Perfect Shortcake Weather

Today it's hot.  Everyone is saying it's not that bad, because apparently last week when we were in California, we missed the worst heat wave ever, but for me, this is the first super hot day of the year!  That made cooking and baking not seem all that fun, but I did notice when I was cleaning out the refrigerator that we had four containers of strawberries.  This seems to happen to my family a lot.  I think we just automatically grab huge containers of berries whenever we go shopping.  Also strange is that we never do this with blueberries; just strawberries.  Just another weird Tucker thing, I guess.  Anyway, the 4 containers of strawberries, along with the fact that Mom specifically asked for strawberry shortcake the other day, made it pretty easy to decide what to make today.  My mom is a tough critic, and so when she asks for something, it's a good idea to make it.  Plus, strawberry shortcakes are one of my favorite desserts as well.

I went to my blog idol, Annie's Eats, and was happy to see that she had a recipe for berry shortcakes.  She likes to add blueberries to make it more patriotic for the 4th of July, but Mom, being a purist, asked for just strawberries.  The recipe calls for the cakes, a berry sauce, and whipped cream, so I made all three.  The biscuits were pretty easy actually; you mix the ingredients up in a bowl with a fork, make a log out of the dough, and cut  it into 6 shortcakes.  Then the strawberries get chopped, a fourth of them get mashed with a fork, and confectionary sugar is added for just a bit more sweetness.  I also made whipped cream, again with theconfectionary sugar, which I thought was interesting.  We've always just used regular sugar here.  I loved this recipe, and so did Mom.  I will say that if (when) I make it again, I will double or even triple the whipped cream recipe.  It only calls for 1/2 cup of heavy cream, and that is supposed to make enough for 6 shortcakes!?  We only ate 3 cakes and ran out of cream.  It's definitely a keeper recipe, though, and perfect to eat on a hot, steamy June night.

Recipe:
berry shortcakes

Back from Cali!

I'm back from California!  Did you miss me?  To be honest, I missed you.  I missed cooking and baking and blogging, but it was a wonderful trip with some wonderful people.  It was an amazing week, and while I am glad to be home, I am sad that it's over.

Fresh picked artichokes!

Sunflowers

Some blog-related highlights included the farmer's market in Santa Monica.  This puts our Westminster market to shame, and I always thought it was fabulous.  This was entire city blocks of freshly picked pistachios, olives, plums, avocados - things we just don't get in Massachusetts!  Not to mention the flowers, breads, tomatoes, and cherries!  I could have spent the whole day there, but here are some of my favorite shots:

Who knew eggs could be so pretty?

I bought 5 of these for $5

My quinoa salad at our beach party!

Another highlight: the dinner part we put on Wedesnday night.  Kaz and Andrea have lots of friends out there from when they lived in LA, and we invited Paul to come over (since we were there after all for his wedding!).  We ended up having about 10 people over to eat.  $200 at Whole Foods later, and we were ready to party!  Mark was in charge of grilling the meats, and Andrea and I were on side dish duty (hmmm... Kaz? Haha).    Andrea made a salad and guacamole, and she helped me out with my culinary adventure: quinoa salad.  I have been intrigued by quinoa for a while, and I figured now was the perfect time to try it.  It's gluten-free so it would be okay for Kaz, and Andrea could show me how to cook it since she is an expert.  We ended up uncovering a rice cooker to make the quinoa, and then it was time to make the salad.  It has watermelon, parsely and feta, and a dressing made from sweet onion, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.  I know -the watermelon makes it sound a little strange, but just trust me, and make this salad.  We doubled it since we were expecting so many people, and ended up with 2 huge bowls of it.  Believe it or not, by the end of the night, almost all of it went!  People were complimenting me and having seconds (and thirds!).  Paul even said he loves meat more than anything else, but gorged himself on the quinoa salad because it was so good.  I was happy to be doing my "cookin' thang" out in California!  I then brought this recipe home and made it last night to accompany Mark's amazing fish tacos.  Alex kept saying it was "cous cous" and Rachael picked out the watermelon because she is weird, but Mom and I liked it.  It's a great lunch for leftovers because I think the flavor gets better the next day.  You can eat it hot or cold; I like it cold better.  I think I am a quinoa lover!

