Pie Crust Ingredients:

• 3 cups Pamela’s All-Purpose Flour Artisan Blend
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 8 Tbsp. shortening, chilled and cubed
• 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
• ⅓ cup ice water, plus up to 1 Tbsp. if necessary
• Cream for brushing pie dough before baking, option

Filling Ingredients:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin or 2 cups fresh pumkin, cooked, drained and pureed
• 1 (14 oz.) can evaporated milk
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. powdered ginger
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg or allspice
• Dash cloves

Directions:

1. Make the dough first, before the pie filling. Let it set up and get cold before filling; it will be much easier to handle and fill.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. With paddle attachment, pastry blender or using fingers, cut butter and shortening into dry mixture until pea-sized crumbs are formed. Slowly add ice water just until dough comes together (not sticky). Add 1 tsp. additional water at a time if dough is too dry.
3. Divide dough in half and roll between sheets of parchment or plastic wrap, to about 1/8″ thick. Peel off top layer and invert into lightly greased pie plate. Peel off second sheet and fix crust edge. Cover and chill dough before filling.
4. Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in lower third of oven.
5. Beat eggs and add sugars, mixing well. Mix in the pumpkin. Add condensed milk, mix well, and finally add the salt and spices. Mix well again and pour into the pie shell.
6. Bake 15 minutes at 425°F, then reduce heat to 350°F and bake about 45 minutes or longer until center is set or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Chef’s Note: If not using pie crust right away, pie crust may be frozen for later use; wrap in plastic and freeze. You can fill a frozen pie crust and put into the bottom third of a preheated oven, without thawing, and bake as normal.

Ingredients:

• 2 bags Pamela’s Chocolate Cake Mix
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 3 cups water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix liquid ingredients well, then add Chocolate Cake Mix and stir to incorporate. Do not over mix. Pour batter into 5 or 6 lightly greased baking pans (bake in shifts if you don’t have 5 or 6 pans).
3. Bake for 18 to 24 minutes, until the sides pull away from pan slightly, cake springs back when gently touched in the middle and toothpick comes out almost clean.
4. When cool, frost between layers with Pamela’s Vanilla or Dark Chocolate Frosting. Cover with berries and whipped cream, or use nothing at all!

Chef’s Note: Trim each layer, except the top layer, and you will have a Torte that stands tall and straight.

This is a variation on a soup I make with fresh ground beef or leftover roast beef. I thought it would be a nice change from the usual chowder style turkey soup after Thanksgiving. This is good for using up some of the vegetables and meat leftover from your Thanksgiving meal. The more you add, the thicker the soup gets. I call for the vegetables to be finely chopped because I like to have a selection of vegetables in each spoonful. However, if you decide to chop your vegetables in the food processor, take care, or your vegetables will be far too finely chopped and go mushy.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 3-4 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 ribs/stalks of celery, quartered lengthwise and cut into small slices
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely crushed
• 2 slices bacon, pepperoni, salami, or breakfast sausage, scissored into small pieces (I like Jones Dairy Farm bacon and sausage, labeled gluten-free)
• A cooked turkey thigh or drumstick
• ½ cup tiny gluten-free pasta (ditalini, tinkyada, or thin spaghetti broken into small lengths will work)
• 3 cups (24 fl. oz., 720 ml.) marinara/pasta sauce (Both Paesana and Classico sell 24 oz. jars labeled gluten-free. I like Paesana low sodium marinara, as the salt doesn’t catch the back of my throat.)
• 3 cups (24 fl. oz., 720 ml.), gluten-free chicken stock
• 1 tsp. (5 ml.) Italian herb seasoning, or fresh basil and oregano added at the end of cooking, or a spoonful of pesto stirred in at the end
• 2 bay leaves
• ¼ cup (60 ml.) tomato paste or tomato ketchup
• Bell pepper strips, optional
• 1 tsp. (5 ml.) smoked paprika, optional
• Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil and bacon over gentle heat in large pan, frying until bacon starts browning. Add cut up pepperoni, sausage, etc.
2. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic and bell pepper strips. Cook for 3-5 minutes over medium heat until softening.
3. Add turkey thigh or drumstick, marinara sauce, stock, pasta, herbs, freshly ground pepper and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook covered for about 30 minutes until vegetables are soft and meat is falling off the bone.
4. Remove thigh or drumstick and pull off meat to add back to soup.
5. Taste and adjust seasoning.  If too thick for you, add more stock or milk.
6. Serve with a sprinkling of cheese on each bowl and crusty bread.

I had fresh Bing cherries and wanted some recipe ideas. I tweaked a recipe from King Arthur Flour by reducing the flour and halving amount of xanthan gum to get a softer, fluffier cake. It is more of a cake texture than muffin, but remember, “Muffins are cupcakes without frosting!”

You can fill the muffin papers almost full, since the muffins dome, but don’t overflow. I’ve tried several variations with different fruits. If you use frozen berries, the batter is really stiff to stir, takes a bit longer to cook and is drier. I usually make the batter and divide it to make 2 different types of muffins. These muffins are best warm, but you can warm then in the microwave even after 2 or 3 days.

Makes 12 muffins.

Muffin Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup (5 oz., 140 g.) sugar or same weight of light brown sugar for more flavor, browner color, but not such a fluffy texture
• ½ cup (4 oz., 112 g.) softened butter
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. (10 ml.) gluten-free baking powder
• 1 tsp. (5 ml.) gluten-free vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1¾ cups (9¼ oz., 260 g.) King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour or brown rice flour blend*
• ½ (3 ml.) tsp. xanthan gum
• ½ cup (4 oz., 120 ml.) milk or juice to match fruit
• 1-1½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries and zest of one lemon;
  OR 1 large apple, peeled and shredded, with 2 Tbsp. golden raisins-sultanas;
  OR 18 Bing cherries;
  OR 1-1½ cups craisins and 2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) candied orange peel or zest of orange, 6-8 oz. fruit total;
  More fruit makes larger muffin.
• Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional

*Recipe for this blend: Whisk together 6 cups (28½ oz.) King Arthur stabilized brown rice flour; 2 cups (10¾ oz.) potato starch; and 1 cup (4 oz.) tapioca flour or tapioca starch.

Topping Ingredients:

• ¼ cup (2 oz., 56 g.) light brown sugar
• 2 tsp. (10 ml.) cinnamon
• ¼ cup (2 oz., 56 g.) melted butter
• ¼ cup (1 oz., 28 g.) sliced almonds or chopped pecans (add more for a bigger crunch)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line the pan with papers. Spray the papers with non-stick pan spray, to aid release if you eat them warm.  Once they’ve cooled completely, the paper does release.
2. Place the sugar, softened butter, salt, baking powder, vanilla, eggs, flour, xanthan gum and milk/juice in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
3. Stir in the blueberries and chopped apple, or fruit of your choice.
4. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, mounding the cups full. A heaped muffin scoop works well here. Note: The batter will be VERY thick.
5. In separate bowl, stir together all streusel topping ingredients. It will be runny.
6. Spoon about 1 Tbsp. of topping onto each muffin.
7. Let the muffins rest for 10 minutes.
8. Bake muffins for 25-30 minutes until very lightly browned. Cook longer if using frozen fruit.
9. Remove from the oven, and let sit for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Best served warm.