Pear Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Nut Topping

Happy  Christmas!  It is cold and
rainy in our neck of the woods.  We've had thunderstorms since
midnight.  It's a perfect moring for coffee cake and hot chocolate for
breakfast.  This coffee cake has the DH stamp of approval - he exlaimed
"oh man, this is good coffee cake!" at the first bite, and now there is
none left.  I'll have to make more for Boxing Day!




Pear Coffee  Cake

1 1/2

Coffee Cake and Muffin Blend

Millet flour tastes lovely in coffee cakes and quick breads.  Alone, it tends to be crumbly.   Add buckwheat flour, and this blend  makes a moist coffee cake with a perfect crumb.

1 1/2 cups millet flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch

Sift all ingredients until well-blended.  Store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.

Cinnamon Skillet Apples

Skillet apples are one of my favorite recipes to make.  They are fast, easy and fun to make with kids.  Serve them for dessert by topping them with ice cream (we like So Delicious Vanilla Bean) or Soyatoo Rice Whip.  OR serve them for breakfast by topping them with granola (we like Homemade Buckwheat Granola) and/or yogurt (So Delicious Vanilla Yogurt or homemade coconut milk yogurt).

4

Pinto Bean Chili

Today is damp and cloudy.  Tomorrow will be cold and windy.  Weather like this is perfect for chili.  This pinto bean chili is my new favorite - it's very thick since Anna won't eat anything brothy.  You can thin it with more broth or even salsa if desired, or serve it with cornbread or on top of a baked potato.  I like mine dressed simply with plenty of chopped fresh tomato and avocado.

1

Romeo's Bruschetta Topping

It got cold here!  Last weekend it was 80 degrees, and this morning we woke up to snow.  My blood must be thinning because I'm starting to complain about 40 degree weather.  DH flaunts his "I grew up in northern Vermont" style by running around in this weather in shorts...out of spite, I think.  But I bundle up, and the girls more than me (hats and scarves and the works...it's not that cold). 

Fresh Berry Pancakes

It has been quiet here for the past month.  More like normal.  Anna wigged out for a good two months after the start of school, and then she calmed down and life is back to the way it used to be.  I took some good advice and to try to get a handle on Anna's meltdown triggers, I started using a point chart.  Anna got one point each for a good morning, a good afternoon and good homework time (

Gluten Free & Vegan - Pumpkin Pie!

 



Happy Thanksgiving!  I ended up making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving instead of Christmas!  It's only taken me oh... two years of egg-free baking to get up to this, as I had very strong opinions about what My Mom's Pumpkin Pie should taste like.  There could be no tofu, as we are soy-free.  I didn't want to use flours like buckwheat or millet or even flax to thicken it - I wanted to to be as

Gluten Free & Vegan - Pecan Pie!

Here it is - my second pecan pie ever, and my first gluten free and vegan one!  I have got to run out the door to get to work, but I wanted to post this quickly before Thanksgiving.  I have never before liked pecan pie, it was always much too cloyingly sweet for me.  This pecan pie is sweet, but not overpoweringly sweet.  It is really, really good.  This pie was a team effort - the girls

White Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving in our house.  By gearing up I mean, I'm working longer hours at the store because 'tis the season, I have not gone grocery shopping or thought too terribly much about Thanksgiving dinner, and I keep fantasizing about making a gluten free and vegan pumpkin pie that does not rely on a lot of flour of any type to thicken it.  I doubt the pumpkin pie will happen

Kitchen Sink Bean Soup

This year finds me talking to high schoolers about the importance of living within a budget, and making meals in a snap from everyday items found in the pantry.  This weekend found me in a time crunch (okay, every day finds me in a time crunch, but that is besides the point), without the wherewithall or desire to run to the store to get some supplies for dinner.  In my bare kitchen were frozen

Homemade Vegetable Stock

Here is a good recipe to use up vegetables that are just past their prime. If you don't have as much as you need at one time to make vegetable stock, throw them into the freezer until you have all the ingredients you need. This is a great way to cut down on waste and make something healthy at the same time. You don't have to have all the vegetables listed below- use whatever you have on hand

