Tag Archives: Gluten Free

One-Pot Mexican Chicken & Rice (Gluten Free)

Posted in Dinner, One-Pot Dinner, Uncategorized by

Nappy's Chicken Shit

I was on a school bus,  for the first time in more than a decade, and much earlier than ever in my life. Still dark, we couldn’t see the landscape. It was quite chilly, there was no sound except the motor. All the passengers where silent with their thoughts and the bus rocked us gently back and forth. I can pretty much fall asleep anywhere, but right then my nerves where taking over and keeping my stomach uncomfortable and fluttery. ‘How long is twenty six miles, anyway?’ It seemed like an eternity getting to the marathon start line and every second I sat there I pictured my legs having to carry me all the way back.

Yes, I had put skates on again, even after my disastrous start in the sport.  Mystery Man and I put the inline skates on every weekend and racked up the miles on the local trails. My miles were much different than his. As I pushed, sweated, and worked for every stride, most of his time was spent skating backwards in front of me, coaching me along, and on occasion would break away to ‘stretch his legs’, then wait patiently for me to catch up.

I reminded myself that we were here for fun. After all, we had met up at this race in Duluth Minnesota for more than the skating. Friends came from several states away. Ones we hadn’t seen in far too long. The skating, to them, was only secondary.

Stepping off the bus, I was astounded. Three thousand five hundred people where here to skate this race and yet everyone was calm, collected, and making their way to the appropriate fitness stage for start times. We found ours, but not our friends. The crowd was too thick. Bang! Here we go!

I have seen wonderful sites in my life. The Sistine Chapel. The Rome Colosseum, Big Ben, the canals of Amsterdam. But, that finish line is one of the most memorable and beautiful things. Bleachers full of people flanked each side of the the road. Flags, banners and festive music filled our senses and took the pain from our legs. Mystery Man stayed with me all the way to the end and we crossed the finish line together.

We found our friends and hugs lasted minutes as we soaked everyone in. It had, indeed, been way too long.  We had two days and we planned to make the most of it. Lunches lasted through dinner. Toasts where made with silly sayings and laughter, and solemn memories and wet eyes. Laughter rang in our ears long after retiring for the evening, and as I lay there and took stock of my body that I had pushed to the limit, the parts that hurt most were not my legs, but my cheeks and abdomen from smiling and laughing. Suddenly the skating, for me, was secondary.

________________________________

 

This is a recipe from a friend in the skating community.  We (lovingly) call it Chicken Shit in our house, but I have renamed it for you. Your welcome.

 

One-Pot Mexican Chicken & Rice

Ingredients:
1 Pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 – 13 Ounce can chicken broth
1 – 8 Ounce can tomato sauce
1 Package taco seasoning (check for gluten in the ingredients)
1 can corn, drained
1 green pepper (diced)
1 1/2 Cup minute rice
1/2 Teaspoon hot sauce (optional)
Corn chips

Toppings:
All Toppings are Optional
1 – 2 Ounce can Sliced Olives
Shredded Mexican/Spicy Cheese
Sour Cream
Lettuce
Tomatoes (diced)

Preparation:
• Heat olive oil in 4” deep heavy pan over medium heat until shimmering
• Add chicken and cook (stirring) until no loner pink
• Add broth, tomato sauce and seasoning packet. Stir and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for minutes.
• Add corn and pepper, stir and bring to a boil.
• Stir in rice, cover the pan and remove from heat.
• Fluff with fork and adjust spice with hot sauce if desired.
• Serve with toppings and corn chips.

Notes:
For a crowd – Do not drain corn. Add one cup of water and one additional cup of rice. Transfer to crock pot on low. Serve directly out of crock pot. Check periodically to make sure it does not dry out. Add water as needed. This dish is just as good, or better the next day.

Options:
Vegetarian –  Add one can of thoroughly rinsed black beans, omit the chicken, use vegetable broth.

 

 

 

Slow Cooker Beef Roast (Gluten Free)

Posted in Dinner, Slow Cooker, Uncategorized by

Crock Pot Roast

Dressed in new clothes and carrying a new back pack, I stood at the end of the gravel drive way and kicked some stones around with my spot-free velcro-topped shoes. Hearing a vehicle in the distance, I squinted down the two-lane country road with my hand across my brow. The sun was just coming over the hill and it was big, blazing, and threatening to make it one of the hottest first days of school yet.

