Butternut Chili - Spicy 'n Sweet

Here's one of my favorite chili recipes, featuring cubes of 

butternut squash. Sweet and spicy. 

New Year's Day is almost upon us. Rather than wax nostalgic and dreamy about the bumpy (and enlightening) year I've had, I'd rather post a simple recipe I know you'll love. Making a pot of bean soup or chili to welcome in a freshly minted year is a tradition as old as the hills. From Italian Pasta Fagioli to homestyle southern Hoppin' John, beans somehow acquired the favorable reputation of attracting good luck.

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New Year's Eve Tiara cookies

Don't you just love wearing those "Happy New Year" tiaras? I always have. Here's a cookie to match!

1. Using a #3 tip and white icing (light gray would work, too), outline a tiara headband and pipe "HAPPY NEW YEAR" on cookies.
2. Thin white icing and flood headband shape.
3. Let dry completely...several hours or overnight.
4. Mix silver Lustre Dust with vodka (it will evaporate leaving only the silver) and paint on design with a small paintbrush. *see note
5. Using warmed corn syrup or meringue powder mixed with water, paint over design again and sprinkle on clear sparkling/sanding sugar. (Click here for more info on applying sparkling sugar. )

* Lustre or Luster Dust is a dry powder that can be applied to add a metallic sheen to icing. The product is interesting...my bakery supply store sells lustre dust that is labeled "non-toxic" and edible, some is labeled "for decorative purposes only." Remember those silver dragees (balls) that you ate as a kid on cookies and cupcakes? Those are labeled "decorative" now, too. In my opinion, a little won't kill me. From what I understand, Europe considers all lustre dust "edible"; the US doesn't. Weird! Anyway...check your bakery supply for the "non-toxic" version.

Yay! I'm officially a foodie! :)

Check out the link to the right....bake at 350 is officially part of the Foodie BlogRoll! I am so excited! Now I have some serious computer time in store checking out all of those yummy blogs!

Vegan Banana Bundt Cake

A tasty dairy-free gluten-free banana cake.

Vegan (egg-free) baking is a mega-challenge at high altitude. Throw gluten-free and dairy-free into the equation (not to mention, soy-free, Darling- I can't even rely on tofu yogurt!) and trust me, it can be a major pain in the proverbial butt. I've dumped two previous egg-free incarnations of this recipe lickety-split into the trash. Today, however, I tweaked again. And guess what? We have a winner.

So- this one's for all you lovely celiacs, gluten-free vegans, multi-allergic sweethearts and autism spectrum angels out there (neurodiversity rocks, after all).

Big banana kisses xoxo!

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LeeAnn's Gingerbread Cookies: Cookie Exchange!

I love everything about these cookies....the squiggles, the eyes, the ribbon and the way the sunlight is streaming in on them. Thanks, LeeAnn for letting me post the picture!

Cornbread Recipe with Green Chiles + Cinnamon

Tender moist gluten-free cornbread you can bake in a skillet or a cake pan.

One of the first recipe conversions I attempted in my brand spanking new gluten-free life (begun six short years ago, December 19th, 2001) was my tired-and-true favorite cornbread recipe. Lucky for me, it converted to gluten-free rather easily. As a tender, fragile newbie to life sans gluten it gave me hope. The will to live. After all, when your beloved world of cooking, baking- and eating- is flipped upside down, a modest success in the kitchen can perk up your day. Maybe even, your week.

So when I recently discovered I needed to give up dairy and eggs as well, I flipped through recipes once again and decided to reprise my skillet cornbread- this time as an egg-free vegan version. And wouldn't you know it?

It worked.

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Flood Icing

Flood icing is simply royal icing with water added to make a consistency to "flood" or fill in the outlined design. It's best to go slow, adding a little water at a time to get to a syrup-y consistency. The more cookies you decorate, the more you'll get a feel for it. If your icing ends up a little thin (like water), add sifted powdered sugar or some leftover icing from outlining to your flood icing.

