Gluten-free baking is a real challenge, so much that there are shelves full of cookbooks devoted to turning out baked goods that, hopefully, aren’t dry, crumbly, dense, starchy, greasy, gummy or tasting of cardboard. The truth is, gluten-free flours just don’t act like wheat flour – it’s not in their chemistry. In most circumstances, you… Continue reading My Gluten-free All-purpose Flour Blend and Lemony Pound Cake
What can I say? We inadvertently took a six month sabbatical from blogging, but we never took a break from cooking, eating well, and listening to great music. Thanks to you all that have continued to follow us anyway – – we hope to get back into the swing of this. There will be some… Continue reading Peach Upside-Down Cake (Gluten Free)
Lemon bars seem to be a nice, light dessert, with their innocent-looking sweet tartness and summery color. However if you spend anytime browsing recipes, you know that they are evil – usually full of sugar and flour (up to 3 cups of sugar in a small pan)! I had written them off, until I came… Continue reading Lemon Bars (gluten and grain-free, dairy-free)
Our CSA box from Rise ‘N Shine Organic Farms has been bountiful in the strawberry department. So far we’ve netted around 9 pints of perfectly ripe, beautiful berries. After eating lots of strawberries in salads, and just by themselves, I decided to make one of those old-fashioned cream cheese, whipped cream, and strawberry pies. Browsing… Continue reading Strawberry “Pink and White” Cream Cheese Pie
This isn’t the sort of thing I usually do. With my fondness for all dairy products, I’ve never seen the need to try to make substitutions, but the idea of this raw cheesecake made from cashews piqued my curiosity. It was hard to imagine that soaked raw nuts could be turned into anything comparable to… Continue reading Cashew “Cheesecake” (gluten-free, dairy-free)
On special days at my grandmother’s house, there was a giant glass bowl, much bigger than my head, filled nearly to the brim with layer upon layer of vanilla wafers, bananas, and creamy pudding. The crowning glory to this masterpiece was the ocean of meringue topping, with swooping waves and curls that were just barely… Continue reading Old-Fashioned Banana Pudding (gluten-free)
Modified from Bon Appétit After my last episode of playing with fire in the kitchen, you might be surprised to see me back in there with a blowtorch. Rest assured, nothing was engulfed in flames! This is my go-to recipe for crème brûlée that I found on Epicurious years ago. I’ve since modified it to… Continue reading Crème Brûlée
We had a JAWS (Blu-Ray) viewing party over the weekend, so I made these tiny carrot cakes. I can’t think of a thing to tie these events together, so I guess I fail at theme parties. Incredible taste aside, my favorite thing about carrot cake is the interesting texture. The recipe is so forgiving, you… Continue reading Gluten-free Carrot Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Most nights, we treat ourselves to a small square of dark chocolate for dessert. It is not too guilty of a pleasure, since dark chocolate is packed with cell-protecting antioxidants, known to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. Of course, that is exactly what I’m thinking about as I savor my portion and… Continue reading Fudgy Chipotle Brownies (Grain-free, Gluten-free)
Modified from Bon Appetit (March 1996), via epicurious.com Isn’t it some sort of rule that you must indulge in chocolate on Saint Valentine’s Day? If not, there should be! Indulge we did, in this rich, dark chocolate crème brûlée. Under the thin, crackly layer of caramelized sugar lies a dense but creamy chocolate-truffle-like pudding. Not… Continue reading Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee
Pie filling recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated (membership required to view link) This recipe may have been born out of my inability to concoct a gluten-free pie crust that meets my satisfaction, but that doesn’t mean these crust-less gems give up anything that you expect in a pecan pie. They are every bit as gooey… Continue reading Crustless Mini Pecan Pies (grain-free)
Modified from The Spice House’s Ginger Spice Cookies Take a break, have some tea and cookies! I discovered crystallized ginger “nibs” at The Spice House months ago, but just now got around to adapting their recipe for ginger spice cookies to a grain-free version. I wanted a slightly chewy, soft cookie with bursts of ginger… Continue reading Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies (grain-free)
Grain-free and “dairy-optional” Remember Magic Cookie Bars? Those gooey clusters of graham cracker crumbs covered with milk chocolate chips, nuts, sweet coconut flakes and drenched with sweetened condensed milk. Neither do I….ha! I’ve been in major denial of this particular obsession, but no longer. Today we have Paleo-friendly, Magic Cookie Bars with no grains, no… Continue reading Paleo Magic Cookie Bars
“An Old-Fashioned Dessert from Southern New Mexico” (source unknown) One day I received via the USPS a plain envelope with only a recipe card tucked inside – for Apple Pecan Torte. It came from our dear, sweet friend Malcolm….and he is indeed sweet, through and through. This man also possesses the biggest sweet tooth known… Continue reading Apple Pecan Torte (grain free)
she cooks...he cleans 