Everyday Finesse

Yummy gluten-free waffles

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

Belgian waffles are delicious, substantial and make for a special breakfast treat. We usually only ate them on vacation because I never owned a waffle iron, but my daughter recently bought one on sale and immediately worked on a gluten-free recipe for her family.

The first waffles she made were from a carob waffle recipe and while I thought they were exceptional -- they were light and fluffy and the recipe from The Allergy Self-Help Book was a good one, I must admit I really don't care for chocolate or carob waffles, muffins or pancakes of any kind. I am a bit surprised by that but I like my chocolate in candy, cakes and desserts. I don't even care for chocolate muffins. Even I think that is weird!

So, she altered the Buckwheat Carob recipe, leaving out the carob, adjusting a few other ingredients and they were quite a treat. They were nice and crisp on the outside and fluffy soft on the inside, which was perfect! I must admit she did a great job.

One good thing about Waffles is that they can be frozen and then toasted when you need them. The only problem we have had with these waffles so far is that we haven't had any leftovers to freeze.

My daughter's recipe:

Buckwheat Waffles

2-1/2 cups white (or lite) buckwheat flour

2 tablespoons tapioca or arrowroot flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoons stevia powder (optional)

2-2/3 cups hemp milk (I used unsweetened) or other milk substitute or water

1/4 cups canola or other oil

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat your waffle iron. Mix together the dry ingredients. Whisk in the remaining wet ingredients until just mixed. Mixture will be thin. Poor one cup of batter into your waffle iron and heat according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Remove and serve immediately. Makes 4 to 5 waffles. Make an extra batch for freezing and place on a wire rack so that the bottoms don't get soft. Pop in your toaster and they are almost as good as when you first made them!

Time to test the soil

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

Every garden book I have ever read starts out by saying the soil it the most important thing about gardening. They say if the soil it right, you will have a better garden. That is why it is time to do a soil test, now, while there there are not a dozen garden chores you need to do. It also is a good time because the testing facilities won't be so busy since most people procrastinate.

A soil test is easy to do and it doesn't take very much time. You dig up dirt from a number of areas in your garden (or lawn) and put it all in a bucket. Stir is up and put the amount required for the test in a bag or a plastic bag, fill out the information and send the soil in to the testing lab.

You have two options, one is to send the sample into the the state testing lab and the other is to send it to a private lab.

Over the year we have done both. The cost of a simple test in Georgia where we live is $8. Last year we had a more comprehensive test done and the cost was $25. Though the $8 cost was very appealing, and it does let you know what kind of basic soil amendments we needed, the $25 test gave us information on how our soil micro nutrients that were very helpful.

It's easy to get the information, just check with your local extension agency. In Georgia, the web address is http://aesl.ces.uga.edu/soiltest123/Georgia.htm. You will get all the information plus a nice video explaining the process, and where to take your sample by giving your zip code.

For other states it is easy, too. I did a search for soil testing, then the state. For instance, when I did this for Alabama, the web address is, http://www.aces.edu/anr/soillab, for Colorado -- http://www.soiltestinglab.colostate.edu and for Vermont -- http://pss.uvm.edu/ag_testing/?Page=soils.html.

When we did the test by a private lab, we took ours to Country Garden Farms. I think this is helping because our soil gets better every year.

Community Supported Agriculture

2012-01-29T15:42:00.001-05:00

There are folks out there that get great organic home-grown vegetables without having a garden, and fresh, free-range eggs and meat straight from the farm without making a trek to Whole Foods or Fresh Market.

These folks are "buying into" a new concept called Community Supported Agriculture or CSA farms. Each farm's operations are supported by the consumers who "buy" a share in the farm and for that share they receive fresh products, straight from the field or barn, on an ongoing, weekly basis, as long as the shares last. Incidentally, most CSAs have spring sign ups and they have only a set number of shares.

Serenbe was the first local farm I know of that started this program and it is still up and running and doing well, by all accounts. Serenbe is not in our county, but just over our northern border in Fulton county. We have two local farms that are CSAs. One, Country Gardens Farms and the other, 180 Degree Farms. Both of these farms are within a short distance of each other in the eastern part of the county.

I can't say I know too much about 180 Degrees other than I have looked at their website and know a couple of the people on their board. They have an interesting story and I would love to visit their farm to see their practices.

Country Gardens Farms is a multi-generational, family-owned business that used to be a garden center but they have turned their growing expertise into a CSA venture because they think it is the wave of the future -- locally-grown, organic vegetables, meat, milk, eggs and farm products.

I must admit that I was inspired last spring when I toured their gardens. I was there for an organic farming class taught by owner, Mike Cunningham and at that point they had started their CSA but were just shutting down the gardening center. I must say their operations are very impressive. They have beautiful fields with great-looking vegetables and I have changed the way I look at organic gardening because of that visit and the class I took.

Each week I receive a newsletter from Country Gardens Farms letting me know what fresh farm products they have for sale, and though I don't have a share, I look with great curiosity at their products. If you own a CSA share, you get the cream of the crop, then they fill online orders and whatever is leftover is trucked to local farmer's markets in the Atlanta metro area.

That is about it. I think it is a growing business and if you like organic and free-range foods but don't want to get your hands dirty, you may want to look into a CSA. It is expensive, but so are organic foods in the grocery store.

If you don't live in our area, but are interested in buying a share of a CSA farm, look online. They are located in every state and it may just be the wave of the future.

I won't provide links, but you can google the names and find the local farms. You may also want to look on Facebook for a CSA. I plan to grow my own vegetables, but if I didn't, I would think a share of a farm could be a great way to get local, seasonal products without getting your hands dirty.

The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

My daughter purchased a new book, The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook by Marjorie Hurt Jones, R.N. and I think it is really going to help her provide better meals for her six-year-old. It has been quite a struggle for her lately, because after having him tested for allergies, she had to stop giving him yeast, sugar, egg yolks, tomatoes, oatmeal and most of the things a normal six-year-old eats on any given day.

The recipes she has tried so far from this book have been very good. There are quite a number of crepe-type quick breads, a very good waffle recipe, a pancake recipe he really loves. There are a number of sauce recipes that look very promising, like a plum sauce to replace ketchup, a spaghetti sauce without tomatoes and several sugar-free recipes. There are also several fish dishes like salmon croquettes and a tuna salad that looks promising. We have a lot of recipes to try!

It has been awhile since she has found a cookbook with exciting recipes that can also be adjusted for allergies and taste really good. Before this cookbook, everything she tried fell short. Now there are plenty of things we can try. That's why I really am recommending this book for anyone who feels like they can't have anything good anymore. With these recipes, things just may get a little better.

Shoppping the Oriental Market for Chinese New Year

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

According to my calendar, Monday was Chinese New Year. That is the reason my six-year-old grandson and I made a trip to our local Oriental Market. I was shopping primarily for chopsticks so that the children in his class at school could eat Chinese food at their Friday afternoon celebration with the proper utensils. I bought 48 pairs for under two bucks. Quite a bargain, if you ask me.

Though I have been there on numerous occasions because of their great assortment of rice noodles, shallots, bean sprouts and many items that make staying on a rotary diet possible for a six-year-old with allergies.

Today, in addition to the chopsticks, we bought rice noodles, shallots, hibiscus tea, rice flour and something called shrimp chips, a shrimp and tapioca snack to prepare. I found out, too that their fresh vegetables come in on Wednesday, so I will go back, since in addition to being fresh, they are reasonably priced. They also have fresh Chinese sandwiches and of course all the traditional Chinese foods and all the ingredients to make them authentic.

The amazing thing is that this market is even in our small town at all, but it is here and located on the east side of Newnan on Bullsboro Drive, just past Shenandoah Boulevard on the right, in a small shopping center.

For those on gluten-free diets, it is certainly worth the trip and it was enjoyable to go with a sweet boy who was ready to go as soon as he found his chopsticks.

Two Sisters Gardening

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Today I have an announcement to make. I would like to introduce you to a new blog called Two Sisters Gardening.

My sister, Wilma Smith, who has been my gardening partner for the past several years and I will be posting exclusively about gardening. My sis, who loves everything nature has to offer is naturally gifted with a green thumb. She loves the great outdoors, animals and loves to plant, tend and decorate with flowers, raise vegetables and tend to her outdoor landscape.

I will still be posting on Everyday Finesse, but I will post about gardening topics on both blogs.

Our new blog will include recipes, endless tips, advice from experts, tours of gardens of all types, guest bloggers and reviews of garden products and techniques. In other words -- all things gardening. We will be answering gardening questions, visiting local gardens and looking at how to garden from every angle.

We will also be starting a new local and online garden club called the Crossroads Garden Club. This club will be affiliated with the National Garden Club and the Georgia Garden Club and will be in the Redbud District, just as any other local club would be. Our first year will focus on education and we already have a couple of guest speakers lined up. There will be regular meetings beginning on February 28, but the club will also be open online for those who can't attend meetings. There will be some differences between the online and local memberships but everyone will be able to take advantage of the gardening knowledge of experts who will speak to us each month.

As I wrote on the first Two Sisters Blog entry, it is time to get started because spring will be here before you know it! Get your garden tools, fertilizers and garden seeds ready and tune up the tiller, because we are ready to break new ground!

My best pecan pie recipe

2012-01-23T00:24:00.000-05:00

For years I have wanted to make my husband a great pecan pie, his favorite dessert. I have tried so many "promising" recipes but I have never found the one that is perfect. Perfect means a pie that is not loaded with pecans but with plenty of creamy filling.

I had given up on finding that really good recipe but over the recent holidays I decided to try one more time to find out why my pies were just not very good. As I read recipes, hints and tips about making the perfect pecan pie, I noticed how beautiful some of the them were in magazines. I wondered how they got them to look so perfect. The pecans were arranged beautifully with all the pecans perfectly placed.

My old recipes had some major differences that I noticed. Mine said to mix the pecans with the filling, then pour the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Some recipes I found said to "carefully" arrange the pecans in the bottom of an unbaked pie shell in a circular pattern, then mix the filling and pour it over the pecans in the shell. Here was my answer for a pretty pie.

Other things I found: For a thick filling use a 9-1/2 inch pan. Other hints were to make sure the crust had no breaks in it so that the filling would not seep underneath the crust and I had to adjust my ingredients but in the end I came up with a pie my husband really loved.

So this is how I found my husband's perfect dessert. I know I don't use as many pecans as I used to in a smaller pie but that is OK. The pie is creamy and delicious for my husband and looks really pretty for me.

I do need to carefully pour the mixed filling over the pecans that are arranged in the shell and I have to lightly place the pecans in the shell because if I press on them, they won't float when the filling is poured in. Putting the filling on top coats the pecans and though they aren't underneath the filling, the coating on the pecans forms a nice and tasty crust on top. The filling is about a half inch thick and it is oh so creamy, yet firm.

Here is my lovely and great tasting pie recipe:

Deep Dish Pecan Pie

1 unbaked pie shell (I purchased mine in the dairy case at the grocery store.

Filling:

1-1/2 cups pecan halves (I don't use all of the pecans but I pick out the prettiest one from the package and save the rest for other recipes. It usually takes more pecans to find perfect pecan halves, since some are broken.)
4 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoon butter, melted
1-1/2 cups light corn syrup

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a 9-1/2 inch glass pie pan with a crust, making sure there are no breaks in the crust for the filling to seep through. Flute the edges and be sure that the crust comes to the top of the glass pan to hole the filling.

Carefully (and lightly) arrange pecan halves in the bottom of the pie crust. Make a circular pattern from the center to the outside edges. This should take three rows of pecans for the outside of the pie and three to five pecans in the center.

Mix all of the filling ingredients in a bowl and stir until well mixed with a wire whisk.

Pour the filling slowly and carefully over the pecans in the shell until they float to the top. Rearrange pecans if necessary if they float out of the pattern. Make sure all pecans are coated with filling.

Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake about 1 hour or until crust is golden and filling is puffy and begins to crack around the edges. It will still be little jiggly in the center.

Allow to cool completely before serving.

Leftover Soup

2012-01-20T13:01:00.001-05:00

Last night we made leftover soup. There is nothing better for a night that is chilly and busy. This is something I do that makes me feel virtuous. That part of me that learned in my informative years that, "a penny saved is a penny earned" makes this the best meal of the week. It is one of those soups that really depends on what you have in the refrigerator.

If you don't have leftovers, forget it. If you are like me and have a little of this and a little of that, this is easy. Just take a little meat -- in my case, leftover chicken, a bit of rice, some beans -- lentils and garbanzo beans, broth, celery, green onions, parsley and onion flakes and cook until flavors are blended. Add salt an pepper to taste and you have potluck, leftover soup. For me, the chicken wouldn't be necessary but I was not cooking only for myself.

We also cooked up some garbanzo bean flat bread, also called farinata.

Garbanzo Bean Flat bread

1 cup chick pea/garbanzo bean flour
1 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a skillet on the stove and spray with olive oil. Test with a drop of batter until it sizzles in the pan. Pour half of the mixture in the skillet and cook like a pancake, turning once.
Repeat with the second half of the batter. Cut into wedges and serve hot.

This is a great gluten-free recipe.

Almanacs

2012-01-18T10:02:00.004-05:00

My sister gave me this beautiful calendar the other day and I just love it. It is one of those things that reminds me of the Almanacs my grandparents and my parents used to help plan their gardens and forecast the weather. They also checked the almanac for home remedies and recipes. This was the tool used by farmers everywhere for farming success. It told readers when to plant their crops and gave them a steady stream of hints and tips for farming, homemaking and life skills.

In my grandmother's house, the almanac had a special hook in the kitchen. The book was always hanging there by its specially drilled hole, ready to use as a reference guide. The Old Farmer's Almanac still comes with a hole drilled in the upper left hand corner. Many things have changed over the years but not the weather forecasts or the hole.

I intend to use this calendar to remind me that I can now go to their website at Almanac.com and get tons of farming advice. I have noticed that they even have a Kindle edition. Talk about the old meeting the new!

I know that I will really enjoy my calendar which incidentally has some mighty fine recipes, like Hawaiian Chicken Salad, Green Tomato Pie, Corn and Chicken Chowder and beautiful photography of garden produce that will hopefully make me aim high in my garden this year. As I consider my garden plans for 2012, I may just put on a pot of that chowder and get busy planning.

Healthier chocolate chips

2012-01-17T09:04:00.001-05:00

My daughter came up with this recipe because her son had to go on a low-sugar diet and she had to come up with something he could have at Christmas while everyone was enjoying their treats and sweets. He also must avoid soy, milk and many of the normal ingredients we take advantage of everyday. This recipe helped him to have chocolate treats so he didn't feel so much like he was left out. He didn't complain because he really likes the chocolate chips.

Here is her recipe and her comments:

The main ingredient is coconut oil, and if you've done some research on coconut oil. It is one of the few non-animal sources of rich saturated fat, and the research is showing that the saturated fat in coconut oil has almost the opposite effect on the body that animal saturated fat has -- possibly even promoting weight loss! You also get antioxidants in the cocoa powder and the agave nectar doesn't have a high glycemic index like cane sugar. It also helps those who have a problem with yeast because agave nectar doesn't promote yeast growth like cane sugar.

These chocolate chips are extremely rich with a taste that is very slightly sweet. Even though I use Agave nectar instead of cane sugar, they have a rich flavor that is hard to resist. Here's the recipe:

Chocolate (or carob) Chips
(dairy-free, soy-free, no hydrogenated oils, low sugar)

1 cup coconut oil
1 cup Hershey's cocoa or carob powder
3 Tbsp sweetener -- I used agave nectar. (The recipe says you can substitute 3 scoops stevia extract or to taste)
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring

Melt coconut over very low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in carob, sweetener, and vanilla. Pour mixture into pan (8x8 works well -- I used some parchment paper underneath the mixture for an easy clean-up). Place in refrigerator or freezer until solid. Remove from pan and cut into chunks of desired size. Store in a cool place until ready to use (I think storing in the fridge works best).

I used these in a couple batches of gluten free cookies for my son and still have some left over!

I used a square, plastic container to pour my "liquid chips" into. The parchment paper allows you to pull it out easily and cut the chips without worrying about the sides of the container.

Unfortunately I used most of my chips before taking a picture of them (it made about three cups), but here are a few of them.

And I know these aren't the prettiest cookies ever (they do taste great, and my six-year-old loves them), but it gives you a view of the chips baked in gluten-free cookies.

Crock Pot Soups

2012-01-16T09:42:00.001-05:00

January brings some chillier days and it can be really depressing -- unless -- you dust off the old crock pot and pour in ingredients for a tummy-warming-soup. It will be ready when you get home and if someone asks you what's for dinner, your answer will make them think warm and cozy thoughts.

Almost any soup recipe does well in a crock pot. The flavors blend well together and you get richer flavors. The smells that greet your family when they come in the door are scrumptious.

Today, is MLK Day and you might want to have something fancier like a chicken and white been soup or a baked potato soup, especially if you care coming in after a parade. There are some great vegetable soups using black eyed peas and collards if you want warm southern flavors. Just google the ingredients plus soup and you will see what I mean.

I always like the good ole' vegetable soups like my mother used to make. Here is an easy crock pot variation of her soup. For this, I use my largest crock pot.

Very Veggie Soup
2 jars spaghetti sauce, any kind
2 large bags frozen vegetable soup mix
1 bag frozen gumbo mix
(I love okra in my soup but if you don't like it, use mixed vegetables)
2 cans crushed tomatoes
4 to 5 cups water or vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional ingredients: Brown ground beef or ground turkey with a clove of garlic and put it in the crock pot first. Use this as an opportunity to clean out the fridge. Use any leftover vegetables, rice, beef or chicken, chopped, or any canned beans or vegetables of your choice.

Just dump all ingredients into the crock pot and set on low. It will take 6 to 8 hours for this to be perfect, depending on your crock pot. I have one that cooks fast and one that cooks slow and I have to make adjustments according to how each one cooks.

My favorite bread to serve with soup is cornbread. I usually use half cornmeal and half corn flour to make a gluten-free bread. I also like to use millet. It has a great flavor and texture.

Stay warm and have a nice bowl of soup by the fire, if you have one. Today is just that kind of day.

A few projects for the new year

2012-01-13T15:53:00.001-05:00

The New Year is usually a time when I am just full of plans and I realize I have gotten a late start but I would like to share a few ideas that I am working on. First, something I want to get started on is updating my spice "cabinet." I don't really have a spice cabinet but I do keep spices in my pantry shelf and inside my pantry door. I have quite a few spices. The only problem is that I don't clear them out and buy new ones as often as I should. This year I intend doing that. Old spices don't liven up a stew or dish like fresh ones. When I saw this idea from MarthaStewart.com I said, "Yes. I must do this." They have a very nice pdf to download so you can take it to the store and check off the spices you need.

You can get some good spice deals from time to time. I love to go places where I can buy them in bulk because you can get plenty of the spices you need and small amounts of the spices you almost never use. I also like to dry some of my own spices and those I keep in the freezer.

January is a time to add to my Moleskine Journals. My favorite is the Recipe Journal I keep for new dishes. I have also started to include my old favorites. It is a beautiful book and I just love it. I keep them on my computer, too but there is just something nice about adding recipes to my very on journal. I will continue to add to this one until it is full.

I like to have a monthly journal, too. This is my second Moleskine monthly calendar journal and I love it. I like to jot down notes when I do things and comments about events because I often need to go back and revisit them. For a person like me who lives on a deadline it is a must.

I have a sketch journal that I like to use, too. I haven't used it as much as I like to or should have but I really love having one I can sketch in as I go places. There are ideas everywhere and if you don't sketch them, how will you remember?