Once the flood icing is "just right", cover it with a damp towel and let sit for several minutes. Using a rubber spatula (I love these!), run gently through the icing to break up the air bubbles that have risen to the top. Now pour into squeeze bottles. These can be found in the candy making section of any craft or bakery supply store. Walmart even carries them! You could also pour the flood icing into a pastry bag fitted with a tip. I used to do this before I discovered squeeze bottles...I wouldn't recommend it, though...it's a mess! :)

Onto the outlined cookies, squeeze the flood icing in a zigzag pattern. I usually do 3 -4 at a time. Don't worry, the icing won't harden by the time you get back to it and it gives the icing time to spread. Using a toothpick, spread the icing to cover the cookie.

This is how mine look, more or less, before spreading with a toothpick.

One more!

During my last batch of cookies :), I started running low on dark green icing, so I switched up the colors and really liked the outcome.

This is it...I promise...no more package cookies for the rest of the year!

Chicken Tropicale

Festive and flavorful chicken and pineapple.

Any night's a party when you cook up this Caribbean-inspired chicken recipe. Tip: Using your slow cooker frees you up in the kitchen- not to mention utilizing your Crock Pot makes energy efficient sense year round.

Steve's been doing all the cooking of late. I know you know why, Babycakes. You're probably sick to death of hearing about it.

But do you also know how ridiculous it is to wield a sharp knife and balance on crutches and pass the balsamic vinegar in a kitchen built (obviously) for one person who (also obviously) never cooked? All the bumping-bums while making sure your left foot is touching the floor at precisely (doctor's orders) no more than 25% of your total body weight- which, truth be told, Dear Reader, has blossomed by six- er- seven and a half pounds since you've been lounging in bed every morning past 10 o'clock, eating cinnamon-laced wedges of grilled cornbread and deep bowls of crunchy maple buckwheat flakes as you cruise your e-mail?

That's right. I'm talkin' ridiculous.

So we've been eating a lot of familiar recipes and not experimenting much. Experimentation needs elbow room. And stamina. Both seem to be in rather short supply here. Which led me to remember this terrific recipe from before my no-chicken, no coconut days. It disappeared from the blog for awhile (don't ask!). So I thought it might be time to bring it back.

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Nirvana Bars- Chocolate & Coconut Bliss

This recipe is a family favorite- my chocolate-coconut cookie bar recipe. Simple to make. Sweet and gooey and bliss inducing. And most important? You can offer them at any gathering without a gluten-free apology. (Would that be, Don't ask, don't tell?) Bummed about the dairy in it? My son Alex has created his own casein-free version using condensed coconut milk. See his dairy-free recipe here.

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More Christmas baking...

The second batch needed dots...

I don't know why, but I love seeing them all stacked together like this.

Today I tried a new way to apply the sanding sugar and I really love it! (Thank you, Martha!) When I first started making cookies, it used to really bother me that when I put sparkling sugar on a cookie, it would dent the icing. The trick is to put it on dry, not wet icing!

Up until now, I've heated up a little corn syrup (light) and brushed the area I wanted to sand with a small paintbrush. This works great, but it's sticky and when you're making 200 cookies, going back and forth to the microwave to reheat corn syrup is a drag.

Here's the new way...mix a little meringue powder with water. Brush this onto the area to be sanded. It flows better, isn't sticky and dries really well. A few more hints:

• Use a child's size paint brush. You can trim the bristles if they are fanning out too much.
• Be sure the cookies are dry before starting, otherwise the sugar will stick to and dent the wet icing. I always let them dry overnight.
• Pour some sparkling sugar or sanding sugar into the cap or a small ramekin. Once your cookie has been brushed with the mixture, sprinkle the sugar on top, holding it over a basket-style coffee filter. Shake off the excess over the coffee filter as well. This excess can easily be emptied back into the cap/ramekin.
• Sanding sugar is a smaller grain that sparkling sugar...both are really pretty, but I think sanding sugar has more sparkle. I never wanted to use it because "sparkling sugar" just sounds prettier!

Karina's Gluten-Free Maple Meatloaf

My maple meatloaf is homespun comfort food.

I have some good news. I mean, besides this delicious meatloaf recipe. After eight long weeks of no funny business, yours in gluten-and-casein-free bliss is humming to the Stereo MC's and shuffling around our one room casita with a walker. Yup. I was officially sprung from wheelchair status today! Progress with a long o.

High-fiiiive me.