Double Chocolate Cranberry Pancakes

 


I am not working this weekend, the first weekend off I've had in many months.  It is lovely to wake up slowly and not have to run out the door in a panic to punch in and work on my feet all day.  I made a leisurely pancake breakfast for the girls, lighting a candle on the table and glowing warm inside with their smiles.  Now they are outside raking the leaves for fun.  It has been a perfect

Carrot Soup

I came across this soup at a holiday party some 15 years ago.  I had never had carrot soup in my life and screwed up my face at the thought, but I had to make the choice between carrot soup or chicken and prunes, or risk offending the host.  I chose the soup (to this day, I still can't bear the thought of chicken and prunes) and was mighty surprised at how much I liked it.  I begged the

Fried Cauliflower with Garlic Dip

There is a Mediterranean bistro close to where we live that serves the most excellent cauliflower.  For the longest time I could not figure out how they did it, and then a friend told me they fried it.  I couldn't believe it!  My favorite dish was evil in disguise.  I shunned it for years, thinking of all those fat calories and how they would likely end up on my hips.  But then I decided to make

Nutmeg Cookies (Gluten Free & Vegan)

A cold front came through yesterday, bringing with it welcome rain.  It rained all day and all night, a steady, gentle rain.  A little wind here and there would tuft the leaves of the trees, revealing a few yellow spots...the leaves are starting to turn.  It was a perfect, beautiful day.  I had to work all day yesterday, but if I had been at home I would have liked to sit staring out the

Strawberry Shortcake (Gluten Free & Vegan)

The other day I picked up the newest version of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving.  My other one is at least 10 years old and I seem to have somehow misplaced it.  Also, the newer book was on clearance and I am a total sucker for cookbooks.  I collect them.  I have so many I don't have space for them, but I can't help thumbing through racks of cookbooks in the stores.  At the store where I

Ina's Clam Alfredo Sauce (Gluten, Dairy and Soy Free))

I check my Reader in Blogger every day, hungering for new ideas and inspirations.  One of the blogs I follow is Ina's at Gluten Free Delightfully Delicious.  She makes every day, accessible, totally fabulous looking fresh food that I drool over on a regular basis.  I checked my Reader yesterday and what to my wondering eyes should appear was Ina's version of a Clam Alfredo Sauce.  You guys -

Fresh Candied Jalapenos

The weather has turned evil again.  The triple-digit heat had broken, and we had enough rain over two weeks that I didn't have to water the lawn at all.  It is now hot and dry again with triple-digit heat and no rain in sight.  I am out watering the lawn tonight (grumble), trying not to freak out over the random lizards that are hiding in dark pockets everywhere and the bugs that are trying to

Crock Pot Arroz con Pollo (Chicken with Rice)

 (This dish looks like it took all day to cook, no?  But it didn't!  My crock pot strikes again!)




School has started for the year.  I'd say this begins my busy season, but I was pretty busy all summer long.  However, I was home more this summer and will be home less this school year.  So this year will see heavy use of my crock pot!



To start the school year I thought a fairly spiffy

Fried Okra (Gluten Free & Vegan)

I know.  I swore I would never eat okra, and here I am posting a recipe for fried okra.  But I am a practical person, and this weekend found freshly picked okra on the counter, staring at me.  Daring me.  DH went to a friend's community garden plot to help harvest veggies and came home with the long green pods.  They were fresh, organic and free.  So I swallowed my pride and cooked okra for

Fresh Fig Jam

 

 Fresh fig jam on gluten free bread...so yummy!


