Say hello to Burke Pumpkin Patch -- our month-long Halloween extravaganza! You'll find lots of tips, advice, recipes and pictures of costumes and decorations in celebration of our favorite excuse to dress up. We'd love to get you involved in the Pumpkin Patch - send us your favorite scary cookie recipes, decorations, party ideas, and pictures of your kids in costume at Rachael@patch.com. We can't wait to see them!

I don't know about you, but one of the first things I like to do to get into the Halloween mood is carve a pumpkin. This year, I got a really large one from the grocery store so I could make the Patch pumpkin you can see in the column's logo. After I had my fun, it was time for the tasty part- taking the pumpkin seeds and making them into a delicious, nutritious snack.

I used a simple recipe I found online at Suite 101 with several variations. I decided to make the cinnamon and sugar variety, the cajun style, and the spicy pumpkin seeds. It was a very easy task that could easily become a fun family project.

After I cleaned and thoroughly dried the pumpkin seeds overnight on a plate, I divided the seeds into three parts, one for each style. I melted the butter into a glass bowl and used a slotted spoon to cover all the seeds in butter.

Then it was time for the seasonings. I experimented with a few different ways of getting the various seasonings on the seeds, but found that the easiest, least messy way was to toss the seeds and the seasonings directly into a plastic bag and tossing them around this way until they were fully covered. I then poured them out onto a cookie sheet I'd previously covered with aluminum foil and popped them into the oven. Though the recipe warns you to stir the seeds or they'll stick, I didn't have any trouble with this, I believe partly due to covering the pan.

The seeds came out warm and delicious. I'll be snacking on them over the next few days as I work on more fun Burke Pumpkin Patch ideas.