This is Christmas

Thank you God, for loving the world so much that You sent Your only Son to restore us!

Christmas party for one

HA! I bet you clicked over to read my post on “the reason for the season” or see a “Happy Birthday, Jesus!” party.
Nope
It was a party for one – me! You see, I’ve been baking biscotti (6 different flavors!) and cookies all week. I even made some white (gasp) bread dough this morning so my sons could make focaccia bread tonight that they’ve been begging for almost a year. But, no tasty goodie tastes for me.
When I bake gluten free, it’s usually for breakfast & I don’t have time to bake something for the guys with wheat. Sooooo, what takes forever to prepare is soon devoured (& sometimes complained about because it’s “nasty”) with none left over.
This morning, after the guys left the house (oh, except for the university one who lives in his room hunched over his laptop…) I baked a batch of donuts.
I’d baked two previous batches since I got my pan (which I ordered online & on sale through Hobby Lobby!) I had pinned this recipe for Almond Flour baked donuts, and through various links & searches concluded I could use fine-shred coconut in the same fashion.

For today’s batch I had to combine finely grated coconut & almond flour. (“somebody” knocked my jar of grated coconut out of the pantry & sent shards of glass & coconut dust all over the kitchen…)

I mixed dry ingredients:

I added the remaining ingredients:

I put some dried cherry-cranberries in the donut pan:I put the batter in the pan (it’s recommended you fill only 2/3 full, but I likes ‘em plump!)Baked in a 350° oven for 12 minutes.And then I had myself a little piping-hot donut pre-Christmas party:

Christmas "peekies"

Believe it or not, I have been busy. I realize my blogging record of late does not reflect that.

How 'bout a couple little glimpses at what's wrapped & going to land under a tree or two...

And then there's this:

and this:

with this:

Maybe a little of this:

One of these:

 But definitely, so very much of this:

Aunt Ruth’s Kielbasa Stew

I was sooooooooo excited when Kelly from View Along the Way announced a holiday heirloom recipe party! I fixed a warming & filling soup for my boys that I first encountered almost 30 years ago.I was a sophomore in college and I was living at home. However, my folks had moved away to Oregon for a few years. During that lonely phase of life, my aunt made sure I didn’t starve & that I spent family time with her, my cousins & uncle. The evening we decorated her tree, some extra guests popped by for dinner.  This is the meal she frugally stretched to feed us all.Aunt Ruth got the recipe from her mother-in-law. (Evidently it was a Danish family recipe that Gramma J wouldn’t even entrust to her own daughter…)

My guys & I found that it is a great soup for a cold evening. We sat outside by the firepit (finally cool enough for a fire…) and enjoyed our lit tree.Here’s the ingredient list for the soup:…and here’s how to make it:Here is what it looked like in the pot:…and this is how it looks just prior to being devoured:

Key Lime Trifle (the gluten-free way…)

I was very pleased with my Thanksgiving dessert! Evidently, so was everyone else, for this is all that was left:I need to work  a bit with the texture of  the cake, but the flavors worked so well together.
Here is what I mixed together for my “Faux Graham Cake”:I’m pretty sure I tried to get too much cake into the trifle dish. Using half of the 9x13” would’ve been sufficient.I’m very pleased with the lime/cream cheese layer. (As previously mentioned here, we prefer our key lime pie to not have the traditional sweetened condensed milk flavor…) Our limes were ripened on the tree, so you might need to adjust your lime/honey ratio to your own taste. (No need to worry about the extra liquidity, for it will be absorbed by the cake.)Here are the ingredients I beat together:
Honey whipped cream is becoming a favorite at our house. Being “off” of processed sugar, cream tastes so sweet to me. The boys love to stuff this into scones or slather on a piece of berry pie.
I crumbled a layer of cake, spooned on the lime filling, then dolloped on the whipped cream. Repeated the entire procedure…
Covered it with plastic wrap & refrigerated until we served it after dinner.
Here you see it in it’s natural state: (empty plate & 1/2 cup of coffee…)

Thankful for…

Cousins!

sibling rivalry

Thanksgiving was a wonderful gathering this year. (We certainly, however, missed our sister who celebrated in her favorite far-away place again.)My brother indicated on facebook that he’d made a gluten-free zucchini nut bread. I felt so sorry for him. Poor boy. It probably had a terrible texture & I was so ready to tutor him (with my incredible GF baking knowledge) on ingredients…

Oh my! I got to sample the first slice (which may or may not have been slathered with Neufchâtel…) of that incredible breadand knew I needed to share his recipe here.

If you enjoy it, you can thank my brother for it…

my baby is 13

…and now we have not one, not two, but three teenage boys living in our midst!Harrison, you bring so much joy & laughter into our house! You are a talented percussionist and actor.What a blessing you are!