I'm one happy crone tonight. So I'm keeping this short and sweet. Here it is. It snowed today. There's a crackling fire in the kiva. A glass of wine awaits- not to mention- one of our favorite comfort food suppers. A slice of my favorite meatloaf and a generous scoop of warm Champagne Vinegar Potato Salad. Life is good.

Have a safe and tasty weekend! And be good to your bones.

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Seeing red

Red icing is probably the most difficult to make. I love AmeriColor's Super Red gel paste coloring! It doesn't take as much to get a nice red and doesn't have the off-taste like some others (Wilton).

All icing will darken over time and while drying, but it is especially true with red. Try to make your red icing at least a day in advance, cover with plastic wrap, pressing down onto the icing, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using and just give it a stir.

When making red, aim for a little lighter than you'd like on your final product. Believe it or not, the icing above turned into a perfect, bright red on my cookies. If the icing is a true, deep red before it goes on the cookies, it can turn extremely dark once dry...close to black. (If your icing is too dark, stir in some white.)

Red icing can also change in high humidity. If it's humid and you notice your cookies getting splotchy once dried, don't panic. The icing will eventually even out in color.

Sparkly Christmas Presents

The picture doesn't do justice to the sanding sugar...it is so sparkly! I've always used "sparkling sugar", but could only find red "sanding sugar" and I love it! It's smaller than sparkling sugar and really reflects the light.

The cookies are in green, white and mint, but the mint color didn't show up in my pictures. More on how to make these later....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Here's a peek at a little Christmas baking...

...waiting for sparkling sugar tomorrow morning....

The Best Cheesy Uncheese Sauce

A dairy-free cheesy sauce you will love.

I've been playing around with this vegan cheesy sauce recipe for ages- trying to get it just right. And guess what? I think I got it.

Don't worry. This won't hurt a bit. Promise.

In fact, you might even thank me. Especially if you're cooking for a groovy dairy-free girlfriend. Or a hunky casein allergic BF. A cute as a button autistic angel. And let's not ignore the teeming hoards of the lactose intolerant. One just might show up for dinner one day. Hungry. You never know.

And how about those vegans? They're sprouting up everywhere, for goddess sake. What will you do? What will you feed them- besides chopped salad? Carrot sticks?

Kumquats?

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Oh, deer!

To make this sweet little deer:

1. In dark brown icing, outline the deer with a #2 tip. Be sure to close off the tail separate from the body. (Spectrum Chocolate Brown)
2. Using the same icing and tip, pipe hooves using a back & forth motion.
3. Change the tip to a #3 and pipe antlers.
4. Thin a lighter color brown to the consistency of thick syrup. Cover with a damp towel and let sit for several minutes. Run a rubber spatula through the icing to pop any bubbles that formed on the top. Pour into a squeeze bottle. Fill in deer body and ear. (Spectrum Chocolate Brown)
5. Using the method above, thin white icing and add dots to the deer body while the brown icing is still wet.
6. Use the same thinned icing to fill in the tail.
7. After drying for an hour or more, use a #1 tip and black icing to add a nose and eye to the deer. (Spectrum Super Black)

Scenes from a bakery supply store

I know this has nothing to do with cookie decorating, but I couldn't resist posting a picture of the "MEN" drawer at the bakery supply store. :)

Gluten-Free Latkes and Cinnamon Applesauce

A stack of crispy, lacy latkes

Have you made latkes lately? Latkes are fried potato pancakes made with fresh grated potatoes. Though latkes come in all shapes and sizes (via personal preference) I make my latkes thin and lacy, fried to a crispy golden brown. Oy, these are good! Maybe Mel Gibson wouldn't be such a nudnik, if he tasted these. Although if he did, he'd probably ask for ketchup.

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Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Soup

A gorgeous vegetarian soup for the soul- gluten and dairy-free

Sweet potatoes add body and a boost of color and to one of my seasonal favorites- pumpkin soup. But before I get to the recipe, Dear Reader, I just need to kvetch a little. This won't take long.

You see, I am cooking from the left side of my brain- and I don't like it one bit. Well, truth be told, I'm actually doing more consulting in the kitchen than chopping and stirring and getting my hands all nice and sticky.

Which is exactly the point.

