Stop! Don't Throw Away Those Seeds by Brenda-Lee Olson November 16, 2000

Bright Orange members of the squash family abound at harvest time.  It seems
a terrible thing to waste all those nutritious seeds inside the pumpkin -
especially when companies are making money selling them in the stores.
Drying pumpkin seeds is easy as long as you are patient and prepared not to
rush them. As well, a little extra work can make some delicious butter to
spread on all sorts of things.


DRIED PUMPKIN SEEDS
Once you have the pumpkin either baking or simmering, separate the seeds
from the string and rinse them well in cool water. Spread out over a baking
sheet and then dry them in a warm oven overnight. Salt or season and serve
warm or dry. Pumpkins have many nutritional qualities and taste good to
boot. Some prefer to shell them like sunflower seeds, while others like them
as is. If you have enough of them, you can make your own pumpkin seed butter
which is high in protein and a good replacement for peanut butter for those
who are allergic to this North American staple.

PUMPKIN SEED BUTTER
Shell the pumpkin seeds and place them in the food processor or blender. Add
a small amount of safe oil (1 Tblsp of light vegetable oil) and puree. If
you do not have a powerful motor in your blender, it may not be able to do
the whole batch at one time so break it into smaller amounts. You can add
more oil if you need to.

When pureed and well blended, put into a jar and refrigerate. Because this
product contains no stabilizers, the oil may separate from the butter.
Simply stir again and use. Pumpkin butter is good in place of peanut or
other nut butters on breads, muffins, celery or mixed into cooked veggies or
stirred into yogurt. It can also be used to make Thai peanut dishes although
it will have a slightly different flavor. If you are, or have a family
member, who is allergic to peanuts, this butter will work well in place of
peanut butter in cookies and other baked goods as well.