Christmas 2012

Playing catch up. 

We were good this year. :) It may have been the best Christmas dinner ever!

Carving up the prime rib. 

Grampa and Gramma: Prime Rib

Aunt Leslie: Brussel Sprouts

Aunt Becky: Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Onions

Mom: Cabbage Salad

Me: Black Rice Salad and Tarragon Cooked Carrots (These recipes were fantastic, I'm happy to provide recipes upon request, once I get moved in and find them)

Followed with Allergy Free Apple Spice Cake with Spiced Frosting from Living Without Magazine. It was fantastic and is highly recommended. We used too much frosting but man it looks great!

Gluten Free Cookie Dough Review

I happily found a new gluten free vegan cookie dough in the freezer section at Whole Foods. I was delighted to find such a label design. Forgive the ugly background (the dirty countertop at the beach cabin). This fantastic packaging was just... deceiving. The dough smells bad and tastes bad. It has a cardboard/plastic bag smell and taste for that matter. I guess these 'fake' cookies are really just too 'fake.'

Cheers to the cute label, boo to the product. 

Classes at Portland's Culinary Workshop

Last week I signed up for two classes at the Portland's Culinary Workshop. I took the Four Course Gluten Free Meal and Gluten Free Baking. Both were excellent! The chefs were great: Melinda and Susana both ex-instructors at culinary schools. The classes were small, hands on, and relevant to my cooking. I hope to go back soon!

Four Course Gluten Free Meal
Menu:
Arugula Fennel Salad with Pumpkin Seeds and Dijon Vinaigrette
Zucchini Fritters with Charmoula Sauce
Roasted Chicken
Squash Gratin with Poblanos
Chocolate Tart with Pecan Crust



We sat and feasted at the end of the night!



Roasted butternut squash for the au gratin.



Shredded zucchini for fritters.



Ingredients to the charmoula sauce



Blackened poblanos for the au gratin, yum!



Frying fritters!



Ingredients for the chocolate tart: agave, coconut butter, avocado, cocoa powder

Our FEAST:









It was all fantastic and I can put up their recipes eventually or per request. Class made me realize how much I LOVE to talk about food. I could do it for hours. :)

Gluten Free Baking
There were only four of in the class so we each picked some items and went for it. They turned out pretty good.

Menu:
Crackers-I hadn't had a cracker in two years!
Focaccia
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Sandwich Bread
Pancakes
Fresh Egg Gluten Free Pasta
Chocolate Cake

This was certainly my first go at gluten free pasta from scratch. It worked great. It even made it through a pasta slicer. The pasta does taste like egg but that's ok.









Testing out two types for a plate of fun.



Mom came too and made sandwich bread.



\

Wow it looked great! Good work mom!



Focaccia bread



Recipes are available per request. Class was great. I loved cooking class and can't believe I don't do it regularly. I recommend the classes at Portland's Culinary Workshop for fun, laid back cooking.

Never been one for brownies but...

My family didn't make brownies much. We had a hard time getting past the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. But Betty Crocker, the woman who defines yellow cake with chocolate frosting inspired me to give it a go.

Why gluten free? A co-worker of Betty apparently, was diagnosed with Celiac disease. This opened her eyes to the challenges people face. No one wants to miss a birthday cake or homemade cookie after a game. So here it is! GF Betty Crocker products made in a GF processing facility. (via the box)



Add eggs (flax) and butter.



This is where it gets hazy. I have no idea how to bake brownies but this just doesn't look right.



Nor does this. :-/ It looks like Hexxus from Ferngully.



10 minutes later out of the oven, Now they look burnt, but they're still gooey. I want to let it sit in the oven with the door open after the timer goes off so it can 'set' and not just be a mess.



Not sure what the trick is. Obviously, one can still choke down some crunchy/gooey/chocolaty-ness.



We'll see how the next batch goes.

Happy Birthday Gramma!

Two weeks ago I told Gramma that I was coming out to the farm for her birthday and that we should have a party. That's exactly what happened. Everyone showed up, there were kids, grandkids, cousins, and close friends. This was my favorite photo from the party of my mom and her best friend Linda. Friends for 40+ years.



For this feast I made quinoa pasta salad!

Ingredients:
quinoa pasta, boiled and drained (it's tougher and will never be really 'al dente' but its better)
kalamata olives
sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
olive oil/juice from the sun-dried tomatoes
salt and pepper

I prefer to serve it when chilled. It's easy, pretty, and filling.



Salad anyone? I love parties.



Mmmmmmmm



Mom made pineapple rum, ricotta cheese pie. Which, is not allergy free but it is fantastic!



Matt made this amazing chocolate cake for Gramma, also not allergy free. Chocolate with chocolate frosting (secret ingredient is mayonnaise).



THEN I picked up cupcakes from the New Cascadia Traditional GF Bakery. These gluten-free, vegan cupcakes were awesome! Chocolate with vanilla frosting and carrot cake. I have been craving carrot cake for a year so it just hit the spot!



My cousin and I, allergy twins. Important support to have.



Alex and Trevor with Matt and I.



Those goofballs on the ends are the little brothers, Dan and Colton.



Gramma and Lorna, friends for 40+ years too :)



My second favorite picture, guess how many times this has happened before?

Thanksgiving Day Cooking!

Gluten Free Stuffing recipe from Whole Foods

Ingredients

6 cups gluten-free bread cubes or 1 package Gluten Free Bakehouse stuffing cubes, already toasted
2 shallots, minced
2 onions, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
2 carrots, diced
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) salted butter
2 teaspoons dried sage
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup gluten-free chicken broth
4 tablespoons parsley

Method

Toast bread cubes carefully in a preheated 300°F oven for 20 minutes or until dried, stirring occasionally to promote even browning. If using Gluten Free Bakehouse stuffing cubes, skip this toasting step.

Sauté shallots, onions, celery and carrots in butter until they are soft and onions begin to caramelize. Add sage, thyme, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add wine and continue cooking over medium heat until liquid is reduced by half.

In a large bowl, mix sautéed vegetables with bread cubes, chicken broth and parsley. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at 325°F. Serves 8 to 10

Tasted SOOO good with all the spices. But the bread is so dry I think it could use 3 cups of chicken broth instead of one. The parsley in the garden died in the snow so we just went without. Highly recommend this recipe.

Gluten Free Apple Pie, recipe from beyondallergy.com


1 1/2 cup flour (barley OR wheat OR a Non-Wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons fat (butter OR margarine OR equivalent)
3 or 4 tablespoons water
Sift all the dry ingredients together. This is important to give some lift to the flour. Cut fat in using two forks or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles clumps about the size of small peas. Add cold water, a little at a time, distributing the water evenly throughout the whole of the mixture. When the mixture sticks together, but is not doughy, roll out onto a table or pie mat dusted with flour. Roll until the dough is of sufficient size to fit into a 9 inch pie pan. Line the pie pan with dough. Bake at 425 F for 10 – 15 minutes. Fill with a cream filling. Makes one 9 in pie crust. This can be frozen and used like a commercial pie crust if desired.
It was difficult to role out, we used wax paper and just kind of pressed it in. It was dry and not very tasty, should have brushed it with sugar. I would try out another one next time with more flours, I just tried to do it simply. It was very very crumbly and needed something more to gel it together.
I decorated it with a palm tree because we should be in Hawaii right now. :-)

Gramma's purty turkey



Gramma's sweet yams with brown sugar/butter



Momma's Apple Pie



Momma's Punkin Pie