I can also sketch things like garden plans, layout ideas and projects. The truth is a lovely journal makes taking notes and keeping up with things a pleasure and not such a chore.

New Blog Header

2012-01-11T16:43:00.000-05:00

Thank you for all of your support for the past couple of years. Today I am changing my blog header. Many of you might say, "It is about time." But I did like the old one, yet I know my blog does need an updated look. I don't know how long this header will last but you are in the right place, this is Everyday Finesse!

I will continue with the recipes, tips and hints about gardening, decorating and homemaking -- and about anything I can think of, but I will also be contributing to a new blog that will be about all things gardening. Sometimes I will post the information on both blogs and at other times just here.

Today the new header and I hope my posts will be new and fresh, too.

Hope you like it. If you do, let me know. If not, let me know, too. I look forward to comments.

Love those Brussels sprouts!

2012-01-09T10:29:00.000-05:00

We were so excited to have Brussels sprouts from our garden this weekend. We picked them on Saturday morning and then got ready for our busy day that included two birthday celebrations. I felt very good about serving such a wholesome vegetable on the day we also had PLENTY of cake and goodies.

Before we did the picking, we checked out the Internet to see how Brussels sprouts should be picked. We had never done it before. We saw two methods. One, pick the larger sprouts at the base of the stems and pull them off individually by pulling up and twisting them off, carefully leaving the stem intact. The second method was to pull up, or cut the whole plant and then pluck the sprouts later, just before cooking.

The second method didn't work at all for me because I think we will have some more of the little sprouts to grow as the season progresses. At least I hope these plants are just beginning to produce. We decided to pluck them off, leaving the stems that we will fertilize, encouraging new growth for more sprouts from now until spring. It sounds like a good plan and I hope it works!

The sprouts were beautiful, at top, in my largest colander and I washed them and pulled off any of the little outside leaves that had brown edges. I then washed them and added a little olive oil to my large iron skillet. Scallions were first sauteed in the oil and I then added the sprouts, cooking them on medium high. I finally turned them down and covered them until they were just slightly browned, stirring every few minutes and -- they were great! We already knew we liked Brussels sprouts but the fresh ones do have a bit of extra flavor -- especially when you cook them the same day they are picked. I hope we have more sprouts during the winter season, but it was so nice to have our first harvest which made a generous serving for ten.

I can't help but believe that they were better than the cake.

Planning for the New Year

2012-01-06T15:45:00.002-05:00

One day next week I will have a big announcement to make. It has something to do with gardening, which has become quite a passion for me. I am working on something new and -- to me, interesting -- but I won't give any more hints.

What have I been doing in my leisure this week? Going to sales, cleaning up clutter and reading seed catalogs. My favorite one so far is the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds book that my friend Angela gave me. I had already downloaded a copy from their website, but this catalog was eye candy for me and so nice to hold it in my hands. I honestly never realized there were so many varieties of vegetables and fruits out there. I will work on a list of websites that have great seeds -- and prices.

The other great thing about this magazine/catalog is that it appears to be a family affair, and since I am a family-centric person, it really suits me to a T.

This beautiful weather causes me to dream about plowing and planting, encouraging me to look at seed catalogs and reading some old organic gardening books for more information. Now is the time to order seeds for the garden and to make plans. Winter is beautiful in the south at this time of year -- perfect for doing a bit of catch up on the inside on rainy, cold days and nice on the days that the sunshine and nicer temperatures promise that spring will be here before we know it.

A lucky cheesecake recipe find

2012-01-04T15:15:00.004-05:00

For New Year's Day I made a cheesecake. I had purchased the ingredients for a Christmas cheesecake but I didn't have the time or the will to make it at that time. We were celebrating a birthday and New Year's Day so I thought a cheesecake might be pretty good after our traditional meal of ham, peas and greens. Above, the last piece of cheesecake! I almost didn't get a photo!!

I did have a bit of a problem. The night before, when I took my ingredients out of the fridge to allow them to reach room temperature, I realized I had only three packs of cream cheese instead of the usual four, like my recipe said. I knew I wasn't going to go to the store, again. So I searched online for a recipe with only three packs of cream cheese and in finding that recipe, I now have THE cheesecake recipe that my family loves.

Best of all, it didn't even have the tiniest crack!! My family complimented me over and over about the cheesecake and I now have a great recipe and I don't think I will dread making a cheesecake from now on. If, of course I have continued success with this recipe.

I do think that the added sour cream and the five eggs rather than four, really makes a difference. The key is to use room temperature ingredients and that quarter cup of flour.

Catastrophe not only averted, but I found a very good recipe. Sometimes a crisis is really not a crisis.

For a gluten-free alternative I feel that corn starch would be a great substitute for the flour. I will be trying that next because I would like to make a gf version. This recipe could also be made with gf cookies for the crust or nuts only if they were finely ground.

Cheesecake with Nut Crust

Crust
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup finely chopped vanilla cookies, like shortbread, or sugar cookies (I prefer cookies without trans fats. Leftover homemade cookies work well.) (Gluten-free cookies will work, too.)
2 tablespoons melted butter
Filling

(All filling ingredients should be at room temperature before you begin.)
3 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese
1-1/3 cups sugar
5 large eggs
1/4 cup plain flour (use corn starch as a gluten-free alternative)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice

16 ounces sour cream

To make the crust:

Put nuts and cookies into a blender mix and process until they are finely chopped. Pour into a bowl and mix with melted butter. Press into a 9-inch spring form pan. Mixture can be pressed up the sides up to 1-1/2 inches or as much as possible, then set aside.

To make the filling:

Preheat the oven at 325 degrees. All filling ingredients should be at room temperature before you begin. Beat the cream cheese until it is creamy with no lumps. Keep the mixer on a low setting throughout the beating and mixing process. Add the sugar a little at a time and continue beating until creamy. Add one egg at a time and slowly beat after each egg. Add the flour, vanilla and lemon juice, mix well. Add the sour cream last and beat well. Pour the filling mixture into the spring pan. Place rectangular baking pan on the bottom rack of the oven and fill with boiling hot water. Place on top rack above the water, in the middle of a 325 degrees preheated oven for one hour and 15 minutes.

When time is up, take a knife and run it around the outside circumference of the cake, loosening it from the sides. Prop open the oven door and leave the cake in the oven for one hour.

Remove cake from the oven and allow it to cool. Put the cheesecake into the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving.

Makes 8 to 12 servings.

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T13:44:00.000-05:00

I wish you all a wonderful new year! I hope the old year was a good one for all of you. I think it was a good one for my family. Of course there were challenges and I don't think I will ever accomplish all I hope to during the year, but today shouldn't be one for regrets, but for reflecting and refreshing.

I wanted to start it with some photos I took over the weekend in our garden. We have really enjoyed a break from the work that spring and summer brings. This winter garden has been a real pleasure, not too much work, very little weeding and a break from some of the bug problems we have in the summertime. This time it was just plant it and let it grow. We didn't have any high expectations for our winter crop but it has been quite a success.

For one thing we still are getting a little bit of broccoli -- and it is oh so good. Our Brussels sprouts were something we really didn't expect to harvest until spring but we have lately been surprised by how many miniature sprouts are growing along the stems.

In fact, I think we will be having Brussels sprouts this week. We never expected that! We should have, but we just didn't! We were just happy to let them grow as long as they needed to grow but suddenly, they are ready for harvest.

I think one night this week we will a nice meal with Brussels sprouts as the star of our meal. I didn't expect to have them so soon and I am so excited by the sudden growth. This has been the perfect winter crop because they took so little work and they look healthy bountiful.

Our collards have been good, but they are dwindling and above, a plant that looks great. Below, you can see that a few of the collard plants have been discovered by bugs. I read awhile back that if you expect to have organic vegetables you have to share a bit with the bugs and you might have some smaller vegetables but they with more flavor. I believe that is true.

This week, because of the successes of our winter crop, I will be ordering a few things to plant in February. This year I want to have plenty of pea pods and a few early spring veggies like carrots. I have been looking at all the spring gardening catalogs and I may just go to one of their websites after I finish here and order some seeds to plant and to start for spring. This is the perfect time to make a fresh start.

An easier way to make homemade cinnamon rolls

2011-12-27T10:56:00.000-05:00

If you received a bread machine for Christmas this year (or any year), here is a recipe you can't beat for cinnamon rolls without all the traditional mixing and kneading you have to do to make the darn things. All you need is a bread machine with a dough setting. If you are like me, you might be a bit tired of sweets so I think waiting for a few weeks to make this might be best, but this is a good recipe to try and a great way to put that bread machine to good use. The bread machine takes the work out of a hard job that I hate -- kneading!

The recipe.

Cinnamon Rolls
(for the bread machine -- Rolls will not bake in the bread machine yet the equipment does the hard work!)

Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk (or almond milk)
1/2 cup butter (or margarine) softened (20 to 30 seconds in the microwave)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I don't use bread flour because it contains more gluten)
1/2 cup sugar
5 teaspoons yeast (or 2 packages yeast, not the quick-rise kind)
Cinnamon/Sugar/Butter mixture, recipe follows
Glaze, recipe follows

Add ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed above. I like to add the yeast on top of the sugar because I feel putting them together at first makes the yeast act more quickly.

Set the machine on the dough cycle and turn it on. Be sure to check to see that the ladle inside the bread machine is turning. Let it run through it's cycle. My bread machine's dough cycle runs for 90 minutes.

Two photos above, make sure the ladle is in place; an action shot of the bread machine doing it's work.

When the dough rises to the top, turn it out onto a clean surface and cut the dough in half. With a rolling pin or with your hands, flatten the dough and pull it out until it forms a rectangle.

Spread the dough with the following
Sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture:
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Use half of this mixture for each half of dough you prepare.

Roll the dough into a cylinder and cut into 15 equal slices. Place in a greased pan. (I use a large cake pan.)

Repeat with the second half of the dough until the pan is full. You will make 30 cinnamon rolls.

Allow to rise about 30 to 45 minutes until the rolls rise until all gaps are filled and are about an inch high. They will get a little bounce in the oven. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees and bake the cinnamon rolls for approximately 25 minutes or until they are nicely browned.

Make the following glaze and pour on the hot rolls.

Glaze:
1 box Confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
Milk (or Almond milk)

My family likes tons of glaze. If you prefer less, only make half the recipe. Pour the Confectioner's sugar into a bowl with a pourable spout, if possible. Add vanilla flavoring then milk, a little at a time, and stir vigorously until mixture is thin enough to pour but is not runny. Pour or ladle the glaze onto the hot cinnamon rolls.

Allow to cool. Store in an airtight containers or in two large gallon, plastic bags lined with Wax or parchment paper.

This may seem like quite a bit of work but if you have ever kneaded dough for five minutes to make rolls, this will seem like a breeze! This works for all kinds of rolls, too.

2011-12-22T11:00:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted all week and I do feel kind of bad about it but my husband had minor surgery and I had more duties than I expected in getting ready for Christmas. Today I am back with some last minute Christmas ideas.

Above is my new favorite Christmas tree topper from MyHomeIdeas.com. It's hard to imagine that I am still in awe of all the berries on all the hollies I see EVERYWHERE this year, but I am. This is so beautiful and if I have time, I will add some holly to my tree and all around my house. It's too pretty to pass up this year. It may never be this lovely again!

The simplicity of the table decor from MarthaStewart.com is striking. I love it! The Amaryllis is a beautiful Christmas flower but any red flower would work.

I love the idea of wrapping gifts in useful kitchen and bath linens, also from MarthaStewart.com. This is a Japanese art I would like to learn.

Thought I had found every kind of cupcake decoration there was? This from Michaels.com escaped my notice -- until now.

I really like this idea because -- well, have you priced the very popular photo cards? You would think that the volume of users would drive the price down but not so this year. With this DIY card you could pose for the shot and then print out the card and cut with an x-acto knife and insert the photo inside. Of course ordering cards might be less time consuming. This would be great gifting and it could later be framed. Neat idea from MarthaStewart.com.

Kids love to draw on things and I love these napkins, again MarthaStewart.com. There is still time for your kids to do this. It would help to keep them busy now that school is out!

And last from MarthaStewart.com, a favor tree. I love it. This is a great way to be ready when guests arrive. They can leave with a nice gift presented in an easy, yet decorative way.

Good-for-you marshmallows

2011-12-15T16:51:00.002-05:00

My daughter made these amazing recipe of homemade marshmallows and blogged about them. Here is the same information. These are marshmallows made for those that need to stay away from cane sugar and eggs. They were easy to make and they made our little fella who is allergic to a number of things and needs to stay away from foods that feed yeast, very, very happy.

This recipe may be made with agave nectar which has a lower glycemic index than cane sugar.

Here is what my daughter had to say:

Actually, these marshmallows are not only egg-free, but they also contain no cane sugar. They are made with maple syrup, but you could use agave or corn syrup according to your needs. They should stay refrigerated, and they are slightly gooey-er than the typical marshmallows, but the recipe I used said they work well for rice-crispy treats, which I plan to make soon.

The best part? They are super-duper easy!!

Egg-free (and sugar "free") Marshmallows

6 tablespoons cold water

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1 cup agave, maple, or corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

Flour or corn starch

Add gelatin to water and microwave 30 seconds. Pour into mixer. Add syrup, vanilla, and salt. Beat with electric mixer for 12 minutes until the marshmallows are very thick and tripled in size. Pour into a 9x12 baking dish coated with cooking spray and dusted with flour or corn starch (I lined my dish with parchment paper and put a little corn starch on top). Let them cool in the fridge at least three hours or overnight. Cut marshmallows with a wet knife into squares.

When I first put the ingredients in the mixer I thought, "These are gonna be brown!" But they fluffed to a nice color fairly quickly.

The mixture globbed down into the dish, and I spread it with a rubber spatula. I didn't worry about trying to make them too "pretty" as I am just planning on using them in a recipe. It would be good to note that this would make a great marshmallow cream to add to a recipe without any other steps.

And this is the finished product -- not beautiful, but very tasty. My 6-year old allergic child was thrilled when I gave him a bowl-full!! I may make some Christmas shapes the next batch using cookie cutters.

The prettiest wreath ever

2011-12-15T09:54:00.000-05:00

My sister surprised me yesterday with this gorgeous wreath. It is made from holly she found growing in her yard. I think it is probably the prettiest wreath I have ever seen.

A couple of weeks ago I posted photos of a wreath she had made earlier with some details on how to make one. I knew she was planning on making one for me but I am just blown away by how pretty it is. I am so proud of it and I really appreciate my sis for taking the time and using her considerable talents to make me this wreath.

This photo makes me realize how faded my front door is but it's not as bad with this beautiful wreath.

Thanks sis and Christmas blessings to you!

Old Fashioned Candy

2011-12-13T09:27:00.000-05:00

This morning I had to be sneaky to get this photo? Why? Because I didn't want to bring attention to the large glass jar hidden in an obscure corner of my kitchen.

It is a jar brimming with "sugar plums" -- at least the visions of sugarplums I always see in my dreams. Old-fashioned candies like these chocolate drops, fruit candies and coconut bonbons. When I was a child, long before Christmas, my father would bring home an enormous sack filled with candy including his favorite -- chocolate drops and his next favorite, orange slice candy.

I wanted to mention this candy in my blog because I want everyone to know that you can still buy these old favorites that have delighted so many generations. The place where you can go to open a flood of memories is Arnall's Grocery in downtown Newnan, GA.

They have everything from old-fashioned soft peppermint sticks to ribbon candy to peanut butter treats and even chocolate covered raisins and pretzels. Arnall's is usually a favorite place of mine for garden supplies, but at this time of year I go there for candy. I am not sure how many candy varieties they have because I only bought our favorites this year. I tried to stay away from things that only I love.

Nothing peanut butter can come into my house because of allergies but our favorite is definitely the chocolate drops. My husband could eat his weight in those and usually does during December. I also love the bonbons and the cinnamon, peppermint and clove soft candy canes. That is why they are hiding in a dark corner. At this point I will leave them in plastic baggies and later I will take them out and pour them into a candy jar. I think the sound of the jar lid might deter some and the plastic bags take longer to get into.

At least that is my strategy to have some of these candies left for my candy jar later in December. I could also make another trip to Arnall's.

Reindeer Cupcake

2011-12-08T22:09:00.001-05:00

This cute reindeer cupcake is my last decorated treat. (I promise!)

Instead of icing I melted chocolate chips and spread the warm chocolate over the top of the cupcake. I used icing and M and Ms for the eyes and nose, The mouth is first a mini vanilla wafer and the mouth is drawn on with an icing pen. and the ears are made from a wafer that is cut in half then either put in the chocolate before it is cooled. The "antlers" are made from pretzels. They should be be cut with a sharp knife and shaped to resemble the antlers.

These weren't my favorite but kids really loved the friendly-looking confection.

More cupcake ideas

2011-12-06T22:33:00.001-05:00

Use old-fashioned fruit slice candy to make the easiest cupcake decorations ever! These Christmas cupcakes, like the poinsettia one above is simple and striking. If you don't think you can use any of my previous suggestions for decorating cupcakes, you can be sure these are the easiest decorations yet.

All you need are some kitchen shears and fruit slice candy and iced cupcakes. To make each flower just cut a piece of candy horizontally in half to make two flower petals. You need five half pieces (2-1/2 whole pieces) and some small snips of green jell candy for the leaves. Cut some small yellow pieces and arrange in the center, top of the petals placed on top of an iced cupcake and you have made an easy poinsettia. This idea would work for any season or occasion. Just cut the shape of the flower you want to make.

Even a very small child can help to make this decoration. You will need to help with the cutting but after that, all that is needed is an imagination.

The holly cupcake above is just two holly leaves made from a slice of fruit slice candy and three red hot candies for the holly berries placed on an iced cupcake.

You can find these candies in most stores, usually in packages that contain a number of colors. I just made sure I purchased a bag that contained Christmas colors.

Thanks to Angela McRae who took these photos.

2011-12-05T10:16:00.001-05:00

This morning I almost drove past this tree on my way to work. I checked the rear view mirror to be sure I wouldn't be rear-ended, and quickly turned into a parking lot to take a photo of this great tree covered with one of my Christmas favorites, mistletoe.

My son called one day last week and told me he was bringing by some mistletoe for me. He found some low-hanging mistletoe and wanted to bring me a bunch. Of course I was thrilled. I am hanging it and will be tying bunches together with red ribbon to hang in our doorways and to put in arrangements.

Mistletoe is one of those plants that is both universally loved and greatly maligned. It is very important in our forest ecosystems because it helps to feed overwintering wildlife. Birds, and some insects and mammals eat the berries and leaves to sustain them through the winter months.

Though we don't usually notice that mistletoe is growing in our trees until winter comes and the trees lose their leaves, we see the evergreen clumps all along the roadside at this time of year. I believe what I have seen in this area is the European mistletoe, native to Great Britain, but there are over 200 species of this plant worldwide. It is a semi parasitic plant and has a symbiotic relationship with the host plant, usually a tree.

It is generally thought of as a positive, rather than negative plant for trees because of the benefit to birds, though the mistletoe can occasionally be more of a pest if it grows to the point that it smothers and kills a tree limb. Mistletoe might be more beneficial if controlled rather than stopped, for this reason.

The plant is in the order Santalales (perfect), and like most other Christmas plants, with the exception of the Christmas tree, is considered poisonous to humans and pets, though how poisonous is disputed by some. I would advise against ingesting berries, leaves or tea made from the mistletoe plant. It should be kept out of the reach of small children and animals.

Mistletoe can be dried and kept indefinitely by hanging it upside down in a dry place. I have also read that it can be frozen and refrigerated to keep it like new for Christmas celebrations. I have not tried this.