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Royal Icing and Icing Bags

Royal icing....it may just be the easiest icing you will ever make. It is perfect for cookie decorating. Royal icing dries hard and shiny, so cookies can be stacked and icing stays pretty when cookies are packaged.

To start, you'll need meringue powder. Ateco is my favorite...I think I've tried them all. :) It is a little hard to find, so any meringue powder will work. Follow the instructions for Royal Icing that come with your meringue powder. The most important step: sift the powdered sugar! Believe me, I've tried to shortcut this step...it doesn't work. (My favorite powdered sugars are Domino and C & H, but as you can see from the picture, any will do. Imperial is easier to find in the 1 pound boxes.)

No matter what recipe you're using, you will beat the icing until it comes to a stiff peak. When the beater is pulled from the icing, the peak should stand steady. You can also pull the beater off the mixer and hold the whisk attachment upright. The peak should stand, even if you wiggle it.

At this point, you can add a few drops of flavoring if desired. Remember to use a clear flavor as brown will tint the icing.

Pastry bags...I can't say enough about disposable decorating bags! They are great. The 100 bag box is a perfect use for the weekly 40% off Michael's coupon. :) Use the bags with the white couplers to easily change out the tips with the same bag of icing.

Once you've filled the bag with icing (I generally only fill half to 2/3 full), twist the top and stand upright in a glass. If your bag will be sitting awhile unused, place a dampened paper towel in the bottom. Just be sure to squeeze a little icing out first before going to the cookie. The tip might be too wet and you'll have a water blotch.

Christmas Wreaths

Here's an easy Christmas wreath cookie...a great cookie for beginners! This little wreath was the first Christmas cookie I ever tried. It's great on it's own or to add to a Christmas assortment.

1. Outline the bow in white icing using a #3 tip.
2. Outline the wreath using the same tip and icing meeting up with the ribbon outline.
3. Thin red icing to the consistency of syrup and fill in outlined bow using a toothpick to guide into corners. Use a squeeze bottle for easy filling. (AmeriColor Super Red)
4. Thin green icing and fill in wreath outline using technique above. (Spectrum Leaf Green)
5. Enjoy! :)

Change it up a bit by outlining the bow in red and wreath in green. Add red berries on the wreath after the green icing has dried at least one hour.

Tips on tips

There are a lot of icing tips to choose from, but for decorating cookies, you only need a few. The tips I use the most are the plain rounded tips...#1, #2 and #3 (the numbers are printed on the tips). Tips 2 and 3 are perfect for piping outlines; the #1 tip is wonderful for personalization and small detail work. It's nice to have a few larger round tips on hand for larger dots. When used with a coupler, seen in the picture, tips can easily be easily changed on the same icing bag.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Berry Muffins

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Berry Muffins

You're gonna love the taste of these winter berry studded pumpkin muffins. They taste tart and sweet and grainy-tender all at once.

Yesterday we woke up to a surprise. The mesa and distant hills were powdered in white. The first snow of the season (am I ready for this?). The Kokopelli thermometer read twenty-two degrees. Extra thick toasty socks were needed. Steve made a morning fire in the kiva to warm us. Lucky for me, we had baked some pumpkin muffins this week. Tender, comfy break apart soul food for this bone-shivery goddess to nibble with her tea.

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Dotty

When I first learned to add flat dots in my icing, I loved them so much, I wanted to add them to everything!

You can use varying shades of the same color, or different colors.

A few tips for adding dots...

• Thin both colors of icing with water to approximately the same consistency, like a syrup. One shouldn't be noticeably thinner than the other.
• Flood the cookie with the base color first and spread with a toothpick.
• While the base color is still wet, add the dots using a squeeze bottle. The dots must be added to the wet icing, but do give the base color a few minutes to set. Adding the dots right way, especially dark on light, may cause some bleeding into the main icing as it dries.
• If the bleeding does happen, don't worry...it's just a cookie! Most people won't notice and just want to eat them. :)

A Trio of Tasty Turkey Recipes

Gluten-free turkey tetrazzini- a retro classic, updated.

Thanksgiving will be cactus quiet here in the desert north of Santa Fe. No traveling. No fuss for us. Yet I felt inspired to thumb through my recipe file today. It's just habit. I guess it's not easy to let go of cooking for a family. Not yet, anyway. I still cook for four- even though we are down to two. I still buy too many salad greens. And big banana bunches that inevitably morph into black and reeking fruit fly magnets. It's okay. I shrug it off. I tell myself I'm on a learning curve. Not a bad place to be at fifty-three. Still learning.