They would have the cattle barn fans set in the corners of the school hallways. Turned on top speed they could make the whole school vibrate, and the low and loud growl came in stereo everywhere you turned. Luckily the school grounds had very nice and tall shade trees, and on days like this class would be held outside under a canopy of leaves.

The start of school was always the start of a hectic schedule. The days of bike riding, rock collecting, and the constant pestering of my sister were ending (ok, I never stopped pestering her…) and were replaced with school during the day, and homework, apple picking, garden harvesting and canning in the evenings and on weekends.

Now years later, my environment has changed but the onset of Fall still brings a busy schedule unlike any other time of the year. While my days of apple picking and garden harvesting are gone, they have been replaced by increased baking orders, new teaching sessions for dance, and a back to school push that has me drowning in permission slips, health forms and supply hunting for my children’s classrooms.

While my days get shorter, I still manage to get dinner on the table and (try to) avoid the take-out trap as much as possible. There are two ways I accomplish this. My slow cooker, and easy recipes that are tried and true.

 

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

(adapted from my friend Vintage Thread‘s recipe)

 

Ingredients:

1 – 2.5 to 3 pound beef roast

1 can Gluten Free Cafe’ Mushroom Soup (or one can Campbell’s condensed mushroom soup.)

1 package dried onion soup mix (if making gluten free, be sure to check the label.)

salt and pepper

Crock Pot Roast2

 

Preparation:

Salt and pepper both sides of roast and place in slow cooker. Pour or spoon mushroom soup over the top. Sprinkle with entire package of dry soup mix.

Set the slow cooker to 6-8 hours on low.

 

Best served with white rice or mashed potatoes and a green salad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pineapple Up Side Down Cake (Gluten Free)

Posted in Desserts by

Pineapple Finished I felt yucky. My health issues were getting in the way of my day-to-day activities and I knew I had to do something about it. It had been eight months and it was time to admit there was a problem. I finally (and reluctantly) went to see my doctor. After a month-long process of tests, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in February. When I tell people about my health issue and my new diet restrictions I get two reactions. The first is a horrified look, and something along the lines of ‘Oh my God, I could NEVER live without pasta’. Followed by, ‘Wait, don’t you run a bakery out of your home?’ Ok, first. Yes, you can live without gluten-infused pasta. There are a lot of substitutions available and I am lucky to live in a country where they are so readily available. And second, yes, I do run a bakery out of my home and it is a big challenge. This is why I am slowly but surely transforming all of my products to be gluten free. While I am busy morphing my product line, there are still other very important items to attend to. Like cravings. This week I really, really wanted some Pineapple Up Side Down Cake, and it didn’t help that  this came in the mail. Pineapple So I got to work… Pineapple1 and this happened… Pineapple Slice Pineapple Up Side Down Cake (Gluten Free*)

*Make this from scratch like I did, or use a boxed gluten free yellow cake mix. The method remains the same.

Topping

1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored

3/4 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Batter

3 ounces white chocolate, chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into four pieces

5 1/2 ounces gluten free flour blend**

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon xanthun gum

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

2 large eggs, separated

Pinch cream of tarter

3 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup sour cream

 

**Gluten Free Flour Blend

24 ounces white rice flour (4 ½ cups, plus 1/3 cup) (one bag of Bob’s Red Mill brand)

7 ½ ounces brown rice flour (1 2/3 cups)

7 ounces potato starch (not potato flour) (1 1/3 cup)

3 ounces tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour) (3/4 cup)

¾ ounce nonfat milk powder (3 tablespoons)

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, set oven rack to middle position and grease a 9″ cake pan.

Make Topping

Use the handy dandy pineapple corer/slicer, or cut pineapple crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces.

Melt butter in sauce pan.

Add brown sugar and simmer over medium heat, stirring, five minutes. Pour caramel mixture into prepared cake pan. Arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture in desired pattern.

