Neolithic Nut 'n' Seed Gatherer

This week I have been mostly cooking with squashes and pumpkins. I know it's only Tuesday, but I may run out of steam with the darn things by the end of the week, so let's run with the enthusiasm now, shall we?

Mostly, I am finding they are best roasted 1) because preparation is simple and 2) most things taste good roasted so it's a fair bet that on serving up at least the food will get eaten and not poked around the plate with a suspicious fork by people saying 'What's this? Will I like it? It looks like poison to me'.

The squash has gone down better than the pumpkin, which in some ways is disappointing as the squash/pumpkin ratio swings wildly in favour of the pumpkin following this year's harvest at the Manor. I like both. So does Andy. And Leane. Chris and Heather nibbled at the pumpkin and left it quietly to one side. So after dinner yesterday evening I made the rest of the pumpkin into pumpkin soup which will do me for lunch for the next 3 days. I thought I might experiment with mixing in various spices and herbs. Just to vary the 'pumpkin soup for lunch AGAIN' theme. There are still several pumpkins staring at me from the worktop as I write this. I am going to have to research pumpkin recipes because there's only so much soup I can cope with before my oesophagus starts rebelling.

And then there are the pumpkin seeds. I love pumpkin seeds. I love all dried seeds. And nuts. I am the only person in the Manor who likes dried seeds apart from the chickens. I think that somewhere in my genetic makeup, there beats the heart of a Neolithic nut 'n' seed gatherer. So I scooped the seeds from the centre of the pumpkin and given that it was the smallest of the pumpkins (only as big as my head), there was a surprising amount of seeds. A whole baking sheet's worth.

As I was scooping, I discovered the one thing in the world that has more slime than a slug. And that would be a pumpkin seed. I once picked up a slug with my bare hands. Only once mind. I was wiping slug slime off my fingers for ages. It was disgusting, and I'm not the most squeamish of people, I can tell you. But slugs are nothing in the slime stakes when compared with a handful of pumpkin seeds. I consulted Hugh F-W vis a vis the preparation of dried pumpkin seeds. (I did try one in its raw, slimey, nude state - it wasn't pleasant, I wouldn't recommend it). Hugh said to wash off the seeds, dry them, spread them on a baking sheet, sprinkle with a smidge of salt and bake at Gas 6 for a few minutes.

I washed the seeds thinking it would remove the slime. It didn't. I tried to dry the seeds using kitchen roll, thinking it would remove the slime. It didn't. There ensued a lot of faffing as I tried to peel the slime-covered pumpkin seeds from the now slime-covered kitchen roll. I thought, is this what my life has come to? So I slung the seeds onto the tray, popped them in the oven, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

After five minutes, things were popping. And cracking. I checked the seeds. They were drying. And popping and cracking. I left them to roast for as long as I dared (about 15 minutes) least one should fling itself into the gas flames and set fire to the cooker and ultimately the kitchen, then I shook them off the tray into a bowl, waited a few minutes until they had cooled, then tried some.

They were delicious! And they were still delicious this morning when I had some on my Bran Flakes along with some flaked almonds and sultanas.

And the best thing is that they are ALL MINE!!! No one else will eat them. For I am the lone Neolithic Nut 'n' Seed Gatherer here at the Manor. Aside from the chickens.