Though the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe was, not surprisingly, started by the Scandinavians, Washington Irving made it a popular past time by writing that young boys would pluck a berry after luring a girl underneath the mistletoe for a kiss. Of course after all the berries are gone, the kissing must then end.

Mistletoe is a traditional "good luck" plant as we see in this old postcard I found online and I love the fact that mistletoe has been the state flower of Oklahoma since 1893, though they also have a state wild flower and a state rose. I can also remember my dad bringing home mistletoe and holding it over my mom's head while kissing her. It is still a great memory for me.

Today, if you goggle mistletoe, the most likely thing you will find is a video of Justin Bieber singing about kissing his girlfriend under the mistletoe -- not my favorite video. I am much happier with the YouTube video where Frank Sinatra sings, "Oh by gosh, by golly, it's time for mistletoe and holly."

I will leave you with that link. Happy Decorating!

Holly Berry Wreaths

2011-12-01T22:50:00.001-05:00

It is the perfect year to make a holly berry wreath! That is because there are so many berries. I have never seen anything like it.

I've read that the reason for this abundance of pretty red berries is because the weather conditions were absolutely perfect for berries -- and acorns. The rain came at just the perfect time. It was a bit dry later, but during the time the holly trees were making berries, we had plenty of rain.

Later though there wasn't as much rain, there was enough to keep a multitude of berries on the trees and growing.

My sister made this pretty wreath and she sent me these photos of her progress.

On thing you MUST do when working with holly is to wear gloves.

This wreath was made from a plastic wrapped hay wreath. She added picks onto each small holly branch by attaching florist picks with wire onto each holly cluster and inserting them into the straw wreath. She began with the outside of the wreath and filled in with holly in a circular pattern, until all of the holly covers the straw wreath. (Above is a photo of the wreath with holly cuttings inserted into the wreath using florist pics.)

I don't think I would say it is easy because I know it took hours of meticulous work to wrap all the holly cuttings with pick wires and floral tape but the results are just beautiful.

I wouldn't mind having one either. She did a great job.

Pumpkin Pie with Shortbread Cookie Crust and Marshmallow Meringue

2011-11-30T23:27:00.001-05:00

For Thanksgiving Dinner I made a pumpkin pie for my grandson who must be on a wheat and dairy-free diet. I have made a number of crusts for pies without using wheat, and I must say they have gotten mixed reviews.

Then the other day, my friend Bonnie asked me what I would use for a pie crust and she mentioned that her daughter, Brooke, was thinking about using a gluten-free cookie crust and I thought it was such a good idea that I decided to try it myself. We loved it. The cookie mix I used was the Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Shortbread Cookie Mix.

I mixed it up using half the package of cookie mix, 1/2 cup margarine and enough cold water to make it a stiff dough. It was easy to do and worked really well. It even rolled out without breaking all apart. I will say that it needs to be rolled thinly because this crust will rise just a bit, but since it is a shortbread and lighter on leavening it works better than many cookie recipes.

The crust was flaky enough and had a mildly sweet flavor -- perfect for a pumpkin pie.

Coconut milk, brown sugar, pumpkin puree made up the pumpkin pie and the topping is a small jar of marshmallow creme, heaped on top and baked to a golden brown. Regular marshmallows could have been heaped on top of the warm pie and baked but I wanted to try the marshmallow creme. It worked well and gave the pie a more exciting flavor than an egg-white meringue. Who doesn't love melted marshmallows, right?

Pumpkin Pie with Shortbread Cookie Crust and Marshmallow Meringue

Crust
1/2 package Bob's Red Mill Shortbread Cookie Mix
1/2 cup butter, trans fat-free margarine or coconut oil
Cold water
Potato flour for rolling out pie crust

Mix together cookie mix and butter, margarine or coconut oil with a pastry knife. Mix in cold water until dough is formed. Pour out onto parchment paper cover with potato flour. Roll out thinly and place into 9.5 inch deep dish pie plate.

Pumpkin Pie

1 can pumpkin puree
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until pie is firm to the touch.

Marshmallow Meringue

1 small container of Marshmallow Creme.

Spoon a small container of Marshmallow creme (for a larger meringue, use a larger container of marshmallow creme) onto top of warm pie. Bake at 400 degrees until top is browned, approximately 5 minutes.

Easy Mexican Corn Bread Muffins

2011-11-29T14:33:00.001-05:00

I love old-fashioned corn bread but sometimes my corn bread turns out great and other other times it is dry. I usually prefer cornbread that is savory and not sweet. The only exception to that is Jiffy Corn Bread Mix. It is cheap and I can't seem to mess it up -- no matter how hard I try!

The other day I decided to make some Mexican cornbread to go along with chili. Rather than use my usual Mexican Cornbread recipe that takes a long list of ingredients and even more time, I decided to try something much easier.

I bought two boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix and mixed them up according to the directions on the box. To that I added 3/4 cup of chopped green onions and a cup of mild salsa. I spooned the mixture evenly into two, twelve-count muffin pans, sprayed with baking spray.

It was then baked according to directions and everyone really enjoyed it. It made 24 muffins and was fast, easy and good.

Plus, I have never had a bad batch of these muffins. As I said, I personally would prefer corn muffins that don't have any sugar in them. These are slightly sweet and very light. I always have plenty of compliments on my cornbread when I begin with Jiffy and that it what is most important. When I make them from scratch, I have rarely had a compliments. I have to go with a sure thing.

There are just a few more suggestions: First, if you use hot salsa you will have a spicier muffin. I used mild salsa because I wanted to make muffins everyone would like. Sometimes hot peppers in food can turn people off.

If you add a can of corn to the batter, you can eliminate all or half of the liquid. It might be better to bake it in a pan or skillet, rather than as muffins because it will bake up a very moist cornbread.

Also, you can go to Jiffymix.com and sign up to receive a free Jiffy Corn Bread cookbook. Mine is in the mail.

We have made broccoli!

2011-11-27T11:06:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about our most recent garden crop. We have the most beautiful broccoli I have ever seen. Above is the broccoli my sister picked for Thanksgiving.

The other day while in the garden I said, "Look, we have made broccoli!" -- like Tom Hank's in the movie Cast Away. After building a fire, he said to his soccer ball, "I have made fire!" as if he was the original discoverer of that element.

This was our first successful broccoli, so it is understandable, (I think) that we should be quite excited and proud that we finally were able to grow broccoli after many futile attempts. I will give God credit for the original discovery but I admit I feel quite proud and thankful for our success. It is nice to know that planting it in the fall is the best time for broccoli. We may even have another crop in the spring. We are keeping our finger's crossed.

My sister made the absolute best broccoli casserole for Thanksgiving Dinner and we both think it was partly the cook and the rest -- having very fresh and organic broccoli.

Also in the garden, our Brussels sprouts -- nothing is sprouting yet. It will be spring before we have Brussels sprouts. Behind them are the collards that I think are a bit behind in their growth. The rain will probably help this week.

Our kale is finally beginning to grow.

And our turnip greens look a bit ragged. We need to get in the garden and pick some greens this week.

I am just glad we have something to show.

Chai Pumpkin Bread

2011-11-21T22:35:00.001-05:00

Everyone in "blog land" has a post about pumpkin bread! It's almost like the lowly pumpkin has just been discovered. I read a blog that said that "everything is better with pumpkin in it," and I think that is not quite a complete statement. I would say everything is better with cream cheese, bacon and pumpkin. Pumpkin is the healthiest of those three so that is probably the reason for the sudden discovery and it makes a very moist batter bread that goes well with tea in the fall.

Pumpkin can also be substituted in recipes calling for carrots. It makes a yummy rich pumpkin cake using a carrot cake recipe. This recipe, below, has 1/2 cup of chai tea was very good. Was because it is gone since I very nearly didn't get a photo of it. I made three smaller loaves and gave two of them away. My family then devoured the last loaf.

Chai Pumpkin Bread

3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree (not the pie mix)
1/2 cup strong chai tea (I used my favorite, Bija Rooibos Chai)
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a larger bowl, combine all the dry ingredients until well mixed. In a smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and still until just mixed. Pour the batter into two 9 x 5 x 3 inch or three 8 x 4 x 3/5 inch greased loaf pans. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until top is firm. Allow to cool.

You may drizzle with a topping made with a cup of Confectioner's sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring and soy milk or regular milk added by the tablespoonful until thin enough to pour onto the tops of the pumpkin bread while still warm.

My Very Berry Tossed Salad

2011-11-21T10:23:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday was our Thanksgiving feast at work. It was tantalizing to walk through the building to see what each person brought. The smells alone made us quite hungry. I did not outdo myself because I decided I wanted to just bring a spiced up tossed salad. I was glad I did because a number of people told me how much they enjoyed the salad and I liked it too. It was nice to have something a bit lighter with all the heavy foods.

It was easy because I found some of the berries on sale and found a salad dressing that was perfect. It was a little pricey, but like homemade. I loved it.

I hadn't seen Maple Grove Farms of Vermont salad dressing in my grocery store before. I have purchased their maple syrup and I liked that product, but as I was walking in the salad dressing isle, I looked up and on the top shelf there were some specialty salad dressings. I was looking for a salad dressing that had berries in the ingredient list. I wasn't so sure about this one but I decided to try it. I will tell you it is wonderful and so fresh. It doesn't have that bottled salad dressing taste. I find it hard to explain but most salad dressings have a bit of an aftertaste to me. This one was perfect and was the perfect dressing for my Very Berry Tossed Salad.

I will buy this dressing again, but only on special occasions because it was yummy, but expensive. I think it would make a perfect side for Thanksgiving dinner!

Here's the easy recipe:

Very Berry Tossed Salad

1 large package mixed salad greens (pre washed)

4 stalks celery, cut into thinly sliced pieces

1 small package (4 to 6 oz.) blackberries (or more)

1 small package (4 to 6 oz.) blueberries (or more)

1/2 package of dried cranberries (Approximately 1/2 cup)

3 ounces basil and garlic flavored feta cheese (broken into small pieces)

1/4 cup raw walnut pieces

Alfalfa sprouts

Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Strawberry Balsamic dressing

Fill a large salad bowl with salad greens. Sprinkle on half of the celery, fresh berries, cranberries, feta, walnuts and sprouts. Fill the bowl to the top with salad greens. Sprinkle on the rest of the ingredients in the same order. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Gently toss salad and serve with Maple Grove Farms Strawberry Balsamic salad dressing.

Easy, healthy -- a wonderful treat!

Snowman cupcakes

2011-11-17T14:43:00.001-05:00

This was probably the hardest cupcake I decorated for the 2011 November/December Issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine. The decorations are made using marshmallows, toothpicks, fruit roll ups, sugar stars and melted chocolate chips.

I first piped icing all over the top of the cupcake. If you will notice, I didn't worry about covering the entire cupcake. I was planning to keep these in a covered container so they shouldn't dry out.

I then took a toothpick and pushed it through the center of one regular-size marshmallow, into the center of a second marshmallow. I secured these marshmallows to the center top of the cupcake, using the bottom part of the toothpick. If your toothpicks aren't large enough, try a wooden skewer and cut it off the length that is needed to fasten the marshmallows securely to the top of the cupcake.

I used green fruit roll ups to make a cap by wrapping it around my largest finger and twisting the top together and fitting the "cap" onto the top of the marshmallows. I trimmed some of the roll up away with kitchen shears if it looked too tall.

I then fashioned a scarf around the snowman's neck with a long strip of blue roll up.

I made a carrot out of a piece of red and yellow roll up mashed together.

Next I melted the chocolate and poured it into a small decorators' bag. Using a small round tip. I added the eyes, and mouth with dots and then drew on the arms with chocolate.

I think they are cute.

The blue sugar stars around the outside edge completed the decoration.

Kids would enjoy helping to make these miniature snowmen. They weren't hard to make.

Thanksgiving ideas

2011-11-16T13:23:00.001-05:00

Have you ever used Pinterest? I use it to find ideas for decorating, cooking, crafts and even sometimes for work. I love to find new and creative ideas and keep them at my fingertips. That is why I joined Pinterest.com and I use it almost daily. Here are some of the Thanksgiving ideas from Pinterest. Some I will use and some I just like -- maybe for next year.

I like the little pilgrim hats above from Amber Engelke. I think I could make them gluten-free and dairy-free if I could find some cookies that are similar -- or I could just dip the entire cookie in vegan chocolate chips. Very cute.

This turkey from blogs.babycenter is great because kids can go out and find their leaves and then paste everything together.

These pies from cooking.thenerdswife.com are very pretty. I have cooked custards in little glass canning jars like this but never a miniature pies. I heard that mini pies were going to be big and here is a low-budget, reusable "pie dish" for you.

Oh my goodness! Pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and they are vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I will be baking these for Thanksgiving! Many thanks to eatprayrun.com for the recipe.

I love this Turkey Pear Salad that any kid could make. familyfun.go.com is famous for charming ideas like this one. I don't know what to use for the feet but I'll bet I could find something healthy and fun. These folks are so creative.

Speaking of healthy and fun, livinglocurto.com made this vegetable tray made from all the right stuff -- that is adorable. If you can't get your kids to eat this they are turkeys! Just kidding, but you should be able to get kids to bite.

I like this simple tree from familyfun.go.com. It's as simple as getting a small branch and cutting out colorful leaves. Add what you are thankful for and it will be a great Thanksgiving creation.

Last year we were Indians, so I think we should give the Pilgrims equal time. I think these Pilgrim hats would be easy, too. They are from marthastewart.com.

This -- or something similar to this will be hanging on my front door come Thanksgiving morning. It's from marthastewart.com and is so lovely -- and easy.

Turkey pinwheels! What a great idea! We WILL be making this. I think we will use scrapbook paper which is a little stiffer than regular paper. You can find find the instructions at parents.com.

I don't know if we will do this but it is so cute from sheekshindigs.com. It would be a great thing to make and would make the table setting a sheek shindig!

I have so many napkins in sets of 4 and 8, but not a set large enough for every Thanksgiving guest. If I used a DIY napkin ring like this, it wouldn't matter if my napkins don't all match. These are very cute -- and not even ironed and I like them very much. Thanks twoshadesofpink.com for opening my eyes to the possibilities. I don't need new napkins just something to decorate them.

Hope these ideas will inspire you as they have me.

My favorite cupcakes

2011-11-15T13:15:00.001-05:00

I really enjoyed making these fund and easy Christmas tree cupcakes. They were so easy and my favorite way to decorate a Christmas cupcake. You need plenty of green decorator frosting, some sugar candy decorations, a large bag, coupler and a large star tip. Optional needs: chocolate chips.

Forming the trees was sort of like making an ice cream cone at the DQ. Just start in a circular motion and pipe the icing up, up, up -- until you have a little Christmas tree sitting on your cupcake. So easy. The harder part for me was picking up the little stars and decorations and gently placing them on the icing. A pair of long tweezers might have been helpful but I didn't even look for my long tweezers. I just carefully placed the tree "ornaments" all around. They don't need to be evenly spaced, just randomly placed.

On some of the cupcakes I put some white frosting to make "snow" all over the cupcake tops. Then I sprinkled them with silvered sugar and decorated the tops just like all the rest. This one is all stars with a bigger one for the top. I don't know that this might be too much frosting for some people

I used some melted chocolate chips piped around some of my cupcakes. These were chocolate-filled cupcakes and I thought the chocolate melted and piped with a small icing bag, coupler and small round tip was just the right touch.

The only problem with using large tips is that it takes roughly twice the amount of frosting. You will need a double or triple recipe. The good thing is that if you make too much icing, it can be refrigerated or even frozen with good results. Just let the frosting come to room temperature before piping.

Thanks so much to Angela McRae for taking the wonderful photos of my cupcakes.

Mini cupcake wreaths

2011-11-14T14:05:00.001-05:00

More cupcake designs I made for the last issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine: These pretty and decorative wreath cupcakes were again, easy to do. I used fruit roll ups to make the bows and red hots for this design. Red mini M and Ms would work, too.

I iced the cupcake in white, tinted some of my icing green and then using the green icing placed large, simple stars around the edge with the large coupler and large star tip. The bow can be made in four pieces -- a large loop cut from strawberry roll up and pinched in the center to form the main loops of the bow, two pieces of roll up underneath that piece that forms the ribbon ends and a small piece of ribbon wrapped around the front, center of the bow. I put this together, placed it on the bottom of my "wreath," then added the seven pieces of candy, spaced evenly around the circumference of the wreath.

Roll ups are easy to cut using kitchen shears or with a knife on a cutting board. If roll ups are really thin they may be layered to form thicker pieces that might be easier to manage. At times I was able to cut the roll ups while still attached to the plastic and then take the cut piece of roll up and form my bows. Roll ups make lovely bows for cupcakes, or even a cake.

I may try using this idea with regular-sized cake at Christmas but I would use two rows of stars around the edge of the cake with the large star tip using green icing. I would make a much larger bow or put several together. On a cake you could probably even get away with using a real bow!

I enjoyed making this green cupcake wreath, too. I just picked out candy stars that matched the blue roll up.

Planning for Thanksgiving

2011-11-11T11:06:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is a big deal at my house. My husband loves, loves loves Thanksgiving. I have to carefully plan and include most of his favorite things because I don't want his favorite day of the year to be a disappointment to him.

Last year I really enjoyed my Thanksgiving decor. It was festive, yet not overdone. We like to have a more casual day with food at 12:30 pm, social time followed by outdoor games until everyone gets tired. Last year I purchased sunflowers and used rosemary for greenery.

I made rosemary wreaths for a table decoration and for everyone to take home. The aroma of rosemary filled the entire area with a fresh scent. I picked this out of my garden. Rosemary looks even better during the cool weather months.

We made a ring toss game which didn't impress anyone. Everyone wanted to play corn hole.

The kids enjoyed coloring and making pomegranate turkeys.

And Indian headbands with feathers.

I had plenty of leftovers and made sure everyone had plenty for another meal in these takeout plates from the dollar store.

Last year I made pies. Too many pies really, but I was trying to learn to make better pies. This year I am still working on my menu and decor but we will be keeping it laid back and I think not so many pies. My husband always says, "Let's just have what we had last year." But I don't think that works because there were some good and some not bad, but not so good things about last year and one of those things were too many pies (and too much work!).

I just want to plan a celebration where everyone feels welcome and enjoys themselves. I will know if that happens that it was a success.

IT'S HERE!

2011-11-10T11:14:00.001-05:00

Today, I just want to congratulate my friend and colleague, Angela McRae because her newly published book is fresh off the press! Dainty Dining: Vintage recipes, memories and memorabilia from America's department store tea rooms, has just arrived from the printer and is an amazing book. If you remember the vintage tea rooms in department stores all across America, you will love reading what Angela has to say in this beautifully written and photographed book.

She includes well-researched, tested recipes from these department stores and it is obvious she put so much time and effort into her new book. I will admit just looking at all the photos and memorabilia took me back in time and opened up some treasured memories, especially about Rich's, our local department store in Atlanta -- which is gone but still fondly remembered. She is also planning to blog about it and allow everyone to leave messages about their own department store memories beginning soon at DaintyDining.blogspot.com.

I just wanted to say Congratulations Angela! This is a great book and you deserve the best!

Halloween storage

2011-11-09T09:40:00.001-05:00

Every year, prior to Halloween, I go down to the basement and try to locate my Halloween "stuff." It usually takes me awhile because of my disorganization. This year I decided I really needed to do better and I had a creative six-year-old for a helper.

Actually, he was kind of sad when I started taking down and putting away the Halloween decorations (Do we have to take down the spider web?) so I told him it just had to be done but we would put it in a storage box so we could keep it all together for next year and this seemed to cushion the blow.

