Once you’ve selected the perfect pumpkin for jack-o’-lantern carving this Halloween, you’ll want to be sure to remind yourself to save the seeds.
Babs Costello, cookbook author and lifestyle content creator, joined “Good Morning America” on Thursday to share her favorite ways to put pumpkins on display, plus two versions of a pumpkin seed snack you can make after all the carving is done.
Carving up a pumpkin for Halloween? Don’t throw away the insides — in the world of so-called “superfoods” with robust health benefits, the humble pumpkin seed is a giant.
They’re easy to prepare by roasting or boiling, they’re as versatile as they are tasty and, among their many benefits, pumpkin seeds are full of minerals, including high amounts of manganese, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and iron.
Costello showed “GMA” how to properly clean out a pumpkin with ease, with the help of an electric hand mixer.
Costello also showed “GMA” how to make sweet and spiced pumpkin seeds that make a tasty and festive party snack.
An ordinary cooler won’t cut it for a festive fall party, so Costello shared a simple trick to turn a pumpkin into a beverage cooler.
PHOTO: A hollowed out pumpkin used as a cooler.
A hollowed out pumpkin used as a cooler.
ABC News
Costello added a plastic bag as a liner inside a tall pumpkin with the top cut off, and a beverage hole cut out on the face (this can be achieved using a round cookie cutter and a mallet). She then put a spout through the hole and filled the lined pumpkin with her drink of choice.
Another fun activity for kids with no carving required, Costello said, is to make a painted ghost pumpkin: Make thumbprints using white and orange paint and use black paint to create eyes and a mouth. Repeat the design all over the pumpkin.