Halloween prep week. Lily wants to be a cat. Emma wants to be a scientist — she's going as Marie Curie, complete with a lab coat Christine found at Goodwill and a fake vial of "radium" that's actually a glow stick in a test tube. Tyler says he's too old for trick-or-treating, which is factually incorrect — you're never too old for free candy — but he's going to a friend's house for a horror movie marathon, which is the fourteen-year-old's version of Halloween.
I carved pumpkins with the kids on Saturday. I am not artistic. My pumpkin looked like it had been carved by someone having a medical event. Lily's was a cat face (obviously). Emma's was surprisingly detailed — a crescent moon with stars. Tyler carved his in three minutes and said, "It's a skull," and it did look vaguely skull-like if you squinted and were generous.
Pumpkin seeds — I roasted them. Two batches: one classic (salt, olive oil, garlic powder) and one Vietnamese (fish sauce, lime zest, chili flakes, a little sugar). The Vietnamese ones were better. I'm sensing a pattern in my life.
Work is steady. Lost that hotel chain account I mentioned a few weeks ago — they went with the cheaper competitor. My manager was annoyed. I told him to give it six months and we'd get a call when their range breaks down. He said, "You can't sell equipment you don't have installed." I said, "But I can sell trust." He looked at me like I was insane. Maybe I am. But I'd rather be the guy who told you the truth than the guy who sold you junk.
Ma's blood pressure: 135 over 82. Trending in the right direction. She told me I should stop checking because "you're not a doctor, you sell refrigerators." Technically I sell commercial refrigeration units, but the point stands.
Tuesday AA meeting. Talked about fear this week. Not the big fears — the small ones. Fear of the phone ringing. Fear of a test result. Fear of your mother being seventy and mortal. The room was quiet. Everyone in that room knows about fear. It's the thing that made us drink and the thing we have to live with sober. Bill, back from his hip surgery and walking with a cane, said: "Fear is just love with nowhere to go." Bill is smarter than he looks, which he'd appreciate as a compliment because he looks like a retired firefighter who was rode hard and put away wet.
Halloween is Monday. I'm buying candy. The good kind — full-size bars. Bobby Tran does not hand out fun-size anything. That's a philosophy, not a budget decision.
Bill’s line about fear being love with nowhere to go stuck with me all the way home, and somewhere between the Tuesday meeting and buying full-size Snickers I found myself standing over a pumpkin thinking about all the things we throw away that still have something left in them. This year I did the seeds two ways—the classic salted roast I grew up seeing at every Halloween, and a Vietnamese-spiced version that’s been rattling around in my head since my mom mentioned her blood pressure like it was nothing. Here’s how both batches came together.
Two-Way Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Classic — Vietnamese)
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4 (about 1 cup seeds per batch)
Ingredients
Base (for both batches):
- 2 cups raw pumpkin seeds, rinsed and patted dry (from about 2 medium carving pumpkins)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Classic Batch:
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Vietnamese Batch:
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon lime zest (from about 1 lime)
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (more if you want)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Dry the seeds. After scooping from the pumpkin, rinse seeds in a colander and spread on a clean dish towel. Pat thoroughly dry — the drier they are, the crispier they’ll roast. Let them air out for 10 minutes if you have time.
- Preheat oven. Set oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Season the classic batch. Toss 1 cup seeds with 1 tablespoon olive oil, then add salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir to coat evenly. Spread in a single layer on one baking sheet.
- Season the Vietnamese batch. In a small bowl, whisk together fish sauce, lime zest, chili flakes, sugar, and garlic powder. Toss remaining 1 cup seeds with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, then add the fish sauce mixture and toss again until fully coated. Spread on second baking sheet.
- Roast. Place both sheets in oven. Roast 18–22 minutes total, stirring each pan at the 10-minute mark. Seeds are done when they’re golden and starting to pop. The Vietnamese batch may color slightly faster — watch for it. Pull either batch early if needed.
- Cool and taste. Let seeds cool on the pan for 5 minutes. They crisp up as they cool. Taste the Vietnamese batch. Notice it’s better. This will not surprise you a second time.
Nutrition (per serving, classic batch)
Calories: 185 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 6g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 290mg
Nutrition (per serving, Vietnamese batch)
Calories: 190 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 7g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 420mg
About the cook who shared this
Bobby Tran
Week 31 of Bobby’s 30-year story
· Houston, Texas
Bobby Tran was born in a refugee camp in Arkansas to parents who fled Saigon with nothing. He grew up in Houston straddling two worlds — Vietnamese at home, Texan everywhere else — and learned to cook from his mother's pho and a neighbor's BBQ smoker. He's a former shrimper, a recovering alcoholic, a divorced dad of three, and the guy who marinates brisket in fish sauce and lemongrass because he doesn't believe in borders, especially when it comes to flavor.
