Signs of Spring

My 3' x 5' strawberry bed. It was overflowing with
plants last year, but I have high hopes for their recovery.

    Our local weather has definitely been the topic of many conversations this last month. After the many inches of snow in January, we had an unseasonable warm spell last week. For about five days, we had gorgeous sun and mid - high 50s here. I saw many people working in their yards and it definitely put a bounce in everyone's step. I decided to go out and work on clearing out my strawberry patch. Last summer, the deer came and ate every green leaf out of the patch and I was sure I would have to start over from scratch this year. I started clearing, in one small patch and soon realized that buried under the weeds was a strawberry plant. I then changed tactics and used a little more care with what I was pulling out. Happily as I cleared more and more, I saw that my strawberries did survive that seemingly decimating blow last year. They are definitely a bit worse for the wear and not nearly as plentiful as they were at the beginning of spring last year, but giving them a nice year of tender - loving - care this year and keeping the deer away will hopefully be enough for them to fully recover.
 
    As the sun brought out lighter spirits, it also ignited my desire to get back into the kitchen. I recently have joined Pinterest and am delighted by the wide variety of items that appear on my page throughout the day. On Pinterest, I saw this recipe for Peanut Butter Bars and I made them one evening for dessert. I didn't really like how they weren't very 'solid' at room temperature and the amount of sugar also made me cringe a bit, so I decided to revamp them to be a bit more of a healthy dessert. I also made them more bite-sized by molding them in my mini-muffin tin, which also made the application of the chocolate a lot simpler. Without telling my kids they were a healthier version, I sent them to school in their lunchboxes for dessert. Rave reviews at the end of the day, they never would have guessed I had even changed the recipe. Here is the revised recipe, which (depending on your ingredients) is gluten-free and refined sugar free and packed with protein and vitamins. Below the recipe are suggestions for dairy-free or ingredient substitutes.


Hidden Health Peanut Butter Bites
[Printable Recipe]


1 c (179 g) creamy peanut butter
3 Tbsp (55 g) agave nectar
1/2 c (42 g) dry milk powder
2 Tbsp (12 g) ground flax seed
1/4 c (23 g) quinoa flakes
1 c (31 g) rice crispies


4 - 8 oz semisweet chocolate chips, separated


In a medium sized bowl, mix the first five ingredients, until well combined. Add rice crispies and mix with your hands until the rice crispies are fully incorporated and you have a crumbly mix that will just hold together when squeezed in your hand. Form 24 small balls of dough, approximately 1/2 Tbsp each. Flatten each to the size of a silver dollar.

       

Muffin tin with chocolate in bottom of
each cup and 24 balls of mixture

Flattened Peanut Butter Balls,
approximately silver dollar sized.

    In a microwave safe bowl, melt 4 oz of chocolate chips in the microwave on 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until fully melted; about 1 1/2 minutes. In a silicone mini-muffin tin or using waxed cupcake liners (or waxed paper cut to fit), spread approximately 1/2 tsp of chocolate in the bottom of each cup. Press each flattened peanut butter ball into the chocolate. You can refrigerate at this point or you can melt the remaining 4 oz of chocolate chips and put a thin layer of chocolate on top each cup, creating a sandwich of chocolate, peanut butter and chocolate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. Remove from muffin tin and wrap in waxed paper. Store in the refrigerator.


    These work really well in lunch boxes, but I would not put them in with a warm lunch or in a bag where the chocolate would melt. They are solid at room temperature, but I recommend storing in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them or pack them in your bag for a quick snack during the day.


Yield: 24 mini muffin bites


NOTE: To make dairy-free, try replacing the milk powder with equal amounts of dry milk powder, rice flour or garbanzo flour. If you can't find the quinoa flakes you can substitute gluten-free quick oats, though you may have to decrease the amount or add a bit of melted coconut oil to help bind the ingredients.

Finally a Birthday

    With our uncharacteristic weather last week, Little Bigfoot had to postpone celebrating her birthday with her friend. Every year, she is given the choice of how she would like to celebrate with her friends. She has come to the realization, that she really prefers to interact with her friends on a one-on-one basis. Less confusion and easier to keep up with. We had been planning since Christmas for her friend to sleep over the weekend of 14 January, but with the snow being forecast for that afternoon, we decided it was best to postpone the plans a week. Then we were under 18" of snow the next weekend, so it definitely wasn't happening then. Now after a week of typical Seattle winter weather, most of the snow is gone and we were able to go forward with the 'party'.

