What happens when babies hate sand?

We have been stumped by a baby who LOVED the beach last year but can't stand even one grain of sand on hands or feet. He loves water, screams when sand is near.

Our solution is to put him in a little boat float filled with a couple if buckets of water and give him beach toys. We looked for a little pool but this float could be used as a pool and a float.

Happy toddler, happy parents, happy me. This happiness only cost me $4.27!

A healing herb

What is this lovely flower? It traditionally has been used as a healing herb. The flower petals are used in wound healing and treating skin ailments.

I started my calendulas from seed this spring and they are just now beginning to bloom. Finally!  Here is some info.

Calendula officinalis (Pot Marigold or English Garden Marigold) a member if the daisy family. A half-hardy annual or tender perennial. Good for early- and late-season color but performs badly in hot weather. Flower petals are sometimes used in medicine. 

Calendula shouldn't be confused with the marigold, Tagetes erecta (African Marigold). T. patula (French Marigold). This is a different plant altogether.

Though it is considered a tender perennial I am hopeful that I can transplant to my new herb bed this fall. I know the flower petals are edible and I think it is prettier than I expected.

Turning $5 into summer relaxation

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a nearby neighbor's yard sale and bought a couple of wicker chairs and a wicker table for just $5.

But I will be the first to admit that I didn't really know if it was a great purchase, or not. The seats were sagging, some of the wicker was barely hanging on, and they were a sorry shade of gray. They were dirty and mildewed, but as I reached in my purse to get the $5, I found myself giving a pep talk--to me. I was telling myself that if I had to take these chairs to the dump, I would only be out $5. I had wasted $5 before and this could really fill a need we had.

The back story is that during an ice storm this past winter, a large pine had fallen on our deck, destroying our entire patio set. Thankfully our deck receive only minor damage but we had nothing to sit out on in the evenings when our deck was shady. Also, we had to replace three sets of doors that open onto the deck, so our budget wouldn't stretch for a new patio set. Not this year.

That all worked together to make the very sad-looking wicker set look more attractive to me. When I got them home, my husband was skeptical that I could repair and restore the set for use at all, though $5 wasn't so much to waste. He said I was on my own in this one.

I knew I didn't want to spend too mush on restoration and I didn't even take a before photo because the set just looked too bad.

To fix it up, I bought some high tack wood glue and made some repairs with glue. I then reinforced the seat bottoms with wire. I knew that paint would most likely cover the wire and I was right. I bought some spray paint and sprayed the chairs and then added a coat of leftover white enamel exterior paint, leftover from the painting the doors. This I added with a brush.

When I was finished, I was pleased, but my husband was elated. He just couldn't believe they looked so much better.

We purchased cushions for about $10 each and we are very happy with the results. If this furniture will last until next year when we will probably be able to replace it with a new set, we will feel that the $5, plus supplies and cushions will have been worth the price and the effort.

The only chore we have left now is to paint the deck and we can have our morning coffee in our new chairs and we can also sit out while watching the grill with a glass of mint tea. It doesn't get much better or much cheaper!

Saturday at the Carnegie

Saturday was a very big event for us. We were at the Carnegie Library in downtown Newnan, Ga. presenting our story and giving tips for gluten-free baking and cooking. The photos are courtesy of Katie Brady who was an incredible hostess for this event.

We certainly appreciate the Newnan Carnegie Library Foundation and Katie Brady who invited us to speak and present our gluten-free tips, and also serve some of our baked goodies to the attendees. We had about fifty who came out on a beautiful Saturday morning to hear us speak and I must say, the audience was so attentive and encouraging. We felt we were really helping those who are struggling to provide a gluten-free lifestyle in a world that is obsessed with wheat!

They provided encouragement and also some very good tips, too. I think it is amazing how much you can learn from a group of like-minded people.

We told everyone about our story and how we came to this point--blogging, authoring a book, and trying to keep things going with busy lives, careers and families.

We showed them the flours and ingredients we use and gave them tips that included, keep positive, how to turn your mistakes into something good--like croutons from a failed bread recipe, and making a trifle from a cake that fell. We also demonstrated how mixing wasn't such a bad thing and gave away one of the mixes we created.