After we had gathered everything, including his favorite huge spiders from Halloween City, I handed him the Sharpie and asked if he wanted to write his name on the box. I suggested he label it Eli's Halloween Stuff, which he did.

The next day I noticed that at some point he had embellished his work and added his brother's name as well. I never expected him to have so much fun with a storage box and a black Sharpie but this is a bit of artwork we will always cherish and next year I will know exactly where to look for Halloween decorations.

2011-11-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

The days have been so beautiful lately. Fall is really my favorite time of the year. My reasons vary, depending on the day and the weather, but one thing I really love about fall are the great pumpkin- and apple-flavored teas and products that are on the market, just for the season.

Above, my favorite tea company, The Republic of Tea always offers some hot and spicy tea flavors. One I picked up at a recent trip to World Market, Pumpkin Ginger Tea. The other, Hot Apple Cider Tea I think is a leftover. I only had a few bags but if they have this one, buy it, it IS even better than the Pumpkin Ginger Tea.

I also picked up this jar of Pumpkin Butter and I plan on making some pumpkin scones to serve with an all-pumpkin afternoon tea. I know the teas are great. I will have to let you know about the pumpkin butter. I can tell you I love the jar. I feel sure I will love the pumpkin butter.

Another favorite are Pumpkin Spice Lattes you can get at Starbuck's and at all our local coffee shops. It's just another thing to love about fall.

Then there's red and yellow leaves, acorns, fall gardening, apples, spice cake, tailgating ...

Cute Turkey Cupcakes

2011-11-07T14:36:00.000-05:00

Here is another idea for Thanksgiving cupcakes. This is a cute and sweet treat that every child (or child at heart) who saw these turkey cupcakes just loved it. And boy was it easy!

These cupcakes were made from Patty Gironda's Hummingbird Cupcake recipe from our latest issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine (see the recipe, starting on page 40) but you can make any kind of cupcake you like. I used a butter cream icing, but Cream Cheese frosting will work. If using it for decorating, use only half the butter in the original recipe (1/4 cup butter rather than 1/2 cup). That way when you add the brown food coloring, the frosting will be a little thicker and will hold up better. I just mixed the brown food coloring until it was the color I liked.

You could always use a cocoa butter cream frosting recipe if you make chocolate cupcakes. Just tint the frosting brown or use chocolate frosting. For decorating purposes, the insides of the cupcakes really don't matter.

The turkey is really, really simple. Use a large icing bag -- at least 16 inches and a large tip coupler with a large star tip. Make large stars all over the tops of the cupcakes.

To make the head, nose and wings. Use two or three small (or mini) vanilla wafers and trim each wafer with kitchen shears until it is the perfect oval shape. The head is one wafer and the wings are each a half-wafer. You can save the "shavings" (which is what you will have) when you trim the cookies into the perfect shape for other recipes.

Some of the cookies broke and it took a couple of tries for me to create the perfect shape but after I made one of each, I got the hang of it.

The nose is a candy corn. I placed the large end of the candy corn underneath the edge of the head.

The wattle is a piece of strawberry fruit roll up, carefully cut with kitchen shears, or a sharp knife into a large teardrop shape. It was gently laid over the "beak" and part of the face.

I drew the eye on with a food coloring maker, but a mini chocolate chip could be pasted on with a tiny bit of frosting.

I put two rows of candy corn in the icing for the tail feathers. First I put five in the back row and then alternated with four pieces of candy corn on top.

I was very pleased and amazed that my turkey looked so good, using such common ingredients.

Perfect turkey for a Thanksgiving tray of cute cupcakes. I will have more cupcake decorating suggestions for you between now and Christmas.

Cupcakes!

2011-11-04T11:28:00.001-04:00

We are so excited today because the new issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine is now out and that means it is time to get ready for the holiday season. The adorable child on the cover, Alyssia Brantley, is holding some of the holiday cupcakes, featured in this issue.

Four local women, known for their baking skills sent us a favorite cupcake recipe to share and editor, Angela McRae and I, made the recipes with great success. The people in our office really enjoyed them!

Bob Fraley took some great photos for the magazine and Angela, a talented photographer with a good eye for design, took photos for me, including the photo at the top.

I invite you to pick up a copy of our magazine for the recipes, and I will be sharing some decorating tips for cupcakes here on my blog. The first tips will be for the fall cupcake, pictured above.

I used the recipe by Patty Gironda for Hummingbird Cupcakes and used her recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting. To decorate, I used a 16" pastry bag and a large tip coupler with a large star tip to frost the cupcakes. I iced them in a circular motion from the outside, finishing in the center and building the icing to a peak in the center. I then dusted the cupcake with chopped pecans and sprinkled on sugar leaf decorations, then added two candy pumpkins on top. It was easy and didn't take but a few minutes to decorate each cupcake.

I used Wilton cake decorating supplies available at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and WalMart. The large bag, coupler and tips are very important when decorating cupcakes because if you want to give the cupcakes a "bakery" look you will need the big tips. It takes roughly twice the amount of icing when you use large tips but the finished product will have everyone oohing and aahing over the results.

The sugar leaves I found at Kroger in the baking section. This is a great recipe for fall and especially for Thanksgiving and the recipe is included in our November/December issue.

There are a number of other decorated cupcakes in that issue and I will be posting the how-to instructions for each one for the next couple of weeks, beginning with the Thanksgiving cupcakes.

For out-of-towners here is the link for the digital issue. The cupcake recipes begin on page 40.

Another good choice for cake

2011-11-03T11:34:00.001-04:00

Between the final days of October and first days of November, we have plenty of cake. That is because we have three birthdays right together. I guess we could celebrate them all at the same time but it seems a bit unfair to make all three give up their special day because it is more trouble to make several cakes.

The first birthday cake was I made was a chocolate/chocolate for my Mother's birthday, then I made chocolate/chocolate cupcakes for Halloween. Then, my sister's birthday is the next day which incidentally is All Saint's Day. I decided we didn't need another chocolate/chocolate cake so I decided to make a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.

My normal gluten-free cake mix was sold out at the grocery store and I saw this Pamela's chocolate mix so I bought it and to mixed up some butter cream frosting for a little something different. I am really sold on this cake mix. It was wonderful.

I was concerned because one of the ingredients was chicory and I really am not a fan of chicory. However, this cake mix was so perfect. I decided to add a cup of vegan chocolate chips because I wanted it to be really rich.

Even my family members who are not too excited about gluten-free products were wowed by this cake. It was a great success. All I can say is that I don't want any cake for awhile, but when make a gluten-free one, I will try another Pamela's mix. It is my new favorite product. Does anyone know where I could find some coupons?

Looking like a garden at last

2011-11-01T12:30:00.002-04:00

My grandson came in this morning and said, "It's November 1st. It's not Halloween anymore." I have to admit I am kind of glad the spooky season is over and we can begin the season of thanks. I can understand why kids really like Halloween. It is so much fun to see them dressed up in costumes and who doesn't like candy? I answered the door last night to a father all decked out in costume with green hair and painted face -- kind of like a giant Oompa Loompa. He smiled at me and said, "Dad's like to have fun, too!

Today, I am all candied out and ready for ... vegetables.

Our garden is beginning to produce some nutritious fall greens and since last week's rain and cooler weather, our greens are really taking off. Above, see our turnip and mustard greens and our large broccoli plants.

I think we will be ready for turnip greens at any time. I can almost taste them now. The collards we will save for awhile. They could be eaten but I am thinking I should wait and pick them when they are really huge. We traditionally have them on New Year's Day but maybe this year we will have them for Thanksgiving. It is time to fertilize them and it would be nice to have more rain.

They look good, don't they?

Gluten-free Halloween treats

2011-10-31T11:38:00.000-04:00

What do you make for today's elementary school kids since so many of them have allergies and sensitivities to foods?

Our class decided to have a gluten-free, milk-free, nut-free party where we focus heavily on toy treats and more lightly on candy treats. Above we filled treat bags with Halloween favors including a pencil, pad, pencil sharpener, erasers, plastic spiders, squishy eyeballs, eyeball rings, Halloween stickers and puzzles.

We did make some cute cupcakes with a Halloween/fall theme covered in candy corn. The cake for these cupcakes was from a Bob's Red Mill chocolate cake mix. They are light and fluffy, rich cocoa cakes baked in muffin pans with cupcake liners. The icing, made from the recipe below, but using margarine with no trans-fats and soy milk is very good and hard to tell from the original recipe.

Creamy Cocoa Frosting
(Dairy-free recipe)

1 cup softened margarine with no trans fats (Smart Balance or Earth Balance)
2 lbs. confectioners' sugar
1 cup cocoa (packed)
1/2 to 2/3 cups soy milk or almond milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat margarine in medium bowl. Stir in vanilla flavoring. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk a little at a time until frosting is easy to spread. Pipe onto cupcakes using a large piping tool.

We are transporting the cupcakes in a large flat plastic carrier that holds tons of cupcakes. This is my tip of the day because if you have ever had to transport cupcakes, you know that this makes carrying them easier. It is similar to an "under-the-bed" tub and is about the size of a regular plastic tub but this is perfect because it keeps them fresh until it's time to go. When buying a tub for this purpose, make sure the bottom is flat with no ridges around the sides.

We also made marshmallow ghosts by melting vegan chips and piping on a face. It goes well with the all-chocolate cupcakes.

One mother is bringing a "cauldron" that the kids will fill with gluten-free pretzels, mini marshmallows, vegan chocolate chips and other gluten-free items. The kids will take turns pouring in the items and stirring the pot.

The kids will also make a "ghost" by using a Dum-Dum sucker, a coffee filter, a white ribbon and self-adhesive wiggle eyes.

Will the kids enjoy the cupcakes? I will add to this post tomorrow to let you know!

A day on the farm

2011-10-28T16:34:00.002-04:00

It was all excitement as I went with the children of my grandson's kindergarten and first grade class to Uncle Bob's Pumpkin Patch. It is really a working farm, but during the fall they host children, and some adults for an educational tour of their rural farm. They give the children a taste of what life on a farm is like from late September until the middle of November.

I think most kids in our county go to Uncle Bob's at one time or another. Some of the mothers who were chaperoning had been there a number of times. I was a bit surprised and it was also a surprise that so many kids were there. It was a very busy place.

It was a new experience for both my grandson and I and it all began with a hayride around the farm. At one point we stopped and the tractor driver encouraged all of the kids to throw hay for some of the nearby horses to eat. Our enthusiastic group wasted no time in dumping out hay.

The horses backed away from us and stood about 30 feet away while the kids threw hay. I am wondering if some of the children who had thrown hay before were a little too enthusiastic. After we pull away to resume our hayride the horses decided to come back and check out the fresh hay. Luckily we still had hay left in our wagon.

We were able to pet some of the animals and there were quite a few -- sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits, a pig, peacocks, turkeys, ducks and probably a few I didn't see.

Then all the kids got to see baby chickens under the lights that were keeping them warm as they grew.

Uncle Bob's wife and our hostess demonstrated how to spin hair into thread. The hair was from sheep, goats and rabbits. She also told us how she dyes her wool using ammonia and copper.

We walked through the corn maze.

And we heard a Halloween story.

We saw an observation bee hive and heard how they extract the honey the bees make.

And saw a video about bats.

Before we left, we saw a how a potter uses clay to make pottery ...

and bricks.

The last thing we did was pick out a little pumpkin (I think it was actually a gourd) to take home. We had a great time and I know most of the kids in the kindergartens and elementary schools in our area really enjoy this fall event every year. If you haven't been I think it is really worth it. They have special events on weekends, too.

Halloween Treats

2011-10-26T23:22:00.001-04:00

Trick or Treating is less that a week away and I usually buy a ton of candy for the kids that come knocking on my door expecting treats. While I will still buy some candy, I think this year I will add toy treats to my pile of sweets. I am troubled that there are so many children with allergies who can't have candy and it's really not good for them anyway. I think these little toy treats are the perfect alternatives to candy.

The best places I have found for these kind of treats are Party City and Michael's. They have cute AND cheap treats that are kids love -- some of them are even useful. Things like these little pads above. These came from Michael's and right now, you can get coupons from their website. There are also coupons in the paper each week. Michael's treats are a little more expensive but they can be charming.

Halloween pencils are perfect. These from Party City are twelve for $1.99.

Cute pumpkin bookmarks are useful, too.

I've seen plenty of spider rings and kids love them. I'll bet they would really love bat rings, too.

And my favorite, eye ball ping pong ball. Who wouldn't like those?

Both stores have some great partyware, too. I bought these Friendly Spooks party plates, napkins and cups from Party City. It is on sale right now for 50 percent off and perfect for a child's Halloween party. You can also find coupons for $10 off the first $50, $20 off $75 and $30 off $100.

They also have games, pumpkin carving supplies, costumes, pumpkin pinatas and my favorite, balloons. Party City has the best helium balloons. Best of all everything Halloween is 50 perfect off. These stores make celebrating affordable if you can take advantage of the sales.

Pumpkins, pumpkins

2011-10-26T00:15:00.002-04:00

It's time to cut out -- or paint -- or at least decorate our pumpkins. Tomorrow we will go to Uncle Bob's Pumpkin patch and after we pick out at least one pumpkin there, it will be time to start carving.

I do like the idea of painting faces on the pumpkin rather than cutting them. The pumpkins above from bhg.com might be less messy -- I guess. Paint is messy, too but it does look good. The only negative is that you can't light your pumpkin if you don't carve it.

I also love the idea of dressing up pumpkins. Hats, bow ties, funny glasses and noses, fake mustaches are all great ways to give your pumpkin a personality of its own. The pirate pumpkin and the mummy pumpkin are adorable. I don't know if everyone has an extra hat or wig laying around, but you can buy "disguises" at craft stores and they would look very good on your pumpkin.

Masks are great ideas. You can make a mask from cardboard and paint it black like these at goodhousekeeping.com.

The pumpkins above are made from resin with stick-on eggs and rickrack mouths. Find the how-tos at hgtv.com.

These whimsical pumpkins, above, are both carved and decorated with adorable eyes and even pointy teeth. These strange creatures are so cute.

Here's a great pumpkin design from southernliving.com. Looks like they use small electric lights to illuminate their pumpkins rather than candles. Good idea, especially for little ones.

These pumpkins with false teeth are still my favorite. The people at marthastewart.com came up with this great idea.

Todaysfabulousfinds.blogspot.com found these pumpkins simply made from blocks of wood and decorated with ribbon. It looks like they glued a stick to the top.

Aw-w-w-ah. These are so cute! See how to make them at squido.com.

Tissue paper and pipe cleaners make adorable pumpkns! I love this idea.

Another great idea--a perfect container and centerpiece from littleshamrock.com.

Popcorn, candy corn and rice puffs with green string candy for the stem. A great idea from allrecipes.com.

Fresh Apple Cake--Two Ways

2011-10-25T10:16:00.000-04:00

My search to find the perfect recipe for fresh apple cake is underway -- again.

Every year about this time, I try new fresh apple cake recipes to see it I can replicate a memory. I bought a couple of fresh apple cakes from a lady baker in Fayetteville, Georgia, more years ago than I can remember and it was the best cake ever! I have made some good apple cakes but never made a cake that beats the cake from my memory.

Two cakes from this past week, one containing wheat and an easy gluten-free cake from a mix were quite good but not quite like the cake I hold up as "the holy grail of Fresh Apple Cakes! These are better than any I have made to date. They are good enough to share, even if they are not as good as the cake I remember. These are easier tube-pan versions. The cake I remember was a layer cake.

Fresh Apple Nut Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups peeled and finely chopped apples, about 4 medium apples (tart varieties always yield more flavor)
1 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons vanilla
Optional: 1 cup of chopped pecans (I rarely add nuts to my cake batter because I have those who don't like nuts in my family. I do add them to the glaze on top.

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. Beat eggs, sugar and oil until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Add apples, vanilla and optional nuts. Pour batter into a greased tube pan and bake at 350° for 1 hour or until cake is firm and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Immediately pour the brown sugar/nut glaze over the top of the cake and allow to cool for ten minutes. (See recipe below)

Brown Sugar Nut Glaze
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup milk (I used soy milk and it was great!)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup chopped pecans (You don't have to add the nuts for this to be good!)

Combine all ingredients in a medium to large saucepan. Bring to a full boil for several minutes. Pour over cake right out of the oven. Allow to cool for ten minutes. Turn the cake out onto a plate lined with wax or parchment paper. Invert immediately onto a serving plate. The nuts will be on the top of the cake and the glaze will drizzle down the sides.

This was yummy, but ...

Here is the easy, easy, gluten-free from a mix version:

Gluten-free Fresh Apple Cake
(This will make a smaller cake than the one above because the gluten-free cake mix I used only makes one large layer. Isn't that a bummer? With the addition of the apples, this cake should be almost the size of the non-gluten-free recipe. This could be made with a non-gluten free cake mix.)

3 cups peeled and chopped tart apples
1 cake mix, mixed to package directions (I used the Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Yellow cake mix)
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
Optional: 1/2 cups of chopped pecans

Brown Sugar Nut Glaze (See above.)

Peel and chop apples and set aside. Mix cake mix according to package directions. Add cinnamon, vanilla and (optional) nuts.

Pour into a tube pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes or until cake is firm to the touch. Don't overcook.

Pour the glaze over the top an allow to cool for ten minutes. Turn the cake out onto a plate lined with wax or parchment paper and immediately invert onto a serving plate.

My search continues. If you have a great recipe, please send it to crokitt@numail.org because I would love to find the perfect fresh apple cake!

Red berries on an antique wall

2011-10-20T09:46:00.002-04:00

I work in a historic downtown area, so it is not surprising that I would see some surprising things on my way to work. In an area like this, the buildings may crumble but some of the plants remain.

What I see as an old ivy plant has the prettiest profusion of red berries I have ever seen on a plant. I have ivy in my front yard and never have I seen berries on my ivy. That is why I was so surprised when I saw this plant creeping over an antique wall and had to get closer for a photo. All I had with me was my camera phone but I need to go back very soon with my camera to see if I can get some better shots. Pretty things like this don't always last very long.

I have purchased fake ivy at the craft store and it had red berries but this ivy just blew me away it was so lovely and untouched. Click on it yourself to see all the lovely berries. Incidentally, the berries around the edge are dark blue and black.

It made me think of our upcoming issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine and the feature on "Red Berries," just not the kind I have pictured here. I guess it is a reminder of cool weather and the end of harvest, but I think of it as one of those lovely surprises we can find when we just look for them, and one you should see when you pass by it every day.

If you have any more information on ivy -- since I apparently don't know much about it, I would love to read your comment.

Dainty Dining

2011-10-19T09:43:00.000-04:00

I have a great suggestion for holiday gift giving. My friend, editor, tea enthusiast and all-around creative person, Angela McRae, has a new book that should be back from the printer around the first week in November. The book, "Dainty Dining: Vintage recipes, memories and memorabilia from America's department store tea rooms" is a beautifully-crafted look at early 20th century, department store tea rooms and restaurants where shoppers could take a break from their shopping and enjoy a delightful meal.

Featured department stores include Bullock's Wilshire, Burdines, Denver Dry Goods, Filene's, Frederick and Nelson, Gimbels, Hess's, The Higbee Company, J. L. Hudson Co., Innes Department Store, F. and R. Lazarus, R.H. Macy and Co., Maison Blanche, Marshall Field, Miller and Rhoads, Neiman Marcus, Rich's, John Wanamaker, Woodward and Lothrop and Younker Brothers.

