treat was created by and is property of American Consumer News.