Just For Fun: Weekend Snapshots & Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

It's Monday again already!  We had a great weekend here in Chicago and I hope that you enjoyed yours and made the most of that extra hour we gained by falling back.  We had a great night out with friends in Wicker Park on Saturday, so that extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning was just what we needed.  Here's a few more snapshots of the weekend's happenings including a yummy recipe for spiced roasted pumpkin seeds!

Friday night spiced blood orange margaritas and dinner at Zocalo, our favorite neighborhood Mexican place.

 Holiday decorations have arrived at Macy's on State Street in Chicago!

After months of walking by on Saturday mornings and seeing a line of 50-60 people wrapped around the block, I finally experienced the Doughnut Vault.  The Doughnut Vault is a little doughnut shop that consists of a walk-up window and a tiny closet of a store that can fit about 4 people in line at a time.  It popped up in River North probably two years ago and since then people have been lining up in droves every morning for their fresh hand-dipped doughnuts.  They start serving early and they close when they sell out, all the while tweeting and updating on Facebook with their real time inventory (i.e. "only 3 dozen gingerbread stacks left" or "we just sold out of jelly filled!").  They only serve a few flavors and each day they serve one special too.  I tried a raspberry jelly filled, Alex had a chocolate glazed chocolate doughnut, and then we split a chestnut glazed.  I don't even really like doughnuts, but these were totally amazing.  Now I understand the hype!

After doughnuts we went and took advantage of the last day to vote early.  It was already a little crazy, so I am very glad that I can avoid the polling places on Tuesday.  Crowded polls are no excuse not to go though so if you haven't voted yet, make sure you go out and do so tomorrow-- it's your civic duty!

And finally, this weekend I decided to try my hand at roasting pumpkin seeds.  My mom always toasted the seeds from our carved pumpkins when we were kids and I never liked them.  Now that I'm a grown up and I actually enjoy them I decided to give roasting and spicing them a go.  They've turned out to be a really delicious snack-- nutty and spicy-- this is a great recipe.  Enjoy!

Our Miss Piggy and Harry Potter jack-o-lanterns

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds


Ingredients:

• Approximately 2 cups pumpkin seeds
• 1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs. honey
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After removing seeds from pumpkin, discard pumpkin guts, rinse seeds thoroughly in a colander, and spread them out evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk olive oil and remaining ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.  Remove seeds from the oven and toss with the olive oil mixture while still warm to coat.

Spread the coated seeds back out on the cookie sheet and return to oven.  Roast seeds until golden brown and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Scrape from pan and stir seeds as they cool to prevent them from sticking.

Derived from original recipe courtesy of Eating Well