Gluten-Free Main Dishes + Comfort Food

Sorry- this index has moved to:

Gluten-Free main Dish and Comfort Food Recipes

Roasted Tomato Soup

A tomato soup recipe to cure all ills. Roasting is the secret.

When cabin fever hits, I am not a pretty sight. My hair has a static-inspired halo decidedly unholy. My chin breaks out (zits? At 53?). I pace and fidget. I am not the serene goddess you think I am.

I am itchy and creaky and sick to death of pilled winter sweaters- not to mention winter temperatures. You folks in Ohio? My thoughts are with you, Babycakes. Here in northern New Mexico I don't have much to kvetch about. But you? Oy. All that snow? It might crush me. Seriously. I'd be done.

So to celebrate the return of Daylight Saving (three weeks early, no less) I made a life affirming taste bud tingling pot of soup this weekend. See if this doesn't help quench your cabin fever.

Just a little.

Continue reading

Cheers!

I thought I'd post a couple beer cookie pics since St. Patrick's Day is just 11 days away. :) With it falling so close to Easter this year, I'm not sure I'll make Easter AND St. Paddy's Day cookies, but in case your plans call for green beer cookies...here's a tip.

These top 2 pictures show how I first did them. I thought a star tip would work great for the "foam" at the top. Well, I didn't love the way they turned out and this way used A LOT of icing. Near the end, I was close to praying to St. Patrick to let the icing hold out through the last cookie.

So, here's what I finally came up with. The foam part is just filled in as normal with flood icing and after it dried, I piped little curlicues for the bubbles. I like this much better.
Happy green beer drinking and eating!

Sexy Spring Pasta- with roasted asparagus & tomatoes

Simple and romantic: pasta with roasted asparagus and tomatoes.

Today's recipe is a romantic, sexy spring pasta sauce with balsamic roasted asparagus and tomatoes. Because it's snowing. There's a foot of the white stuff. Ridiculous. Our morning appointment with our real estate broker was canceled. Oh, did I mention? We're putting our house on the market. Los Angeles beckons.

Aside from my husband's screenwriting momentum, these ole bones of mine (not to mention, my spare parts) are too creaky for winters with snow. Two years ago, when we planned our big move west, I was naive enough to imagine kinder temperatures. A January with no snow shovels. February afternoons sunny and warm enough to peel off your apple-green cardigan, roll up your sleeves, and drink in vitamin D old school style. Maybe south, in Las Cruces.

But not here north of Santa Fe. And so I find myself once again turning toward the new, welcoming change. Packing away family photos and books to simplify rooms and coax potential buyers into imagining their own conversations and meals and lovemaking in this space.

This space in the desert that has been my shelter- and my tabla rasa. Where I have shed old skins and birthed a new sense of self- in startling and unexpected ways. Interesting, isn't it? Living here has been so different than I imagined. Difficult, even. And yet. So good for me. It's been all about the process of change.

And lucky for me- I think change is sexy.

Continue reading

Who, ME?!?

I just have to start out by saying I am beyond flattered to be tagged again for a meme by Aran of Cannelle et Vanille. My first thought is she reads my blog?!?!? Her blog and creations are absolutely gorgeous...gorgeous! If you didn't click on the first link, here it is again. Check it out!

Five more things about me, this time about cookies and blogging:

1. Years ago, I remember reading a book that said you should follow what you loved as a child and you will be happy. I really racked my brain and couldn't think of anything I was really into as a kid. Now, I get it. My most memorable birthday party...we decorated our own mini-cakes and my mom made all of the girls coordinating aprons and chef's hats out of dotted swiss! In a high school Spanish competition, I won a prize for dessert (I made flan, haven't made it since). As a girl, I loved to make these giant, soft chocolate chip cookies from a kids' cookbook (can't find it now), but I always got a secret thrill when people said they were good. I wish I would have noticed this food trend much earlier in life! A major in psychology?!? What was I thinking?
2. I started making decorated cookies 9 years ago when my son was a baby and I quit work to stay home. I had no idea what I was doing. I wish I had pictures...they are tucked away in a box somewhere. I used to dip the cookies in icing and spread with a spatula. Most had only 2 colors and sprinkles. I made all of them on a stick and put them in clay pots and sold them to mainly family and friends. (Thanks, guys!)
3. That blossomed into learning all about cookie decorating and finally opening a web store, shipping nationwide and then focusing on local deliveries only. When 2008 came, I decided to hang up my apron, so to speak, and quit selling cookies and just make them for fun. It gives me more time to spend with my son who we are now homeschooling and less late nights decorating.
4. I was introduced to blogging by my cousin, Maura. Her blog, paper bluebird, was the first one I ever paid attention to and soon became addicted. She is an inspiration, always finding the beauty and joy in life and crafting some amazing things along the way. So, I thought, OK...maybe I'll try combining cookies and blogging.
5. My sister & I also have a blog, two curlytops, where we share what we are up to. My sister's posts are a combination of quilting, crafts, photography and food...mine, well, just food. She's more multi-faceted than I am. :)

There you have it...more than you ever wanted to know! Since I tagged 5 bloggers last time, I'll just leave you with 1 more link to Aran's blog...Cannelle et Vanille.

Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten-free buckwheat chocolate chip cookies.

  

I know what you're thinking. Not another cookie recipe. Please. I've had it with melty chocolate chips and crunchy, chewy sweetness. Where are the rutabaga recipes, dagnabbit? And what about beets? Or parsnips? I've got a hankering for kale the size of Wyoming. I yearn for jicama. Cook me up some kohlrabi, already.

Sorry, Darling. Not today. You'll have to be patient. There are cookies to bake. And these are gluten-free.

Continue reading

Happy March!

Here's an easy little cookie for St. Patrick's Day...

1. Pipe the outline of a shamrock in white icing, using a #2 tip.
2. In the center of the cookie, pipe an outline of a heart in red, using a #2 tip. (AmeriColor Super Red)
3. Thin red and green icing to the consistency of syrup and let sit covered with a damp dishtowel for several minutes. Run a rubber spatula through the icing to pop any air bubbles that have formed on top.
4. Fill in outlined shamrock in green using a toothpick to guide into corners. Use a squeeze bottle for easy filling. (Spectrum Leaf Green)
5. Fill in heart with thinned red icing following method above.

***a note on green icing: a deep green like these shamrocks is susceptible to humidity. Sometimes, the icing will get a blotchy look and turn slightly darker. Not to worry, eventually the entire cookie will darken to an even shade. Although red and blue will do this as well, I find it happens most with green icing. Just try to keep the cookies in a non-humid environment and never put in the refrigerator.***