Editor’s Note: This morning we have Sarah Stromquist on site getting all pumpkin-licious with some of her favorite tasty seasonal treats. I’m ready to get busy in the kitchen! Here’s Sarah:

We have a pumpkin theme going on in the house and I thought it would be fun to share my ideas and recipes for such a perfectly versatile squash. We grew wonderful pumpkins in our garden this year and have had so much fun carving them.

Once they’re all carved up I’m left with too many seeds, which of course, I can’t throw away. I spend a good deal of time separating the seeds from all the mush and it is well worth it.

To make a tasty, healthy snack sprinkle the washed seeds with some salt and a splash of olive oil and bake at 350 C for 20 – 40 minutes (depending on how many) and stir frequently, until golden brown and dry. Once baked, I sprinkle on a few spices like garlic powder, chili lime powder or a cinnamon sugar mix to flavor them up a bit.

The kids eagerly gobble these up. The cooked seeds should be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

I set some aside for a great recipe that I found. I changed it a bit, to accommodate for the copious amounts of homemade pumpkin seeds I now have.

Pumpkin Seed Oat Cakes

-In a food processor grind up 2 cups rolled oats and 1 cup pumpkin seeds.
-Add in 3 Tbsp butter and blend in.
-Then add to mixture ½ tsp salt, 1/8 tsp soda, and ¼ cup sugar and blend all together.
-Add ¼ cup water and blend until it turns into a dough ball.
-Turn dough onto floured surface and roll ¼ inch thick.
-Press and mend any cracks.
-Cut into desired shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
-Bake at 350 C for 10 minutes. To crisp them, leave in oven with door ajar till cooled.
Delish!! Store oat cakes in an airtight container for up to one week.

Another tasty pumpkin snack is the Pumpkin Millet Muffin from the Rebar cookbook. This recipe book is a must have and each fall we seem to exist on these muffins.

Pumpkin Millet Muffins

-Preheat oven to 350 C and grease or line a large muffin pan. Set aside.
-Combine 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1 cup buttermilk, 3/4 brown sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 ½ cups pumpkin puree in a large bowl and mix together.
-Stir in ½ cup of rolled oats, ½ cup toasted milled seeds and ¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds.
-Set mixture aside.
-In a separate bowl sift 1 cup white flour and ¾ cup whole wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger and ¼ tsp fresh grated nutmeg.
-Add dry mix to the wet mixture and gently combine. Do not over mix.
-Fill muffin cups generously and sprinkle tops with pumpkin seeds if desired.
-Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
These muffins freeze well.

On with the theme of the month, I have had some fun with pumpkin recipes but some have yet to be perfected, like my pumpkin cranberry loaf and the super scrumptious, but a bit too runny, pumpkin toffee cheesecake.

I made pumpkin pancakes this morning and the batter works well. They are really tasty with warm maple syrup and cinnamon. I simply add ½ cup of pumpkin puree to the batter and put in enough milk to reach pancake batter consistency. They require a lower heat and a bit more butter to cook, but otherwise quite a tasty morning treat.

Here are a couple more ideas that have proven to be winners and leave us craving more…

I spent so much time trying to get a picture of this terrine that I forgot to get the soup that was actually inside it! The kids love this when I bring it to the table. Enough so that they are eager to sample the soup, which other wise may have been a relatively hard sell.

Martha Stewart nailed this recipe for Pumpkin Soup, which I found in her latest issue of Living.

Martha’s Pumpkin Soup

-Cut 2 ½ lbs of seeded and peeled pumpkin into 2 inch cubes and place on a rimmed cookie sheet with 1 cut up onion, 2 washed shiitake mushrooms, 1 peeled clove of garlic and ½ cup olive oil.
-Stir to coat and sprinkle with 2 tsp course salt.
-Bake at 450 C in a single layer until pumpkin is tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Rotate pan and stir halfway through cooking.
-Transfer vegetables into a saucepan, on medium heat and add 2 cups vegetable stock.
-Puree with an inversion blender until smooth.
-With blender running add 3 more cups of vegetable stock until smooth and bring to a simmer. Season soup with salt and pepper and cover to keep warm.

And last stop on my pumpkin adventure is a quick recipe for Pumpkin Seed and Parsley Pesto courtesy of the Hollyhock cookbook. A picture would have been provided, but we ate it all before I remembered to get one!

Pumpkin Seed and Parsley Pesto

-In a blender or food processor pulse 2 cups chopped parsley, 1 cup olive oil and ¼ cup white wine vinegar until coarsely chopped.
-Add 1 ½ cups toasted pumpkin seeds, 2 Tbsp crushed garlic and ½ tsp salt. Pulse blender until seeds are coarsely chopped.
-Pesto keeps in the fridge for up to a week.
This is so amazing on pasta, rice or baked potatoes. Mix into steamed veggies or for a sandwich spread or bruschetta base.

Pumpkin seeds are so incredible tasty and good for you. Try sprinkling some onto your oatmeal, on your salad or in your next loaf of bread.

Happy Halloween!