Pumpkin Spice Cake: gluten free and delicious.

I mean honestly, you can't even tell it's gluten, grain & refined sugar free. It's that good. I wanted to make a pumpkin spice cake for turkey day that I could actually eat and love (I'm eating gluten-free, sugar-free and *sigh* low-carb because of this adrenal burnout issue).

I practiced with cupcakes early in the week, which is something that I never do. Usually I launch into a new recipe on holidays or for parties without care for the fact that it may totally flop. But this time I smartened up. I knew that I'd have to combine and adjust a couple of recipes to get it right. I based it on Elana's pumpkin spice muffins and Comfy Belly's pumpkin bread (almost cake). 
(my recipe is below the photos)

We ate it with a toasted nutmeg ice cream (modified-- I subbed xylitol and stevia for sugar and coconut milk for some--not all-- of the dairy). Yum. That ice cream is sooo good.

Here's what I did: note: I'm not a recipe writer-- so bear with me

Pumpkin Spice Cake
(makes enough for a double layer cake--but you could make this as cupcakes, muffins or even a loaf, just adjust the cook time and maybe cut the recipe in half)

 Ingredients
2 cups of pumpkin puree (homemade or canned-- I used canned this time)
1 cup of coconut nectar (you could also use honey, agave or maple syrup)
1/2 tsp Stevia clear liquid*
1/2 tsp Vanilla creme liquid stevia
6 eggs

1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt

spices--(not exact-- sorry!):
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
almost 2 Tablespoons ground ginger
1/2-3/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp of cloves

4 cups of almond flour**
4+ tsp coconut flour (yes, teaspoons-- a little goes a long way with coconut flour)

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Combine wet ingredients and blend well (I used an immersion blender, but a mixer is fine.
Add in rest of ingredients (if you want, you can mix the dry separately and then add in gradually ;)
Bake in two well-greased round cake pans-- I buttered, lined the bottom with parchment and then buttered and floured.
Bake until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. I think it took about 35 minutes?? Whoops. See. I told you that I'm not a recipe writer. Next time I'll get it right. Set the timer for 30 and you should be fine.

*if you don't want to use stevia (or want it to be officially paleo) sub another cup of your choice of liquid sweetener and a bit of vanilla--- but in this case you may need to leave out an egg or two to get a similar texture... You could also use just plain liquid stevia.

**I love Honeyville blanched almond flour, but this time I used Bob's Red Mill I whirled it in the food processor to make a bit finer.

I almost forgot!-- I made a frosting of cream cheese, butter, tiny bit of cream and powdered 'sugar' that I made from xylitol... i think i added stevia to that too...

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving sides & such: gluten free

illustration: Rebekka Seale

I'm already getting excited for Thanksgiving... I'm not hosting this year, so it will be easy-- no spatchcocking or setting up a minute by minute plan for the cooking (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but as you probably know, the logistics take some coordination--even with the fun, small group we had last year).

This year, we get to go to my cousin's house. His amazing Aussie wife specializes in over-achievement far beyond my pre-adrenal burnout days. She is also an organizer extraordinaire. I love the fact that even though I live 3000 miles from home I still have some family here. My mom's sister --a transplant from Rhode Island--- lives next door to my in-laws and raised her kids here in this small town.
The hosts:  cousin, Aussie wife, 2 kiddos
The guests: My aunt and uncle, another lovely cousin & her 2 boys, friends of said lovely cousin (I think they are a couple and a toddler), the amazing Aussie's mum (all the way from Oz), and the amazing Aussie's aunt and daughters (who also live here in town), and finally--the four of us.

What I'm bringing:

1. Sweet potato & sage butter casserole: this was a hit at last year's feast. I Highly recommend it.

found on The Bitten Word. Photo: Martha Stewart Living

2. A Festive cocktail: I'm thinking.....either the ginger bourbon fizz (illustrated above) or a version of this classic whiskey smash (maybe made with ginger syrup instead of simple syrup and possibly subbing another liquor):

from Bon Appetit

A gluten free stuffing/dressing-- I think I'll go the cornbread route (I came up with a tasty GF cornbread recipe based on others but of course didn't document it. I'll post it when I figure it out again).  Here are two cornbread dressings that look yummy: 1) Cornbread dressing with smoked bacon & pecans (from Southern Living) :

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Heather Chadduck

 2) Cornbread, sausage & pecan dressing (from Bon Appetit):

Photograph by Christopher Testani

Toasted nutmeg ice cream from Saveur (also a winner from last year-- I changed it a bit but will figure that out later):

Credit: Todd Coleman

Some sort of gluten free dessert: I think I'll turn this butternut squash cake gluten free:

 
somehow crossing it with this pumpkin spice cake:

 

That's all for now... What are you cooking?