I have a friend who has two enormous fig trees.  She hates those trees, does not like figs and does not harvest the fruit.  When she told me she wanted to rip her fig trees out of the ground to make room for something else I nearly had a cow.  You want to do what?  Do you know how expensive fresh figs are in the stores, and you have them for

Cinnamon Raisin Bread for the Bread Machine

The other day it occurred to me that I have not made cinnamon raisin bread in years!  How could that have happened?!  There's almost nothing that smells better than baking cinnamon raisin bread (unless it's apple pie).  As hot as it is right now, it is almost time for school to start and that means that autumn is just around the corner.  My mind is beginning to fill with all things autumn,

Fresh Black Eyed Peas

It is hot, hot, hot!  The grass is dying, trees are losing their leaves like it's autumn, and the sun on my skin really hurts in only 15 minutes.  Nothing moves around outside past noon, even in the shade.  Our one-eyed yard squirrel, affectionately named "Chomper" by the girls, has been seen laying in a crook of one of our trees, languishing in the heat, not bothering to move away from us when

Fudgey No Bake Cookies

 

 (Yes, I'm a dork.  I still like to make smiley faces out of food.  I'm sure my kids will hate that when they are older.)


It is hot...too hot to bake.  My new favorite summer cookie recipe (based on this recipe here) is super simple and kid-friendly.  They are rich and fudgey and I think they'd be sure to please just about anyone.

1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips
2 tbsp. almond butter
1

Gluten Free Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

 Megan is back to eating rice (in moderation!) with thankfully no eczema flare-ups.  To celebrate, I made these chocolate rice crispy treats.  I love these things, and so do the kids!  

1/2 bag of marshmallows (I use about 11 large Elyon Marshmallows)
2 tbsp. coconut oil
1/2 box Nature's Path Koala Crisp cereal
1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips



Line one 8x8 inch baking dish with wax

Garden Life and Fresh Vegetable Succotash

Our garden is not dead yet!  Last year everything died in July, but this year mostly everything is still alive and producing.  We are still gathering cucumbers, Swiss Chard, carrots, jalapenos and green and golden peppers.  We've gone through our garlic, beets, turnips, shallots, kale, mustard, lettuce, arugula and tomatoes, and we were able to harvest two zucchini and two butternut squash

Fresh Pickled Jalapenos

We have two happy jalapeno plants in our garden.  Until it got hot, they produced like crazy...they've since slowed down, and now instead of staying green, the peppers are turning red.  Earlier in the season, they were fairly mild, but now with the hot weather, they have a good burn!



We were overwhelmed the other week with a big batch of jalapenos and I didn't know what to do with them.

Quinoa Jam Bars

Recently as I was perusing the gluten-free grocery aisle, I happened upon a bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour.  I was intrigued, but not enough to fork over $6 for a bag of it.  That seems expensive to me, but maybe I'm shopping in the wrong places.  I did, however, jot down the recipe for Raspberry Oatmeal Bars on the back of the bag.  And then instead of buying the expensive oats, I

Green Tomato Relish

Our tomatoes bit the dust.  We planted them on the south side of the house in an area that gets some shade during the day, because last summer it was so depressing to see them fry in the hot sun all day long dying slow, tortured deaths.  Last summer we ended up pulling the poor dried plants out of the ground about the beginning of July.  We were hoping to make them last a little longer this

Cheese, Glorious Cheese (Sliceable Daiya!)

Daiya has done it again.  They've made a completely plausible vegan, soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free cheese that you can slice.  You can put it on crackers.  It melts too, and makes wonderful sandwich melts.  It's impossibly creamy and tastes like actual cheese (or at least, very close to what I remember cheese tasting like).  I am in love with Daiya's new Wedges.




There are three Wedge

Finally! "Sour Cream" I Can Buy - And other Stuff by Wayfare!

For years I have stalked the cheese aisles at my local natural food stores to see what new dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free "dairy" products are offered, waiting for that elusive holy grail - sour cream.  Imagine my excitement, after years of waiting, to see We Can't Say It's Sour Cream at one of my local Whole Foods stores!  And right next to it, We Can't Say It's Cheese cheese spreads - all

What to Eat When You Eat Out Gluten Free - A Review

Hello everyone!  I'm back.  After months of flying by the seat of my pants, writing minimally on my neglected blog, and hosting family and friends for a month at the start of the summer, I can relax.  And relaxing for me means cooking and writing.  I have a stack of recipes to post, a head full of humming thoughts and fingers itchy to type.