  I picked the girls up from school and they proceeded with the fun. This involved a lot of giggling, playing with Littlest Petshop toys (of which LBF has 3 large Rubbermaid totes full of) and general fun. I had picked up Papa Murphy's pizzas earlier in the day for dinner and crumb-coated the cake (which was a lemon pound cake with lemon pudding filling, neither gluten-free, dairy or egg free, as those aren't an issue for the kids). It had earlier been decided that DragonNight would do the artwork for the cake, as only she could properly depict LBF's vision of a wolf silhouetted by the moon. It was later decided that she would also do the actual decorating. This would be her second cake decorating adventure. I think she did an outstanding job. I really love how their idea of ringing the moon with the candles, really highlighted the whole cake and brought the image to life.

    We will later go to my mother-in-law's house for another postponed birthday celebration (both LBF and my MIL's). I guess we could say that this year is the year of the never-ending birthdays. Hopefully the rest of the birthdays this year will happen more smoothly, since they are all summer season ones. It is the year with three Friday the 13ths in it, so the luck should fall into place at some point.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

Shows 6" outside my door, most of this is from today,
since it's been cleared fairly regularly, from
people going in and out.

    We are supposedly on the tail end of an unusual weather system here. Most winters, in and around the Seattle area, we get cold, rain and sometimes ice. On January 14th, it started to snow. It has changed many times during the days, sometimes being small ice pellets, other times large flakes of snow, a fine powder still other times. Over the last six days, we have gotten probably close to 18" of snow at my house. Totals have been extremely varied, depending on where you live, how close to the water you are and whether you are to the north or the south, but everyone in the Puget Sound has received some snow over the last six days. I've been voluntarily snowed in, since it started, as my car is over 10 years old and insurance would not cover a comparable replacement. My husband, The Redneck, is a very experienced snow driver and is one of the few people I would trust to get me somewhere in this snow, if I wasn't comfortable driving myself at that particular time, but even he has parked his truck and is walking to visit neighbors this week.


    The kids have had an extra four days off of school and it would appear that they will probably not go to school tomorrow as well. This means they will have extra days of school tacked on at the end of the year, making their summer shorter, but with all of the hills around here, it doesn't take a lot of bad, freezing weather to make it impractical for the buses to attempt their routes. Thankfully we have been one of the few to mostly maintain power throughout it all, most of my friends have lost their power for several hours and/or days. So far *knock on wood* we have only had a few power flickers and then 45 minutes without, last night. We've probably added about 4" - 6" of new snow, just today, as it has been snowing steadily since 5:30 am. Here is a comparison photo of our driveway & street, a few days ago and then this morning.

The left is from a few days ago (maybe Tuesday?), the right is from today.

Panache Shawl;
pattern by Lankalomero on Ravelry

    It hasn't all been a lost cause however. I have gotten some knitting done as well. I started this shawl on Friday (I think), I finished it on Tuesday. It actually took me a day longer than I had thought it would. I didn't feel quite as bad about that as I could have, once I realized that each row (over 300 stitches) was taking me 30 minutes to complete. I realized I only had five rows left, plus the crocheted edging, and then realized that it was still three hours from being finished, if I worked without interruptions. The shawl still needs to be blocked, but I'll wait for slightly warmer weather (next week) and no kids around trying to help or get in the way.

New pattern in the works
by Tandy Imhoff Designs

    My mom has been repeatedly asking for the pattern that I used to make a hat that I gave her for Christmas, as a dear friend of her's would love the pattern. I've tried explaining that it is something that I just winged, based on a picture I saw, but her friend REALLY wants the pattern. So yesterday, I pulled out a comparable yarn from my stash and set about duplicating the hat, writing down my procedure and stitch counts this time. Since I love designing multiple sizes, I also made a child's version, which I plan to expand into three child/teen sizes and two women's sizes. I'll be putting it all together soon, but here is a teaser photo of the hats I've made so far. (Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, didn't set up for a proper shot with proper lighting on this.)

Yes, I even sew a bit too

  Well, I wouldn't say that I'm a great sewer, but I do own a machine and can sew when the need arises. My mother-in-law mentioned that she would love to have a few more reusable heat packs for her birthday this week, so I thought why not. I usually use a nice cotton quilting fabric, double thick, with a few seams and it's done. I prefer to use flax seed and since discovering that my local dollar store sells one-pound bags of it for a dollar, it seems very inexpensive to do.


  Around Halloween time, I was in the Goodwill shop, across the street from the Everett Imagine Children's Museum, where DragonNight has been volunteering, and found some wonderful socks with skull & crossbones on them. I thought "I wonder if I could use these to make heat packs with?". They went on the back burner of projects, since I was working on various knitting projects. I figured eventually I'd get around to sewing them (which is how I think of all of my sewing projects). 