Last night's salad

Tonight I made a dinner I have been wanting to make for a while: cipolli onion and potato pie.  It's a pie, full of sliced potatoes and pearl onions, and a cheese sauce.  What's not to like!?  Unfortunately I couldn't find cipolli onions, so I bought those little boiler onions.  I ended up having to halve them because they were still too big, though.  The cheese sauce.... I could swim in it.  Gruyere, cheddar, and Parmigianno-Reggiano- you can't go wrong with those. Add some chickem broth, rosemary, and ground pepper and you have possibly the best cheese sauce I have ever tasted.  The next time I have toc ome up with a cheese sauce for something, this might have to be it.  For the pie, you then whisk in an egg to help firm things up, and it bakes for just under an hour.  Really I should have baked it longer than the 50 minutes I allowed, but we were starving.  Some of the onions and potato slices could have done with a bit more time, but I was not able to wait any more.  I liked this pie, and I'd make it again.


Recipes:
quinoa salad with watermelon and feta
cipolli onion and potato pie

Cali Bound

Tomorrow night at this time, I will be in the air somewhere over the Mid-west on my way to California!  I have never been further west than Kansas, so I am really excited.  Mark is in his friend Paul's wedding, so we decided to make a week-long vacation out of it (mainly to put as much room in between flights as possible, since Mark is notorious for being horrible on planes!).  I really should be packing tonight... or finding a dress to wear to the wedding... but instead I decided to bake cookies.

I busted out the trust old recipe files and picked literally the very last thing in there: butter pecan cookies.  No clue what it was cut out of... it looks vaguely Martha Stewart-esque.  Butter crunch is one of Mark's favorite ice creams, and he likes pecans, and I figured the flavors must be similar.  I had to toast some pecans before I could start the cookies, which added on a little time, and you have to roll them into balls and roll them through sugar.  This did take a little more time than I wanted, but really they were not bad.... it's just that I should be packing!  I decided to double the recipe because 12 cookies did not seem like enough.  What is strange about the recipe is that there is no rising ingredient: no baking soda or powder. So, they are very flat.  They look flat in the picture, so I guess that's okay, but it felt weird. 

As a non-cookie-lover, I didn't try them, but the 5 people who tried them tonight enjoyed them.  Mom even said she loved them, and we all know that she is a tough critic.  But she loves cookies and especially loves nuts, so this was an obvious choice.  Mark said he got a burned pecan, so be careful when you are toasting them - the ones on the sides toast quicker!

Wish us luck flying to L.A. tomorrow!  See you when I get back!


Recipe:
butter pecan cookies
makes 12

Ingredients:
3/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for coating
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  On a baking sheet, toast pecans until fragrant, about 6 minutes.  Let cool completely; finely chop.

2.  With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light, about one minute.  Beat in vanilla, salt, and flour, scraping down sides of bowl, just until dough comes together.  Fold in pecans.

3.  Separate dough into 12 pieces.  Squeeze dough to shape into balls.  Roll in sugar.  Place 3 inches apart on a baking sheet.  Gently flatten with the bottom of a glass, reshaping sides if necessary.  Sprinkle with sugar.

4.  Bak until golden brown, rotating sheet halfway through, about 15 minutes.  Sprinkle with more sugar (I did not do this step).  Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Sweet Summertime!

Ohhhh, summer.  How I have missed you! 

School ended for me Thursday afternoon.  The kids performed in their concert in the morning and afternoon, so it was a very easy last day.  Their last day was Friday, but that was the tournament for me!  I am happy to say that we raised over $17,000.  We worked out butts off, but it was totally worth it.