 After we spoke, we invited everyone to try our our goodies and the brownies were the crowd favorite. The Lemon Blueberry Cake which was my favorite, and a very close second with the crowd.

Later, we had a book signing (here I am making change from my purse!).

I can only say how welcomed we felt and appreciate so much the Newnan Carnegie Foundation, Katie Brady, Carol Zoeller, Carolyn Sears, and Anita Headley. They helped us so much. We are definitely fans of the Newnan Carnegie. Thanks so much!

Saturday, speaking at the Carnegie

We can't wait until Saturday! My daughter, Amelia and I will be there to speak at the Carnegie in Newnan, Ga., about our journey. Why we wrote a gluten-free cookbook. What we've learned and how we have grown from the experience.

I can't wait to answer questions and talk about how it is to go gluten-free in a wheat-obsessed world.

It begins at 10:30 am, and will be followed by a book signing. I hope to see you there!

Ardenne Farms giveaway.

Gluten-free mixes just aren't as good, right? They are gritty and don't taste as well, right?

(Birthday cupcakes with football baking cups. My decorating isn't quite on par with my artist mother's).

Well, you just haven't tried the right brand of mix - and I have the right brand for you to try. Ardenne Farm. Honestly, these mixes are so good that you might want to try them even if you don't eat gluten-free. You won't be able to tell the difference - and they really are THAT yummy!

I know I have spoken about these mixes before - last time I told you about the chocolate chip cookies.  And, yes, they were fabulous. This time I made the cupcakes. Oh wow! There is no better cake mix out there - gluten-free or not.

I could tell as they were coming out of the oven that they'd be great. 

Does this look gritty to you? I was told by some nice ladies with Ardenne Farm that they mill their own flours so that they are ground finely. And it was obviously true from how light and fluffy these cupcakes turned out.

And now for the giveaway! How would you like to try this delicious-looking muffin mix?

In the comments below, tell me your favorite gluten-free summertime guilty pleasure, and we will enter you in a drawing for this Ardenne Farm Cinnmon Crunch Muffin Mix so you can see for yourself how great these products taste!

We will pick the winner on Thursday at 7:00 pm and announce it on Friday, 

Gluten-free Peachie pie

While coming up with a gluten-free peach cobbler recipe, my mom decided to fold the dough over some peachy goodness and stick it in the oven to see how it worked. The dough turned out to be a little hard to maneuver than she liked, but the end result was delicious!

If you want to try it for yourself, here is the recipe and her "how-to." If you come up with a better way to form the pockets, please let us know!

Peachie Pie Fold-overs

Working with dough can be hard, but working with gluten-free dough takes a little more patience. We used plastic wrap to roll out the pieces and chilled the dough to help make the gluten-free dough more workable.

3/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons sugar
(+ at least 1/4 cup extra potato starch or corn starch for rolling out dough)
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cups milk (Add 1/3 cup and then a tablespoon at a time until dough is workable. All of the milk may not be used.) (Buttermilk or almond milk may be substituted.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, add 3/4 cup potato starch, glutinous rice flour, sorghum flour, baking powder, 1 tablespoon corn starch, xanthan gum, salt, and sugar. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender. Add 1/3 cup of the milk and mix. Slowly add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until dough is workable. Chill for 1/2 hour. While dough is chilling, cook the filling. Remove from the refrigerator and cut into 8 equal pieces. On a sheet of plastic wrap place on the counter, add a little of the potato starch (or corn starch). Take one of the 8 dough pieces and pat it until it is thin. Transfer onto cookie sheet. Put a heaping tablespoon of the cooked peach filling into the center of the pressed-out dough. Fold it over and use a fork dipped into the potato or corn starch and press edges down. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until pies become browned. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes before removing from the baking sheet. Allow to cool. Makes 8 servings.

Filling

Potato starch or tapioca starch can be substituted for the corn starch. Fresh peaches sprinkled with ascorbic acid can be used instead of the frozen ones. The ascorbic acid is used so that the peaches don't turn brown. It is optional.

1 16-ounce package frozen peaches with ascorbic acid
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch

Pour frozen peaches into a saucepan and allow to partially thaw. Cut into bite-size chunks. Add sugar and corn starch and stir to mix. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture cooks and thickens. Filling is ready to put into the dough shells. Makes enough to fill 8 pies.