Here are three yummy ways to use up leftover cruelty-free turkey. Consider this my modest Thank You to all you fabulous readers- for all your thoughtful comments, suggestions, and get well messages. You're the best!

Jazzed Up Turkey Tetrazzini

Here's my unconventional dairy-free version of a retro sixties classic. Gluten-free spaghetti makes fabulous tetrazzini.

For the filling:

A dash of olive oil, as needed
1 medium sweet onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 medium carrots, cut into julienne strips (thin sticks)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 lb. sliced Baby Bella mushrooms

12 oz. gluten-free quinoa linguini or brown rice spaghetti cooked to al dente (still firm), rinsed, drained

3 cups hand-torn cooked free-range organic turkey pieces
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

4 tablespoons light olive oil
4 tablespoons white rice flour
2 cups non-dairy rice milk (or milk)
1 1/2 cups gluten-free chicken broth
Optional- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, for flavor
1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine
1 teaspoon tarragon or parsley
Sea salt and ground pepper or paprika, to taste

For the crumb topping:

2 cups Crunchy Gluten-Free Bread Crumbs (tossed in olive oil or melted vegan margarine)

1 teaspoon French herbs- or parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or spray a 10x13-inch baking dish or deep casserole.

Heat a dash of olive oil in a large skillet and lightly saute the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms till tender; set aside.

Arrange the cooked spaghetti in the baking dish.

Toss the turkey pieces in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and season with a little sea salt and pepper.

Add the skillet veggies to the noodles in the baking dish.

Make your sauce:

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the flour; stir to make a paste; briefly stir over heat for about three minutes- to cook out the "flour" flavor. Slowly add a cup of the rice milk and continue stirring until it starts to thicken; add the second cup of rice milk, heat and stir till thickened. I like to use a whisk at this point.

If you are using the nutritional yeast, you can add it in and whisk to combine. Add the broth. Continue to heat gently for another five to seven minutes, stirring often. Add the sherry, tarragon and a dash of sea salt and pepper, to taste. In fact- taste test. If it needs a flavor boost, add a pinch more salt, a dash of herbs or sherry. You can also add a dash of nutmeg or mustard if you like.

Pour the sauce over the veggies and noodles and use a fork to shimmy the goodies so that the sauce seeps in and around- this keeps everything moist and happy.

Top with the Crunchy Golden GF Bread Crumbs. (I like to place a few of the mushroom slices on the top, too- I think it looks pretty.)

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until piping hot and bubbling.

To be totally retro, serve with green beans sprinkled with slivered almonds.

Serves 4 to 6.

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These turkey enchiladas are tasty and gluten-free.

Holiday Turkey Enchiladas

You will love these super easy enchiladas featuring torn pieces of tender free-range chicken, lime juice, chunks of sweet pineapple, and spicy salsa. Espeically after Thanksgiving, when all the traditional Pilgrim-inspired foods have shared their hand-holding moment in the fast fading sun.

3 cups of your favorite salsa- spicy or mild

4-5 cups of cooked free-range organic turkey, hand torn or shredded

Juice from one fresh lime

2-4 tablespoons sour cream- light or regular or vegan for dairy-free

Sea salt and ground pepper

Pinch of cumin

Light olive oil, as needed

12 corn tortillas

1 cup diced pineapple

2 4-oz. cans chopped green chiles, drained

2 cups shredded Jalapeño Jack cheese- or vegan Jack for non-dairy

Hot red pepper flakes, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour about a half cup of salsa into the bottom a large lightly oiled 10x13" baking dish- or use two smaller pans, for six enchiladas each.

Place the torn turkey pieces into a bowl and squeeze lime juice all over the cooked turkey; add enough sour cream to moisten; stir; season with sea salt and pepper, and cumin; toss well to coat.

Heat a dash of olive oil in a skillet, and heat one corn tortilla until softened, turning it over once to coat with oil. Place the tortilla into the sauced baking dish; fill with 1/12 of the turkey pieces, and roll up seam side down, placing it at the far end of the dish. Repeat for the remaining tortillas, adding more oil, if needed.

