Culinary Alchemy: It's the Great Pumpkin, Snoopy!

It's time again for a puppy treat. Mainly because I had to figure out something else that I could feed multiple treats in a day for obedience training. Nothing too major, he is only 3 months old after all. But I am teaching him to wipe his paws on the door mat, and he is a good boy and allows me to file down his nails (he's still a little small for actual toenail clippers). The other treats were just a bit too big, and if feed him more than 2 a day, they can cause some irregularity issues from the flax seeds. Like I said, he is only a 3 month old puppy. LOL

So keeping in the spirit of delicious treats that contain NO junk. I present a little pumpkin "meringue" treat that can be piped as small as you like. (I got 68 treats) The Gelatin in this recipe serves two purposes. Not only is it great for your dogs coat and nails (just like humans) but it helps to stabilize the "merignue" since it contains absolutely NO sugar. The lemon juice is important for this reason as well. Normally one can use Cream of Tarter to acidify the egg whites, allowing for a more stable meringue and greater height. The only problem is that Cream of Tarter is a "Grape" product, from the wine industry... NEVER EVER feed Grapes, Raisins or Grape Seed oil to your dog. They are all poisonous.

Why Pumpkin? Well, pumpkin can stave of certain cancers, it's loaded with fiber and Beta-Carotene which promotes healthy eyes but also assists in fighting off infections. Pumpkin can foster "regularity" due to soluble fiber content. It's also high in potassium to regular blood pressure. Pretty cool, huh?

I was a little bummed though, I really wanted to add ground Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) to the mix, but all I had were salted ones. So I left them out. (sigh) Oh well, next time.

Pumpkin Puppy Puffs

3 TB Water or Chicken Stock
1 pkg Knox Gelatin (2 1/4 tsp)
2 large Egg Whites
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
optional 3 TB Unsalted Roasted Pepitas, ground finely

Place Chicken Stock in a small ramekin, then sprinkle Gelatin over the Stock and allow it to bloom.

Separate eggs and save the yolks for something else; place the whites in a bowl.
After gelatin has bloomed sufficiently (about 5 minutes),

Place the ramekin in a small saucepan of simmering water.

Once the gelatin has melted and become clear, remove from the water bath and set aside to cool slightly.

Beat Egg Whites until foamy, then add the reserved 1 tsp of Lemon Juice. (Never use Cream of Tarter)

Continue beating the Egg Whites till they reach stiff peaks.

Fold in the Pumpkin Puree in 2 additions. (and the ground Pepitas if you are using them)

Grab a whisk and whisk in the cooled Gelatin. (I know this sounds counter productive, after carefully folding in the puree, but trust me; the Gelatin will begin to set as soon as it hits the Pumpkin meringue, so a whisk is fine)