Saturday in Photos

Our Dia de los Muertos altar

Odin on the altar

Not S &M (although one of my yoga students calls this fabulous restorative pose "butterfly bondage").

Birthday dinner for my father-in-law at V Bistro & Bar. Awesome guy mixing it up on the sax & drums.

Savers. Saving as best we can, moment to moment.

Halloween happened. We moved out of last year's Halloween central house so the pressure was off! No need to create a crazy elaborate display for a thousand (or so) trick-or-treaters. No need to create complicated costumes using supplies and methods I'd never heard of. Oh yes, I'll admit it; I enjoyed every minute of the prep last year. It was a welcome distraction for a typically tough month for me.

But this year was different. I've surrendered to adrenal burnout and begun the healing process.

As I unpacked the Halloween and Dia de los Muertos decorations (yes, I'm now actually one of those people that has a box just for this particular holiday). I was impressed and surprised to find all of the handmade items I slaved over last year. No wonder I'm burnt out! It was such a clear representation of how the past 30 years or so have set me up for where I am today.*

I smiled. I laughed out loud.  If there were only one thing I could 'teach' (or model for) my boys, it would be the ability to laugh at myself.

"Lighten up!" my mom & dad told me this a lot.... but it took me a long time to learn how to do it. I'm not sure you can teach someone how to do this-- except by modeling it yourself.

I still managed some homemade costumes- but they were simple.  I still baked preschool treats twice because (as usual) I tried a new recipe and made my own substitutions which didn't work and found myself baking an emergency 2 dozen cookies the morning they were due at school.

Would a normal person run to the store for some gluten-free, nut-free cookies that would be acceptable? Perhaps. Was it that big of deal to bake up the cookies last minute? Not so much. As Jason said, "You could just bring nothing." Could I? After all, I did sign up to bring something. *sigh*

So here we are. Full circle. It's November again and time for Nablopomo (National blog posting month). That's right. The month that I post every day just for the hell of it. Just because I want to. I'm not sure that I'll pull it off and I'm not going to put pressure on myself (really, I'm not), but writing is fun for me. It's alone time, it's processing time. Sharing these thoughts with you and reading some of your thoughts (and blogs) adds extra love and richness to my day.

So thanks for being here. ;)

*secretly: I was also proud of myself for making all of that stuff last year.

Finn is Four. and where am I?

I can, indeed, believe that it's been a month since I've visited the good life here in cyberworld. I've been an on an unintentional hiatus, otherwise consumed with the good life off-screen, engaged in activities like finding mold in our rental and staying temporarily at our in-laws. Yes, mold. yuck. A couple of dear family members have passed away after tough battles with the big 'C'.

I was diagnosed with complete 'adrenal burnout' and told to stop running (not that I was doing much of that) and to start lying down flat as much as possible during the day! Ha! (It feels reeeallly good to do it...but nearly impossible to do more than once a day with two crazy boys). I'm supposed to pretend I'm on perpetual vacation, stop eating all fruit and forms of sugar, eat meat at every meal, and re-mineralize myself. More on that later.

In the middle of it all, my sweet little bull, Finn, turned four! I can hardly believe it. He's still challenging as ever, but also hilarious. Here are some moments I did manage to capture....

 Fish cake-- Finn's choice. Template from Martha. I've never made a meringue butter-cream before and also never used turmeric to dye frosting-- so that was super fun. The cake is my tried and tested Vanilla bean cake  (grain free) from Kelly at The Spunky Coconut.

He had a bit of "Too Much Birthday" (Berenstein Bears reference)-- The poor guy was exhausted.

Finn's 95 year old great-grandmother (J's grandma) and his second cousin made it!

My cousin's lovely children showing off their party tattoos.

After a few good nights' sleep, Finn was back in action....(after 10 REALLY tough days!).

 Four just sounds too old. I had such a good cuddle with him tonight before bed. He was cracking me up talking about his 'bones'....pointing to various parts of his body, "This is a bone, right here. Elbow?! That's not a bone!"...etc. Too cute. It's so fun to see him learning this stuff and being thoroughly fascinated by it.

Love Fest

I know, Valentine's Day is over and done with, but I was holding out  until I could find time to take photos of my raw cacao yummy Valentine's treats. Guess what? We ate them all. That gives me an excuse to make more next week so that I can post the recipes. (They're decadent & healthy, I swear!).

Finn's abstract hearts. He loves to mix colors!

