Happy Halloween!

If you can believe it, it is Halloween today, which means October is almost over! This year seems to be flying by. I guess every year seems like the too, but I really can't believe that the holiday season is now so close.

Today's post is just dedicated to celebrating a happy Halloween. Nabil loves this holiday, which means that we celebrate every year. This year, we did the standard; carving pumpkins (and making seeds), costume party, and handing out candy.

We had the whole set. I was a bucket of honey and Nabil was a bee. It seemed only fitting for Zizou to be Winnie the Pooh.



Nabil chose to get the warty pumpkin this year in an attempt to try to make his jack-o-lantern more scary and gross. More "Halloweeny" as he puts it. It turns out however, that the flesh of these pumpkins is about three inches thick. This made carving very difficult, but he powered through and his pumpkin turned out great.

The warty pumpkin up close.

Nabil's finished product. The whole thing was free hand.  He is very creative when he wants to be. Yes, that is a fake, bulging eye.

My finished product.

My favorite part of Halloween is not the costumes or the pumpkin carving. It comes after the carving. Over the last eight years, I have perfected the roasted pumpkin seed. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture for you this year (we ate them too fast), but I can give you a quick play by play. To start, I think the finished products tastes better with a little pumpkin goo left on them. I rinse them off a bit an get all the big chunks out, but I leave a good amount of it on. I spread them out on a cookie sheet, making sure they are only one layer thick, and sprinkle them with Johnny's seasoning. I have tried everything from salt and pepper to cinnamon and sugar, but Johnny's is definitely the best seasoning for pumpkin seeds. The real trick to making the perfect pumpkin seed though is to roast on low heat. It takes longer, but it is well worth it. I usually roast them on about 250 until they are fully dry and golden brown.

Now all that is left is handing out the candy. The boys are exhasted which means it was a very successful and productive weekend.

Until next time...