So, my life has been a total whirlwind until today, when I was finally able to calm down enough to pull out my KitchenAid again!  I was able to make the Twix cheesecakes that Kenzie has been begging for.  I had to bust out the 40-year-old food processor to mash up the Oreos for the crust.  Let me just say that Oreos, sugar, and melted butter is a dangerous combination.  I may or may not have had a little extra, and I may or may not have eaten the remnants with a spoon until I felt like I might throw up.  Then the cheesecake part was quick to whip up, minus the unwrapping of 12 mini Twix candies!  Strangely, the recipe calls for them to be baked and then refrigerated overnight.  Obviously, Kenzie was not about to wait after hounding me to make these for weeks, so we waited about 2 hours and all was well.  Pat is over right now eating one and it seems perfectly chilled to me.  I'd say give it 3 hours if you want to be totally safe, but overnight is overkill.  These have gone over quite well; Kenzie says they are among the best things I have made, and even Nick ate them.  Clearly Mom hates them because she hates Oreos, cheesecake, and Twix, but that was expected.

Going in the oven!

Then for dinner I made creamy caprese pasta bake.  I have wanted to make this for over a week but kept being too busy, or going out instead, or having guests who are allergic to Parmesan (ohhh Tracy!).  Finally today I got to make it.  I love caprese salad, so I thought this sounded perfect.  Penne with creamy tomato sauce, grape tomatoes, basil, and cubes of fresh mozzarella - you can't go wrong with those ingredients!  It was also really quick to make, which is a plus.  I doubled it and we had 7 people at dinner, and plenty of leftovers.  I really liked it.  I do think it dried out a little too much in the oven,  so I would probably double the amount of sauce next time.  The tomatoes were great; I cut some in half and left others whole, and they were such a great pop of flavor!  It was also nice to have basil from my own garden. 

Tomorrow, being my first official day of summer, will be my last chance to cook or bake for a while (and even tomorrow is a maybe since I have a long to-do list).  I am going to California for a week for a wedding.  I will be staying in a house for 3 nights, so I may get to do some cooking.  I will keep you posted.  I feel like I have hit a blog milestone when I got a phone call the other day from Maddie asking questions about the lettuce wraps, since she has been making my recipes!  Very exciting.  Don't fret, blog readers (AKA, Maddie, Mom, and my aunts).  I'll be back :)

Recipes:
Twix cheesecakes
creamy caprese pasta bake

Pre-Tournament Crazies

Sorry for the lack of updates this week.  I have been cooking, but I have been too busy to update.  Our golf tournament is Friday, so we have been meeting up, working on signs, last minute details, etc.  In fact, I have been so busy that I have even forgotten to take pictures of some of the food.  I'll be better after this week, when the craziness of the last week of school plus the tournament is over!

So, first, the ice cream!  I mentioned on Sunday that I made it and had to freeze it overnight.  Besides the fact that it was a little soft due to my mom leaving the freezer door open for a few hours, it was delicious!  I am glad I didn't blend the strawberries, because the chunks of frozen berry were a plus.  The graham crackers somehow end up tasting like a perfect cheesecake... it's an ice creamy miracle.  We had Tracy, Kelsey and Gram over for dinner and everyone enjoyed their cones... especially Kenzie.  Make this ice cream for any party, picnic, graduation, or other get-together you have this summer.  It is delicious and it makes people think you spent hours slaving over an ice cream maker, when really you just used a mixer and tossed a Tupperware into the freezer!

Yesterday I tried out a new recipe for dinner.  As a mostly vegetarian, I try to cook as many meatless meals as I can, but my family always whines about "protein."  So, when I saw a recipe for white skillet beans, I had to try it.  No meat, and it's protein?  Perfect.  The ingredients were a little out there: maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, sage (it calls for fresh... had to sub dried) and brown sugar... but it also had tomato paste, which made me think of the amazing beans we used to get at our favorite Lebanese place that isn't open anymore.  This was not the recipe at all, since that sauce is more tomato-based, but it did make me decide that I will find that recipe ASAP!  Anyway, the skillet white beans: it calls for three different types of beans: butter beans (which are my favorite since they were in that Lebanese recipe), navy beans, and chick peas (although we didn't have any, so I used cannellini).  I can honestly say that this meal is very quick, very easy, and very delicious!  The sauce is a great mixture of salty and a little sweet, and the beans just soak up the flavor.  We served it over Mark's famous pilaf, and I highly recommend calling over your favorite Armenian if you choose to make this dish, because they paired together perfectly.  I'll share his pilaf recipe some night when he isn't working and is willing to share his secrets.   I loved these beans; I had them for dinner and for lunch today and frankly I am excited to eat them again tomorrow!  (It makes a lot!)