I've always thought V day was a bit of a joke, but now that I have two little ones around, I LOVE it. Seriously. How fun is it to talk about love? And I'm also serious about how much I  love making hearts and valentine's. And now I love origami too. Check out those sweet love boats! I followed a video to make the boat with two sails and I kept laughing...thinking about that Little Caesar's commercial from when I was a kid: "..A Pterodactyl!" Anyone remember?

J made the one on the right for me. Finn made the little heart stamps with a toilet paper roll 
dipped in paint. We went nuts with the Target dollar bin alphabet stickers for all of
his little preschool buddies.

More Love: We are having a good week over here in boy land. Finn has been loving his brother more than not, which is a bonus for everyone. There have been so many adorable brother hugs, but I can't seem to pull out my camera to catch one in time.

 

And Bobolicious is just delicious. The sweatshirt in the photo below cracks me up (a gift from Desi when Finn was a babe). I never dress B in it because I feel too badly, but Jason put him in it the other day. These boys fight over my lap space and I usually have the little one attached to my breast while the big one twirls my hair in the morning. Of course it is so sweet and precious if they're not pushing each other and whining....And if I'm finding enough time for my own personal space! Hell, I'm not complaining. 

There's lots of love going around. 

I hope you're feeling some love these days too.

P.S. Here's the commercial... Enjoy! xo

Holiday rehab

We are six days post-Christmas and I have been comforting myself with yoga and chocolate. It's not that I am saddened by the passing of Christmas. I am quite relieved that it is over. Not surprisingly, I dived into the decorating, the cooking and the handmade gifts with too much fervor and now I need to rest...on a beach, somewhere tropical. Since that is not happening, I am substituting a continuous rotation of yoga and chocolate like you might do with heat and ice on an injury. I figure one of them is healthy, so I can't be doing too much damage.

Pictured above is a closer look at the advent calendar which I posted about here.  And below are some of the other decorations that I made, copying ideas I found on Pinterest.

What does your holiday rehab look like?

Bodhi turns one! (and the holiday preparations...)

 Bodhi had his first birthday this week and we threw a small get together to celebrate. Of course, Jasona and I worked so hard all day that by the time the party came neither of us took photos! I blame him (of course) because he is, in fact, a photographer by trade.... but I should know better, because he never takes photos in this type of situation. Which I guess means that I need to do it and stop expecting him to do it. Oh, expectations. You get me every time.

The cake looks horrible against our rental's horrendous faux painted walls (are you getting a sense of my mood this evening?)...but it was delicious. And gluten free! This Vanilla Bean cake is literally made with white beans (and a dozen eggs)! I highly recommend it.  I doubled the recipe here, and made a layer cake. The frosting is buttercream: butter, sugar, and cream. I used this recipe--not overly sweet.

Finn has been waiting for this moment all night.

 You can see our advent calendar in the background-- Idea from Desi. She sent me the animal images. I used iron on transfers on muslin bags from this tutorial. That was my first iron on transfer experience and damn, there is a learning curve! I nearly quit after 3 shoddy numbers and multiple trouble-shooting google searches, but picked it up the next day and figured it out. Persistence has always been my strength. (I have many weaknesses, which I've been examining all day today-- more on that later).

And our tree... I love it. Chopped down by Jason, it is perfect. Finn and I made the little owls and Jason and I wrapped stars in yarn. It took me 3 weeks to get the lights right because I had 2 faulty sets. (What a mind-snapper* that is. It's cheaper to buy a new strand then to actually fix them.)

Snowflakes are hanging from above. Do you love making them? If not, look at this explanation on how to fold the paper. Why didn't I learn this in school? When I teach school again I will be certain to teach how to cut snowflakes--even if it's college. After learning how to make the proper folds I was a snowflake making maniac! I literally went to sleep visualizing patterns of how to cut complex flakes. (I am a little insane, and a nerd if you haven't noticed.)

Alas, there are two more days until Christmas and I have yet to manufacture (craft, if you will) about 10 gifts. The two small boys who call me 'mama' are no help in this department. I will not stress about it. This is fun, right? Right.

Yes. There will be gluten free cinnamon buns on Christmas morning along with baked eggs and pumpkin lattes. My mom always served us cinnamon buns as we sleepily emptied our stockings. This is a tradition I want to carry on.
I miss you mama.

But enough about me...what about you?

*my dad's term.  I miss him too. But he's just across the country, and fairly active in cyberspace so I'll see him soon.

A foraged holiday wreath

After posting daily for the month of November I needed a few days off. I guess that's how I found the time to make this wreath last week. What else did I do with all of my extra time??? Not sure.