Make Batter

Microwave chocolate and butter together in a bowl, thirty seconds at a time until melted (about 1 1/2 minutes). Set aside to slightly cool.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour blend, baking powder, xanthun gum, salt and baking soda.

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites and cream of tarter on medium speed for 1 minute. Turn speed up to high and whip for another 1 minute.

While the mixer is running, slowly add 1/4 cup sugar and whip until glossy, stiff peaks form. This will take 2-3 minutes.

Transfer egg whites to clean bowl.

Put (your now empty) bowl back and add egg yolks and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds.

While mixer is running, add 1/4 cup sugar, then turn the speed up to high. Whip for 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium and add chocolate mixture and sour cream. Mix for 30 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Remove bowl from mixer and fold egg white mixture into batter until no streaks remain. Spread batter over pineapple/caramel mixture in baking pan.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and the center should bounce back slightly when touched.

Cool on a rack for one hour. Invert cake onto serving plate. Some puddles of caramel might be visible. These will be absorbed by the cake within minutes.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to two days.

A Revisit – Grandma’s Banana Bread

Posted in Desserts by

Banana Bread

This week we bury our wonderful Grandmother. While we are stricken with grief, we are thankful for her long and meaningful life and grateful she did not suffer long. We thank the team at Hospice for helping the family through her last days and allowing her to pass peacefully in her home. I wrote this post when she started taking a turn for the worse and re posting it today in her memory.

 

She was a young lady growing up on a small farm in southwest Ohio and the boy courting her was making his way around the fields at midnight. Her siblings where trying to gather the loose horses just as they returned home from their first date. Two hours into the hunt they finally had them on the way back to the barn by rattling buckets of feed and leading the way.

 

They married at the small brick Baptist Church and started building a home on her parent’s land. A three bedroom cottage with a kitchen facing east, to catch the morning sun. He traveled to town with his lunch pail in hand to manage the produce at the local grocer. After the house was finished they planted fruit trees with care around the property and started working the land for the start of a garden.

 

Still newlyweds, he took the call to travel to Wright Field. He packed his uniforms, and she went with him to say goodbye.
He would write letters every week, sometimes more, sometimes less. She had a good idea of where he was at the beginning with the post marks coming from the East Coast during his training, then across the pond. They slowed then, taking longer to travel the ocean to her. She wrote back – and one letter told the news of her belly growing with his baby. My father.

 

He returned to a toddler son, a happy wife, and silently put the months of the German Black Forest behind him. They had two more babies. A girl, then another boy.

 

We would stop over often. In the summer I would run to the back yard to find them weeding their impressive garden, or find Grandma up a tree picking apples while Grandpa mowed the grass. Tough as nails, she never slowed – even in her sixties, and we continually reminded her that climbing on the counters to reach serving dishes was not ideal. At her five-foot height, she ignored us regularly and smirked every time she was caught in the act.

 

Her sunny kitchen always had a hidden gem. She tore paper towels into quarters and placed them in front of my cousins and me – waiting impatiently. She would pull a foil package from the bread drawer, carefully unwrap and slice the treat into equal pieces. The Banana Bread was portioned onto the towels and we would eat it greedily, always asking for seconds.

 

After I moved away, she would sneak a foil covered package out of her freezer for me to take back to my college apartment.
She turned Ninety Five last week.

Happy Birthday, Grandma.
Esther’s Banana Bread

Ingredients:
¼ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups sugar, plus more for topping
1/2 cup shortening (not butter)
2 eggs
2 cups flour
3 over-ripe bananas
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Pour buttermilk into measuring cup. Add baking soda and stir. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together sugar and shortening on medium speed for three minutes, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula half way through. • Turn the speed to low and add eggs one at a time.
• Turn speed up to medium/high and mix for 30 seconds.
• In a medium bowl mash bananas with a fork or meat tenderizer into little to no chunks remain. Add vanilla and salt to bananas.
• With the mixer on low, alternate adding flour and buttermilk to creamed mixture, ending with flour.
• Add banana mixture. Do not over mix. Streaks of flour should remain.
• Grease* the bottom and sides of a large loaf pan.
• Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake large loaves for 1 hour; until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.

