.

If only more things in life could be as easy as roasted pumpkin seeds! The girls carved their Halloween Jack-o-lanterns this morning (out of school for Nevada Day), and Mike happily took care of cleaning and rinsing the seeds (the part I hate).

Make sure they’re as rinsed off as you like them (some people don’t even do that) and dry as well as you can. You can let them air-dry for up to 24 hours ahead of time if you want. I just dump them on a towel, fold the towel over and pat them dry. I’m not picky. Dump them into a bowl.

Melt two tablespoons of butter and pour over the seeds, and add a teaspoon or so of garlic salt. If you don’t like garlic salt, use regular table salt. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put in a 300° oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. You may need to rotate the pan in the oven if some spots are getting too brown.

That’s it!

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was Allspice Crumb Muffins, chosen by Grandma’s Kitchen Table. Read More

Did you know there are things you can do with flour that don’t involve baking or cooking? Woman’s Day magazine recently ran a short article about five unorthodox uses for white flour. I’d never heard of the first three, though I think a lot of moms have definitely done the last two! Other than baking and cooking, what else have you used flour for?

1. Clean a deck of playing cards. Simply place a cup or so of flour into a large zip-top bag with a deck or dingy playing cards and shake for a minute. Remove the cards from the bag and shuffle over the garbage can to shake off the excess flour.

2. Unstick a pesky lid. If you’ve got a plastic screw-on lid that gives you a tough time whenever you try to open it, dip the edge of the container in some flour before screwing the lid back on.

3. Clean white fabrics. Apparently rubbing just a bit of flour into the dirt lines on white canvas, leather, faux leather, vinyl and curtains will scrub out the dirt that gets into textured materials. Simply brush the flour off when you’re done.

4. Make your own craft glue. By mixing and bringing to a boil 1 part flour with 3 parts of water, you can create your own paste that’s perfectly safe for kids of any age to use. Store unused glue in an airtight container in the fridge.

5. Make play dough. I think every mom knows this one! Mix together 1 cup of water, 3 cups of flour and 1 tsp of vegetable oil for a non-toxic toy that kids will play with for hours. Add food coloring to kick things up. Store in plastic wrap in the fridge.

[image: flickr]