Pumpkin

Some people toss them in the trash. Others roast them for a snack. The most ambitious among us collect them and press them to produce pumpkin seed oil ? an increasingly popular culinary oil that's also used in supplements for prostate health. Over a century ago, American farmers noted that when their livestock munched on pumpkin seeds, they seemed to urinate more often. They weren't the first to notice the seeds' effects. The Iroquois had long used pumpkin seed as a diuretic, and the Cherokee gave it to children to control bed-wetting, since it seemed to help empty the bladder before falling asleep.

Pumpkin has gotten stereotyped at the holiday table. If it's not served in a pie, it's not served at all. But this recipe from Times Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter turns the pumpkin on its head, serving it as a first course, in a complex salad with leeks and bitter greens. The recipe is demonstrated in a video at left by Noelle Carter. Roasted pumpkin salad is one of the favorite holiday recipes we've collected in our "Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook. " The book shares more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah , Christmas and New Year's.

  Total time : 15 minutes Servings : 4 quesadillas 8 flour tortillas 1/2 cup canned refried black beans 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese 1. Cut pumpkin shape out of each tortilla with 6-inch pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter. 2. Place 4 pumpkin-shaped tortillas on baking sheet. Spread 2 tablespoons refried beans on each cutout. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Top each with remaining pumpkin cutouts to make sandwich. 4. Using butter knife or bottle caps (if kids are helping)

  Total time: 1 hour, plus chilling time for the pies Servings: 12 Note: The filling is adapted from a recipe in "The Pie and Pastry Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. The filling uses uncooked egg whites. 1/4 cup water 1/4 ounce (2¼ teaspoons) powdered gelatin 1 1/4 cups (a 15-ounce can is 1¾ cups) fresh or canned pumpkin puree 3/4 cup sugar, divided 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, preferably freshly grated, plus extra for dusting the finished pies 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup milk 3 eggs, separated 3/8 teaspoon cream of tartar 12 pre-baked mini-pie shells, still in the muffin tins Whipped cream, for garnish 1. Put the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Set aside until the gelatin is fully moistened , at least 3 minutes.

Pumpkin pie Total time: About 1 hour Servings: Makes 1 (9-inch) pie 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 3/4 cups (15 ounces) puréed cooked pumpkin 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup, preferably grade "B" 3 eggs 1 1/3 cups half-and-half 1 prepared unbaked pie shell 1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

  Total time: About 50 minutes Servings: 4 Note: If you would like a spicier pumpkin seed sauce, double the amount of chiles.

Largely free of the manure odors that kept me from a life in agriculture, Faulkner Farm puts on quite a pumpkin patch, replete with red barns, hayrides, a pumpkin catapult, corn mazes and, best of all, a fine tri-tip sandwich, the only thing really keeping me in California anymore. The sprawling 27-acre Halloween attraction is largely a family thing but also draws the kind of hipster couples in which the leggy actress/model/mom is taller than her mate. It's located in Santa Paula, on that stretch of California 126 that runs from Magic Mountain to the sea. Ringed by farms and fruit stands, it's a terrific little harvest-season jaunt.

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a gourdzilla the size of your car, and it's worth $15,500. Topsfield Fair officials in Massachusetts say Ron Wallace of Greene, R.I., has broken a world record for biggest-ever pumpkin with a 2,009-pound abomination that weighs more than most NFL offensive lines. The fair posted a video of the competition on Facebook featuring numerous thousand-plus whoppers, a few of which tended to be more yellow than orange. The weighing session for Wallace's prizewinner featuring a man shouting, "Stay up!

Re: Reference to "seedy Sylmar" in Scott Harris' column, "Comment Hits Hometown and It Hits Back" (July 9). I moved into the Sylmar area two years ago from Hollywood. Fourteen years in Hollywood, my nerves were shattered. This was the best thing I could have done. Presently I live on a two-acre farm, surrounded by an olive grove and near picturesque foothills. Roosters awaken me in the morning as I gather fresh eggs from my Rhode Island red hens. In the evening my daughter and I go for our daily walk, passing horses and buggies, equestrians and an occasional cow on a leash.