The first thing I want to share is:  I have recently

Marinated Cucumbers

My mom made this side dish many times while I was growing up. She never had a recipe for them, she just threw together a little bit of this and a little bit of that until the dish tasted right. Here I think I have the measurements right - you can adjust the amounts to suit your taste. The leftover vinaigrette is good to put on salad, too.

1 small English cucumber (regular cukes work well too,

Home Remedy for Cold Sores

 

 ( I use Herb Pharm Sage which I can find at my local natural food stores)



I have succumbed to the stress.  The stress of what, I'm not quite sure.  I don't feel stressed - although I am busy, I am not consternated about it in the least.  I am busy.  I am happy.  Life is good.  But the only time I get fever blisters is when I'm stressed out and tired (and exposed to more sunlight than

Temptation Cookies

It was my pleasure, this past school semester, to teach a home economics type of class at the girls' school.  I had so much fun!  The students told me they had fun too, and they didn't even complain when I gave them "homework" to do over the summer - to practice all the things we learned in class!  One of the components of the class was baking.  I searched for the easiest, least fussy, tastiest

Creamy Cucumber Salad

 

For your consideration today:  Creamy Cucumber Salad.  My mom used to make this all the time with sour cream.    It is just as good with coconut cream (maybe even better).



1 small English Cucumber (seedless), washed and thinly sliced

1/3 cup coconut cream

2 tbsp. white or apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. black pepper

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. dried dill, if desired



Put the

Garden Pictures

Our garden is growing like gangbusters!  We planted seeds at the end of February and all the plants are now growing inches every day.  We have garlic and shallots (planted last fall), turnips, carrots, arugula, winter squash, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, a couple of varieties of tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, bibb lettuce and spinach (which were threatening to bolt so we harvested them), swiss

Pan Fried Jerk Salmon

I love this recipe for jerk salmon, which I found years and years ago at a small natural food store back east. I've lost the recipe card but this recipe comes close. If I buy sockeye salmon, this is how I like to prepare it - its firm flesh holds up to pan frying without falling apart, and I think the jerk sauce compliments its robust flavor very well. This jerk sauce is not spicy - you can

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies

Maybe it's that time of the month. I can't seem to get enough of these bar cookies. I've made them several times and have yet to get bored. Bar cookies are blessedly low maintenance - they stay in the pan, cool in the pan and are served out of the pan. They make the kids happy. They make the husband happy. And that makes me happy. Plus, they taste good. I like these better so far than

Drop Biscuits - Gluten Free & Vegan

Here's a quick and easy biscuit recipe for busy nights. I love drop biscuits for their serious no-fuss quality, and this one is as simple as it is tasty. The inspiration for this recipe can be found here. The girls love these biscuits at any time of the day - for breakfast with margarine, honey and fruit, as biscuit sandwiches for lunch with deli meat, for tearing into bits and dipping into

A Gringa's Homemade Salsa

I love salsa. However, the stuff you can buy in stores is much too watery for Navajo Tacos. So I made my own. I tried to follow a friend's directions for making it from memory...all I remember was him saying "throw in a little of this and a pinch of that". As a native Californian, he's more authentic in the Mex arena than I am (ye olde Yankee). I went with my memory anyway. It turned out

Pulled Pork for Tacos

I work on weekends, all weekend long, and I've been embracing my crock pot more and more as a dinner-helper. One of my favorite things to make is pulled pork because it's so easy and mindless. I usually dump some salsa on the bottom of the crock pot, place a 2 1/2 pound pork loin on top, and dump more salsa on the top of that. Cover, cook on low for 6 hours, and viola! Dinner is ready!