  So I ran out yesterday (since we were supposed to be celebrating both my MIL & Little Bigfoot's birthday today) to find some fun socks to make into heat packs for my MIL. I found these one. I love the Betty Boop ones. Since they were ankle socks, I made pocket warmers and then each pair of knee socks equaled two 12"(ish) long neck packs and two smaller 3-4" pocket packs. On the Betty Boop ones I made them just with the socks and tested them. They didn't really retain their heat very long, so I used cotton tube socks and then sewed the decorative (polyester/spandex) socks over them. They work fairly well, not quite as good as my fabric ones, but they are fun and super easy and quick to make and will warm you up if you are chilly or need just a little heat on your neck or head. I highly recommend storing the large ones in the freezer and then just microwaving them a bit longer when you need heat instead of cold. The cold that these packs give off is a very nice soothing chill rather than the cold freeze you get from ice packs.


  Just decided to postpone our birthday get-together until next weekend though, since the weather decided to be unpredictable and rather icky. Snow & ice doesn't generally slow down the Redneck or myself, but rather other drivers' skills behind the wheel in this weather strongly influence us to just stay home.

Colder Weather

Oh my, I can't believe it's been so long since I last did a post. So much for me trying to get something up here every week. We had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday and I perfected gluten-free cornbread and therefore enjoyed a wonderful cornbread dressing with our smoked turkey.

I haven't been knitting all that much new lately. I am working on a few Christmas presents and therefore can't share those quite yet and have finished the square of the month for December, but knitting and baking have not been high on my list of things to do lately. The weather has turned colder of course and so I'm slowly working up to Christmas celebrations and figuring out what the kids can give to classmates while they work diligently to finish up their assignments before they start winter break this Friday. 

I recently spotted a flea on our white cat, who I believe is actually allergic to flea bites, by the bald patches that are appearing on her as a result of her over grooming. I've bought a flea collar for her and even tried a hydrocortisone shampoo bath (which almost killed her, so to speak). I gave her the bath and within about 3 hours she was vomiting violently and was lethargic and uninterested in food for about 24 hours. I'm still not 100% sure what caused this reaction, but I'm not inclined to bathe her again very soon. Her favorite spot right now is, as you can see, curled up to the heater. We find it quite amusing to see how much of herself she manages to fit under the 1" clearance space underneath.

Last evening was the holiday party at my local knitting guild, Snohomish Knitters Guild. There was the gift exchange and a lot of food. With my new food guidelines, I've learned to either eat before I go or take whatever I want to eat all evening, so I don't cheat and eat things that will have consequences later. I found a wonderful recipe for Carrot Fritters that I was able to adapt to be gluten-free and egg & dairy free as well. They seemed to be the hit of the ball and everyone requested the recipe. I didn't take a picture of them, but if you go to the link above, you can get an idea of what they are supposed to look like. I quadrupled the original recipe and had about 40 2" fritters and I guess that was a good quantity, because there were only 2 left on the plate when I packed up to come home. Here is the recipe with my adjustments. I'll formalize it later with an actual picture, but it will get you started.


Carrot Fritters
Adapted from Food.com

7 large carrots (about 8 cups grated)
2 small yellow onions
8 Tbsp Brown Rice Flour
6 Tbsp Tapioca Starch
6 Tbsp Millet Flour
4 Tbsp ground Chia seed
8 Tbsp warm water
4 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp baking powder

Grate the carrot and onion together. Stir in brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and millet flour. Mix ground chia seed with water, mix well and pour into carrot mixture. Add remaining seasonings and mix well until all ingredients are well distributed. Shape into small 2" fritters and place on wax paper on a cookie sheet. Chill for minimum of 1 hour, maximum 12 hours. Heat a large fry pan with a shallow amount of oil on medium-high heat. Fry the fritters, in batches, in the oil about 5 - 8 minutes per side or until brown. Drain on paper towels and serve while hot.

Thanksgiving Preparations

Now that Halloween has passed us by and we are surviving on the candy of our children, it is time to start thinking ahead to the next holidays that are swiftly approaching. Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has always been about those amazing flavors of traditional feasts past and in the past we have enjoyed many dinners at my parents' house and also at my in-laws' house. I'm finding though, that having such an eclectic variety of foods that are on my 'Don't Eat' list, that 95% of the foods that I have come to associate with this holiday are no longer safe for me to eat. Last year was an adventure of new flavors, but without gluten this year, Thanksgiving seems like it just won't be the same. Some adjusting will have to be done.

My mother-in-law is a terrific baker and loves to make the pies for Thanksgiving dessert. Last year, with pumpkin no longer acceptable for me, she took on the challenge and created a delicious butternut squash pie, that tasted just as a pumpkin pie should. This year, she has requested that I provide her with a gluten-free pie crust recipe, so that she can recreate this tasty delight for me. I'm not a pie baker and have only made 1-2 pie crusts from scratch my entire life. I know many people would say that I am missing out, but pie crust remains one of those elusive baking feats that I have yet to master. I know the techniques and mechanics, but have yet to create that flaky, dreamy crust that people beg for. However, that being said, I needed to create something and make sure the flavors worked together, before sending the recipe off to my mother-in-law, for her to perform her magic with, to result in a dreamy pie for my Thanksgiving dessert.