Along with colorful memorabilia from each store and entertaining descriptions, quotes and interviews, there are well-researched recipes of some of the famed dishes prepared and served at each restaurant. The author carefully prepared and photographed each recipe to make sure each was precise. The photos are a feast for the eyes and the postcards, menus and other items from McRae's collection will bring back fond memories

It was so enjoyable to read about my favorite store (of all time), Rich's Department Store in Atlanta -- gone but not forgotten. I know I remember shopping and lunching there as a teen and the Big Tree was a huge holiday tradition. I also remember going to Macy's in New York and though I only went to their ice cream parlor, I will always remember the sundae they served as the best ever. The other day I asked a friend from New Orleans if she had ever had a Mr. Bingles?" and she said, "Get outta here, of course I had a Mr. Bingles! How did you know about that?"

This book has mostly full-color photographs and will become a treasure that would make a great coffee-table book since it is so pretty, well-written and brings back so many pleasant memories. Even if you never dined at one of the tea rooms included, this book is worth it for the nostalgia it presents and the fine recipes included.

I know she is taking pre-orders now and I would suggest ordering as soon as possible to be sure and get your copies for Christmas gift giving. Click here if you want more information. I can't wait to get my copies.

Wishing for rain

2011-10-18T09:28:00.000-04:00

Last night my Mother said she would love for it to be sunny today because she really wants her deck painted. I told her that while I really wanted her deck painted, too, I was hoping it would rain on our fall garden. We both agreed that one of us would get our wish and the other would just have to wait.

This morning we woke up to a brilliant, sunny sky -- the perfect October day. I am guessing the rain that was supposed to come up from the gulf either dissipated or is taking a bit longer than I had hoped to arrive. Looks like my Mother got her wish and I hope her deck looks really good. Then I hope it rains.

Our broccoli in the above photo looks quite healthy and our Brussels sprouts are growing, though rather slowly. We planted both the broccoli and Brussels sprouts now for spring harvest so we just need to keep them growing until then. They are but we do need a nice steady October rain.

Another shot of the broccoli. Does it look a little wilty to you?

Above is our Bok Choy, aka Pak choi. It is really a wonderful plant and grows almost as fast as the nut grass in our garden. Could use rain, though it looks great.

The collards are on schedule for our Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's meals, especially if we get rain.

They also look a little limp but the cooler days are helping.

This is turnip greens, mustard greens, rutabagas and at the end, no shown is the spinach we planted but my husband accidentally plowed under. I am not sure if we will have spinach for fall. I am not sure even rain would help the spinach.

Another view of the greens and broccoli. I just love the greens row.

This is kale. It is doing well for not having enough rain.

Last is the lettuce. You can't count out the lettuce. Sometimes it grows slowly at first. Lettuce, after all likes cooler weather and we haven't had too much of that -- or rain! Maybe I will soon get my wish.

GIG of Atlanta Expo News

2011-10-17T09:56:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I received an email from my friend Bonnie with this poster attached. Who knew there was a Gluten Intolerance Group in Atlanta and that they were having an Expo this Saturday that the Northeast Atlanta Hilton? I am sure this will be a great event -- especially for those who are just learning they have a gluten intolerance or must leave wheat out of their diets. (A hard thing to learn in a wheat-obsessed country like ours!)

This would be a great place to get information and meet others dealing with the same problem. It is sponsored by some big names in the Gluten-free industry and I am sure they will have samples and hints and tips that can be very useful. Ten dollars is not such a large fee for information you can really use. You can take your kids but not your stroller. H-m-m-m.

Speakers begin at nine and I would love to be there, but I have other plans. If you go, please drop me a line @ crokitt@numail.org and tell me what you learned.

Halloween ideas -- a baker's dozen

2011-10-13T10:33:00.000-04:00

There are so many great ideas on the internet. Today I am posting a baker's dozen (the best Halloween number, after all) of the cutest, easy to do Halloween decorating, party and treat ideas I could find and let you know where to find them.

Above S'mores. Perfect for this time of year. Find out how to make them at bhg.com.

I don't usually go for scary things, even for Halloween, but these witchy cookies are great. Go to barbschram.blogspot.com to see how to make them. I don't think they will frighten anyone.

I love pipe cleaners. Add pumpkins and they make a really great combination. This craft is featured on allyou.com.

I couldn't find anyone to give credit for this one. I also couldn't find the recipe but the idea is just too cute -- and easy. It looks like Vienna fingers dipped in white chocolate with tiny chocolate chip eyes. Use any "ghost-shaped" cookie or cracker of your choice.

This is one of my favorites and it could be used any time of the year. It is just apple slices, peanut butter and miniature marshmallows. You could "glue" this together using Sun butter or almond butter if peanut butter is a problem. It's also gluten-free! This is from familyfun.go.com.

I have already used this idea from marthastewart.com for a pumpkin that is now on my front doorstep. Easy, easy, easy. I love it. I bought a bag of "teeth" from Michael's and the decoration is almost instant.

We made these last year from black and white construction paper and black acrylic paint. Still a good idea -- a good one from familyfun.go.com.

Yet another familyfun.go.com idea. I wanted to try this last year but I couldn't find the jugs. We don't usually drink dairy around our house but I could use water jugs or bottles. Candles can be a fire hazard but these are lighted with strings of lights tucked into a hole in the back. Great way to light the way for little goblins.

If you are always wanting something healthy to cancel out some of those Halloween treats, here is the best idea ever! The idea comes from blogs.babycenter.com.

Another idea from marthastewart.com. Do I need to say more. So easy and perfect.

These ghostly treats are from kraftrecipes.com. I love truffles, especially cute ones.

This recipe is kind of like the "trash" recipes. It calls for broken Oreos, M&Ms, candy corn and it looks like pretzels and peanuts all mixed up with melted white chocolate. I don't think dark chocolate would look as pretty. Check it out on scrambledhenfruit.blogspot.com

This is quite a nice decoration. Pretty and after you are finished with the candles you could eat the candy corn, if it doesn't get too melty. I love this idea and candy corn is prettier than it is good for you so you could use that excess candy corn and not be tempted by it later. I wanted to try this last year but I forgot all about it. If you want to visit the website, go to yourdecoratinghotline.com/quick-halloween-decor/.

Hope you enjoyed the ideas. It was like a treasure hunt for me.

It's ragweed season

2011-10-12T10:02:00.000-04:00

If you thought that spring was the only bad time of the year for allergy sufferers, you have another "think" coming. For some, fall is a tougher time of year than spring and the culprit is usually the pretty yellow clusters of wild flowers that cover the sides of our roads in the south. I know that is the problem in our family. My husband and daughter really suffer in the fall and have recently had some bad days.

The problem is that ragweed grows so prolifically and it almost impossible to keep away from, if you cut grass, go to outdoor events like football games, or do anything outside during the early fall. Fall is so pleasant in our area. The nights are cool and crisp in perfect contrast with the hot and muggy summer days just past, and it is hard to remain indoors on pleasant days.

There are a number of natural ways to try and keep allergy problems at bay. The good news is that when the frosts begin, the ragweed will die away and when the ragweed goes, most of the allergy problems improve.

I also have some practical tips for dealing with allergies.

Eat plenty of antioxidant-rich greens like kale, collards and broccoli. Onions and garlic have natural ingredients that help fight infections and can help keep you clear. Pumpkins and most root vegetables -- all the deep, rich, colorful vegetables are high in antioxidants and can really help. I recommend soups with plenty of garlic, onions and root vegetables. The hot liquid will help clear the sinuses and the rich vegetables will build your immune system.

Shower and wash your hair after being outside for any period of time. It's better to wash those allergens down the drain rather than keep them in your hair and on your pillow all night.

If you can, spray your nose with saline solution to wash the pollen away.

Take a teaspoon to a tablespoon of local honey every day. It's kind of like a homeopathic remedy because honey is made from nectar and pollens. Make sure it is local -- just any honey won't help.

Keep weeds at bay around your house and lawn. Don't let ragweed grow in your surrounding area, if possible.

A three-letter word, tea. Tea is rich in antioxidants, especially green tea. There are some herbal medicinal tea blends with ingredients that some people swear make a huge difference in their health. If nothing else, the hot tea will soothe and the heat and warmth will open up the sinuses.

Close your windows! Don't let the ragweed blow into your domain. Clean regularly to keep the allergens out. If you are really bothered, use a dust mask while cleaning and clean hard surfaces with a mild soap (like Dr. Bronners) and vinegar. We love the tea tree oil soap.

We have been using a product called Aller-DMG. It seems to be helping around our house. The ingredients: A compound of Vitamin C, quercetin, bromelain, NAC, Perilla and grape seed extracts. I would recommend asking your doctor about this medication before trying it, but it is worth looking into and is something we use with success. It is supposed to be especially good for those with nasal and skin allergies.

Another highly recommended herbal medication that is supposed to be very safe is Freeze-dried Stinging Nettle. Dr. Andrew Weil recommends this and it is safe even during pregnancy.

This entire year has been tough on people with allergies. I hope some of these suggestions might help. Please let me know what kind of things help with your allergy woes.

Tea plant

2011-10-11T10:41:00.002-04:00

I am happy to say that I now have a tea plant! Thanks to my friend Angela McRae who actually has her very own tea shrub and gave me this beautiful sprout from her original, a couple of weeks ago after showing it at a tea event, where she was the guest speaker.

I am also happy that it is still alive. I have been thinking about just planting it in a spot that is protected from the weather but I am just not sure what to do with it. I am not sure I can keep it healthy until spring, but I am trying. So far, I have been watering it and telling it how beautiful it is and it seems about the same. I am thinking I now need to feed it and see if it will sprout a bit.

A tea plant or camellia sinensis, has been something I have been trying to grow for several years. I ordered some seeds online and planted them, hoping to grow some plants from those seeds but my seeds refused to sprout. I even gave people blessed with green thumbs a seed and -- no tea plants for them either.

Later, when I toured the LaGrange mansion/gardens, Hills & Dales, I saw their beautiful tea hedge and realized I could grow a tea plant in this area. (Of course they do employ full-time professional gardeners.) I had begun to think this plant couldn't be grown in our region -- though I knew there is a famous tea plantation still in operation in Charleston, S. Carolina. The most prized teas are grown in Asia, primarily in the mountains where their slow growth increases their flavor, according to Wikipedia. My favorite tea is a rich black variety grown in the region of Assam. I love the rich flavor and have almost always been happy when I purchased Assam tea.

So why do I want a tea plant? I would love to dry and cure tea for myself. I love tea, hot or cold and I just think it would be so nice to dry and brew my own tea. I've also always been amazed that green and black tea are grown from the same plant but processed differently.

If I can just keep this plant healthy and plant it in a good spot, I might eventually be plucking my own tea leaves and brewing my own tea. After all, the tea plant's cousin, the Camellia or camellia japonica grows well here in the south and we do naturally have acidic soil, loved by the tea plant. So wish me luck and in a couple of years, maybe three, if I am successful I can brag about my "first flush" tea. I prefer to think positively. If you have any hints or tips please leave me a comment.

Udi's Gluten-Free Bakery Products

2011-10-09T23:41:00.000-04:00

In September, I wrote about a couple of new gluten-free products I found at my local grocery store. I mentioned that I hadn't tried Udi's Bakery products so I was very pleased when Wendy Hofstetter, Udi's Social Media Manager, contacted me and asked if I would like to try their products. Of course I agreed and last week I received a generous package of Udi's products to try.

When I unpacked the box I found a loaf of Millet Chia bread, Whole-Grain Hamburger Buns, Cinnamon Raisin Bagels, Blueberry Muffins and Pizza Crusts.

I was surprised to see the Millet-Chia bread contained more fiber than I expected and I was pleased to see that millet, along with some lighter flours was used to make this bread, Millet makes a good bread grain but is not often used in commercial products. This bread was good for toast and also made good sandwich bread. I thought it was best when toasted but I was most impressed that it had more fiber than most gluten-free breads I have tried.

The muffins were comparable to most of the ready-made blueberry muffins on the market. I really couldn't tell much of a difference. The texture is very slightly drier, but otherwise -- blueberry muffins. Very sweet -- as most muffins are and good, full of blueberries.

Our little boy who must eat wheat-free meals had a muffin with scrambled eggs and ate every bite -- the true test of a product is how much is gone off the plate, and his plate was empty.

The pizza crusts we froze and saved for later. I will be trying them and will report about them at a later time in a separate blog.

I really liked the Whole Grain Hamburger Buns more than any on the market. They were pre-sliced and light in texture with a very good flavor. I also liked the slogan on the bag -- "Bringing BBQ back." I think the hardest thing to replicate for those on a gluten-free diet are the buns. These are the closest to wheat we have tried. They weren't too thick and were soft with a very good taste. It is very hard to eat a burger on loaf bread or without a bun at all when those around you are enjoying their burgers. The bun is a big part of our most popular American food -- the hamburger. This product really does bring back the burger. They are quite good and contained fiber -- an overall good product.

My favorite product: the bagels. We are big bagel-lovers around our house and I must say these bagels were better than I ever thought they would be. They were light with a good cinnamon and raisin flavor. They tasted fresh and were very good. I had a hard time believing they were gluten-free.

They were really amazing.

Last week I found the Udi's section at our local Kroger's. It is in the bakery (and not in the freezer section) and all of their products are fresh. I would suggest that they be frozen when you get them home but these are overall good products, in my opinion. They also have hot dog buns (which I haven't tried) granola and also some cookies. We recently purchased some granola and I liked it because it is not as sweet as other granolas on the market. It just seemed healthier.

I really appreciate the opportunity to try these products and I would recommend them to anyone. They are pricey compared to regular bakery products but they were good and I think if you compare these products to most other gluten-free products I will say you get your money's worth because the taste and texture is much better than most other equally pricey gluten-free products.

Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake

2011-10-04T10:26:00.000-04:00

I am beginning to think that almost any bread or cake recipe can be changed to make it gluten-free. It just takes some time and maybe a couple of flops now and again, to make a recipe that even my (sometimes) hard to please family will enjoy.

With this mindset I resolved to make a gluten-free Angel Food Cake from an old family recipe given to me by my mother-in-law.

It is a recipe that she got from the Swans Down Cake Flour box. I have used it with great success over the years and I really appreciate my husband's mom for giving me this great recipe. I also found it in a cookbook someone gave me years ago called, Best Recipes From the backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars, by Ceil Dyer.

Long ago I wore out the paper I wrote the recipe on and I have now cracked the binding of my book. I can always open the book right to the Angel Food Cake recipe page. While I know the recipe came from Swans Down, I consider it my mother-in-law's recipe.

My gluten-free Angel Food Cake closely follows my old recipe but I used alternate flours and created a cake that closely equals the Angel Food Cake I have made through the years.

By the way, Angel Food Cake is so much better homemade than store bought. I will admit that when it is raining or when I am pressed for time I have been very thankful for a store-bought Angel Food Cake -- especially when I bought it at Publix.

I also want to add by way of a disclaimer that this is not a Vegan recipe. It contains egg whites -- which incidentally is the part of the egg that more people are allergic to -- but I digress.

There are some tips you should know when making an Angel Food Cake:

Never make one when it is raining.

Make sure you use a stand mixer -- not a hand-mixer. (My mother-in-law used to hand whip egg whites. She is a super-human. Maybe an Iron Chef can do it and certainly Julia Child could do it but normal people like me can't whip egg whites by hand. I wouldn't even try. That is why God allowed man to invent the mixer!) Above is an example of eggs beaten until stiff peaks form. They stand straight up and don't curl or bend. That is what you need for an Angel Food Cake.

When making a regular Angel Food Cake with wheat flour ALWAYS use cake flour like Swans Down. Regular flour can work but it usually isn't quite as light and fluffy as when using cake flour.

Make sure you have a sifter. You MUST sift the flour like the directions say -- even when using cake flour. Sifting is not any fun but it doesn't take that long and is not really that hard.

Be sure NOT to get any yolks mixed in with your egg whites. They will not whip and you will be wasting your time. I always break my eggs on a small plate or bowl and then pour the egg white into my mixing bowl. I wait until I am sure the yolk is not broken. I have thrown away a whole dozen eggs before because I broke all the eggs and caught the white into one big bowl. Then when separating the last egg, the yolk broke and it fell into the bowl with the rest of the egg whites. I thought it was a tragedy at the time but I learned a very hard lesson.

When making a gluten-free Angel Food Cake be sure to use light flours. The flours I used are only suggestions. Use your favorites but make sure it is the lighter ones. I used mostly garbanzo/fava and potato starch. I was concerned that tapioca would be too gummy, but I may be wrong. I only used a small amount. Sorghum is not very light but it has a sweet flavor which makes it good for making sweets so that is why I chose that flour. Brown rice flour will be too heavy and grainy but white rice flour might be a good option. They are making new superfine versions of white rice flour to make products lighter so I might try it later with that.

And last, Angel Food Cakes are not hard to make and they are worth it.

Now for the recipes.

First the recipe from the Swans Down Cake Flour:

Angel Food Cake
(From Swans Down)

1-1/4 cups sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups (about 12) egg whites (at room temperature)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1-1/3 cups sugar
Frosting or Glaze

Sift flour with 1/2 cup sugar four times. Combine egg whites, salt, cream of tartar and flavorings in a large bowl. Beat with a flat wire whip, rotary beater or high speed of electric mixer until moist and glossy; soft peaks will form. Add 1-1/3 cups sugar, sprinkling in 1/3 cup at a time and beating until blended after each addition, about 25 strokes by hand. Sift in flour mixture in four additions, folding in with 15 complete fold-over stokes after each addition and turning bowl often. After last addition, use 10 to 0 extra strokes. Pour into an un-greased 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top springs back when pressed lightly. Invert on rack and cool thoroughly. Then remove from pan and frost.

Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake

(I used Bob's Red Mill flours for this cake, pictured above)

1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour

1/2 cup potato starch

2 tablespoons sorghum flour

1-1/2 tablespoons tapioca flour

1/2 cup sugar

12 egg whites (at room temperature)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/3 cups sugar

Sift flour with 1/2 cup sugar four times. Combine egg whites, salt, cream of tartar and vanilla flavoring in large mixer bowl. Beat on the high speed of an electric mixer until moist, glossy soft peaks form. Add 1-1/3 cups sugar, sprinkling in 1/3 cup at a time and beating after each addition. With the mixer on lowest setting add flour mixture in four additions, beating just until blended. Pour into an un-greased 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes, or until the top springs back when pressed lightly. Invert on rack and cool thoroughly.

I usually top a slice of cake with strawberries and whipped cream. For this recipe I would suggest coconut whipped cream. It is better for people with milk allergies.

Our fall garden is finally taking shape

2011-10-03T05:02:00.000-04:00

Saturday's weather was perfect for working on our garden. It was cool and crisp and we were able to do more hard work in the cooler conditions. We really needed to clear out the nut grass that tends to grow everywhere. We keep pulling it up and it keeps coming back. The rain really helped our garden plants but it also helped the dratted nut grass.

After tilling was completed, we decided to mulch all the plants. The mulch will help stop much of the grass from growing up around the plants. It will also help to insulate the plants from the cold -- or the heat. These days we really don't know whether the days will be warm or cool! Mulch also helps to keep the rain from evaporating. It also makes things look finished and neat. We really loved the way it looked when we were finished.

We used a wheelbarrow to bring the mulch to the garden and then did the spreading largely by hand. That seemed to be more effective than using a rake. The two photos above are of our collards. They are looking quite good but we sure could use more rain.

We also mulched the broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. Mulching is very hard work but it pays off in the long run. It will break down and add composted material which will enrich the soil.

We do have cucumbers that are finally growing. I don't know if we will have very many cukes before cold weather but we already have a baby cucumber. At least we do have one!

