Lenard Nemoy's 79th Birthday

March 26th was Lenard Nemoy's 79th Birthday.
And we are fans. So we had a Star Trek Themed party that night.
I made food that had appeared on star trek episodes, and we played star trek games.

I took photos of everything, mostly with my phone. But now I can't get the photos off my phone.

The menu was:
Delvan Pudding Puff Pastry {only photo}

Alfarian Hair (pasta) with Petrokian Sausage.
Canapes (crackers) with Mantickian Pate (taco dip)
Tavokian Power Cake
Darmok (ice cream)
And about seven various colored drinks.
...Blue Romulan Ale, Brown Eelwasser, white Risan Wine, exct...

The Tavokian Power cake was make with Betty Crocker Gluten free Devil's food cake mix. It was very good. Moist, spongy, and good chocolate flavor. Did not even need frosting.

Doce De Bolacha (bolacha maria)

My husband spent two years in Brazil. He requested for his birth-day Doce De Bolacha.
He describes it as dessert lasagna. Layers of cream, cookies, and chocolate mousse.
So I tried to look it up.
Everything came up in Portuguese. I hit the translate button and it was not much better. SO I had to enlist my hubby to help. It was amusing so I will share it with you:

Ingredientes e modo De prepare.
Ingredients and starting mode Ingredients.

2 pacotes de natas
2 packages of Natas... Two packages of Natas

1 lata de leite condensado
1 tin of condensed milk... Can condensed milk* blended with 1/3 C whipping cream.

1 pacote de mousse de chocolate instantaneo
1 Package of instant chocolate mousse... instant chocolate pudding

1 pacote de bolacha maria.
Package of wafer Maria. Package of Maria cookies

Pica-se as bolachas ste ficarem em farelo e reserve-se.
The Cream-colored biscuits until leaving in bran and reserves.
Pour a little of the milk,over the cookies, then remove cookies and reserve what does not soak in.
Numa tigela bate-se as natas quando tiverem cremosas mistura-se o Leit condensado.Bowl chat if cream when they have pseudomembranes mix condensed milk.
In the bowl, beat the condensed milk

E depois as claras batidas em castelo.
and after the clear dents in the castle.until the cream makes peaks.*

Numa tigela aparte prepara-se a mousse conforme as instrucoes de embalagem.In a bowl aside prepares the mousse as the instructions of the packaging.
In a separate bowl, prepare the pudding as instructed on the packaging.

Colocam-se no prato em que devem ser servidas,
They are placed in the plate where they must be served,
In the container you wish to serve it in,
Numa travessa vai-se pondo as camadas.
In a crosspiece it is gone putting the layers.place the ingredients in layers in this order,
primeiro o preparado de natas uma camada fina de bolacha a mousse mais uma camada de natas e por ultimo a bolacha.
first prepared cream a thin layer of wafer the mousse over a layer of cream and finally the wafer.First the prepared cream in a thin layer, then the wafers, then the mousse. Then the Cream, and on top some crushed wafers.

Leva-se a gelar e esta pronta.
The camp and this ready. Leave it to set, then it will be ready.

Bom apetite. Good appetite. Enjoy.

*NOTE: American sweetened condensed milk is NOT Brazilian condensed milk. And will NOT soak the cookies or make stiff peaks. So I added some cream to the American sweetened condensed milk and it worked better.

Only Me (fast&Fresh Gooey Brownie)

This new exciting thing appeared on the end cap at my Co-op.

I picked it up because the thought of Microwave brownies was a good idea, but once home I realized that the bag contained four pouches of single serving brownie, and a single serving container to mix and microwave it in.
Its more like a Brownie for One KIT.
The instructions only have you add a few "cc" of water. The kit comes with a little clear plastic measuring cup, with the cc and mm marked on it. I don't usually here cc in cooking, just on medical shows: "I need 4 CCs STAT" So I felt like I had to be very precise, letting one drip of water drop at a time until I had EXACTLY the right amount of watter. The water was about one tablespoon. So that did not seem like enough liquid to me. Mixing was difficult, I could stand the spoon up in it, was so thick. So I mixed very thoroughly.
But once it was microwaved, it looked excellent.

The instructions said to turn the brownie out on to a plate, but mine did not come out very well. However, it was very good. A little dry. I think the power on our microwave is a little high, so perhaps I'll cut back the time a smidgen next time and retain moisture.

And the container came with a lid, to refrigerate the left overs.

But I managed to eat it all, so the lid was not necessary.

Over all it was good, and worth the price to know I can have just a little treat, without a big mess.