So when I realized this morning that I needed to use the left-over apples that I had sent to school with Little Bigfoot for her Halloween party, I decided that I would try again with pie crust and make some apple tarts. I changed my mind right at the end and instead used my jumbo muffin tins to create mini apple pies, but the crust tastes good and I know my mother-in-law will find the right magic to make it a delight. Here is the recipe I used:


Gluten-Free Pie Crust for Apple Pie
Adapted from GlutenFreeGirl.com
[Printable Recipe]

40 g Coconut Flour
40 g Amaranth Flour
60 g Millet Flour
79 g Oat Flour
79 g Tapioca Flour
65 g Teff Flour
96 g Arrowroot
51 g Sweet Rice Flour
2 tsp Xanthan Gum
¼ tsp Guar Gum
½ tsp kosher salt
5 Tbsp Frozen butter, grated
4 Tbsp Frozen shortening, grated
1 large egg
6 – 8 Tbsp cold water (or enough to bind dough)
   
Combine all dry ingredients thoroughly. Add in frozen butter & shortening and blend with fingers until you achieve a sandy consistency. Mix in egg and then gradually add water until you have a smooth dough. Divide in half and roll out  ¼” thick. Place first crust in an 8" pie pan. Repeat rolling instructions with other half. Make filling below. 

Filling:

6 c Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled & chopped

112 g brown sugar

38 g white sugar

2 Tbsp Arrowroot

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp allspice

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, making sure the coconut oil is well distributed throughout. Pour filling into pie crust, top with remaining crust. Crimp edges and cut several vent holes in the top. Bake 20 minutes or until the filling is bubbling well. Cool, cut and serve.

Yield: 1 Double Crust 8" Pie or 6 Mini Pies

The crust recipe took quite a bit more water than the recipe calls for. I'm not sure if this is due to the different flours (that I substituted) or some other unknown factor. Be sure to use enough water to achieve a smooth dough that does not crack when it is rolled out.

Pre-Halloween with soup

I have been busy at work, the last week and a half, creating a Halloween costume for Little Bigfoot. She loves stretching my creative powers to the maximum every year and this year was no different. In the creation of her costume, I developed a new knitted hat pattern that I am working to finalize and write up for sale. I can't share her costume yet, but promise to post pictures and Halloween excitement next week.

Her school had a Bingo Night on Friday and costumes were encouraged, so I dug around the house to come up with something. In the past I haven't been one for dressing up, a lot of that has to do with the fact that I felt horrible in general and the extra effort of finding a costume and putting up with being uncomfortable in it all evening wasn't something I relished. However, over the last year, I've regained more of my health and have felt better than I've felt in 10 years, so I decided to give it a whirl on Friday and see what I could come up with. Many years ago, I created this hat for The Redneck, as he was fighting the great opossum battle at the time, between them and our garbage cans. We've had many a laugh about it over the years, so I decided to put it to good use this year. I found an old pair of holey jeans, a ratty t-shirt and flannel and wore The Redneck's winter boots. I think I made a passable female redneck for the evening. The suspenders were dyed strips of fabric that just worked to highlight the whole thing. Bingo Night was a success, we had a lot of fun and won some fun prizes as well. Little Bigfoot wasn't quite sure what to make of my costume, but decided it was alright to be seen with me and it was even better when she started winning some at bingo.

On another note, the garden harvest is coming to a close, and we have a lot of Delicata Squash to use up. Since most winter squash are okay for me to eat, I'm trying to think of different ways to eat it, so that I don't get overly tired of the same flavor all of the time. I decided to try to create a creamy soup that would be dairy-free and hearty. Here is what I ended up with:

Creamy Delicata Soup
[Printable Recipe]

2 medium Delicata Squash, cut in half, cleaned and roasted until tender
1 can (14 oz) Great Northern Beans, drained & rinsed
1 can (14 oz) black beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 lb chicken sausage
4 mini bell peppers (orange, yellow and/or red), rough chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 cups chicken broth or water

Scoop cooled squash out of the skins and process with the northern beans in food processor until smooth, adding chicken stock/water as needed to aid in achieving a smooth consistent puree. Continue in batches, until all of the squash and northern beans have been pureed.

In a medium saucepan or large deep skillet, cook the sausage and onion until done, add the peppers and saute for 5 minutes. Add the black beans and squash puree, adding more chicken broth/water until a thick soup consistency is achieved. Simmer on very low heat until soup is warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.


Yield 4 medium servings or 2 large servings


Note: Squash can be cooked and stored in the fridge several days in advance, either in the skins, scooped out, or already pureed with the beans.