Reaching out to others results in a recipe for Pumpkin jam

On Oct 18, Calgary elected a new major with a lot of hope and in a purple haze!  One of his popular platforms was to come in touch with one another. 

The next day at Superstore, a woman eyed my large pumpkin in my cart as she bought my cart for four quarters. She commented that she needed to buy a pumpkin to make pumpkin jam.  Having never heard of pumpkin jam, but thinking it must be similar to zucchini jam, I asked with interest, for the recipe. 

To my surprise, she said she soaked pumpkin cubes in a lime solution. She went on to mention that it was not the juice from a lime fruit but bought at Home Depot! To my horror, I had a flashback of my mom in heavy plastic gloves and steam of cloud, as she pouring lye into rendered fat to make soap!  Wait! What did she say, lime, like calcium hydroxide! Not the green lime fruit!  The pumpkin is soaked over night in the lime solution and then washed three to four times until water is clear. According to her, the lime prevents the pumpkin from absorbing the sugar and becoming mushy!  Next, the pumpkin is cooked in sugar and lime juice. In her words, “delicious “ and a Mediterranean recipe. In goggling Pumpkin jam, a Mexican recipe pops up and the above directions are very close to making pumpkin candy or Dulce de Calabaza (Candied Pumpkin).  There was also some discussion as to quality of lime if bought from Home Depot http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/flavorsoffall/candied-pumpkin.htm

Pumpkin Candy from site listed below

http://laylita.com/recipes/2009/02/11/dulce-de-zapallo-or-squash-in-syrup/