We added a little mulch around them, too. My husband said it was useless but he might as well do it anyway. It didn't really matter to him that we have a little cucumber.

The Brussels sprouts and broccoli are looking much better. After we were finished we gave the plants a good watering.

We also planted kale, red bunching onions and bok choi. It just looks like dirt at this point. We won't be planting anything else until early in the spring. We felt that we accomplished a great deal in the few short hours we worked -- though I will admit we really worked hard. We were all happy with the results.

First Pumpkins

2011-09-30T09:57:00.004-04:00

Even though the weather is still pretty warm here in Georgia you can tell it is fall because the grocery stores are beginning to carry pumpkins in their produce departments.

This young man asked for five pumpkins because he wants almost everyone in the family to have one to make Jack-O-Lanterns. When I saw this perfect pumpkin while shopping at my local Publix store I knew I had to take it home -- and no I didn't grow any pumpkins this year. I was a bit frustrated with myself about it, but when it was time to plant pumpkin seeds we had a pretty good drought going on. I don't think it would have been worth my time this year -- maybe next year.

Pumpkins are very attractive right now, but wait too close to Halloween and you will be left with knotty, ones. They won't be like this beautiful one in the photo. Its cost was $5.99 and I didn't think that was too bad for a large, perfect pumpkin.

I don't know if I will buy five pumpkins, but I know I will buy a few more and I will shop the sales and try to get them early. I will buy some sugar pumpkins and a couple more carving pumpkins. I usually also buy some small decorative gourds that look like pumpkins but (as far as I know) are not edible.

I always look for a well-rounded pumpkin that sits pretty and looks good on most sides. I want the stem to be nice and green and I don't buy a pumpkin that has flaws or dings. They tend to rot quickly.

I usually store mine close to the air conditioning vent in the kitchen until we need heat, then I move it to the coolest place in my house, probably my wash room and I will later use the carving pumpkins for an outside display. I know once I carve them, they won't last but about a week outside, so I will wait until Halloween is almost here to cut out a funny face. The sugar pumpkins will go into my Thanksgiving pumpkin pies.

Our pumpkin lover wanted to carve a face in the pumpkin right away. When we said no to this, he wanted to draw a face on with magic marker. Unfortunately for him he had to be content with drawing faces on paper that we will carve on the pumpkins when it is time. It is so hard to wait.

Surprise Lillies

2011-09-29T12:27:00.000-04:00

The recent, long-awaited rain brought more than just a boost to our vegetable garden.

My sister went outside a couple of days ago and was inspired to take this photo of lilies that suddenly sprang up after the rain.

Her text message that she sent along with the photo said, "I am sending u some pics of some surprise lilies for ur blog when u have a chance to use them ... I don't know the real name ... I just know I was surprised yesterday when I came out and saw them blooming ..."

I knew what they were the minute I saw the photo because we recently had an article about Spiderlilies in our September/October issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine.

Evidently, they are late-season bloomers that originated in Japan and brought to America during the time of Commodore Matthew Perry's diplomatic mission there in 1853. They understandably became popular in the south since they add a touch of brilliant color just when things are turning brown and gearing up for winter.

Red Spiderlily or Lycoris radiata, is also known as "naked lady, British soldier, surprise lily and rain lily." I know this courtesy of Katheryn McCall's Thoughtful Gardener feature in every issue of our magazine. I always look forward to her thoughtful and educational articles and I find that after almost every article, the plant featured (often not a plant or flower I am familiar with), suddenly shows up somewhere and surprises me with it's beauty or fragrance, or both, and I usually have to reread the article and look at the photos to learn more.

These perennial lilies have no foliage. The delicate flowers just spring up where they were planted and give us a treat for a few days -- a beautiful surprise.

Making Funnel Cakes

2011-09-27T11:34:00.003-04:00

It is officially fall and the fair is in town. That means it is time for funnel cakes -- a treat we only have when the fair (or one of our local open-air events) is going on.

This year, someone had the idea at our church to serve funnel cakes at our annual SonRise Church fall event. No one really knew how to cook funnel cakes but they were willing to learn. The attendees were glad we were willing to try our hands at making them because our funnel cakes were tasty and a big hit.

Luckily, we had professional cooks on the job. Richard and Zandra who own the local restaurant, Papa's Smokehouse, mixed up the easy recipe (which I will include below) and also came up with stainless steel rings that made the job so much easier.

I am not sure who came up the idea of using squirt bottles, rather than funnels to squirt the batter into the hot grease but these squirt bottles worked so well and made the job so much less messy. I think it was Kim, who led our team at the event. Whoever it was, is a genius!

Besides Richard, Zandra and Kim, we had Lucinda and Sandi ready to cook with utensils ready and aprons on. They set up the propane tanks and cook stoves under the shade of a big tree and soon the crowd was clamoring for funnel cakes.

Someone asked me if I was the expert who was cooking the funnel cakes and I told them I was the apprentice. That was certainly true. I didn't bring any skills to this job but I really did learn about cooking funnel cakes.

We did use a funnel to put the batter into the large squirt bottles. We first had to cut the tips off the bottles so more batter could come out at one time. Filling the bottles was a messy job.

You can see how the tops were cut to make larger holes.

When the grease was hot, we poured enough batter into the funnel cake ring, sitting in the hot grease to make a firm "cake."

We removed the ring and waited for the cake to show brown on the top side.

When the cake was golden underneath we flipped it and let it brown on the other side.

We then removed the hot cakes from the grease and let them drain.

There were variations of color. I think people liked them best when they were browned and crispy.

We then sprinkled powdered sugar on the cake that was sitting on the plate and delivered them to the waiting crowd.

People kept thanking us for cooking the funnel cakes and I think it was a novelty treat that reminded me of a time I helped cook donuts at a another community event.

I am not sure I would make these at home, but I really did enjoy getting outside and cooking with some very nice and talented cooks who all enjoyed making treats for the large crowd. It was fun and rewarding.

Here's the easy recipe:

1 box of Krusteaz pancake mix (mixed according to directions, 3 cups mix + 2 cups water)
1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring for each box
1 tablespoon cinnamon per box

Mix well and batter is ready for making funnel cakes. Each box of mix should make around 24 funnel cakes. This will vary with the size of the funnel cakes.

Garden view

2011-09-26T13:38:00.003-04:00

This weekend brought some pretty dramatic changes to our garden. You can tell it looks a bit greener. What a difference a few rainy days makes to a dried up garden!

Our collards, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and broccoli look great but the most exciting thing is happening -- our greens are sprouting. It looks all green and fuzzy in our greens row.

There's no sign of beets, carrots, garlic, or spinach. Those take a bit longer. Our lettuce is beginning to sprout but it's only in the beginning stages. It will take a few days more to see green in those rows.

Here's a closer look at the turnip greens. The mustard greens and rutabagas look just like the turnip greens at this point!

And we have some cucumber blooms. We just might have a few late cucumbers before the weather gets too cool. We planted them because we had the extra seeds and were beginning to think they were not going to do anything. They look really amazing now.

I can also see some nut grass sprouting up in the greens. Looking at all the dirt that is showing reminds me that we really need to mulch. That's the next step -- plus the nut grass.

I am waiting for my order of bok choy and organic blue Scotch kale so we can finish our fall garden. They should arrive in the mail within the week.

Fall garden -- not much to see, yet

2011-09-23T12:50:00.001-04:00

The photo of tilled soil, above, is pretty boring. This photo is from last week. I couldn't get out the last couple of days to take photos because thankfully, it was raining. I know gardeners all around our area were ecstatic because we have all been hoping and praying for rain for our lawns and especially our gardens.

I was just happy we finally had a good natural watering. It came just after we planted the majority of our fall garden. We had already added collards, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli plants and we then planted some root vegetables -- beets, garlic, carrots and different kinds of greens. We planted turnip greens, rutabagas, spinach and mustard greens, lettuce and arugula.

We still need to plant kale seeds but I can't find them anywhere! I have ordered some bok choy and red bunching onion seeds and they are supposed to be in the mail so I know we will plant them as soon as the ground is dry enough.

I really love the greens and I really hope we find some kale. I am thinking about ordering some heirloom kale seeds so that we can just let some of the kale go to seed, save the seed and plant our own. It is more economical. Usually Arnall's Grocery has plenty of kale seeds, but not this fall.

Most of the things we planted should withstand the winter. The greens, we should be able to pick before frost because they are fast growers. The collards should be really to pick around Thanksgiving or Christmas, at the latest.

The broccoli, carrots, beets, Brussels sprouts, and lettuce should survive over the winter and we know it is unlikely that we will get a harvest until early spring. If we plant some of these vegetables -- like the broccoli, beets and Brussels sprouts we should have a nice harvest after the first of the year. If we wait until spring, the weather will just be too hot for them and we won't get a harvest at all -- that is at least what I have heard and been reading lately.

We also have row covers, so if we get worried about a hard freeze, we will just cover our plants. I am always so excited about planting and I just hope this fall garden will be the best ever.

Healthy Popsicles

2011-09-22T11:30:00.001-04:00

Here's a healthy treat -- and yes, in addition to being healthy it is very good.

You will need a popsicle mold. Ours look like little rocket ships and makes six popsicles. If you don't have a popsicle mold, use yogurt cups and an ice cream stick or a small dowel.

Mix 2 bananas, 1/4 cup walnuts and 1 cup of apple or white grape juice. Mix it in a blender that is powerful enough to cream walnuts. A smoothie maker is great. (We used a Vitamix blender.) Blend for a minute or two until mixture is ultra creamy, pour into molds and freeze.

Most kids (especially the one pictured above) won't eat walnuts even though they are nutritionally very good for you. Walnuts make an extra creamy base for treats and if you can make them as smooth as a smoothie, kids love them -- they also love popsicles, especially when they get to help.

You could also substitute almond milk or coconut milk for the walnuts if you can't cream them. This is a vegan recipe with no trans fat or milk products AND it puts happy smiles on faces, as you can tell.

Coconut whipped cream

2011-09-20T09:30:00.002-04:00

Here's something for those who can't enjoy dairy products but would just love something rich and cream for dessert -- coconut whipped cream.

I think it should probably be labeled "Vegan's Delight" because it has the richness and body of whipping cream but no trans fats and no animal fats. Talk about easy! This was probably the easiest whipped cream I have ever made. I have seen some really complicated vegan whipped cream recipes with tons of ingredients, but this was simple and quite a surprise.

My recipe:

Coconut Whipping Cream

I used a hand mixer for mine but a stand mixer would probably whip it more quickly. I will probably double the recipe for our family in the future but I just wanted to try making whipping cream with coconut milk and I didn't want to risk a flop with more than one can. This does have a coconut flavor but it is not overpowering. I think it tastes more like whipped cream with a medium hint of coconut flavor. From now on I will store at least one can of coconut milk in my 'fridge to make coconut whipping cream.

1 can coconut milk (NOT the low-fat variety)

1 heaping tablespoon Confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Place the unopened can of coconut milk in the refrigerator for at least four hours. Open the chilled can of coconut milk and carefully skim off the white, creamy hardened top of the coconut milk. Leave the watery "milk" for another purpose. (Use it in smoothies or other recipes.) You are basically skimming the fat part of the coconut milk off the top. Approximately 1/2 of the can will be left.

Place the thick coconut milk into a small mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and sugar and mix until it is the consistency of whipping cream. Store it in the refrigerator, it will not last long if it is hot. Yields about 1-1/2 cups of coconut whipping cream. Use as you would regular whipped cream.

This keeps better than I expected. The photo at the top was made two days before!

Plant tags have more information than ever

2011-09-19T10:25:00.003-04:00

The other day when I was planting my Brussels sprouts, I glanced at the plant tag because I wanted to see just how far to space my plants. When I looked at the back of the tag I notice a QR (Quick Response) code and I was quite excited about this because I knew it probably would lead to a wealth of information from Bonnie Plants on how to grow Brussels sprouts. I scanned the code, using my phone and I was directed to the page below.

QR codes are like little gems all around us that are there to guide us to information on the Internet that is very useful. (Well, that isn't always true. Sometimes it just leads you to a website that might be a waste of time. At other times you can also see useful videos or get coupons. You really don't know til you scan.)

The QR codes from Bonnie Plants are a treasure trove of information. When I scanned the code (with my Android phone) it took me to a website that told me, when to plant, how to plant, what companion plants to use with Brussels sprouts, how to cook them and it even included a video to show me how to plant my brand new plants.

I only recently found out that in hot climates with early warm spring weather (like ours) you really should plant these plants in the fall to harvest in the spring. Had I scanned the tags on the Brussels sprouts I planted last spring, maybe I would have known they wouldn't "make" by hot weather.

You must have a Smart phone and download the free application to scan bar codes but I think the wealth of information from things like these QR codes are just priceless. If you have a smart phone, check it out. I love QR codes and though I wouldn't just scan anything, I will be taking advantage of all the plant information I can find.

Gluten-Free Bread on the Market

2011-09-16T12:32:00.001-04:00

It can be tough for kids who can't have all the great-tasting foods that other kids can have. Wheat is just such a huge part of the American diet that when you are forced to make a change it can be a bit traumatic for those with food allergies and celiac disease.

There are a couple of new bread choices that have recently hit the grocery store shelves in our area. One is Rudi's gluten-free bakery and the other is Udi's gluten-free bakery. I was very confused at first and thought it was the same company. The names were so similar and both company hail from Colorado -- though one is from Denver an the other from Boulder.

When I looked in to it further, I realized that they were indeed two different companies. Rudi's has been selling organic bread for some time at Whole Foods Markets and have just recently provided gluten-free bread seekers with bread, buns, pizza crusts and bagels. They are known for using a low number of healthy ingredients in their products.

Udi's is a newer company that opened in Boulder and they apparently own and operate some very nice restaurants and are trying to provide consumers with a good-tasting, alternative to gluten-containing products. I got the impression from their website that someone in the family has a wheat sensitivity. Whatever the reason, I can see a person using their old company name, even if it is eerily similar to a another bakery in their state.

Udi's does have a larger product line at this time for gluten-free foods. They carry breads, buns, bagels, muffins, pizza crusts and granola. I think the ingredients aren't quite as "healthy-sounding" to me but I haven't yet tested their products to see what I thought of the flavors.

One thing to consider, one of these gluten-free buns (which come four to a pack) come out to a hefty $1.25 a bun. This is very expensive compared to regular buns. We have the regular buns for non-sensitive members of our family and save the gluten-free ones just for our grandson.

I am just glad they are responding to a need and getting some better-tasting gluten-free breads on the market. They can be purchased at Kroger and Publix in our local area. If you want to try them and the price is too high, download a coupon from their websites for $1 off.

http://www.rudisglutenfree.com

http://udisglutenfree.com/special-offers

My little grandson who is the wheat-sensitive one, didn't complain much when we took away his hamburger and hot dog buns but when we purchased some Rudi's buns he was so happy to have a hot dog in a real bun. He wanted to have them every day.

While our grandson is so over the moon about the buns, I can't really recommend one over the other at this point. I plan to do a side by side comparison at some point so I would love to include your comments on that subject. Just post a comment on my blog and I will include what you think. I can't wait to do a side-by-side comparison.

More about Milky Spore

2011-09-14T10:56:00.003-04:00

This is the first year we have treated our garden for grubs and I am hoping that we see a long term benefit from treating with Milky Spore.

Milky Spore is a bacterium that when spread into the soil, begins a cycle that is supposed to eventually get rid of grub worms, especially the dreaded pest, the Japanese beetle. I would love for my green beans NOT to have lacy leaves on the top from Japanese beetles feeding on the leaves and the beans. But there are many benefits of using this product.

One is the benefit of being environmentally friendly. Pets and beneficial wild animals, especially birds, can be harmed when using products like Grub-X, but they are not harmed by Milky Spore. It works by infecting the grubs who feed on the Milky Spore after they hatch. The bacteria then grows in the grub and when they die from the bacteria, the Milky Spore continues to grow and there is even more bacteria in the soil for more grubs to ingest. In some reports I have read, the grubs can be controlled by Milky Spore for ten to fifteen years.

Another benefit is that you can rid yourself of some non-beneficial birds, like blackbirds (who fly in to feed on grubs and can also help themselves to other things) and a new pest to our area, armadillos who love digging holes in your yard at night while you sleep. They feed on the grubs and tear up your turf. Milky Spore will eventually control the armadillos by controlling the grubs. I've heard that you rarely see armadillos but they can really destroy a lawn. They are hard to control by any other means but when you take away their favorite meal, they will go where the grubs are plentiful.

Armadillos also carry some nasty diseases, like leprosy, and while it is extremely unlikely that a human or pet would catch a disease from armadillos, I have read that it is a possibility, though a remote one. Leprosy not easily transmitted even from person to person. I would rather have a disease-carrying pest somewhere else besides my lawn or garden.

We will treat again in the spring and then in the summer but I am hoping to reap some long term benefits from Milky Spore and I intend to keep a record of just how beneficial the treatment will be to our garden.

Deep-Dish, Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler

2011-09-13T09:26:00.002-04:00

It was time to use the rest of my peaches, or freeze them. I did freeze quite a few plastic freezer bags full, but I had a request (by my husband) to please make a peach cobbler. Normally, it would have been easy -- buy pie crusts, cut up some peaches, add sugar, flour and butter and bake.

The only problem is that I can't use flour or butter now. So I had to put on my thinking cap and try to come up with something that would make everyone happy. This cobbler was the result.

I started out by making a crust for the top only. I think this is best when making a gluten-free pie. If one is put off by the taste or texture of the crust, they'll love the peaches baked in sugar inside which makes up most of the pie.

I used a deep-dish stoneware casserole dish, sprayed it with cooking spray and then cut up enough peaches to fit my dish (This dish holds almost as much as a 9 x 13 dish because of the height of the dish.) It took about 6 large peaches to fill the dish. The peaches will shrink a bit so I made sure they were mounded over the top. Then I transferred my peaches to a bowl. To this, I added 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of tapioca flour, which makes a great thickener. I then dotted the top with about five teaspoons of non-trans fat margarine. Some like to add cinnamon but I don't care for cinnamon with peaches. I save the cinnamon for apples. The cobbler was then ready for the crust.

I then made my crust, using the recipe below.

Gluten-Free Pie Crust

There are so many pie crust recipes out there so use one you prefer. (You can also purchase gluten-free crusts at Whole Foods.)

1-1/2 cups white rice flour
1/2 cup coconut oil (Coconut oil is solid rather than liquid.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons agave nectar or maple syrup
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

In a small mixing bowl, using a pastry knife, mix the coconut oil into the rice flour. Add salt, agave nectar and ice water, one tablespoon at a time until it all works together into a smooth dough.

Roll out the dough for the size of the pie top onto a sheet of parchment paper, using a rolling pin dusted with rice flour. Flip the parchment and rolled out dough onto the top of the pie and use the excess around the sides to make it thicker. The sides will become a bit browner and it is nice to have a thicker crust there.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 35 to 40 minutes longer or until cobbler is golden brown. Allow to cool. Serve alone or with whipped topping or ice cream (if you have a problem with ice cream try coconut milk ice cream.)

Is this a healthy alternative? Probably healthier than a normal cobbler but there is still a great deal of fat and sugar. I am just trying to minimize allergic symptoms and give alternatives. It was very good.

Starting our fall garden

2011-09-12T12:06:00.000-04:00

It's official. Our fall garden is underway. We now have collards, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, some leftover cucumbers and peppers and plenty of room to plant more. We still need to mulch but we were pretty weary after getting all this done.

It wasn't the most perfect summer for a garden and I have decided not to spend any time bemoaning the fact that we didn't have the most wonderful garden ever. I know that in the true spirit of farming you just have to move on to the next season. Droughts hit everyone pretty hard.

