I worry that this is almost too easy, however: The past couple of years I've been baking pumpkins and squashes whole, 60 or 90 minutes, in a moderate oven. I cut them up while they are still warm. I scoop out the seeds and put them back in the oven if they are not soft enough. When they are really soft, I run them through the food processor and freeze them in 1-cup amount. So far this has worked and has prevented some stress on my wrists in terms of carving. And pumpkin meat is a little less watery when baked this way (which would also be true of the roasting method you describe). And the flavor has been great too, so I would say this method does not mean the seeds are corrupting the flavor of the pumpkin meat. My only worry is that I'm releasing something--a chemical or bacteria or something else--from the seeds into the pumpkin meat by cooking the seeds with the pumpkin. Does anyone know if it is safe to cook the pumpkins whole, before removing the seeds? I don't know for sure, but since you can eat the seeds with no ill effect, I wouldn't think there would be anything harmful in them (unlike, say, apple seeds). anyone have any thoughts on this? PJH

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