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.