Much of the time was spent clearing things out and tilling under the vegetation that was left.

The pole from the beans need to be cleaned off and stored for next year.

The tomato and pepper cages can be stored in the shed.

My husband manned the tiller and it took awhile to get things ready.

We left some late cucumbers and the fence. They are growing pretty slowly. I was surprised they survived the last couple of weeks because the weather was so dry. In early spring, we will plant pea pods and let them run up the fence. It would be nice to utilize it while it is up. I am not sure we will have fall cucumbers but we had the seed back in August so we really weren't out anything but labor.

My job was to buy the plants. We would normally have waited a bit to buy plants but I was concerned that if I waited they will all be gone. That has happened to me before. At least the nights are cooler and since the stores have the plants, it must be the right time for them. I purchased a tray of collard plants, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and some cabbage.

I thought I had a half tray of broccoli but it was actually cabbage. I certainly didn't need that much cabbage. I guess I picked up the wrong tray at the store and had way too much cabbage and no broccoli. Luckily they have a return policy. Whew! I was so worried about my mistake. We now have broccoli plants and we will have broccoli in the ground by tomorrow.

The main thing we wanted to do for our spring planting was to till in some lime. It won't help right now but when spring rolls around, the pH level of the soil will be sweetened.

We decided to also treat for grubs. Milky Spore is a natural way to get rid of them. I would love to take care of those awful Japanese beetles. I hope this helps.

After putting out lime and milky spore it looked like this. We all looked like we had been dusted with cake flour when we were finished. The wind was blowing up small lime whirlwinds until we tilled it under.

Then it was ready ...

For our plants, heavily laced with Moo-nure and watered liberally. The photo at the top is the way it looks now -- a very good start.

Gluten-free Pizza Pockets

2011-09-09T09:57:00.000-04:00

There are some great ideas in the Flying Apron Cookbook I mentioned earlier in the week. We tried their recipe for pizza pockets and found it to be incredibly good. It starts with a quick yeast bread made with pumpkin and flax seed meal and a mix of white and garbanzo bean flours. We mixed the bread and rolled it into circles, inserted savory toppings and baked them until they were a delicious golden brown.

This time we made the inside ingredients very simple. Pizza sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms and grated "cheese." Our cheese was made from soy. We baked it on a pizza stone and the crust was perfect.

Let's fact it. Most incredibly good things are not incredibly easy. I don't think I will be making these everyday but I will use this recipe over and over and I will be working on some new fillings to go inside. The pepperoni was a little on the hot side (I guess it is "pepper"oni for a reason!) but the taste was very good. I am thinking if you add some healthy ingredients, this would be a deceptively good meal. This could be made from any bread recipe, though we liked that this was a gluten-free recipe that tasted like it could have been made from wheat. I think this recipe would also make a great pizza crust.

I like that you can freeze these either before or after baking. I like this idea for an easy meal. Just make a salad and thaw out some pizza pockets (they are much like calzones I have eaten in Italian eateries).

I am thinking my next filling will be chicken and vegetables in a nut cream sauce. I know that the recipe will get easier each time I make it and I intend to perfect my method as I go to help with the rolling out experience.

That's the Flying Apron Gluten-Free Cookbook. Savory pockets. Or experiment with a bread mix or your favorite recipe. Add a salad or soup and have a very nice treat. Your kids will love you for this one.

Pimentos

2011-09-06T09:55:00.001-04:00

With Labor Day behind us, it is time to get started on a new gardening season. Our garden played out early this year because we just didn't get enough rain. After a weekend of rain and with cooler temperatures, it should be time to get a fresh start.

The last thing we have in our garden -- peppers. These beautiful pimentos were a first for us this year and I do plan to plant more next year. I was hoping to can them but I didn't have quite enough to bring out the pressure canner, so I decided to freeze them instead.

The best way -- roast them, peel off the skin and then freeze them. The skins can be a bit tough and a little bitter when they are cooked or frozen, so it is best to freeze them without the peelings.

I think the pimentos are meatier than regular red bell peppers. We had to pick a few of them while green but they "colored up" well after leaving them out for more than a few days. I thought the pimentos kept well and I really liked the clusters of peppers on the vines.

It is almost impossible for my untrained eye to tell the difference between a bell pepper plant and a pimento plant, but the pimento pepper is very different from the bell pepper. The pimento has a rounded bottom and become a bright fire engine red when ripe. Pimentos have a distinctively different flavor that makes them perfect in pimento cheese.

My pimentos will be the star ingredient for my favorite pimento cheese recipe. It's a tangy, low fat version that my family really loves. A bit different, but healthy and tasty. This is great on whole wheat bread or on crackers. We often serve this as a dip. It has a fresh taste.

Low-Fat, Herbed Pimento Cheese

2/3 cup nonfat sour cream
1/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt, softened

1/4 cup low fat mayonnaise
4 ounces nonfat cream cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley (or other herbs of your choice)
1/3 cup chopped red pimento peppers (or one 4 ounce jar of pimentos)
8 ounces low fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated Salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl mix the sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Add the onions, herbs and pimentos. Add the grated cheddar until well mixed. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving so the flavor will be enhanced.

Peach pie -- for everyone

2011-09-02T09:58:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we bought a half-bushel of late season peaches and we have really enjoyed them. They ripen a bit each day and are delicious. I have sliced up the ripe fruit and frozen them in packages daily -- the best way to avoid waste and keep down the fruit flies!

Yesterday I was thinking I should use some to make a peach pie and an end of the summer treat for my family. My favorite pie from childhood is the one dish pie my mom always called a quickie pie. It doesn't take much energy to make because you just throw it all in a dish in layers and bake it.

I was wondering if I could make this pie gluten-free. I hate to exclude anyone when I make something and I didn't want to exclude those in our household with allergies. I don't want to answer the question, "Why can't you make a peach pie for me?"

So I just made my own version of quickie pie from our wonderful peaches and it was great. Use any ripe fruit and everyone should enjoy it. Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream would be very good with this, too.

Here's the gluten-free version followed by the regular version. Very easy and very good. I was a bit surprised and pleased because it was very similar to the original.

Gluten-free Quickie Fruit Pie

1/2 cup margarine or butter (I used Earth Balance)
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup garbanzo, fava flour
(You can substitute any gluten-free flour blend for this mixture.)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 cup almond milk
6 cups sliced fresh peaches or other fresh fruit
Optional: 1/4 cup sugar to sprinkle over the top. (I didn't add this)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish in the oven. Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla flavoring and almond milk in a mixing bowl and pour on top of the melted butter. Layer the fruit on top (then sprinkle on the optional sugar, if desired) and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Quickie Fruit Pie

1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 cup whole milk (would work with buttermilk)
6 cups sliced fresh peaches or other fresh fruit
Optional: 1/4 cup sugar to sprinkle over the top.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish in the oven. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla flavoring and milk in a mixing bowl and pour on top of the melted butter. Layer the fruit on top (then sprinkle on the optional sugar, if desired) and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Flying Apron's Cookbook

2011-09-01T11:24:00.000-04:00

I have been searching for a cookbook that would have some wonderful gluten-free AND vegan recipes. You can find plenty of great vegan cookbooks and I have seen a few promising gluten-free cookbooks but not together in one package.

Then I discovered the Flying Apron's Gluten-free & Vegan Baking Book and I thought, maybe. When I realized the author also had a bakery/restaurant in Washington, I thought I might have finally found something I could use. Usually, if the cookbook author has successfully run a restaurant, they have some good recipes. When I looked up the restaurant, I noticed it had changed hands but is doing well enough to add a new location. I also noticed that many of the same recipes in the cookbook are still on the menu. I knew then that this book could be a winner!

I haven't had as much time as I thought since purchasing the cookbook to try recipes, but I have made the Berry Oat Wondie Bars. I didn't take a photo of them because I was in a hurry to get out of town last week and I also didn't think, at first, that it was going to be a great recipe. I liked the ingredients and it wasn't a hard recipe. (I will admit I struggled a bit at first, as I do with most new recipes. I don't know why.) In the end they turned out pretty good, especially after they had cooled and I liked the wholesome ingredients.

Ultimately, this recipe passed the true test of a good recipe in my household ... my husband loved them and asked me to make more and my grandson (the one on a gluten-free diet) loved them and wondered why he was having dessert for breakfast. They really weren't too sweet but very fruity and delicious -- certainly better for you than those awful sweetened breakfast cereals.

There are a few notable recipes I am planning to try -- a pumpkin yest bread and some savory, baked main dish pockets that look great and could be adapted for gluten-free calzones. Sounds yummy and the recipes looked very good. They would make great meals with the addition of a salad and it is hard to imagine a "gluten-free" calzone with all the yummy flavors inside.

I will take photos when I make them.

Meanwhile, I am glad I own this cookbook.

Saving Heirloom tomato seeds

2011-08-30T12:06:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we saw so many heirloom tomatoes on sale. I think you can find heirlooms almost anywhere these days. We bought one of the large, yellow tomatoes called Mr. Stripey, a beefsteak tomato that is primarily yellow with red stripes on the end. It is a low acid tomato and we liked this tomato so much that we bought one to save the seed for next year.

Saving seeds from a vegetable or flower plant is usually very simple. I sliced the tomato and then picked out the seeds. The tomato, I saved for later. No need to waste a perfectly good tomato! The seeds are put in a wire strainer and then washed with a slow stream underneath the faucet. I don't think you really need to wash the seeds off but, I do because my father always did.

I then pour the seeds onto a paper towel and spread them out to air dry.

Above is how they look after drying overnight. I might let them dry another day or so to make sure the moisture is gone and I will then scrape them off the paper towel and save them in a plastic bag in a cool, dry place, or the refrigerator, marked with the name of the seed. I will then get them out and plant the seeds around January or February. That is it. Much cheaper than a package of seeds and I don't usually see this variety.

I also dried some Cherokee Purple seeds. An old variety grown by the Cherokee Indians, according to what I have read.

I have generally heard it is best save only heirloom seeds, but recently I read that while it is the best practice to follow for most vegetables, tomatoes might be an exception to that rule. You could save seeds from any variety and it might be a bit different from the original, especially if it is from a hybrid tomato, but the fruit might not be that different. If you really like the tomato, it might be worth a try. You may get something really different, of course, so I would recommend it only as a test, but I am thinking about trying it.

Heirloom seeds can vary a bit, too. Pollination plays a big part in what next year's crop will be. It might be a good idea, if you want your seed to remain true to the original, to place them in a spot far away from other tomatoes.

Since I am often a little too optimistic, I am hoping for a great new variety I will like even more.

Another thing to consider -- seeds that flourish in one planting zone, don't always flourish in a different one. I will have to wait until next year to see how Mr. Stripey's do in this area, rather than the mountains, but I love large, yellow meaty tomatoes so this could be great for me.

Visiting Knoxville's Market Square

2011-08-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

I have been on I-75 that passes through Knoxville, Tennessee a number of times but it has never been a destination for me until this past weekend. It is the scene of an obviously vital and growing city that is embracing new things while still holding on to the important cultural gems of the past. They are obvious animal lovers and appreciate their large farming community -- just north of the Blue Ridge mountains and south of the Cumberlands. When we arrived, we saw a bustling downtown district that was a perfect mix of old and new.

We walked a block over to Market Square, the home of a bi-weekly Farmer's Market and saw tents and vendors of all kinds catering to the gathering crowds. This is the site of the International Biscuit Festival each May, for art shows and downtown entertainment. Our first sights and sounds were of art shops, trendy restaurants and musicians with horns and guitars ready to delight, entertain and sustain us on a pleasant Saturday in Tennessee.

This is a perfect place to bring your pet for a walk. Most shops had pet watering bowls filled with fresh water outside and there were times we had to be careful not to treading on a dog resting in the shade, waiting for its owner to shop or finish a meal.

Kids decked out in bathing suits were playing in the fountains rising from the ground -- a very popular spot.

"Pick a card, any card." I chose not to, but at times this vendor was very crowded.

Yes, this is a big cat on a leash -- never seen one of those before.

Most booths had heirloom tomatoes. Above, Mr. Stripeys and Black Cherokees.

This vendor said we could try any of the hot peppers we wanted. He then smiled, knowing he wouldn't have any takers, especially after telling us that the Tennesse Cherry peppers were hotter than anything he had ever tasted. They are the small red peppers in a small square basket above the miniature yellow cherry tomatoes To the left of those are the Ghost peppers. I've heard they are one of the hottest peppers ever, but this guy claimed his Tennesee cherries were much hotter.

One of my favorites was the EatYourYard.biz vendor. They advocate growing edible fruit trees and plants rather than grass. They were recommending blueberries as one of the best plants.

There were so many tents with tomatoes and pretty vegetables.

And I really liked the way this market shared the skyline with semi-high rise buildings, green space and sculptures.

Above, a lighted archway and garden spot and at right people are gathered to try free samples of ice cream from a local farm selling $1 mini-ice cream cones.

The last stop was a trip through the Mast General Store back on the main street. I had never been to one and we could have used a few more hours to explore. They had everything from dry goods to clothing to a huge selection of bulk candies and country jams, jellies and mixes.

Knoxville is now on my list of places I am glad I finally stopped. I wouldn't mind going back one Saturday, maybe one May for some biscuits.

My new cake stand

2011-08-25T09:59:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite cake stand. I love it for its simplicity but I really love the large dome that fits over large decorated cakes. I have never had a cake stand quite like it and it is my all-time favorite.

This is my new cake stand I found at a second hand store. Which do you like better?

If you think they look eerily similar, you are correct. I have been looking for a matching cake stand for ages and I finally found one at a local second-hand shop. I was so excited to find it because I have this fear that I will break my old one and never find one to replace it. I would have preferred to have found one at a yard sale because it would have been even cheaper, but no luck -- maybe one day.

The original, a Martha Stewart design, I bought at K-Mart before it went bankrupt. I went to several K-Marts to look for them before the stores closed (I know K-Marts that are open, and though I have searched stores in surrounding area, I have never found a cake stand like this one.) I have looked on eBay but nothing there either.

When I found this at a store across the street I didn't think twice about making the purchase though it was more than I would have paid for a normal cake stand at a second-hand shop (almost half the price of the original). I suspect that it has never been used owing to the fact that there is not a ding or blemish of any kind.

Now I don't have to worry so much about breaking the one I already have. I also will enjoy having it for holidays and parties. I just love symmetry and having the same cake stand at opposite sides of a dessert buffet table appeals to me.

My husband thinks I am a little crazy. "Why in the world do you need two?" He really can't argue with the price and he really loves cake so I think it will be OK.

Don't you just love second-hand shops?

Corn flour

2011-08-24T11:32:00.000-04:00

Corn meal is an ingredient I am very familiar with because I have eaten plenty of cornbread and corn muffins in my lifetime. But when I tried corn flour, it opened my eyes to a whole new area of baking and battering.

Corn flour is much like cornmeal (made from the whole corn kernel) but is more finely ground. I have read it is milled with the same equipment that millers use to grind flour so it is softer and lighter than cornmeal. I think one thing people dislike about cornmeal is the texture. It is somewhat grainy. Don't get me wrong. I love cornmeal and I am not troubled by the consistency but corn flour gives that great corn flavor and is more like wheat flour.

I would bet that if you make corn muffins using half cornmeal and half corn flour rather than half wheat flour, as some recipes recommend, you would probably produce a corn muffin that is richer in corn flavor. It would be a more agreeable bread for a person with celiac disease or a wheat allergy. Most cornmeal baking mixes contain wheat so this is a good alternative.

Corn flour is also a good alternative for baking breads using rice and other alternative flours. Tortillas are made using corn flour, oil or lard and corn flour. That is what makes the texture so fine. I was confused by this the only time I tried to make tortillas using cornmeal. It didn't work at all. I made the grainiest corn tortillas ever. I am sure if a veteran tortilla-maker had seen me, it would have been good for a laugh. I just didn't know that corn flour and cornmeal were so different. My eureka moment came when I bought some masa harina (corn flour) and used it for battering fish and okra for frying, then began experimenting with corn flour for baking.

I am sold on using corn flour to dredge fried foods, especially okra but I am just beginning to experiment with corn flour for baking.

One area of confusion for me is that I have read that cornstarch and corn flour is the same product. That is not true at all. Cornstarch is made from the endosperm only of the corn kernel. Not too long ago I saw a recipe for bread that called for a large amount of cornstarch. I have a feeling that recipe was wrong and the author meant corn flour. I can't imagine why a person would even try to put large amounts of cornstarch in a recipe unless they like bread that is hard and gummy.

Corn flour, containing the whole corn kernel does possess the starchy part of the corn and that would give it an ability to act as a binder similar to the gluten in wheat and that makes it a good candidate for bread.

In my corn flour muffin recipe, pictured above and listed below, I used an egg. But that was only because I was testing it out and hadn't thought it through. I will be trying it without eggs and I think using two tablespoons of cornstarch would be a good binder for this recipe. I also think children like the texture of corn flour muffins better than cornmeal muffins. Another thing I want to try is adding cream-style corn and some peppers and onions to make a good, gluten-free, vegan Mexican cornbread.

I hate running on so long about something so mundane as corn flour but I really do think it is an important under-utilized flour -- at least for me.

Corn Flour Muffins

3/4 cup corn flour
3/4 cup rice flour (or corn meal)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1-1/2 cup water or almond milk (buttermilk could also be used)

Mix all ingredients together until mixed and pour into greased muffin pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes for mini muffins and 20 to 25 minutes for regular-sized muffins or until muffins are firm on the top when pressed and golden around the bottoms. Remove from the oven and using a knife or small spatula lift muffins on their sides in the pan and allow to cool until they are firm enough to handle. These are great with vegetable soup.

A cake with no "sorry streak"

2011-08-22T09:55:00.000-04:00

My recipe for pound cake is either really good or kind of disappointing. Most of the time it is good and even when I have a "failure" it isn't a total waste because I can turn it into something good, like a trifle. I wrote about it in an earlier blog.

Recently, Amelia Adams brought in her new "Coweta Cooks" food feature to be photographed and she mentioned that cakes sometimes have a "sorry streak."

"You know," she said, "It's that dense streak that is sometimes in a pound cake."

I was fascinated because I had never heard it expressed quite that way. A "sorry streak" is, to me, a term used for a person who has lazy tendencies. I was delighted to have a new "baking term" that was colorful and properly descriptive.

The other day I made a pound cake for an event thinking I would be able to write about the sorry streak because my pound cake sometimes has one. This cake was so perfect. It was tall, fluffy and probably the best pound cake I have ever baked -- but no sorry streak. I was equally, happy, puzzled and confused. How can the same recipe be so good and at times disappointing?

After looking for the causes of cake successes and failures, I happened on this website for Land-O-Lakes, (my favorite butter) to see what they had to say and found an informative page I wanted to share, especially with anyone, like me, who has had a frustrating cake baking experience. Here is the link for a list of common cake baking problems entitled "How to bake a cake."

There were a number of "reasons" given under the heading, Common cause of cake failure. Under that header, a list of common problems including, A Soggy Layer or Streak on Bottom. The problems listed, included:

Under mixing of ingredients
Too much liquid
Eggs too big (most recipes are developed for large eggs)
Butter too soft
Too much sugar
Too much leavening
Not baked long enough

I am still thinking about what I do wrong and right with my pound cake recipe and I am thinking it could be one of many things in that list. Thankfully this time, my pound cake was perfect -- extremely moist, tasty and no sorry streak. I just want to make sure it is perfect next time as well. I will be taking advantage of their research with my cakes in the future.

