Reflection

Corey's uncle passed away yesterday. Since Easter Sunday, I've been thinking a lot about what this holiday represents--the idea of a new beginning, growth...I hope that rings true for the gifts of time and healing. This winter brought a lot of darkness, and we're leaning towards the light.

GF Baking Class

CB gave me the coolest birthday gift--admission to a GF baking class sponsored by this location. I wanted to bring my mom (who is much more of a baker than I) but it was full. They made very amenable alternatives to the following goodies (which I'll paste below for anyone who cares):

Flour Mixture:

50/50 tapioca & quinoa flours
• mix this prior & store in airtight container
Add: corn/potato starch (about ½ T)
Xanthan gum (1/4 T per 1 c flour mixture)



GF Cake - Yellow

2 ¼ C Flour mixture
1 ½ C sugar (white or cane)
½ C butter, softened (not melted, room temp)
1 ¼ C milk (soy/almond/other)
3 ½ tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs (or 4 egg whites for white cake)
½ tsp xanthan gum
2 T potato starch


Wisk or sift flour to aerate. Beat all ingredients for 3 minutes, scraping sides occasionally. Start on low, gradually turn mixer up to med/high. (The mixture will be a little bit lumpy.) Pour into a greased pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

1 9x13 pan: 35-40 min
2 9” rounds: 30-35 min
9” cupcakes (12): 25-30 min


Butter Cream Frosting – easy
3 C powdered sugar
1/3 C butter, softened
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1-2 T milk
Mix sugar and butter with electric mixer on low. Stir in vanilla; gradually add milk until spreadable. Mixture will be very thick!




GF Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 C Flour mixture
¾ C Sugar
¾ C brown sugar
1 C butter, softened (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 c chopped walnuts (opt.)
2 T milk (for extra moisture)
½ tsp xanthan gum
1 bag (12 oz. chocolate chips)

Heat oven to 350. Cream the sugar, butter, vanilla, egg & milk. Slowly add the mixed dry ingredients and blend. Drop by tablespoonfuls on parchment paper. Bake 8-10 min.



GF Almond Macaroons

1 C almond butter (or peanut/cashew butter)
1 C water
1 C maple syrup (or honey/agave nectar)
½ tsp vanilla
1 C rice flour
8 C coconut shreds – unsweetened
1 C almonds (slivered/chopped)


Spray measuring cup before measuring out almond butter (very sticky). In a large bowl, cream together almond butter, water, vanilla and syrup (will be rather wet). Mix with a spatula/mixer until combined. When will incorporated, add coconut. Scoop cookies and flatten on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 min. Remove from oven & cool. Store in an airtight container.



Banana Cream Pie
Crust:
3 ½ C walnuts (almonds/pecans/etc)
¼ - ½ C sugar (white/cane/brown rice syrup/agave nectar)
½ stick butter
Grind nuts. Add sugar. Melt butter. Combine all 3 ingredients and pat into a 9” pie pan. Bake at 350 for 10 min & cool.

Pudding:

1 C milk
¾ C heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla (x 2)
3 egg yolks (cold)
2 T cornstarch
½ C sugar
½ T butter
Fine strainer/cheesecloth

In a separate bowl, mix together sugar & cornstarch. In a pan, heat milk, cream & vanilla until simmering, scraping the bottom at all times. Wisk yolks, sugar/cornstarch & salt; stream into hot milk. Whisk continuously on medium heat until it begins to boil. Immediately pull off stove. Strain mixture onto ½ T butter & 1 T vanilla using strainer. Stir poured mixture until butter melts. Cover with plastic wrap right on top of pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for a few hours.
Once pudding is completely cooled, add over nut crust. Add sliced (overripened) bananas. Top with whipped cream.

New bloggy friends

My friend Kristin & her friend Megan created a nifty blog for anyone who likes to shop--hello, anyone with a pulse? Honestly, though, I have little to no inspiration in my city of residence, but these daily enteries have kept my mental shopping list updated for my upcoming shopping trip! Plus, if you're really not into shopping or need some help putting items together, it's also a great find.

Weekends

There's been a nice balance of short bursts of obligation and fun moments in the last few weekends. My sister and her kiddies came to visit, which included dinner out with them, Corey and my parents (which really only happens on holidays), in addition to Sunday brunch at my parents'. In honor of our togetherness I broke down and bought my absolute favorite sparkling wine that I profiled on my other site. Then last Friday, Corey and I had dinner with some friends and still made it home early. Saturday we had brunch (I'm a big fan if you didn't notice), went to the new and gargantuan Menard's, made a mental list of some house items/summer projects, and each got a new hat to boot. Fun and even some productivity. Plus it makes you forget how much you can dread Monday mornings.

Lil' Owen

Last week I cruised down south to meet Owen Charles Pershing--what a little peanut. Now I have 2 families to visit there--excellent. My camera is not very cooperative, so this is the only picture I have of him. But Liz is doing a good job with the pictures. The teeny diapers just kill me! Kat down to visit on Saturday, so we managed to get the new mommy some sustenance and she went out for a facial. Hopefully I was some shred of help while I was there! Your family is beautiful, mom & dad.

Sunshine and sore legs

I coerced Anne into registering again for this with me, and we got in...oops. I should have known that would happen. At least it's warming up out there and when I ventured out Monday afternoon I was actually HOT--too many layers. The sunshine was glorious! You'll never have to accuse a Yankee of not appreciating warm weather. However, my body is reminding me about all those muscles I haven't been using. Mind you, I'm a social runner, so if anyone out there who's local needs a running buddy, let me know.

A good few days

This week snuck up really fast. Friday some of my co-workers and I went out to lunch here--I highly recommend the veggie curry. In absence of Corey and I going out, Kim & Anne were great sports to hang out with me yesterday for my birthday. We got pedicures that afternoon and then ate a very filling and delicious dinner at a fabulous location. A great topic of conversation: our husbands' fashion choices--who knew. Thanks, ladies--I had a great time! Tonight my mom had Beth & I over for homemade teriakyi steak and flourless chocolate cake. It was a good weekend.