Archive for the 'family' Category

Is it? Is It? It is.

Published on August 24, 2010 in birthdays, family, food, gluten-free and recipes. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Ok, wheat’s not bad, it’s an amazing grain for sure, but lately, has not been agreeing with me.  After being pretty sick in May, I stopped eating wheat gluten.  I stopped for a few days, then had a slice of pizza and was sick for days.  That’s it.  Truth be told, I feel so much better.  My allergies are 100 times better, I’m not bloated and my blood sugar isn’t dropping out the bottom.  Crazy right?  Maybe not.

So, my dear, sweet family has been eating less wheat too.  They are awesome.  We’ve found some excellent rice noodles, and they still taste great with pesto and spaghetti sauce.  I’ve got a small stash of flours for baking and I’ve been experimenting (insert mad scientist laugh here) on friends and family.  So far so good, ok well there was that one pie crust that was DISGUSTING, and I made brownies from the Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Brownie Mix (I thought they were horrible, but I know a few who have tried and LOVE them), but some things have really turned out well.

Then, the big challenge. Rob’s birthday.  And Rob feeling a little put out by the no-wheat food in the house.  You know, it’s just not the same (that’s right honey, it’s BETTER!).  So I researched for a while, I read a LOT of recipes.  Rob wanted something with chocolate and coconut.

I found Lauren’s recipe for Devil’s Food Cake.  I have to tell you this cake is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  Not only does it taste great, the texture alone will have everyone convinced this is a cake made with regular wheat flour.  Guess what, there’s not a drop of wheat in it.

What started out as this:

Birthday Cake

Ended with this:

Birthday Cake

Rob had asked me, “Is it?”  again, “Is it?”.  He saw me eating it and I smiled. “It is.”

Enjoy.  Get the full experience on CeliacTeen.com with the original recipe here. I made a coconut cream cheese frosting (oh my).  Recipe follows below.

Lauren’s (CeliacTeen.com) Gluten-Free Devil’s Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup millet flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch/flour
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
5 tsp brown rice flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature *separated see my note
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup very warm water

Directions

*About 30 minutes before you start, get the eggs out of the fridge and separate them.  Cover them either with a lid or clear plastic wrap so they don’t get filmy.  They are easier to separate when they are cold.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease the bottom and 1/2 the sides of each pan.  Put a parchment circle in the bottom, grease the parchment.  (This is worth the time for success.  The parchment ensures no cake will be left behind, ugh hate that, and greasing up only 1/2 the pan, let’s the cake rise to it’s fullest.  Some will suggest only greasing the bottom, but I’ve had success with greasing 1/2 way.)

Combine all flours, xantham gum, cocoa, baking soda, baking power, salt and sugar.  Sift together in a large bowl. (I did it 2x, sifting adds air to the mix, helping to keep the cake light and helps in preventing the dreaded cake falling in the middle.)

Combine egg yolks, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and very warm water in another bowl.  Once thoroughly mixed, mix into the dry mix bowl, until combined, do not over mix, you want to keep as much air in the mix as possible.

Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.  (also helps to keep cake light and airy and prevent the dreaded fall) Gently fold these into the mixture.  Again, don’t over mix, the air in the mix is crucial, and over mixing eliminates the air in the mix.

Pour 1/2 the batter in each pan, bake for 30-35 minutes (mine was done at 30,), until the toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let the cake cool completely on a rack (if you have one).  While cooling you can prepare the frosting.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coconut flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (for sprinkling on the cake)

Directions
Beat the cream cheese and butter in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Stop and scrape the sides and bottom to make sure it is mixed thoroughly. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with heavy cream. Continue scraping the bowl to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed. Beat in the salt, coconut flavoring, and vanilla extract. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and spreadable. Add additional confectioners’ sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting, or more cream to thin. Stir in the coconut. Sprinkle coconut over the cake.

Assembling the Cake
After your cake is completely, totally and wholly cool you may remove it from the pan.  Run a knife along the edge, remove cake from pan and place on cake plate.  Spread the frosting over the first layer, sprinkle a bit of coconut on top.  Place second layer on top of first layer.  Spread frosting over top and sides.  Sprinkle with coconut.  Put in fridge to set if you have time, don’t leave out in the heat, butter and cream cheese will run if too warm.

