Happy Fall Y’all October 7, 2014

Even though the temperature here in Southern California is in triple digits once again we got a taste of fall last week. Cooler temps and well that always makes me want to bake.

Over the last 18 months or so I have had no desire to bake. My second daughter, Cake Pop, has so many food allergies that it is easier to list what she can have than what she can’t. It has been slow going and depressing as I can’t cook or bake the things I love and share with her. So instead I haven’t been baking at all. Not to mention my other daughter and myself can no longer eat gluten. Talk about depressing. And believe me, I know what I’m missing (tasty, tasty gluten filled things!!) and this isn’t something I give up lightly.

I have turned to sewing instead of baking and mostly because I’m nesting… more on that later.

Gluten free baking is, well, annoying in all honesty. There are so many flours to deal with and work arounds that are a pain. With two kids in the kitchen wanting to help, keeping track of which flour was used and how much was supposed to be used I just gave up. Something that came to me as second nature was no longer a joy to do but a hindrance. Not to mention all the failed recipes. Gluten free isn’t always very tasty. I’m not used to finding recipes that look so promising turn out so poorly. But now that I feel I am out of the food allergy haze with my second daughter I’ve been wanting to experiment more with gluten free baking.

Recently, Trader Joe’s came out with Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancake Mix.

It is Amazing!! So delicious. Wonderful flavor and texture. Pumpkin flavored things really make it fall and Trader Joe’s is knocking out of the park for this gluten free gal. Then my sister had a brilliant idea – use the mix to make scones. Starbucks pumpkin scones, scoot over. Gluten free pumpkin scones are what I need, and these are delivering. Delicious!

She used the recipe below and modified it.

Half the sugar and instead of the bisquick/gluten free flour she used the GF pancake mix. I made a powdered sugar, milk, glaze with a bit of cinnamon and cloves. So so yummy!

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze
http://ezgf.blogspot.com/2013/09/these-blueberry-scones-with-their.html?m=1
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 14-16 min

Ingredients
1 cup of blueberries (rinsed drained)
3 eggs
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups gluten free self rising flour (or gluten free bisquick) & 1 tbsp divided
1/3 cup sugar
6 tbsp. cold diced butter
Ingredients For The Glaze
¾ of a cup of confectioner’s sugar
1 – 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ tsp lemon zest

Tarts October 18, 2013

I’ve been on an extremely limited diet in order to find out what my 9 mo old (Cake Pop) is allergic too. It has been difficult, depressing and hard in so many ways. Our culture revolves so heavily on food. I knew it but now I KNOW it. Looking at recipes much less thinking about tasty things has been off limits.

A friend invited my daughters and I over last week and made tarts. With my limited diet, her and her daughters were able to create a tasty tasty blueberry tart. And now I’m on a tart kick! I made three tarts two days later to take to a family gathering. My tart was based on the recipe below. And when I made them I adapted it to a Raspberry tart as well. Think I’ll be needing a set of these . How fun!

Heavenly Blueberry Tart

 

1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1 tablespoon vinegar

FILLING:
2 pints fresh blueberries, divided
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Add vinegar, tossing with a fork to moisten. Press onto bottom and up the sides of a lightly greased 9-in. tart pan with removable bottom.

For filling, place 1 pint of blueberries over crust. Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg; sprinkle over blueberries. Place tart pan on a baking sheet.Bake at 400° for 55-60 minutes or until crust is browned and filling is bubbly. Remove from the oven; arrange and press remaining berries in a single layer over top. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator.

Hiatus October 16, 2013

You might say I’ve been on hiatus for a while. Apparently having my second child has made me busier than I anticipated. But somehow over the last 9 mo I have figured out how to get two kids, dressed, fed, out of the house and be somewhere by 9am. It is no small feat and definitely easier when my husband is home to help. It isn’t something I thought could actually happen before the youngest was at least two. 

I haven’t been baking as much this year. It looks as though my youngest can’t handle gluten. And well gluten is the wind in this baker’s sail. It has been a hard adjustment to say the least. Now that it is fall and the weather is starting to cool the baking urge is getting stronger. I can’t deny it! After making a few things this past week I’m realizing how much I enjoy it and have missed it. So, stay tuned. 

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap December 12, 2012

I like to bake. I like cookies. And I like to blog (when I remember to post!). So I decided to participate in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap of 2012! I found out about the cookie swap shortly after last years swap was over and thought it would be fun to participate in. And it was! What is not to like about receiving cookies in the mail?