*I grease the entire interior of the pan, then place a piece of parchment paper (cut to fit) in the bottom of the pan.

Note: Freezes very well.

 

Jessica’s Gluten Free Banana Bread

Ingredients:
¼ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups gluten free flour blend*
¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 cups sugar, plus more for topping
1/2 cup shortening (not butter)
2 eggs
3 large or 4 small over-ripe bananas
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

*Gluten Free Flour Blend
24 ounces white rice flour (4 ½ cups, pus 1/3 cup) (one bag of Bob’s Red Mill brand)
7 ½ ounces brown rice flour (1 2/3 cups)
7 ounces potato starch (not potato flour) (1 1/3 cup)
3 ounces tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour) (3/4 cup)
¾ ounce nonfat milk powder (3 tablespoons)

Measure out all ingredients and place in a zip sealed bag. Mix well. Store in refrigerator for up to three months)

Preparation:
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Pour buttermilk into measuring cup. Add baking soda and stir. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine gluten free flour blend, salt, zanthan gum and baking powder. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together sugar and shortening on medium speed for three minutes, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula half way through. • Turn the speed to low and add eggs one at a time.
• Turn speed up to medium/high and mix for 30 seconds.
• In a medium bowl mash bananas with a fork or meat tenderizer into little to no chunks remain. Add vanilla to bananas.
• With the mixer on low, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to creamed mixture, ending with flour.
• Add banana mixture. Do not over mix. Streaks of flour should remain.
• Grease* the interior of a large loaf pan.
• Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle with sugar.
• Let the batter rest for twenty minutes.
• Bake for 1 hour; until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.

*I grease the entire interior of the pan, then place a piece of parchment paper (cut to fit) in the bottom of the pan.

Note: Freezes very well.

Slow Cooker Pork & Polenta

Posted in Dinner, Slow Cooker by

Slow Cooker Pork and Polenta3

I have a problem. I may have to find a SCA (Slow Cooking Anonymous) meeting.

I just bought my 5th slow cooker.

To be fair, I run a baking business out of my home kitchen and my ovens are nearly always on, and filled with biscotti, breads, or scones. This makes it very hard (at times) to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour – so I have turned to slow cookers to fill the needs of my family (Do they really need a home cooked meal every night?) and the needs of my business. It’s a delicate balance, and five slow cookers seem to be the magic number – or at least I’ll keep telling myself that.

I have scoured all the normal resources for slow cooker meals, and let me tell you – there is a lot of bad stuff out there. There is nothing worse than letting a meal cook away, yummy aromas wafting through your kitchen, only to find soupy and dry (how does that happen anyway?!) slop on your plate and wrinkled noses on your children’s faces.

This. THIS, however, is a dish that has a  thick sauce, tender meat*, and even contains a starch that is neither mushy (no pun intended!) or tasteless at the end. Here is the kicker – it is SO good you don’t even need the meat. Make this without the pork and you have a wonderful and tummy-filling  Meatless Monday.

 

* This meat dish is the most tender if you use pork shoulder (also called Boston Butt). If you are in a pinch, or don’t want to break up a large pork shoulder, country style boneless pork chops can be substituted.

Cooking Time 5 1/2 hours to 7 1/2 hours

Ingredients

8 ounces slices white mushrooms

1 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

0.4 ounce package dried portobella mushrooms, chopped

2 tablespoons instant tapioca

salt and pepper

2 pounds pork shoulder

18 ounces (1 tube) cooked polenta (also called cornmeal mush here in the midwest)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

Preparation

Combine white mushrooms, chopped onion, tomato paste, olive oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes in a medium bowl. Microwave 2 1/2 minutes, stir, then cook for another 2 1/2 minutes. Drain.–

Slow Cooker Pork and Polenta1

– Place drained cooked vegetables, dried portobella mushrooms and instant tapioca in slow cooker and stir until combined.

– Slice pork shoulder into 2 inch cubes. Lightly salt and pepper. Nestle pork into vegetable mixture in slow cooker.

– Set slow cooker on high for 5 hours (or low for 7 hours).

– When 5 hours (or 7) have expired, slice polenta into 1/4 inch rounds and shingle over top of pork filling. Top with Parmesan cheese.

