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I had bought some blaze pumpkins as Hallowe’en decorations – I had first checked that they would be edible, as I don’t like to waste food. And they are, but I couldn’t find anything good to make with them as they aren’t really as pumpkin-y as the pie pumpkins in my garden. After some searching, I came up with a fresh pumpkin marmalade recipe which I thought might work. And it did – yummy. The delicacy of the pumpkin flavour goes well with the citrus. This marmalade isn’t going to last forever as it doesn’t really preserve like a jam, but seems to be doing fine for a month or so in the fridge. And because of that, it has a lovely fresh taste. Yummy now that winter is almost here.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked pumpkin
• 1 small orange: slice half the orange as thinly as possible, seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice 
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• pinch of salt
• whole cloves (one per jar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions for cooking the pumpkin

1. Whack off the stem with a hammer.  Just give it a good whack.
2. Cut it in half and clean out the seeds and the stringy stuff (save the seeds to make baked pumpkin seeds if you like that.
3. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and place the pumpkin face down on it.  Prick the skin with a fork all over (no one wants anexploded pumpkin in the oven).
4. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until soft.
5. When it is cool, scrape the pumpkin from the skin. I like to put it in a bowl and blend it with an emersion blender.  You can also put it in a regular blender, or just mash it with a potato masher.  Any extra I freeze it in Ziplock freezer bags, one cup per bag.

Directions for making the marmalade

Directions

1. Wash the orange, and slice half the orange as thinly as possible. Cut these slices into small pieces.
2. Put the pumpkin, sugar, salt, lemon juice and orange slices in a heavy-duty saucepan. Add vanilla to the pot.
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously until sugar is completely dissolved. Be sure to keep stirring to prevent the mixture from burning. Continue cooking until the mixture is thick and has the consistency of jam or a preserve. It should be thick and jelly-like, not runny. It should take 10-15 minutes. Place a clove in the bottom of each of clean, dry jar, then fill with the pumpkin marmalade. Close the jar lids tight. When completely cool, store them in the fridge for up to 2 months.

I was thrilled to be interviewed on CBC NB Shift’s What’s Cooking about how I use almond flour. This is one of my favourite recipes:

Blueberry Muffins Recipe – gluten-free, low carb, keto, with almond flour

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 10 min. Bake: 20-25 min. @ 350  YIELD: 12 muffins.

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cup   Blanched almond flour (Bulk Barn)
• 1/2 cup      Monk Fruit/Erythritol blend (Bulk Barn)
• 1-1/2 tsp    Baking powder
• 1/4 tsp       Salt
• 3 large       Eggs
• 1/3 cup      Butter or coconut oil (measured solid then melted)
• 1/3 cup      Unsweetened almond milk (or any milk)
• 1/2 tsp       Vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup      Blueberries (or other fruit – nutritional info for blueberries)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line 12 muffin cups with parchment liners.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the almond flour, Monk fruit/erythritol, baking powder, and salt.
3. Mix in the melted butter, almond milk, eggs, and vanilla extract.  Fold in the blueberries
4. Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups
5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and the muffins are very slightly golden around the edges.

Calories  217kcal                                  Fat                   19g

Prep Time 10 minutes                           Protein             7g

Cook Time 20 minutes                          Total Carbs      6g        Net Carbs        3g

Total Time 30 minutes                          Fiber                3g

Servings  10-12 muffins                        Sugar               2g

This recipe came from kind of a dare. One of my Facebook groups posted a recipe for a cinnamon quickbread, and noted that it is too bad you can’t make French toast from quickbread because this would be yummy. Challenge accepted! A quick search found some people who had tried this, and the trick is to let the bread sit for a day or two before cutting into slices. The other important procedure is to just dip the bread into the egg mixture, don’t let it soak. Enjoy!

TOTAL TIME: To make the bread:Prep: 20 min. Bake: 45 min. @ 350. To make the French Toast, next day or later, Prep 5 min., cook 5 min.  YIELD: 16 servings.

Ingredients (per serving of 4 slices of French toast)

• 4 slices of Cinnamon Loaf (recipe below)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk (non-dairy works just fine too)

Directions for French toast

1. Pre-heat griddle on medium-low (I use 300 deg F on an electric griddle).
2. Beat egg, add milk and beat together
3. Pour egg/milk mixture onto a flat plate or bowl for easy dipping. You are going to want to be able to lay the bread flat.
4. Butter the surface of the griddle/pan so the bread doesn’t stick.
5. Dip bread into the mixture – one side, quickly turn over, other side, then lay on the pan. Do this for each slice.
6. Cook for 2.5 minutes on one side (until it is smoking), 2 minutes on the other side. Serve with maple syrup

Directions for Cinnamon Loaf

TOTAL TIME: To make the bread:Prep: 20 min. Bake: 45 min. @ 350. YIELD: 16 servings.

Ingredients

Large bowl

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Smaller bowl

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Measuring cup

• 1 cup buttermilk

 Prep bowl

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk just until mixed.
3. Transfer half of the mixture to a 9×5-in. loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar. Sprinkle three-fourths of mixture over batter. Top with remaining butter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.
4. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Wait until the next day and slice into 16 slices. Can be frozen up to 3 months.

Nutrition Facts 1 slice: 173 calories, 4g fat (2g saturated fat), 40mg cholesterol, 225mg sodium, 30g carbohydrate (0 sugars, 1g ber), 3g protein.