Plum-Quat Marmalade or Fruit Butter

My Sweet Little Kumquat Tree

7 lg. kumquats

7 almost ripe plums

2 'cuties' with peel

This measured out to 3 cups of very finely sliced-chopped fruit.  Use the whole kumquat.  Slice in quarters lengthwise then cut each into 3 long sections.  Remove seeds and finely chop.  Remove the peel from the cuties, thinly slice then cut each length ⅓" long.  Chop the orange finely and add to the mix.

2c sugar

1t pumpkin pie seasoning

a big shake of black pepper

a small shake of cayenne pepper

¾c water

½c of real butter

Bring this mixture to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer for 4 minutes. Add the fruit and simmer 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let the mixture cool a bit. Strain the liquid into a bowl then bring that to a simmer for another 5 minutes to reduce and thicken it. Add the fruit again, cook a little longer, to thicken, then cool again and refrigerate in a covered bowl. If you want, stir in the butter at the end of the cooking time, making this a fruit butter, good on toast, muffins or biscuits. . .Lin