Hodgson's Mill Bread: Part 2

2011-08-16T09:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I wrote that we (actually my daughter) made a successful loaf of bread using Hodgson's Mill's Gluten Free Bread mix. I asked her to send her photos and here they are. A day late but you can see the bread looks very good. It is a tight loaf with few "holes." It is hard to tell from the photo but it is not crumbly at all and is moist -- like wheat bread.

Here is a photo after the first slice. The loaf is casting a shadow, but you get the idea.

Another angle. The bread slices are big, very much like the large loaves we often buy in the grocery store that fits snugly into a sandwich bag. This was the second loaf.

And this was the first try. Great bread --wrong pan. It was almost scary how it rose. In all my years of making wheat bread, I never had one rise this high. No problem with this yeast batter. It was tasty but very large. She had to go out and buy new pans for the next loaves.

A good gluten-free bread mix

2011-08-15T09:36:00.000-04:00

In our ongoing quest to make a good loaf of yeast bread without wheat, we have found a mix that is really good. Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Bread Mix is evidently a new product for them. It says so on the box!

I have used Hodgson Mill mixes and pastas over the years and I like their products. We used to make an oat bran muffin from one of their mixes at least a couple of times a week and my family loved those muffins. I've also used their whole wheat products -- really they had whole wheat products before most of the other mainstream companies jumped on the bandwagon and started offering whole wheat. It really hasn't been very long, after all, since the American public began to embrace whole wheat bread.

Now that so many people have wheat allergies, this company has expanded to include a line of gluten-free products like all-purpose baking mix and gluten-free cookie mix. Many of their products include speciality flours like this bread mix, with garbanzo bean flour. But it is only gluten-free and not a vegan or organic bread mix. This recipe does include eggs which gives it a very nice texture.

I will say, it is good. It holds together and can be toasted or used for sandwiches. Our little one who is on a wheat-free diet wouldn't touch many of the breads we made using oat and other flours because they were too crumbly and didn't have the taste and feel of wheat. He is now eating sandwiches from this bread and I honestly think he feels much less deprived. I also think this bread could work for pizza dough and buns. I am in the process of shopping for bun pans and when I do, I am thinking this mix would work well for hamburger and hot dog buns.

I discovered this in the regular bread mix section at Krogers and have been back for more. The price was $3.99 and it makes a very big loaf makes approximately 14 large slices.

I am a little disappointed in one of the claims. They say this mix includes whole grain rice but the ingredients only list rice starch as an ingredient. Here's the listing: Garbanzo Bean Flour, Corn Starch, Sorghum Flour, Tapioca Starch, Organic Raw Cane Sugar, Fava Flour, Rice Starch, Xanthan Gum, Flake Salt, Soy Lecithin, Ascorbic Acid. I also thought the fiber content was a bit low, so make sure you think this is good for a high -fiber diet. I do think it is a very good alternative to wheat.

I also think garbanzo bean flour mimics wheat better than most flours but you do have to get used to the taste, as with almost everything else. It's not quite what mama used to make but it is very good. To sum it up, I will say that we offered my husband, who is our resident "Mikey" a slice. He added butter and honey and said, "Hey, this is really good. I could eat this all the time." That's good enough for me.

Trumpet vines

2011-08-12T11:24:00.000-04:00

The other day, my sister took me out to the edge of a wooded area to show off her trumpet vine seed pods. Trumpet vines, campsis radicans, can be grown in garden on arbors or fences, and like some plants, they create both positive and negative emotions.

Positive because they are easy to grow, produce beautiful orange to reddish flowers and they might have been a vine your grandmother grew on a fence or up a pole. Negative because they can be invasive and have been compared to kudzu or ivy and some people can have allergy symptoms after coming in contact with the leaves. (Not like poison ivy.)

They can be trained to cover arbors or privacy fences but must be cut back or they can "jump" to other areas -- so you must be ready to prune heavily in the spring, fall and even sometimes during the summer. They grow to 35 feet and can damage a tree or rock fence by growing into them. Trumpet vines can completely hide a chain link fence and unlike other vines, the flowers last all summer. They can easily grow up and cover an unsightly post or pole. They don't need too much fertilizer or you will see growth in vines, but not many flowers.

The foliage is a deep, rich green and seed pods are very large, containing quite a number of seeds. The pods break open an spread the seeds when they are dried. The pods may be edible for birds but I couldn't find any data on that. I wouldn't recommend trying them especially since the leaves are irritating for some people.

I really like them. These were totally voluntary and very interesting plants. I hadn't really considered growing them in my yard, but who knows. I have always wanted an arbor. One where you put a table underneath and have tea while hummingbirds flutter around the trumpet vine flowers. Sounds really good to me.

Egg-straordinary!

2011-08-11T10:37:00.001-04:00

Don't you just love fresh-off-the-farm eggs? These eggs were given to me by Amelia Adams, who writes the Coweta Cooks feature for Newnan-Coweta Magazine. We are working on the art issue and these beautiful natural sculptures were some of the "props" for our story and I couldn't not have been more appreciative than when she gave me a dozen assorted free-range eggs to take home after our photo shoot.

The eggs were courtesy of Donna Dougherty and Emeline Loughlin who apparently provide Adams with the eggs she uses at home. The recipe she shares is one I can't tell you about now, you'll have to wait to get your copy of the magazine on September 2, but I can tell you it is a mouthwatering treat. You will really miss it if you miss this issue, or this recipe! That was a shameless plug, but I had to do it.

Back to the subject of art. I took these photos because at some time in the future, I intend to paint these beautiful eggs. People really love brown eggs and speckled brown ones are especially prized. I think the contrast of dark, light and green eggs are particularly beautiful and would be very nice in a painting.

The chickens who laid these brown eggs are Buff Orpingtons and Black Copper Marans. The green and blue eggs are from Araucanas. It really does make me want to get a chicken coop and raise some "layers' in my back yard. I am sure my subdivision covenants would prevent it and I can't say I would like to have a rooster waking me up, but it would be nice to have these treasures provided every day.

Oh well, maybe one day. Meanwhile check out the photos in the magazine and the amazing recipe. By the way. We had these eggs for breakfast and they were rich and tasty. Much better than store-bought ones.

Geraniums: Thriving in the heat

2011-08-09T09:08:00.000-04:00

My mother always loved geraniums and this year, in particular, I understand why. Her red geraniums are always beautiful in the hot summer months. When most patio flowers have withered and died from heat exposure, her geraniums put on a grand show. They look great until frost.

The foliage is a rich green and some varieties have variegated leaves. This one has solid green leaves that are round and kind of ruffled. They also come in other colors but I think I like the red best of all. I think the red varieties do better in the heat but I don't have experience with other colors. I just see the red ones more often. The flower clusters shoot out above the green leaves and they just keep on blooming.

These geraniums are sitting below a hummingbird feeder and my mother loves to sit out and watch the hummingbirds buzz around the geraniums and other flowers. Her coleus are blooming too, but they just don't put on the show the geraniums do when nature turns up the heat.

I have never had geraniums but after seeing my mom's beautiful display, I am thinking they would be perfect for my patio, too.

Dragonflies

2011-08-08T11:20:00.001-04:00

There are two reasons I enjoy having our garden next to a lake. One is because we water from the lake (a huge benefit) and two, because we receive an occasional visit from dragonflies -- my favorite insect. The other day a dragonfly decided to sun him/herself on our garden fence. We didn't have the electricity on at the time. I am sure if we had he would not have visited.

I don't know enough about dragonflies to identify this one. It is not the easiest thing to do because they are very fast creatures. I used to think they liked me and were very curious and that was why they hovered around me when I was close to the water. Now I know they ARE very curious, with compound eyes that have, according to experts, 30,000 lenses -- the better to see you with. But I think they know they are so much faster than I am that they can hover and inspect me without fearing they will be caught.

This one sat sunning on the wire while I crawled almost underneath him to grab these photos. I suspect he was watching me closely, too. This one was almost all black and though I don't know what to call him, I imagine it could be a Southern Sprite, a Sun or Shadowdragon, or even a River Cruiser, Spiketail or Skimmer of some kind.

I do know they eat mosquitoes, ants and other insects so they are welcome visitors. There have been times when I have held out my hand and a dragonfly has accepted my invitation and landed for a second or two. I have frequently been buzzed and inspected. I have also read that since they spend most of their lives as immature nymphs and only spend a couple of months with the ability to zoom around inspecting the larger world around the pond, that they make the most out of the time they have. It may be a "life lesson" -- I don't know, nature provides many of those.

I disagree with the European view that dragonflies are sinister. They don't sting and I've never heard of anyone being bitten. The Japanese love them and use them as a symbol of strength, courage and happiness -- I agree with that and will always enjoy watching them zoom around while I garden.

Gluten-free banana pudding

2011-08-04T23:02:00.000-04:00

When we were walking through the grocery store last weekend we saw a mound of very ripe bananas. My husband said he would love some banana pudding but then decided he really didn't want to make it unless it could be gluten-free.

We did look for gluten-free vanilla wafers but didn't find any in the store so we thought about using a gluten-free cake. I have seen recipes for banana pudding using pound cake so I thought it would be a good alternative.

We chose to use a Betty Crocker Gluten-free Vanilla cake mix we found. As I said yesterday, this cake was very good and I made the cake according to directions and than cut it into thin slices and then cookie-sized pieces.

I made a recipe for pudding. Peeled and cut the bananas.

And then layered the ingredients.

Then I added the meringue on top. Some people meringue and others don't. Whipped cream is a good option if you don't to top off the finished pudding. This recipe makes an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 version. For a 9 x 13 dessert, double all the ingredients except for the cake mix. Half will be left over.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Banana Pudding

For cake:
1 Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mix (only 1/2 of the cake mix will be used)

For pudding:
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 egg yolks
3 cups almond milk
3 teaspoons vanilla flavoring

3 ripe bananas

Meringue:
Whites of six eggs
1/4 cup sugar

Make 1 Betty Crocker gluten-free vanilla cake mix, according to directions, cool and cut into thin, cookie-sized pieces.

Stir together 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt into a medium saucepan. Mix egg yolks, almond milk and vanilla flavoring and pour over sugar/cornstarch mixture until well-mixed. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. It will be a bit thin.

Layer in this order -- thin layer of pudding, cake, pudding, then bananas; cake, pudding, bananas, pudding.

To make meringue: Whip egg whites until they become foamy, then add 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Cover dish with meringue and bake at 400 degrees until browned.

My husband really enjoyed this dessert and my grandson, who is allergic to wheat and milk, I think, actually inhaled two helpings.

Using a gluten-free mix

2011-08-03T23:20:00.000-04:00

We tried this gluten-free cake mix the other day and found it was quite good. It is very hard to make good breads, cookies and cakes that don't use wheat as the main ingredient, but this cake mix makes it easier to eat gluten-free cake. Compared to most gluten-free recipes it was very good. It is not a vegan mix because it does use eggs. It is found on the shelf in the grocery store with the regular cake mixes.

The main ingredient is rice flour and rice flour is commonly used in commercial mixes but this product seems to use flour that is ground more finely than some of the rice flours I have purchased. They can be a little grainy -- sometimes very grainy. I do know that this mix is good and I would recommend it.

A negative is that it doesn't make two layers like more cake mixes, but the layer it makes is a decent size. I made a smaller sheet cake and it was the perfect size for my needs -- but not for a layer cake. The texture was a little more like pound cake than layer cake and I think eating it in smaller amounts would be best anyway because it was a little heavier than cake made from wheat. Good but the texture was more dense.

I think cupcakes would be great made with this mix and they would be substantial. They wouldn't make twenty-four but would certainly make more than twelve cupcake.

Another use might be to slice the cake and toast it slowly in the oven to make a kind of cake biscotti. This would be a very good way to use any leftover cake.

Cookies could also be made from this mix but I don't have a recipe at this time. I may try to make one later.

One of the negatives was that the price was quite high. This mix costs around $5. That was much higher than I would have expected. It is new and I hope the price will come down because I would use this product again.

I included the ingredient listing, if interested. Click on the image to get a larger view.

I used this cake mix for something other than a cake and I will include what I think is a clever way to make a gluten-free dessert in my next blog.

Tomatoes as art

2011-08-02T11:23:00.000-04:00

I thought this photo would be prettier than it is, but I will explain my motivation behind these odd-looking canned tomatoes.

The other day, I canned some heirloom tomatoes. I didn't worry about the colors or types of tomatoes, I wanted to get as much variation of color as I could. I really love the differences in color and even texture. I have red, orange, yellow, purple, rainbow and green tomatoes sharing the same jars and I placed them in the jars so that the colors would stand out as much as possible. It really is pretty to me, but I guess the green ones might throw someone off if they didn't expect it. I hope not, because I think they are beautiful. (They really are lovelier in person.)

The great thing about all the colors is that they taste very good and I don't think that combining the flavors will be different between them and the regular red tomatoes. Some of the yellows and the greens seem to be as tangy as the reds and in some cases tangier.

Though Brandywines are still my all-time favorites, I love the colors. I know that I would love to plant more yellow tomatoes (Jubilees) next year and I really love the Green Zebras whose color is a vibrant green when peeled and kind of green with yellow stripes when ripe.

I did plant some Big Rainbows and Strawberry tomatoes that were not my favorites. They didn't yield well and the Strawberries didn't ripen well. They were a kind of strawberry shape, but that is the only positive thing I can say about them.

The Park's Celebrity tomatoes -- I won't buy again (they didn't produce well, as advertised or last) but I will grow more Romas and I may save seed from the Purple Calabash. I just like the vines. They are one of the oldest varieties, according to what I have read and seemed to be less susceptible to diseases. The color is not really purple but a deep burgundy.

I don't know if my tomatoes would qualify as art but I had to try. I think after I admire, photograph and perhaps even paint them, I will use them in salsa, spaghetti sauce or soup -- the rewards of the harvest.

Garden Update

2011-08-01T12:51:00.001-04:00

Our garden story for July is hot, dry weather, little rain, okra and peppers. We have some beautiful bells growing. I can see stuffed peppers in my future meal plans. Actually, we had them last week. They are really beautiful and peppers will grow until almost frost. They are always a little late for us but do well in hot weather.

We are getting a few butter peas. We cleaned out the grass growing around them yesterday and I am hoping that will help them grow even better. They are beautiful on top of a dark green butter pea leaf.

Cucumbers look quite sad.

The green beans are looking ragged, too, but still growing.

Our hot peppers are growing at a faster pace now that the weather is really hot.

The tomatoes have really suffered. This is just before we cleaned them out and cut the dead leaves off. I hope they will improve a bit but I don't hold out much luck for them if the weather doesn't improve.

We have some watermelons that have been growing. I don't know if they will mature before frost. I like the way they look while they grow.

Okra. I love it. It is really producing now and the blooms are so pretty.

Two days ago we had some nice squash blooms but they really aren't growing well in this hot weather.

More peppers. These are sweet bananas.

Another view. This makes us long for cooler winter crops because the summer crops are not doing so well. I wish we could control the weather but we can't. That's the update. We are wishing for cooler days.

Lemonade serving tips

2011-07-28T14:46:00.001-04:00

The other day, at my get-together I made cranberry lemonade (1 frozen can of lemonade, 4 cans of water, 1 64-ounce bottle of cranberry juice -- for less of a cranberry taste use half the bottle of cranberry juice). Northland cranberry juice has a richer flavor than most and I prefer the juice-only variety.

This is the simplest punch I have ever made and people always love it. What I loved even more than the simplicity of the recipe is the serving method.

I love to serve lemonade in large lidded jars. The lids protect from summer "critters" when serving outside. I just dumped a whole bag of ice in the large jar and mixed the lemonade in the smaller jar and it was easy -- everyone serves themselves. Surprisingly, the ice lasts for a long time and I use either tongs or a big, long-handled spoon for the ice and a dipper for the lemonade. I could have poured the ice in the lemonade, but I really don't like to water it down.

The jars were purchased at WalMart for around $12 for both. It really is functional, not too dressy and quite nice for an informal gathering.

Shrimp Boil

2011-07-27T14:02:00.000-04:00

When we go to the beach (which is not every year), we rent a condo or house, and eat all but a few dinner meals in. Each year we make a list of all the good, yet easy dinner menus, which usually includes lasagna and this year, spicy spaghetti. Sometimes we order pizza and usually go out for a good seafood meal, once or twice.

This year we added a new dinner meal. We had a magnificent shrimp boil. It was absolutely wonderful and so appropriate for the beach. It was even easier than I thought it would be, and very good. We took a large deep pan from home that we used as a grocery carrier and then on "shrimp boil day," went to the fish market and bought some fresh shrimp. We purchased a half pound per person.

We then layered the pan with potatoes covered with water and a bag of Old Bay Shrimp boil spice, about a quarter to half cup of Louisiana Craw fish, Crab and Shrimp Boil spices (depending on how spicy you like your food, it can be hot), salt and pepper to taste, corn, onions, smoked sausage and topped it off with shrimp and had a wonderful meal.

After the shrimp turns pink, drain it all into a colander and if you can, pour onto newspapers out on the deck. If you can't, pour onto platters and have plenty of napkins and "peeling plates" ready for the shrimp shells.

That is the basic recipe. Be sure to add the potatoes first and bring them to a boil, then layer on the other ingredients, making sure things come back to a boil and everything has cooked thoroughly before adding the shrimp, which cooks quickly.

We had leftovers for lunch the next day after coming in from the beach -- so good. Where is the sausage? Unfortunately, it is underneath the shrimp (I don't think I will have anyone knocking on my door asking me to style their food for photos! Oops.) Yes, that is the ocean on the top right-hand corner of the photo.

Flowers from the yard and garden

2011-07-26T13:56:00.002-04:00

Saturday, my sister suggested I take a bouquet of her Chinese Snowballs to decorate our table for a gathering we were having the following afternoon. It was a great idea because the flowers were very pretty and the price was certainly right! They are still gracing my kitchen table and look almost as good as they did on Sunday.

Gathering blooms from the yard and garden is one of my favorite things to do. I love the beauty of a florist's bouquet but I don't honestly think they are ugly if you can't arrange them like a pro -- after all, I think they are beautiful in their natural state so why should they suddenly become ugly because they aren't displayed by a decorator?

I do love almost all cut wild flowers -- especially Queen Anne's Lace and spring blooms (though they fade quickly). I also love to put things like herbs in with my flowers. Fresh mint, basil and stevia (or sweet leaf) can give a fresh smell to a room. I put about a tablespoon of sugar in the water before adding the flowers and I tied the stems together with a rubber band, though that is not necessary. Of course, I cover my table or counter with newspaper before arranging because it can be a messy job.

I know some people have cutting gardens to keep fresh flowers at all times and that is what I would love to have the time for. That can be one of my goals for later in life.

I am reminded of the Jane Austen novel, Sense and Sensibility where Maryanne received the wildflower bouquet from Mr. Willoughby after receiving one from Colonel Brandon and said, "These are not from the hothouse." I think she might have been signaling her preference of men rather than flowers. If she had been talking only about flowers I think I kind of understand the sentiment. It would cost so much more for a big showy bouquet if I had purchased them from a florist, but the fact that I (or someone) took the time to gather and arrange them is really sweeter.

One thing I have found -- I always try to know what the flower or plant is named because most of the time people will ask. These flowers, for instance, I thought were mop head hydrangeas but are really Chinese Snowballs. (I always get that wrong.) Very pretty, but not the same thing.

I also like the fact that even though it is July and very hot, shrubs and flowers are still producing showy blooms right in the (in this case) front yard. Another good thing -- it was time to prune this shrub anyway so we accomplished two things. I have a bouquet that is a thing of beauty and my sister has some pruned bushes. That is definitely a "win-win."