– Set slow cooker on high for an additional 30 minutes, letting the cheese melt and polenta warm through. Serve.

 

I think it is nearly impossible to take a good picture of a crock pot dish…. Please note – I did not use all the polenta called for in the recipe and regretted it. Use it all, and shingle (overlap) more than I did here:

Pork and Polenta4

Chocolate Souffle and Espresso Creme Anglaise

Posted in Desserts by

I am risking something big.

Right now.

I am risking revealing something about myself that some of you might not know. I am exposing that I am spoiled. Rotten. I am confessing I am a food snob.

And spoiled.

Mystery Man and I have eaten at a five diamond restaurant in Orlando for every single anniversary. Named Victoria and Albert’s located at the Grand Floridian Re­sort at Disney World. The first year was a mistake of sorts. We were originally at Disney to skate an Inline Marathon. It happened to be scheduled during our anni­versary so we made a vacation out of it including dinner at V&A’s.

Year number two was the same story, only this time we brought friends, the mara­thon was rained out, and we scored the Chef’s Table.

“Chef’s Table?” You ask?

Literally in the kitchen. Where the Chef cooks for you.

and only you.

and comes to you and describes the dish in detail.

toasts you with Champagne.

and it is Heaven.

Year three the Marathon was no-more so we had no plans to travel to Orlando. About a week prior to our anniversary Mystery Man turned to me and asked where I would like to go, or what I would like to do for our anniversary. I playfully replied “ummm, duh. V&A’s.” He played along and said he would be game if I could find air­line tickets for a-hundred bucks.

I did.

We literally flew in, enjoyed our dinner, and flew out the next morning. That’ll teach him.

Year four we repeated year three. Yes, I am the master at finding air fare deals.

Year five we returned with another set of friends. The Chef’s Table was again at our disposal. It. Was. Wonderful.

And then there was year six. Oh, year six.

We just had our son three months prior and the plan was to stop the V&A’s trip at year five. After all, we should really branch out, right?

Mystery Man had a conference in Ft. Lauderdale the week of our anniversary, so the little one and I were going along to relax at the sunny resort while he worked. Sounded just fine to me.

I boarded the plane, sat down, and struggled to adjust the baby and a seat belt. I settled in and took a look at the stranger sitting next to me, waiting to get a look of “oh great, I have to sit by a baby…”  I found it was no stranger. It was my Mom.

“What the….!”

She handed me a piece of paper and snatched the baby out of my arms. The paper was an itinerary for a side trip to Orlando while Grandma watched the baby. A res­ervation confirmation for V&A’s was included. Mystery Man had pulled a fast one.

The years go on and on and yet we still return to taste the chang­es in the menu, the small tweaks in recipes and the newest fads in fine dining.

But, enough about how spoiled I am because you are about to benefit, and benefit big my friends. How do you feel about making a five star restaurant dessert right in your kitchen with all the steps laid out in front of you? “Bring it on!“ You say? Fine, but I don’t ever want to hear you talking behind my back about how rotten I am.

This is a souffle that I have created with helpful tips from the Pastry Chefs I have hounded in numerous restaurants, mainly V&A’s. I have this way of asking questions, mainly about method since I can usually tinker with ingredients in my own kitchen. It’s a wonder they don’t lock their doors when they see me coming. But, lucky for you they still take our reservation.

Chocolate Soufflé

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter and sugar for preparing dishes
8 oz bittersweet chocolate – chopped (the best you can find!)
6 large eggs (separated)
1/8 t. salt
½ t. cream of tarter
¾ c. sugar (divided into ½ c. & ¼ c.)
1 t. vanilla extract or 1 T. Cointreau

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven, and preheat  400 degrees. 8 1-cup soufflé ramekins and dust the bottom and sides with sugar. Cut strips of parchment paper long enough to wrap around the ramekins and two inches taller than ramekins. Make a sleeve using chef’s twine around each one. Place on a large cookie sheet.

Melt the chocolate by placing in the top of a double boiler nested over barely simmering water (not touching). Heat, stirring often, until the chocolate melts. Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly. (Or melt in the microwave in 30 second increments.)