Recipes:
strawberry cheesecake ice cream
skillet white beans

Lobster Love

This weekend was another busy one.  I console myself by saying that it will all be okay after Friday, which, as well as being the golf tournament, is also the last day of school!  Lots of free time coming up.

Yesterday, Mom begged for another batch of the glazed doughnut muffins that I had made for Amanda earlier in the week.  I was going to Cathleen's birthday party, so I figured I would make a double batch.  Of course, once I buttered two muffin tins, I promptly forgot to double it and ended up with one batch, and an extra buttered pan.  More on that later.  The muffins were great as always!  My mom had apparently forgotten how much she loves them.  I'm sure I will be making these more now that we have rediscovered them!

At Cathleen's birthday, there was a lobster extravaganza.  Let's just say her mom threw her the tastiest birthday ever, but had way too many lobsters.  She gave us two to take home to my mother, who had apparently already eaten.  So tonight, we had two cooked lobsters to do with whatever we pleased!  It was just me and Mom home, and we were contemplating a good old lobster roll, but I figured that it is not every day I get lobster meat as an ingredient to use in a meal, and I wanted to do something more.  I found a recipe from the New York Times, and then Mom and I made a few changes.  We didn't use spaghetti, simply because we didn't have it; we used penne.  We didn't peel the tomatoes, because we aren't picky about that, and we didn't dice the lobster.  We roughly chopped it - we both agreed that we wanted to actually know when we got a piece of lobster in our mouths!  I also did not add the extra oil after sauteing the tomatoes; it was fine without it.  Neither of us used the red pepper flakes.  This made a huge amount and there is a lot leftover, which is great because Mom and I were both in love with this meal.  Sauteing the lobster with some fresh basil almost made the lobster sweeter (if that is even possible) and we both thought that even without the lobster, the tomato sauce was delicious and would be a great meal in and of itself.  Pretty excited for leftovers!

Also at the birthday party, Cathleen's mom made strawberry cheesecake ice cream.  I was thrilled when I asked for the recipe, and she showed me an ad for Philadelphia cream cheese.  It only had 3 steps, so I was really excited to try this out.  I made it this afternoon and it will be all ready tomorrow.  It is really easy, and I can say after having it at the party that it is absolutely delicious.  I foresee this ice cream being a regularly-made item in my house this summer!

Lastly - back to that extra buttered muffin tin!  I decided to make individual raspberry cobblers.  I had recently pinned this recipe, and thought it was perfect since it does not call for paper muffin cups!  Of course, it makes 24 cobblers, so I had to rebutter the other pan as well, but that is beside the point.  These were ridiculously easy to make (they were ready to go in the oven before it was even preheated, and that never happens!), but I have mixed feelings about the end result . First, the recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter, which is kind of gross no matter what, but the butter seems to have made a chewy outside.  I guess I was expecting a different consisency.  Mom and Rachael both liked them, but I thought it was a bit strange.  Also, you were supposed to drop a handfull of raspberries into each cup, but my berries were huge, so I only put one in each.  The berries are supposed to sink to the bottom, but they didn't move at all.  That doesn't really matter though, but I figured I'd mention it.  I may like these, or I may hate them.  I have not decided yet.  I'll keep you posted.