Pour the remaining salsa over the rolled tortillas. Top with the diced pineapple, then the green chiles. Sprinkle with cheese and red pepper flakes.

Bake in a 350 degree F. oven until the enchiladas are bubbling and heated through, about 30 minutes.

For a homemade authentic green chile sauce recipe, try here.

Serves 6

Printer-friendly enchilada recipe

Gluten-free nachos, Baby.

Turkey Nachos

Here's a non-conventional way to use up cruelty-free turkey leftovers Santa Fe style. Use a combo of organic blue and yellow corn chips and scatter on lots of sliced pickled jalapeños. It's an unbeatable combination.

3 heaping cups organic blue corn tortilla chips

3 heaping cups organic yellow corn tortilla chips

Extra virgin olive oil

2 cups hand torn cooked free-range organic turkey pieces

4 oz. Cheddar or Jack cheese, shredded- use vegan cheese for dairy-free

A big handful of organic sweet grape tomatoes, halved

3-4 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapenos- or use chopped mild green chiles

A sprinkle of good chili powder or chipotle powder, to taste

Chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large roasting pan with foil or parchment paper.

Layer the blue and yellow corn tortilla chips in the bottom of the lined pan; drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil and hand toss to coat evenly.

Scatter the turkey pieces on top of the corn chips. Sprinkle with half of the shredded cheese. Layer the tomatoes, jalapeños, and the remaining shredded cheese. Believe it or not, drizzle a little more olive oil all over the the nachos. Add a dusting of spices, to taste, and chopped cilantro, if desired.

Bake in a hot oven for about seven to ten minutes, or so, until the cheese has melted and the nachos are happy and sizzling.

Crack open some crisp and cold gluten-free beer. You can even be post-holiday decadent and serve these nachos right from the roasting pan. Okay, I admit it. We're casual here. We eat nachos right out of the pan- with our fingers.

Serves 4.

Gobble, Gobble

To make these turkey cookies:

1. Outline the turkey body in brown using a #2 tip. (Spectrum Chocolate Brown)
2. Thin royal icing in brown, red, orange and yellow to the consistency of thick syrup. Cover with a damp towel and let sit for several minutes. Run a rubber spatula through the icing to pop any bubbles that formed on the top. Pour into 4 separate squeeze bottles. (Red: AmeriColor Super Red, Orange: AmeriColor Orange mixed with a few drops of Super Red, Yellow: AmeriColor Gold mixed with Americolor Egg Yellow)
3. Fill in (flood) the turkey shape with the thinned icing, using a toothpick to spread to corners.
4. FOR DOTS: While the icing is still wet, drop dots of red, orange and yellow onto the brown icing.
   FOR FEATHERS: While the icing is still wet, squeeze a curved line in each color. Immediately run a toothpick through the icing at intervals going toward the middle to make feathers.
5. While the flood icing is drying, use a #1 tip and un-thinned orange icing to pipe the feet and beak.
6. Make the "wattle" from un-thinned red icing using a #1 tip.
7. After the brown icing has dried at least one hour, use a #1 or #2 tip to pipe an eye in black. (Spectrum Super Black)

I can't live without...

PARCHMENT PAPER!!!

This stuff is the best! Cookies don't stick and don't over brown. I like parchment paper more so than baking mats because it can be cut to any size cookie sheet.

Give Thanks

It's that time of year to really be thankful for our blessings. Here's how to make these sweet little pilgrim boys and girls: (All icing is royal icing)

1. Using a #2 tip, outline ears and bottom of the faces onto cookie with fleshtone colored icing. (AmeriColor Copper/Fleshtone)
2. Using a #2 tip, outline hair with yellow icing, meeting up with flesh outline. Use the same icing to outline cookie edge. (Spectrum Lemon Yellow mixed with AmeriColor Egg Yellow)
3. Outline pilgrim hat with a #3 tip, meeting with pilgrim hair. (Spectrum Super Black)
4. Thin fleshtone icing to the consistency of syrup. Cover with a damp cloth and let sit several minutes. Stir gently to pop bubbles that have formed on top. Pour into a squeeze bottle and fill in the pilgrim faces. Use a toothpick to coax the icing into all corners and to edges.
5. Using the same method as above, fill in yellow hair and black hat.
6. Thin white royal icing and fill in remainder of the cookie.
7. Let dry for 1 hour.
8. Using a #1 tip, dot eyes on the faces.
9. Using a #1 tip, add a buckle to the hat and detail to hair.
10. Let dry overnight. (This is a must for the next step.)
11. With food coloring pens, add a mouth and "give thanks", or personalization would be nice here for place cards. (AmeriColor Gourmet Writer pens)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Holiday Tips