Enjoy.  This has to be one of the best cakes I’ve made so far. And the best part, it doesn’t taste like one of those gluten-free bricks.

It all started….

Published on October 4, 2009 in Creating, Iz Sewing, birthdays, craft, family and sewing with kids. 1 Comment

when she was mad and she slapped my arm.  Hard.

Ouch.

I let her know that it hurt and it was not ok to hit me or anyone else.  She did it again.

I told her the same thing again and let her know that there would be absolutely no movie tonight.  You see, we have a bit of screen time before bed time.  It’s our way of slowing down a bit before getting into bed and reading books.  Not long, but long enough to sit still.

But not tonight.

You know if I could spend the rest of every minute in my life sewing or making something I would.  So what did we do instead?  We got out the fabric box and sewing machine.  In a few days it would be cousin Siena’s 2nd birthday, and what were we going to make her? (our goal is to make as many, if not all, of our gifts).  Izzy wanted to make her a doll.  GREAT!  Let’s draw a picture of what we should make, no mom, I don’t need to.  (So me before I decided I had to absolutely plan everything out.)  Ok, I could do this without a plan…so first we looked at the fabric and she suggested we start with a triangle.  I cut a triangle (on the fold).  Then I cut out rectangles for arms or legs.  I got out the bag of feathers and Iz sat at the sewing machine.

Sewing Project

Sewing Project

Once the body was all stitched up, I cut circles out and she worked on the eyes.

Sewing Project

Sewing Project

Voila!  Siena’s Owl.

Siena's Owl

I was pretty proud.  She was too.  We had so much fun together (we always do…).  She loves to make as much as her mom and dad do.

Happy Birthday RobRoy!

Published on September 21, 2009 in birthdays, family, food and recipes. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

Happy Birthday!

(photo taken by Michelle Taylor)

It’s been a while, but we finally got around to celebrating Rob’s birthday.  I missed his 39th, I was in NYC for work.  I missed his 40th (YES  I KNOW…I AM TERRIBLE!!)  I had just moved to Seattle a few days before.  I returned from China the morning of his 41st (and he worked that night anyway…)  But with our BFFs and family in town, we decided to do it right.

So, well, you know me, I searched and searched for a cake recipe.  Now, if you have been to The Old Creamery Grocery in Cummington, MA, then you are familiar with Perry’s AMAZING CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES.  Sheesh, I sure do miss them.  This recipe comes close, but not quite the same.  It will do, now that I’m over 3000 miles away.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

(from Epicurious.com)

  • Shortening, as needed
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for the pans
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Lightly grease the bottom of each cake pan, then line it with waxed paper or parchment paper and grease and lightly flour the bottom and sides. If you are making cupcakes, line the cups with paper liners.  (I highly recommend lining the pans with parchment paper.  I was amazed how easily the cakes came out of the pan).

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 cups flour, the cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

4. Using an electric mixer on medium to high speed, beat the butter in a large bowl for 30 seconds. With the mixer on medium speed, gradually add the sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating each addition 3 to 4 minutes or until well combined. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl; continue beating on medium speed for 2 minutes more, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.

5. With the mixer on low speed and beating until just combined after each addition, beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of the milk. With the mixer on medium to high speed, beat the batter for 20 seconds more.

6. Using a rubber spatula, spread the batter in the prepared pans. Unless your project directions indicate otherwise, fill round, square, rectangular, or shaped pans two-thirds full; fill cupcake cups two-thirds full. Bake the cake(s), 350 for 25 -35 minutes; each cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Transfer the cake in the pan to a wire rack. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto the rack, lift off the pan, and peel off the waxed paper. Let the cake cool completely on the rack. Remove cupcakes from the pans after cooling for 15 minutes.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing

(from Epicurious.com)

  • 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 cups powdered sugar

Using electric mixer, beat 12 ounces cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter and vanilla extract in large bowl until smooth. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.

Happy Birthday!

(photo taken by Michelle Taylor)

Time Together

Published on February 8, 2009 in family, food and recipes. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

We’ve been pretty busy around here.  School, work, school, work, then finally the weekend!  Since I’ve started my full time job, we spend less time together as a family.  I love having my new job, I love the work, the people, it’s great.  Then there’s the mom-tug, and I can’t help but wonder what this means for my family.  My mind races back and forth, rests for a while on how good this is for all of us, all the while hoping Iz is happy with the arrangement too.