For now, it is past 10:30, my report cards are not finished, I have a golf tournament to put on, and there are 4 days of school left.  I'd say it's time for bed to give me the energy to get through all this, not to mention make some rather amazing meals that I grocery shopped for today :)

Recipes:

glazed doughnut muffins

lobster spaghetti with fresh tomatoes
strawberry cheesecake ice cream

individual raspberry cobblers

Glazed Doughnut Muffins

Just a quick update tonight.... I am half asleep after a bad night of sleep last night, and a day of teaching puberty today, and I need to be ready for our field trip to Old Sturbridge Village tomorrow!  Ohhh end of the year craziness!

Today after work I made glazed doughnut muffins, and they were just as great as the last time I made them (which Mom claimed not to remember but .  I made them to celebrate Amanda's good news, and I brought them to her house tonight with Kenzie.  She texted me a video of Matty thoroughly enjoying one, so I was glad that I whipped them up! 

These are not only delicious, they are pretty quick to make.  I like when baked goods can be made in one bowl; there is no "cream the butter and sugar, then in a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients."  I could do it all in my gorgeous mixer.  The cinnamon and nutmeg spice the cake perfectly, and they rise higher than any other muffin or cupcake!  They have the most beautiful domed tops.  Then you make a quick glaze, dunk them in, and you have so-called "Krispy Kreme muffins."  I kept one to eat myself, and I am pretty pumped that I did.

Recipe:
glazed doughnut muffins

Almost Summer

It is hard to believe that school is almost over for the year.  Seven more days!  This year feels like it went by quickly, but especially these past couple months.  I am really ready for a vacation, so June 15th can't come soon enough.  Just imagining all those empty hours to fill with new recipes has me totally psyched!

I have been making a lot of different things lately.  First, I mentioned the overnight pull-apart cinnamon loaf on Sunday.  I made the dough Saturday night, and let it rise overnight in the fridge (which made me nervous: can yeast breads rise in a cold place?)  My doubts were erased after taking this baby out of the oven.  It was delicious, and looks so pretty on a platter.  It is very similar to monkey bread, but instead of little dough balls, the dough is in slices that can be pulled off (hence the name).  We devoured it with help from the Cormiers, and it was a hit.  This is a definite make-it-again kind of dessert.

Also on Sunday, I made pork and cabbage dumplings.  Mom had cut the recipe out of her Martha Stewart magazine and requested them for a while.  I went to two different grocery stores asking for ground pork, and I was told that there is none in Massachusetts right now.  I am not sure why, but I would not be interested in another bout with salmonella or food poisoning after the month I've had, so I decided to make chicken and cabbage dumplings instead.  Let me say a few things about these dumplings.  Number One: they are delicious.  You sear them and then steam them, so they get that perfect dumpling consistency.  The inside is really flavorful (with great things like scallions, chives, and sesame seeds, and the sauce that goes with them is amazing for only having 3 ingredients (pepper, soy sauce, and rice vinegar).  Number Two: they take a while to make.  I didn't even make my own wrappers since I was unable to find Korean wheat flour, but even so, it took me probably 2 1/2 hours.  And that was with Mom and Mark helping me once it was time to stuff, sear and steam.  Number Three: one weird thing is that the recipe seems to imply that you do not cook the pork (or chicken in our case) before stuffing the wrappers.  I refused to get salmonella again, so I cooked it.  I recommend doing the same. Most importantly, Number Four: in case you (like me) neglect to read the full recipe and notice how many dumplings this makes, the answer is that I ended up with ninety-six dumplings.  It was a ridiculous amount of both work and food.  Luckily I texted Pat that by accident, I had almost 100 dumplings, and he, Jay and Betsy showed up.  Mark, Nick and Alex were all here too, so almost all of them went.  They got rave reviews, and my mother even claims that they helped the Celtics win their playoff game.  Hopefully they can win again tonight without dumplings though, because I was not about to go through all that work on a weeknight!