BY HAND:

In a large, clean bowl, whisk together the egg whites, salt and cream of tarter with a balloon whisk until soft peaks form. Slowly add ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.

OR

BY MIXER:

In a large bowl, using a stand mixer fitted with the whip/wire attachment or a hand mixer, beat the egg whites, salt and cream of tarter on medium high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until thick and pale in color. Whisk in the remaining ½ cup of the sugar and the vanilla.

Using a rubber spatula add small amounts of the chocolate to the egg white mixture and fold until completely combined and no white streaks remain. (Stirring will deflate the whipped egg whites and will result in a heavier souffle.

Spoon into the prepared dishes until nearly level with the top of the dish. When the souffle rises the parchment sleeve prevents overflow and encourage height for a light and fluffy souffle.

Bake the soufflé until set, puffed, and the center still jiggles when the dish is gently shaken. 8-12 minutes.

Using tongs, place souffles on cool dishes, remove string and parchment paper.

Serve immediately! With Espresso Creme Anglaise.

 

Anglaise1

 

Espresso Crème Anglaise

Ingredients:

2 c. heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
½ c. sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso (Jessica’s Note – or use a double shot of straight espresso)
1/8 t. cinnamon
2 T. brandy
1 t. vanilla extract

Bring the cream to a gentle boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until slightly thickened and  lemon-colored. Slowly whisk ½ c. of the hot cream into the egg mixture – careful not to cook the eggs. Whisk in the coffee and cinnamon. In a slow, steady stream, gradually add the egg mixture to the pan of remaining hot cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon or reads 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

Put mixture through a fine mesh strainer, if needed.  Add the brandy and vanilla and mix well. Serve with Chocolate Soufflé immediately.

Note:

To use later, press plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent skin forming. Refrigerate.

 

Guacamole

Posted in Sides, Starters by

Guac

She showed up at Swing Night just about the same month as I did. Her porcelain white skin, pearly white teeth, spunky curly hair and youthful smile made for an evening of never ending dance partners. Plus, she was good, and always looked like she was having a blast without ever breaking a sweat. I admired her from a distance and our interactions were brief for weeks, until one particular night when Mystery Man  and I were working on a few steps off to the side of the dance floor.

The Charleston basic was proving difficult for me and my frustration level had hit an all time high. I secretly wondered why I was even trying, why I cared so much, and why I shouldn’t just leave and find some other hobby. But, he was being kind and offering tips, so I couldn’t just up and go without seeming very rude. So there I was struggling through it. Then Spunky Girl walked up. She watched for a minute.

“Oh, you mean like this?” she chirped, and banged out the step right then and there.

There are times in life when you make a choice.

For a split second I considered gathering my things, muttering something like “go ahead you two, knock yourselves out” and leaving, never to return.

I am so glad that split second came and went, and I stayed put. That was seventeen years ago. Spunky Girl became my Homey and together we have danced miles on the same floors (including the Charleston), met our husbands, graduated, started careers and had our children. My admiration for her started on the dance floor and continues to this day.

She likes to bring this Guacamole to our gatherings. I hope you have Homey you can share it with, too.
Guacamole
Ingredients:
3-4 very ripe avocados
1 small to medium red onion, finely diced
1 Anaheim chile, finely diced
1 lime, squeezed, (about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 lemon, squeezed (about 1 tablespoon)
cilantro to taste (about 1 tablespoon, chopped)
salt to taste
tortilla chips

Preparation:
•    Slice the avocados all the way around and pull apart. Scoop out the flesh and place in a food processor. Reserve the pits.
•    Add diced onion and chile.
•    Give the food processor two one-second pulses.
•    Add the lime juice, lemon juice and cilantro.
•    Pulse the food processor in one-second increments until the guacamole is the texture you prefer.
•    Remove from bowl with rubber spatula into a serving dish. Add the pits to the guacamole (this keeps it from turning brown so quickly).
•     Adjust cilantro to taste.
•    Serve with tortilla chips.