Movie Star

I’m pretty sure she is.  We’ve had a week or two of trantrums as soon as I would walk in the door, but they’ve seem to have subsided.  She’s pretty independent and fully confident.  She knows that I’m here for her and love her.  Makes me realize that starting her at preschool when she was 2 was the right thing (even though I lost sleep / was nauseous  over us being apart, and wondering HOW IS SHE GOING TO MAKE IT WITHOUT ME – but maybe it was how am I going to make it without her?).  She can totally handle herself in so many different situations, and she’s confident to know what to do when I’m not around.  It’s all good.

Twirly Skirt

So, now what to do.  It’s quality, not quantity, right?  You might have noticed, but we have a thing for food around here.  Food that we make. Nice slow food.  Food that we grow.  Healthy, complete food.  So we’ve been spending time cooking and we are having SO MUCH FUN!

Since I can’t start dinner at 3:45, and have maybe, 30mins to really make something before we fall on the floor when we get home, we’re making quite a bit on the weekends for the week.

Saturday morning, we made German Pancakes.

German Pancake

They are so easy to make, fun to watch and take less time to cook than our trad pancakes.  Izzy LOVED watching them puff up in the oven.  Iz has been a fantastic kitchen helper for as long as I can remember.  Now that she’s 4, I’m just blown away by her cooking ability.  She’s an excellent pourer, stirrer, cutter, and a super taster (except when there’s raw egg…).

The pancake was a hit, super yummy, and Iz and I even whipped up some whip cream, sliced up the strawberries and piled them on the pancake.

Dutch Babies

Here’s the recipe.  Enjoy!

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup all-purpose whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 6 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Vanilla Extract – all to taste.  If you like sweet, you can add 1/4 -1/2 cup sugar.  We don’t want sweet, so the nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla was perfect for us.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Melt butter in a medium/large baking dish.  Keep an eye on it, you don’t want it to burn.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, milk, eggs and salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Bake on center rack in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. These can puff up pretty high, so definitely cook these in the center and remove the rack above it.  And, if your dish is shallow, put it on a cookie sheet so it doesn’t fall to the floor of your oven.

To make the whipped cream, chill a medium mixing bowl in the fridge for 20 mins.  I use Heavy Whipping Cream, pour  a pint in the chilled bowl, using your hand mixer, mix at the highest setting until you like the consitency.  We don’t add sugar, but if you want it sweeter, add a bit of powdered sugar to your liking.

* I think this would be really yummy if you added crushed apples or mashed bananas too it.  You could even add a mashed butternut squash, YUM!  The possibilities are endless.


Win Some Happy-Sacks

Published on December 3, 2008 in contest, family and green. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Here’s your chance to win some of my favorite Happy-Sacks.  Happy Sacks needs a new name – so email your ideas to: info@happy-sacks.com and if Erin chooses your name you get…a waste-free-lunch starter kit to say thanks! (That’s 1 lunch-sack, 1 sandwich-sack and 2 snack-sacks, ready to hold your good eats!).

My Little Butterfly

Published on November 1, 2008 in Halloween, Iz, family and holidays. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Friday night was delightful.  When Iz woke up Friday morning I told her it was Halloween, and after school, she could put on her costume and we’d go Treating, so she declared during morning circle that today, after school Halloween starts!

Dressed in a lovely butterfly costume, we headed to Columbia City, where the lovely local shops were handing out candy.  At Retroactive Kids, Bellen Drake was photographing the kids.  I just love the shots, and I can’t wait to see them.  You can see more of her beautiful work on her web site.  (I wonder if they’ll be doing this for Christmas?  hmmm)

Costume Photoshoot

Treatin'

Sneakin' Candy in the Backseat

Iz was so delighted, she munched on a few pieces in the back seat while we left Columbia City and headed for West Seattle.

Little Butterfly

Treatin'

We had a sweet evening, with not a lot of sugar consumption.  The Halloween Monster (she’s friendly, don’t worry), did come last night and took some of the candy.  We leave her some of the treats so we can trick -or-treat next year.  The rest will be rationed off, and probably forgotten about in a few days.