Being a glutton for punishment, lastly on Sunday I made watermelon soup.  I'd gone grocery shopping and had no room in the refrigerator, mainly because there was a huge watermelon in there that had been there for a while.  I don't love watermelon (just the rind; I'm weird), but I figured there are more interesting ways to use one up than to cut it into pieces.  I did some Googling, and decided on a watermelon soup.  It was easy to make; I just had to simmer some ginger, brown sugar and lime juice and zest, and them add that with watermelon, mint and champagne to the blender.  I chose not to strain it, because I thought the watermelon pieces would make the soup better.  I had some that night before I chilled it, and it was pretty darn good.  Then, I forgot that it was probably not good to bring a cold coup with champagne in it to work, and had some for lunch yesterday.  I won't be doing that again.  Oops!

Lastly, last night I made dinner (it ended up being randomly just for me and Alex, but people have eaten the leftovers!)  I had picked up extra ground chicken Sunday, and wanted to make these Thai chicken burgers I saw on Pinterest.  I was intrigued because they are served with a peanut sauce and a mango salsa.  It took me a while to make the sauce, the salsa, and the burgers (my first experience making patties.... repulsive),  but I really liked them.  The peanut sauce was great (I accidentally added cilantro to it and would recommend that!) and I am a little in love with the mango salsa  (I obviously left out the sriracha and jalapenos).  And as far as burgers of any type go, they were pretty good, which means a lot coming from someone who mostly hates meat.

Recipes:
overnight pull-apart cinnamon loaf
watermelon soup
Thai chicken burgers with mango salsa


Pork and Cabbage Dumplings
adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Active time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
MAKES 96 DUMPLINGS!!! (I didn't notice that part)

Ingredients:

7 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
6 cups thinly-sliced napa cabbage (about 1/2 head)
1  3/4 teaspoons fine sea salt, divided
2 cups thinly-sliced Vidalia onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives(about 1 bunch)
1/4 cup thinly-chopped scallions (about 4, plus more for garnish)
2 tablespoons finely-chopped garlic (about 6 cloves)
1  1/2 pounds ground pork (or chicken works fine too!)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper, divided
1/2 cup coy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 12-ounce packages of 3-inch round dumpling wrappers
1 large egg white
water

1.  Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large saute pan or wok over high heat.  Saut cabbage, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.  Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and transfer to a large bowl.  Heat another tablespoon vegetable oil, and saute onion, stirring occasionally until just softened, 2 to 3 minutes.  Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, add to bowl with cabbage, and let cool 5 minutes.  Process in a food processor until just coarsely chopped, and return to  bowl. 

2.  Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in pan over medium heat, and saute chives until just tender, about 1 minute.  Transfer to chopped cabbage mixture, and let cool.  Martha neglects to mention ever cooking the next ingredients, but I sauted them until the chicken was totally cooked.  I highly recommend doing the same.  Stir in scallions, garlic, pork, sesame seeds, sesame oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 

3.  Stir together soy sauce, vinegar, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon  pepper in a small bowl.  This is the dipping sauce; set aside.

4.  Working with 1 wrapper at a time, moisten edge with egg white, then place 2 teaspoons filling in center.  Fold in half to form a half-moon, press edge to seal tightly, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 



Pre-steamed!

5.  Wipe out pan.  Working in batches and wiping out pan between each, heat 1tablespoon vegetable oil until shimmering and sear dumplings until browned, about 1 minute per side.  Add 1/4 cup water, and cover with a tight-fitting lid.  Steam dumplings 2 minutes.  Transfer to a platter, and loosely tent with foil to keep warm.  Repeat with rest of dumplings.  Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds and serve with dipping sauce.


Serve to a very large and hungry crowd!

Gluten-Free Sweets!

It has certainly been a crazy few days.  Thursday night I went out to eat with Mark.  We went to Michael's Harborside in Newburyport, had some calamari for dessert, and I got delicious seafood pasta.  When I got home (later than expected) I was panicking because I had to bring a hot dish to my school's volunteer appreciation breakfast.  Kenzie found me a quick and easy overnight French toast casserole.  I was going to be rather embarrassed to bring it; it looked pretty blah since it was just pieces of white bread withbrown sugar,  cinnamon, egg and milk sprinkled on it, but it was all I had time to do.  Luckily, I did not have to show up with an ugly casserole.  Unluckily, that was because I threw up early Friday morning.  I blame the calamari and think that I am now finished with squid; Mark and I have both gotten sick eating them on separate occasions.  But this meant I got to eat the casserole myself last night.  The casserole is okay; I don't really like French toast, and that is exactly what it is.  I would recommend it if you have to make French toast for a crowd, because it is an easy way to feed a lot of people at once, when French toast usually takes a while to make for everyone.

