The last year or so . . .

Over the last year or so I have done much cooking.  First of all I cooked a baby.  Well, only in a figurative sense, but he took a lot of time and effort anyway. As part of that particular project, I STOPPED cooking very many carb-loaded things because somehow I ended up with gestational diabetes. Once he was born I got all excited to bake again . . . only to come up against several food issues on the part of my nursing baby.  For a while I swear I was eating little but chicken and rice - and cried when the allergist told me to remove rice, too.  However, we both somehow came through the experience without starving to death, and I'm down to avoiding just two main foods.  Hooray!

Anyway, I'm wondering if there are any particular recipes that you all are hoping to hear about.  I've got a new (much easier and very yummy) cinnamon roll recipe that I've worked out in the last couple of months that I plan to share, but otherwise I'm kind of low on ideas.  Any suggestions?

Thanksgiving is coming! Thanksgiving is coming!

It's the Monday before Thanksgiving.  My family is staying put this Thanksgiving.  There will be no 6 hour car trips to visit family.  Or 12 hour car trips (which, obviously, take even longer and involve way more crying on my part and way more potty breaks for children with small bladders). This means that I will be cooking a Thanksgiving meal all by myself.

Deep Breaths.

The good news is that I appear to have enough motivation to actually prepare things on time!  I have done almost all of my grocery shopping (I think I still need some fruit cocktail, but psssshhhhh.  What's a can or two? It could be a turkey and some potatoes and some olives and pecans and pumpkin and whipping cream and celery and carrots and, and, and. . . . So I feel like I'm doing very well.

Also, today I made cubes of bread for stuffing.  And I took pretty pictures.  And now I'm WRITING about it! So that means I am doing VERY WELL INDEED.  Now, I know that I have previously written a post about making stuffing, but that was several years ago and just contained one lousy picture.  So I'm going to post the instructions again . . . Enjoy!

Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake

 (I couldn't find my camera.  So you get mediocre cell phone pics instead.)

On our anniversary, my husband and I went to the Cheesecake Factory.  For dessert we ordered a piece of their Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake.  I took one bite, closed my eyes, and told him: "THIS is the dessert I wanted last weekend." ("Last weekend" had contained a really rough date night, with tantrum-throwing children keeping us close to home and the whole thing topped off by a complete failure to find the really delicious fresh-tasting dessert I was craving.) Of course, I didn't KNOW that Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake was exactly what I was craving at the time.  I had a only a general idea of what the perfect dessert would taste like . . . which is probably why we didn't find it.  This cheesecake, though, was definitely it.  The slightly tart, summery taste of lemon was perfectly complimented by the raspberries and . . . well, if you've ever tasted it, you know what I mean. 

Aren't the pictures pretty?

So, while I was making Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake for my sister's birthday today (and, oh my goodness it is SO GOOD), I decided I should do some work on the blog.  So I logged in and tried to see if I could add some pretty pictures to the background and accidentally saved it and lost the previous format for forever.  Oops.  But the new pictures in the background are pretty, if rather distracting, so I suppose it'll serve until I get the motivation to figure out how to make it look exactly how I want it to look. 

And the cheesecake recipe?  Well, you'll just have to wait until tomorrow.  :)

Sweet Potato Chips

Before cooking

After cooking

These chips are super easy to make, bite sized for perfect snacks, and very, very yummy! After eating the first chip, you won't be able to stop! 

 

Sweet Potato Chips

Sweet potatoes, sliced
2 tsp. olive oil
Sprinkle salt to taste

Place sweet potato slices in a large bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil and stir to lightly coat each slice.

Spread slices in a single layer on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. (This makes cleanup easier.) Sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 400 F for 25 minutes, checking them at 15 minutes to ensure that they aren't overcooking.

Enjoy!!!

Finnish Pulla

Growing up my mom would make this  delectable bread called Pulla.  It's a sweet bread that uses a spice called cardamom to give it flavor. Twelve years ago I tried to make this bread gluten free and failed miserably.  The bread was flat, hard enough to break teeth, and certainly not desirable. Ever since that depressing moment, I thought gluten free Pulla was impossible.  I put up this mental block, it was so bad. Then, last year, my 15 year old neighbor went with her family on sabbatical to Finland, and today she came over to my home and together we attempted to make Finnish Pulla.  IT WORKED!!! It was light, it was sweet, and it tasted like the "real" thing.  I am so ecstatic right now, I can't even contain my joy.

Mentos...Gluten free?

Although some people considered Mentos to be gluten free, they are not. Here is the company's reply to the inquiry on the subject:

The only raw material which is derived from wheat is the glucose syrup. The syrup meets the requirements for “gluten-free goods” as laid down in the Codex Alimentarius (CODEX STAN 117-1981/ max of 20 mg per kg). However, nearly all ingredients are derived from agricultural products and could be processed on equipment that also handles products containing gluten. Therefore Perfetti Van Melle does not actually claim that Mentos are gluten-free.