3400 Miles in 58 Hours

Published on October 18, 2008 in family. 4 Comments Tags: .

Rob arrived in Seattle on Wednesday, about 2 months after we left Western MA.  We sure did miss him.  He arrived in time to pick Iz up from school.  She saw me first, big smile as usual.  Then she saw her dad, the jaw dropped and she ran into his arms!

Dad + IZ

Dad + Iz

We’re glad you’re home.

You can read about Rob’s adventures across the country here.

Doin’ The Twirly Skirt Twirl

Published on October 5, 2008 in Creating, Iz Sewing, Learning To Sew, Twirly Skirt, fabric shopping, family, sewing, sewing for Iz and sewing with kids. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

Twirly Skirt Twirl

It was a wonderful weekend.  We spent it with cousins and we stitched it up (among other creative things).  While visiting downtown Poulsbo, we stopped in at Heirloom Quilts.  The girls each picked fabric for their skirts.  It was so much fun.  If Iz could have, she would have taken a cut from every single bolt.  She’s a girl after my own heart.

Twirly Skirt Twirl

I had promised my cousin that I would teach her to sew, and making one of these is so perfect.  She learned how to measure herself, how to rip fabric (so we didn’t worry about cutting straight lines), how to iron, wind a bobbin, thread the machine and sew in straight lines.  It’s the perfect skirt, because it’s ok if you can’t sew a straight line, you won’t see it!  You can totally design them with the right fabrics and band placement.

photo by Iz

Sewing Her Own Twirly

Iz loves the sewing machine.  If the table were lower, she could certainly step on the pedal herself.

Learning To Sew

Sarah did such a great job.  Her skirt was AWESOME!  The prints she picked were adorable and a total reflection of her personality.  It was great for me, I’ve been missing teaching sewing.  I keep thinking that I’ll just start teaching again.  soon.  really soon!

PS – Want to make your own Twirly?  Here’s a really, really wonderful tute from House on Hill Road.

I <3 Skype

Published on September 18, 2008 in about me and family. 4 Comments

I Skype.  Do you Skype?  I really love Skype.  Skype lets me talk to my little brother, and lets me see my little brother.

skype6

Our conversations last around 30-45 mins and is way better than watching tv.

skype5

Skype lets me not miss my brother so much.  He’s been stationed all over the world and we’ve gone for years without seeing each other.  Now, it’s down to a week at a time.

skype4

I can see what his hair looks like (when he has any), what he’s wearing, and even what he’s eating (tonight it was a burger from Arby’s).

skype3

He can even send kisses, ’cause he loves his big sis soooooo much.

skype2

I always tell him not to hold a pose too long, he’ll get stuck that way.

skype1

See you soon Lil’ Bro – I love ya!  xxoo Z

ps – go sign up for skype.  it can be free.  it’s awesome. thanks skype for letting me visit with my brother – you rock!

The Best Pancakes EVER!!!

Published on August 25, 2008 in about me, family and food. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

I have many food memories growing up.  Other than the “you must eat the liver” memory (ugh – do you have one like that too?), probably the next biggest would be our pancakes. Every weekend, Dad would make us pancakes using his mother’s recipe.  They were of course, delish, and would come in the shape of the letters of our names.  They were so much fun to eat.  And, we could make them together.  There was ingredient getting, measuring, mixing, pouring, the butter and cooking. Oh, and let’s not forget the eating. YUM!  Dad would pile his pancakes up high on his plate, biggest pancake on the bottom to the smallest pancake on top.  He’d ever-so-carefully place a small pad of butter on top of each pancake then drizzle maple syrup over the whole stack.

Grannie Blair's Pancakes

It’s been a long time since I’ve had those pancakes, but lucky me has moved to Seattle and spent a weekend with the family that has kept this little recipe alive. I had forgotten how delicious they really are.

At our house we’ve been eating pancakes with the lovely mix from Trader Joes, and it’s really yummy.  But I think I’m going to just make these now….

Grannie Blair's Pancakes

They are amazingly light (much lighter than the TJ’s mix) and just sweet enough but not sugary.

Grannie Blair's Pancakes

I didn’t leave the table with that “oh, that pancake just SANK to the bottom of my stomach” feeling.  And now, of course, I can’t stop thinking about these pancakes!  Thanks Aunt Debbie!