I've been inspired by images on Pinterest to make all kinds of holiday decorations with natural items that I can find in my backyard or close by. I've never been much of a "crafter" (as I mentioned in this post), but I've always wanted to be. I find it to be relaxing and creative--kind of like cooking.

Here are links with tutorials for variations of the twig wreath: 1 & 2.

Next time I would wrap the cardboard with some natural twine. I didn't realize that it would show as much as it did.

How about you? Do you decorate your living quarters for the holidays? Are you cooking up anything delicious? I'm always looking for more ideas...

Happy December!

Post turkey day

Thanksgiving was a lovely day. We ran the turkey trot and then went at it in the kitchen.  I'm fairly exhausted and know that I've been slacking on the posts all week (I'm posting daily as part of NaBloPoMo)...but there's only so much I can handle! I will be posting soon to evaluate my Thanksgiving recipe choices, the yoga for cancer workshop , and about our day today in the snow during which Finn severely tested my patience. Wow. But he did go to bed saying how much he loved sledding.

Thanking the Big Trees

Hide and Seek in the Giant Sequoias.
Grandmother trees. soft red bark. light filtered through the canopy. magic.
One 3 year old jumping in snow puddles, the other screaming--a mud aversion.

Spatchcockers Unite!

Tonight I spatchcocked and seasoned my turkey in preparation for tomorrow's feast.  Spatchcock, spatchcock, spatchcock! (I love saying that word) A friend of mine read me the directions on Martha's website while I did the dirty work.  It was a fairly funny scene and not nearly as easy as Martha made it look, so he gave me the idea of posting  a side by side photo comparison of me and Martha (although it's late and I can't get them side by side!). Let's just say my spatchcock job wasn't nearly as sterile or pretty as Martha's.

1. Cutting out the backbone-- maybe it would be as easy as she makes it look if I had those awesome kitchen shears....

2. Breaking the backbone. Martha suggests standing on a stool. This was not easy. Finally I opened it up enough on the bone side and was able to get a good crack.

And in video:

I'll let you know how it turns out! Happy Thanksgiving....

Images: Martha Stewart and Jason B Smith

Thanksgiving plans: Foraging shrooms and gluten free, paleo recipes

porcini!

I don't have a final count for Thanksgiving quite yet, but I do know that I'll be cooking a 14 pound bird from a local grower. There are so many recipes I want to try that I'm going to have to hold myself back. We could end up with just four adults and we'll have enough food for twenty. Do you want to come over?


We are foraging as well. Jason went out for a porcini reconnaisance this morning and came back with a fine looking specimen. I hope we can find some more because a porcini stuffing sounds deliciously rich and amazing. And guess what? That fig tree is still stacked. I'll be making more fig sesame jam and some spiced grape preserves (we found  an unharvested vineyard) too.
Here's what I'm thinking.....

Fall Harvest Salad with butternut squash, pepitas & pecans
Butterflied Turkey with Cranberry-Molasses glaze or Apple-maple glaze (I think I may choose maple)
Cranberry Apple stuffing--gluten free & grain free (GAPS/paleo friendly)
Roasted brussel sprouts with bacon & apples
Mashed Cauliflower (but I'll be using butter in mine)--This is paleo- and GAPS- diet friendly
Green beans with toasted walnuts and dried-cherry vinaigrette (Finn loves green beans)
Sweet Potato and sage-butter casserole--This one isn't gluten-free-although it could be adapted

Cranberry Chutney with Fennel and golden raisins 

And desserts....

I'll use this gluten/grain free tart recipe for either a pecan or apple filling
and I'd really like to make this: Butternut squash and hazelnut bouchons with toasted nutmeg ice cream (sounds crazy good, doesn't it??)
but that might just be too much....

And drinks???
I'm thinking Jora's pumpkin spice lattes in the morning and  Louise's Rum & cider in the afternoon.

What are your plans?

Photobooth

 This is the last post about Halloween. I promise. As I mentioned in the last couple of posts, I convinced J to set up a photo booth in our front yard so that all of the little kidlets (and their parents) could capture their cuteness with an image. He was stuck there for the night taking photos. It may or may not have been worth it, but it was a fun experiment. Here we are on Halloween eve testing out the lighting:

And here is Bobolicious in his adorable owl costume. I actually made this (can you hear the shock in my voice?)! I want him to wear it every day for the next month. I'm not one of those 'crafting moms' with an organized, perfect crafting room and cute homemade things everywhere. It was more like chaos in the garage with leaking glue guns, misplaced paper flowers and scraps of felt everywhere. But I had so much fun making stuff, maybe I just will become a crafter of things....or even an artist (less likely)!-- who knows? For now, I enjoyed copying other people's ideas and searching out online tutorials. (The owl costume is from Martha.)