Notes:
This also can be made by hand in a large mortar and pestle set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Posted in Sides by

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

The House

They were living in the church parish house and decided it was time to get a place of their own. Down the country road stood an old farmhouse on an overgrown lot among acres of field owned by the neighboring farmers. The house was built in the mid 1800s and in its heyday it boasted a spring house, smoke house, shed, large stable barn with a hay loft, the creek, and land as far as the eye could see.

The fields were sold off to other farmers over time and the only thing left was the house on about one-and-a-half acres and the shed – all in abandoned condition. The large stable barn still stood, but a fence now separated it from the house, sold with the neighboring parcel.

My parents bought the fixer-upper with great excitement and a vision of a house of their own. They already had a toddler girl, and this house had the space they needed for their growing family.

The interior had plaster and lath walls, burn marks above most every electrical outlet due to fires, and the previous owners housed sheep in the basement. This was the project of all projects.

One of the first jobs on the land was to clear it. The grass was more than head high on the entire lot and it all needed cut back and taken under control. Mom and Dad gathered machetes, hack saws, and mowers. The hard work resulted in a beautiful treasure. They found numerous young pine trees hiding there. Planted in rows with care by an owner long before.

Over the course of nine months they gutted the walls, hung new ceilings, and ran new electric. My mother, pregnant with me, used cinder blocks stacked along the back property line for an outhouse – adding more blocks the more pregnant she became.

Farmhouse before and after

Finally, the indoor plumbing was finished, drywall hung, and sub-flooring laid. Just in time for my birth in the fall. The winter brought the great blizzard of 1978.

Thankfully my parents had a wood burning stove, and an abundance of wood from clearing the land, to keep us warm. The county sheriff heard news of a baby at our address and came on snow mobile to deliver milk and essentials.

With the house nearly finished, attention was turned to the land again. The pine trees had been nibbled on by sheep, but they transplanted them to the back of the property for a wind break and each one recovered nicely. They ordered fruit trees and Mom tells the story of the planting…

“Your father had the holes already dug for the trees. We received the trees by UPS and then it began to rain, filling up the holes with water. Finally after a week of rain we decide to plant on Saturday, even if we had a monsoon. Monsoon it was and we were outside planting trees with you and your sister looking out the windows. What a bonding experience! We were wet, muddy, and tired, but the trees were planted. Every tree lived and after that every time we planted something large, we dug the hole and filled it with water!” 

There was a lovely flat area – three thousand five hundred square feet – just between the apple tree line and the back corn field. The garden was so big our friend Jeff brought his field tractor to turn the soil. With three quick swoops the first turn was done. It would have taken days with the two-wheeled rototiller my Dad shared with my Uncle.

Garden plow day

The garden’s longest side contained blackberry bushes, strawberries and asparagus patches. Walk along the rows and you would find potatoes, onions, corn, green beans, lettuces, broccoli and an occasional Tonka™ Truck. My sister and I loved making roads, mountains and creeks amide the pathways. We harvested throughout the growing season and either canned or processed by a blanch-and-freeze method for the winter.

The asparagus patch is still there. In a few weeks the first spears will be peaking through the soil and I will beg my mother for some – as I do every year. To anyone else it might just taste like asparagus, but to me it tastes like home.

 

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Ingredients:

Asparagus, one bunch (about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds)
Bacon, one pound
Cheese – Parmesan or Mozzarella, shredded

Preparation:

  • Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  • Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and nest a wire rack inside.
  • Wet a paper towel with olive oil and rub generously on the rack.
  • Working with one asparagus spear and one slice of bacon at a time, snap an inch or two off the cut-end of the spear. Wrap spear with one slice of bacon.
  • Place on rack, leaving about 1/2 inch gap in between. Do not allow them to touch.
  • Once all the spears are wrapped, place in oven for 18-20 minutes, or until the bacon is to the crispness you desire.
  • Remove tray from oven and use tongs to transfer spears to a serving tray.
  • Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Banana Bread (AND Bonus Gluten Free Recipe)

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Banana Bread

She was a young lady growing up on a small farm in southwest Ohio and the boy courting her was making his way around the fields at midnight. Her siblings where trying to gather the loose horses just as they returned home from their first date. Two hours into the hunt they finally had them on the way back to the barn by rattling buckets of feed and leading the way.

