It’s The Great Pumpkin Seed Spread, Charlie Brown

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” was definitely my favorite animated holiday special, and I suspect that goes for most people my age. I found the Christmas special a little heavy, and was bothered by the menu in the Thanksgiving episode, but the Halloween offering struck all the right notes.

Back then, I probably wouldn’t have had much interest in this pumpkin seed spread, since I needed to save room for all those miniature Mr. Goodbars, but now, I can’t think of anything I’d rather eat. This straddles the fence between sweet and savory, and would be very easy to adapt to your tastes.

I need to credit Cortney Burns and Nick Balla, from a restaurant here in San Francisco called Duna. They do a similar, albeit more savory version, which inspired this spread. If you don’t like the term “spread,” you could call it a pumpkin seed hummus, or pumpkin seed butter, but no matter what you call it, I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 3 cups of Pumpkin Seed Spread:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

8 peeled garlic cloves, quartered

2 cups green pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted in dry pan

1/2 cup diced onion

2 tablespoons diced green Serrano or jalapeño chilies

3/4 cup apple juice, to reduce with onions and peppers

juice from 2 limes

1 cup freshly picked cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

additional 1/2 cup apple juice or water, if you want less sweetness to adjust texture

- you can also adjust texture and acidity with a splash of apple cider vinegar