Concerning your recent articles on the Kennedy High School teenager who was shot and killed over a pumpkin, all I have to say is: too bad. He was stealing. I don't care if that pumpkin cost 30 cents or $3,000. He was stealing. Plain and simple. Who is to say that this man's grandchildren didn't have something to do with the decorations? Now those kids are taking away from children. And to top things off, I can't believe that people are listening to the other kids who were in the car. They were stealing too. All they can tell you is some lame excuse that they thought it was someone else's house.

This recipe, from food writer Regina Schrambling, is a reminder that a well-made roll is something special. Crisp on the outside but tender at the center, and terrific enough to have been named one of our best recipes of the year in 2002. They adapt easily to even the most crowded holiday schedule. Make the dough the day before and give it a long, slow rise in the refrigerator, then bake when the oven is free before dinner. The recipe is demonstrated in the video at left by Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter.  Pumpkin-thyme dinner rolls are one of the favorite holiday recipes we've collected in our "Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook.

  Total time: 2½ hours, plus chilling and cooling times Servings: 8 Note: Adapted from Quinn and Karen Hatfield. Pie dough 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup plus 3½ tablespoons water 2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (12 ounces) flour 3/4 cup (1½ sticks) plus 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into ½-inch cubes 1 tablespoon (½ ounce) cold lard or shortening, cut into ½-inch cubes 1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the salt and cold water until the salt is dissolved.

Pumpkins are rock stars at this time of year, not just for Halloween but for Thanksgiving too. But how many pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin pies can one consume? Here are some other ways to get a pumpkin fix,  near and far. The shortest trip (if you're in L.A.) is to the Lexington Social House at 1718 Vine St., Hollywood, for a Great Pumpkin. This isn't a screening of the Charlie Brown classic but a bright orange cocktail with vodka, pumpkin syrup, Baileys and cream that costs $14. And there are plenty of choices for those who want calorie-free experiences.

Not so long ago, making a jack-o-lantern was as simple as cutting out three triangles and creating a wide, leering jaggedy smile. Put a candle in the middle and you're done. Simple, classic, easy. But times are changing. Over the past several years pumpkin hackers have been experimenting with LED lights, circuit boards, and even robotics to soup up their pumpkins. Previous experiments in pumpkin hacking have culminated in what we think may be the greatest pumpkin hack of all time: the Tetris Pumpkin, by Nathan Pryor, a programmer based in Washington.

Do you like to play with your food? We sure do! To celebrate Halloween we asked readers to upload pictures of their best carved pumpkins, spookiest snacks and festive cocktails. Here are some of the highlights:  The scariest snacks were uploaded by Olapic user sjfemail, who shared pictures of devilish eggs (deviled eggs with horns, mustaches and beards), peanut butter eye balls and a pumpkin carving of a haunted house. PHOTOS: Kid-friendly Halloween recipes Olapic user aherwehe welcomed some critters into the kitchen with cake pop treats decorated as pumpkins, spiders, ghosts and mummies.

Click here to download TV listings for the week Oct. 28 - Nov. 3 in PDF format This week's TV Movies       SERIES Animal Practice: George (Justin Kirk) has his hands full dealing with the eccentric owner (Christina Pickles) of a cockatoo that loves chocolate. Betsy Sodaro also stars in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC). Arrow: A night of bonding with Thea (Willa Holland) helps inspire Oliver (Stephen Amell) to get back on Laurel's (Katie Cassidy)

Pumpkins and cranberries in the supermarket signal the beginning of the holiday season. As it happens, these two festive foods also provide a feast for your skin. Savvy spas and beauty product manufacturers are capitalizing on the autumnal bounty to help customers develop a fetching glow. For instance, the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills offers a fruit and pumpkin enzyme peel, and Verabella Skin Therapy (also in Beverly Hills) is showcasing what it calls the "Fall on Your Face" facial with pumpkin.

Caramel apples, tomato soup with ghost toasts, spooky cupcakes.... Dim the lights and cue the haunting music while you and the kids create festive treats for Halloween . Michelle Maltais (L.A. Times executive producer, Interactive Video) and I chat up kid-friendly recipe ideas from the L.A Times Test Kitchen in the video above. More than just treats, many of these ideas are great ways to get your kids involved in the kitchen. We also demonstrate the recipe for tomato soup with ghost toasts, a perfect dish to fortify your little monsters before they go trick-or-treating.