Navajo Fry Bread - Gluten Free & Vegan

Finally! Here is the promised post for Indian Fry Bread/Navajo Tacos. I followed a Penzey's recipe and made changes to make it gluten free and vegan. I've tried it with different flour blends and found that my Biscuit Blend (or another blend with a high starch content such as Smart Flour Baking Blend) works best to keep the fry bread chewy and bendable. I really cannot emphasize how fabulous

Cooking Dried Beans in a Crock Pot

It occurred to me today, as I was running around like a crazy person trying to get stuff done over Spring Break, that it should be possible to cook dried beans in a crock pot. That would free me from hovering near the stove watching a pot of beans cook for an hour and a half. So I hopped onto Google and what did I find? Many, many recipes for cooking dried beans in a crock pot! Eureka! If I

Quinoa and Amaranth Fermented Flat Breads

(This particular flat bread is made with amaranth grain!)The other day DH goofed and gave Megan some rice cheese. She'd been rice-free for a few weeks and her hands have gotten a lot better - still dry, but no eczema. Well, the day after the rice cheese goof, Megan complained to me about her hands being itchy. Hmmm. Time to mix it up and rotate some grains. I've been making Lentil and

Biscuit Blend

Here is another rice-free flour blend. I have been using it sparingly - the starch content is higher than I like, but it makes really fluffy biscuits! It also makes the most amazing Navajo Tacos (recipe to follow soon). Biscuits and Indian Fry Bread are treats worthy of their own flour blend, I think, and this one works really well for both of them.1/3 cup buckwheat flour (or teff flour)1/3

Rice-Free Multi-Grain Flour Blend

I have not fallen off the face of the earth, I promise! I've just been busy. It's a lame excuse but it's true. First I was sick, then I was sick again, then Anna was sick, now DH is sick. Only Megan has been spared. However Megan, after a year and a half of no eczema, has had to deal with hands all chewed up again. The last time this happened, we found out she was allergic to egg. Before

Buckeyes

I am sick. Again. For Super Bowl weekend, no less! I'm so miffed. I thought 37 was going to be so awesome and then I got slammed with first a bladder infection (an evil from which I have been previously spared and hope to never endure again) and now an unnamed upper respiratory infection, which I sincerely hope won't turn out to be bronchitis. I totally need to drown my sorrows in chocolate.

Kalamata Olive Scones - A Trip Down Memory Lane

Years ago, before the girls were born and when I was still eating gluten, DH and I went to a mom and pop Italian restaurant on a whim. We had gone 30 minutes inland from the shore where we lived to a rural part of the state with lovely one-lane winding roads. (Boy I miss those curvy tree-lined roads, so much fun to drive!) We'd make the out-of-the-way trip to a special mom and pop brewing

Gluten Free & Vegan - Cream Gravy

Continuing my slide into assimilation, the other night this born and bred northeasterner made cream gravy. I've only ever had it once before when a friend made it for me last year (she's pretty determined to speed along my habituation!). I'd previously turned my nose up at the stuff but since she made it, I had to try it. It was okay - not bad, but still a little foreign.The decision to cave

Gluten Free & Vegan - Cocoa Snowflakes

Where is winter? It's felt like spring for half the month already. The daffodils are sprouting and wasps are flying underneath the overhangs. The closest I can come to snow here lately is to make Cocoa Snowflakes. I know that's a far cry from the real cold stuff but...they're chocolate, and what's not to like about that?To make these egg-free I used prune butter, which makes chocolate baked

Dried Fruit and Nut Snack Mix

This is a sweet (but not overly sweet) version of Chex Mix (for a savory version, click here). It smells fabulous in the oven and if you don't watch it, it will be gone in no time flat. I used chopped almonds and dried cranberries this time, but any nut (or no nuts if you prefer) or dried fruit (cherries, blueberries, snipped apricots, chopped figs, etc.) would be good. If you wanted to get a

Spaghetti Squash with Walnut Sauce

When DH and I were first married he bought Essential Pasta and Pizza on sale at the book store for $5. It was a great investment - some of my favorite soup and pasta recipes come from this book. One of my very favorite dishes that DH used to make for special occasions was pasta with walnut sauce. It was rich and amazing with generous amounts of butter and cream. As our 15th anniversary nears,