I received delicious cookies from 3 other bloggers. Go check out their recipes.
The Marvelous Misadventures of a Foodie
Attack of the Hungry Monster
The Chick Geek

I poured over my cookie recipes trying to decide on which one would be just right for the swap. Something that would ship well. But something not overly involving as I’m super pregnant (due in 2 weeks). I finally decided on a recipe I acquired from a friend last year when I hosted my first cookie exchange. I made The Elves Snickerdoodles. It’s a snickerdoodle but with nutmeg, lemon and a little glitter for flare. Enjoy!

 

The Elves Snickerdoodles

2 c Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 c Vegetable Shortening
2 Tbsp Butter, Softened
1 c Sugar
1 Large Egg
1/3 c Sour Cream
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Grated Lemon Zest
Colored Sugar/Edible Glitter

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, using and electric mixer, cream the shortening and butter. Gradually mix in the sugar. Beat in egg until blended, then the sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon zest.

With wooden spoon, stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture half at a time, until evenly mixed. Cover and refrigerate 30-60 min.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll in colored sugar/edible glitter. Place on cookie sheet 3 inches apart. Bake for 15-18 min until golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet 2-3 min then transfer to a wire rack.

Makes 2 doz cookies.

Nesting October 29, 2012

And so it has begun. The nesting. I started wondering if all the baking and cooking could be considered nesting. All this new found energy in my 3rd trimester really had me wondering, but I credited the cooler weather. Then today happened.

 

Made lunch. Cleaned the kitchen – complete with sweeping and mopping. Mostly cleaned off the dinning room table. Three loads of laundry and cleaned Cupcake’s room. Rested for a bit and then… I started working on the office/sewing room/catch all room. Made a path to the closet. Cleaned off my cutting table. Organized part of the closet. Started measuring furniture and prospective places, trying to figure out where it would all move to around the house. Then I realized I couldn’t get much further on that room, so I cleaned off the front office desk so husband would have a place to call his own. I was pitching empty boxes here, throwing away piles of papers there. Plotting and planning my next move. I even picked paint colors today.

 

If today was a book it would be similar to “If you give a mouse a cookie” but titled “If you tell a pregnant mom she is due soon”.

Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies October 27, 2012

The perfect amount of fall…

Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
from Crisco

Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
3/4 cup Crisco® Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening
OR 3/4 Crisco® Baking Sticks Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts

1.HEAT oven to 350ºF. Coat baking sheets with no-stick cooking spray.

2.BEAT shortening, sugar and brown sugar in large bowl at medium speed of electric mixer until blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. Beat into shortening mixture until smooth. Stir in oats, dried cranberries and walnuts. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2-inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

3.BAKE 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes. Place on cooling rack to cool completely.

Honey Sauced Chicken October 26, 2012

Honey Sauced Chicken
From MMM… Cafe

3/4 pound chicken (of your choice)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)
1/8 cup ketchup
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal:
Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8×8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

Serves 2.

Pumpkin Cookies October 25, 2012

Fall is the perfect time for pumpkin recipes. Pumpkin bread and muffins come to mind. Trader Joe’s has pumpkin ravioli and pumpkin cream cheese. We will definitely be trying those out this year. A few years ago a friend gave me a recipe for pumpkin cookies. Something different! Often times in the fall everyone has pumpkin bread and muffins but cookies – I’ve never seen those.

Pumpkin Cookies

Cookies:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup pumpkin
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
(I add 1/2 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 tsp ground cloves)

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp + milk

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix sugar, butter, and pumpkin together in a large bowl.
Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, (ginger and cloves), and salt in a small bowl.
Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. Blend well.
Drop by the tsp full on cookie sheet and bake at 375 F for 10-12 min or until golden.
On stove top in small pan, melt butter, add vanilla, then powdered sugar, then milk. Mix until smooth. Dip the top of the cooled cookies in frosting; let sit to harden. If the frosting hardens in small pan, just put back on stove to heat and if necessary add a little milk). Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup October 24, 2012

Most people have energy during their second trimester but apparently I am a third trimester energy kind of gal. I think the hot temps this summer had a lot to do with that. Now that the weather has finally turned cool and fall is in the air, I have fired up the oven and cracked open the cook books.

Yesterday I made an old favorite, Chicken Tortilla Soup V that I found on Allrecipes.com years ago.

Chicken Tortilla Soup V

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup chunky salsa
8 ounces corn tortilla chips
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (optional)

In a large pot over medium heat, cook and stir chicken in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and mix well. Then add the broth, corn, onion, chili powder, lemon juice, and salsa. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Break up some tortilla chips into individual bowls and pour soup over chips. Top with the Monterey Jack cheese and a little sour cream.

Lemon and Grey May 20, 2012

I hosted a baby shower for a friend yesterday and the theme was yellow and grey with elephants. I saw a cake online that gave me a great idea for the cake.

Lemon cake with lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream frosting. Covered in fondant with a gum paste peony on top. My first peony and I have to say, it came out well. I’ll definitely be making more of these.