 

They married at the small brick Baptist Church and started building a home on her parent’s land. A three bedroom cottage with a kitchen facing east, to catch the morning sun. He traveled to town with his lunch pail in hand to manage the produce at the local grocer. After the house was finished they planted fruit trees with care around the property and started working the land for the start of a garden.

 

Still newlyweds, he took the call to travel to Wright Field. He packed his uniforms, and she went with him to say goodbye.
He would write letters every week, sometimes more, sometimes less. She had a good idea of where he was at the beginning with the post marks coming from the East Coast during his training, then across the pond. They slowed then, taking longer to travel the ocean to her. She wrote back – and one letter told the news of her belly growing with his baby. My father.

 

He returned to a toddler son, a happy wife, and silently put the months of the German Black Forest behind him. They had two more babies. A girl, then another boy.

 

We would stop over often. In the summer I would run to the back yard to find them weeding their impressive garden, or find Grandma up a tree picking apples while Grandpa mowed the grass. Tough as nails, she never slowed – even in her sixties, and we continually reminded her that climbing on the counters to reach serving dishes was not ideal. At her five-foot height, she ignored us regularly and smirked every time she was caught in the act.

 

Her sunny kitchen always had a hidden gem. She tore paper towels into quarters and placed them in front of my cousins and me – waiting impatiently. She would pull a foil package from the bread drawer, carefully unwrap and slice the treat into equal pieces. The Banana Bread was portioned onto the towels and we would eat it greedily, always asking for seconds.

 

After I moved away, she would sneak a foil covered package out of her freezer for me to take back to my college apartment.
She turned Ninety Five last week.

Happy Birthday, Grandma.

 
Esther’s Banana Bread

Ingredients:
¼ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups sugar, plus more for topping
1/2 cup shortening (not butter)
2 eggs
2 cups flour
3 over-ripe bananas
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Pour buttermilk into measuring cup. Add baking soda and stir. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together sugar and shortening on medium speed for three minutes, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula half way through. • Turn the speed to low and add eggs one at a time.
• Turn speed up to medium/high and mix for 30 seconds.
• In a medium bowl mash bananas with a fork or meat tenderizer into little to no chunks remain. Add vanilla and salt to bananas.
• With the mixer on low, alternate adding flour and buttermilk to creamed mixture, ending with flour.
• Add banana mixture. Do not over mix. Streaks of flour should remain.
• Grease* the bottom and sides of a large loaf pan.
• Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake large loaves for 1 hour; until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.

*I grease the entire interior of the pan, then place a piece of parchment paper (cut to fit) in the bottom of the pan.

Note: Freezes very well.

 

Jessica’s Gluten Free Banana Bread

Ingredients:
¼ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups gluten free flour blend*
¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 cups sugar, plus more for topping
1/2 cup shortening (not butter)
2 eggs
3 large or 4 small over-ripe bananas
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

*Gluten Free Flour Blend
24 ounces white rice flour (4 ½ cups, pus 1/3 cup) (one bag of Bob’s Red Mill brand)
7 ½ ounces brown rice flour (1 2/3 cups)
7 ounces potato starch (not potato flour) (1 1/3 cup)
3 ounces tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour) (3/4 cup)
¾ ounce nonfat milk powder (3 tablespoons)

Measure out all ingredients and place in a zip sealed bag. Mix well. Store in refrigerator for up to three months)

Preparation:
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Pour buttermilk into measuring cup. Add baking soda and stir. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine gluten free flour blend, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together sugar and shortening on medium speed for three minutes, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula half way through. • Turn the speed to low and add eggs one at a time.
• Turn speed up to medium/high and mix for 30 seconds.
• In a medium bowl mash bananas with a fork or meat tenderizer into little to no chunks remain. Add vanilla to bananas.
• With the mixer on low, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to creamed mixture, ending with flour.
• Add banana mixture. Do not over mix. Streaks of flour should remain.
• Grease* the interior of a large loaf pan.
• Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle with sugar.
• Let the batter rest for twenty minutes.
• Bake for 1 hour; until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.

*I grease the entire interior of the pan, then place a piece of parchment paper (cut to fit) in the bottom of the pan.

Note: Freezes very well.