Getting through the holidays gluten and dairy free can be tough. Let me tell ya. But then, the holidays were always a challenge for me because I was mostly vegetarian for decades (meaning ovo-lacto vegetarian and sometimes vegan). In truth, Gentle Reader, my holiday foods have often tended, shall we say, to be a tad different from mainstream holiday fare.

Being the wild and free goddess-in-training I was back in those golden zen-kissed crunchy pre-celiac days, I learned early on how to tweak traditional recipes and reinvent old favorites- like using coconut milk as a vegan (non-dairy) sub in whipped sweet potatoes (everyone loved this!) and subbing butter and cream with vegetable broth and crushed roasted garlic in fluffy smashed potatoes. No one missed the animal fat (unless they were just being polite).

My stuffing back then (baked as a casserole) was naturally gluten-free. I used cubes of toasted cornbread tossed with a skillet of softened onions, celery, chopped apple and cranberries seasoned with a touch of curry- then moistened with broth and baked till golden- sometimes with pine nuts or pecans on top.

Instead of serving green beans swimming in canned mushroom soup (because I never- and I mean, never- got the appeal of that goopy combination) I roasted fresh green beans in sea salt and balsamic vinegar- just until tender-crisp. Or did this simple but elegant recipe with pomegranate glaze.

Lucky for me, I enjoyed thinking "outside the box". And in my vegan years- not once- did I make a turkey out of tofu.

Who needs tofurky when you have Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas?

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Acorn Squash with Green Chiles and Equal Love

My kinda squash. Kicked up with green chiles.

I deeply (if not profoundly) doubt the ever expanding food blog galaxy needs yet another squash recipe, but.

I can't help myself.

Right before the Charlie Brown style tile floor smack down (aka hip incident), I threw together a flavor combo I am crazy about. Nutty for. Head over heals smack your lips and toss aside your chaste maple syrup Pilgrim traditions for. That's right. I got radical.

I added chopped roasted New Mexican green chiles to my roasted acorn squash. And a sexy pinch of cumin. A golden drizzle of fruity olive oil. Impudent changes to the way we do things around here that would have sent a certain lanky, curly-haired ex-boyfriend of mine scurrying for his cream of mushroom soup casserole. In other words, Gentle Reader, home to Mommy.

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Gluten-Free Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Gluten-free banana chocolate chip bread. Yum.

Score one for banana bread lovers. After more than a few banana-induced mishaps (who knew baking egg-free gluten-free casein-free banana breads would prove so harrowing and unappealingly gummy and well, just plain spirit crushing?) Steve and I produced a sweet and tender banana loaf worthy of a mention.

A shout of big thanks goes out to my buddy Clare from Massachusetts (you remember Clare- she generously shared her brownie recipe with me back in the day). Clare posted her banana bread recipe on the Celiac Listserv last week. I veganized Clare's ingredients to make this recipe egg-free and dairy-free. And then, well, I simply had to add chocolate chips. After all, chocolate is goddess food.

And what's a banana without a little chocolate?

Just another naked banana.

And when you have a partner/husband like Steve (who, by the way, as you would expect, has been a champ through my hip healing process- hefting laundry, dusting (yes, that's right, dusting), bringing me mugs of hot apple cider (with a cinnamon stick!) and just plain cooking up a storm on my famished behalf)- who sweetly asks, Would you like me to grill your slice of Banana Chocolate Chip Bread?--- you blush, Dear Reader, and realize (once again) you've married the right man.

The man who knows you like your chocolate dark and melty and warm on your tongue. For breakfast.

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Gluten-Free Grains: Quinoa, Rice + Side Dishes

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Quinoa, Rice and Side Dishes