Yesterday was a bit of a culinary challenge for me.  Kenzie's friend Jane is visiting from Maui with her husband (!).  We went to their wedding last weekend, and it was great to see them again and really get to know her Matty.  The culinary challenge was that Kenzie invited them over for a tea party, and Jane has celiac disease and is gluten-free.  As I looked through my recipes, I realized I do not think I have ever cooked or baked a single gluten-free item.  In fact, my entire life revolves around gluten.  I might die if I had to go gluten-free.  With that said, I knew immediately I needed to call in the experts, so I called Kaz and Andrea.  Kaz also can't have gluten, so they were the perfect people to give advice.  They gave me the name of their favorite gluten-free baking mix - which of course Kenzie went to buy, and didn't find it.  She bought a different gluten-free flour along with some GF cookies, and I set to work attempting my first gluten-less desserts!

Last week I made those low-fat cheesecakes, and I remembered seeing a footnote about how to make them gluten-free, so I decided to make them again.  There is only a tablespoon of flour in them, so I used a tablespoon of the GF baking mix instead.  They call for vanilla wafers to be the bottom crust, but instead, Kenzie bought gluten-free ginger snaps (thanks for the tip, Andrea)!  Then I popped those in the oven and set to work on my next sweet snack.

Jane had been craving blueberry muffins.  Her stepmom had made a batch of regular ones, and when Jane tried to go to a gluten-free bakery to buy some of her own, they were closed, so I knew that this was what I had to make her.  I found a recipe for muffins on The Food Network's site; in case they turned out horrible, I couldn't bear to use my dad's recipe.  I had attempted to look up specifically gluten-free blueberry muffin recipes, but they called for bizarre things like xanthan gum.  Andrea and Kaz had said that you can use gluten-free flour just in place of regular flour, so that is what I did.  I was nervous, especially when I took them out of the oven.  They aren't that pretty, puffy white color that normal muffins are - but then again, they are not normal muffins!  We let them cool for a while, and then I passed around my gluten free cheesecakes and muffins.  Moment of truth!

And, they were a hit!  Not only did Jane get to eat desserts with the rest of us (and I didn't make her sick!), but we all ate them and liked them.  Rachael claimed they were the best muffins ever.  They  did not taste gluten-free at all.  Thank you, King Arthur's Gluten-Free Baking Mix!  I was glad that I had experimented with gluten-free baking for Jane, and now that I have a big bag of the baking mix, I will have to try that again soon.  Kaz, start getting hungry :)

To make up for my lack of gluten during the day, at night I decided I needed to make a bread.  Mom had ripped a recipe out of a magazine for overnight pull-apart cinnamon loaf.  It's a lot like monkey bread, but it looks like a loaf of bread rather than little balls.  I made the dough last night, and then had to let it rise overnight in the refrigerator.  This does confuse me a bit, because rising only happens when it is warm, right?  But okay, I'll follow the recipe.  Tonight it will be our dessert  (hopefully).  I will keep you posted.  Since Mom did cut the recipe out of Better Homes and Gardens and then promptly lost the second page, I had to find it online, so I am attaching the page I usd.

Mark and I went grocery shopping today for the ingredients for dinner tonight and tomorrow, so stay tuned for some very intriguing dinners :)

Recipes:
French toast casserole
blueberry muffins (the recipe isn't gluten free, but I substituted GF baking mix for flour)
red, white and blueberry cheesecake yogurt cupcakes (substituted GF baking mix for flour, and used GF ginger snaps as the crust)