I'm the only Gluten free in my house. SO sometime it is not worth it to make a WHOLE batch of goodies, 'cause I just don't need a 9X13 to my self.

http://www.foodtek.com/Products/Fast&Fresh.html

Bread? Hamburger buns? Waffles, with a shaped mold?!

I think next time I'm at the co-op I'll try one of the other items.

Anyone else tried these?

CocoChip Cookies

Hodgson Mill Multi Purpose Baking mix. I went with the Chocolate chip Cookie option.


My grandmother would never touch the dough. She would cut open plastic bread bags into big sheets and use those to roll out dough, or use as a barrier to form dough into balls. Not me. I put my hand into EVERYTHING I bake. But I always wash first, in between and after.

The dough was palatable, but felt grainy. The cookies did not puddle in the oven, but they did not puff up either. They came out of the oven almost the same as they went in, just a little browner.
Cookies were very grainy. Very crunchy, and crumbly.
Over all not likely to get this mix again.

Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe

My hubby takes a night class at the university. He gets there from work on the bus, but I pick him up. I noticed a sandwich board one day that said "Gluten free" on one said and "Organic" on the other. But the place was always closes that late at night.
So finals week I drove my hubby TO class and I stooped in.
I got a slice of lemon cake and a tropical smoothies. It was over $12.

That seams a little high.
This is the university district. Pore college students.
I'm constantly saddened at how expensive it is to eat gluten free. Who would think leaving something OUT would make things more expensive?
So I do a little thinking when I purchase gluten free.
For reference, minimum wage in this county is $8.07 a hour.
So that is about a hour and a half of work to earn a smoothie and a piece of lemon cake.
And I thought, would I work for an hour and a half to earn this?
Probably not.

The guy who gave me my smoothie told me to come back on Wednesday because that is gluten free baking day. So Perhaps, on Wednesday afternoon, when it is fresh, it might be worth the time and expense.
If you go on a wednesday, let me know.

Scone from GF Pantry

Gluten Free Pantry Muffin & scone Mix.

I went with the Scone option on the box.

It gave the option of adding dried fruit or nuts.

I added Pecans and Butterscotch chips.

The recipe said to drop them on to parchment paper in .25 cup sized balls. But I wanted that scone triangle that I miss, so I patted the .25 cup dough balls into triangles.

They smelled WONDERFUL in the oven. The dough puffed up nicely. They looked perfect. My hubby was so impressed, he tried to pick a warm one up off the cooking sheet; It practically exploded in his had. But once cool they became a little more sturdy.

They were delicious. Even our not GF judge thought they were very good. And they held up well over night. Just as tasty and not at all dried out the next morning.

VERY good.

The Pam

This we will call the PAM.
It is for my friend Pam.
I hope she will like it.

It took me about an hour and a half.
The center fabric is sort of a purple floral paisley, and the Flounce and pockets and tie are a dark blue.
It's cuter in person, and probably cuter on a person skinner then me. :)

Pizza Crust

I can get pizza on a gluten free crust from SEVERAL places all over the Seattle area.
I have tried about a dozen different places. Even had a "crustless pizza" down town once (read: ceramic bowl of melted cheese and peperoni)

I have to say, and so did my hubby, that Pizza Works has the best crust so far.
http://www.pizzawrks.com/ & http://www.pizzawrks.com/blog/
The crust I tried came from "Sunny Valley" Which is not opened to the public. But Pizza Works let us purchase a set of frozen crusts.

They had some unique pizza toppings to select from. Green olives, Red Pesto, capers, over 30 options, with multiple sauce and cheese options, including non dairy . The possibilities were endless. My hubby liked that we got sooo much toppings.

We had two small pizza's (10") and a large serving of spaghetti and meatballs, with a soda, and chocolate peanut butter bars (also Sunny valley).

Over all the crust was the highlight.
I would go again, but just for the pizza.

Embroidery

For Christmas my Hubby got me a new sewing machine that does Embroidery.

It overwhelmed me. But I'm giving it a try. I made these:

A friend from where I usto work is haveing her second girl in a month or so. I gave them to her when we went out to lunch.

It's not the best ever, but decent for a first try.

I'm not getting the spacing down very well, so I need more practice.

Funny thing is that it was faster then some of the other child/baby stuff that I have decorated.

Fabric paint muct dry, iron on must cool.

Thease I did in about a hour, then out the dore to lunch.

http://www.sweetcakeskirkland.com/

1st let me say YUM.
My sister in-law and brother in-Law took me to Sweet Cakes bakery in Kirkland. The store is not exclusively Gluten Free, but they have Gluten free products daily.
Yesterday when I went, they had gluten free chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with three frosting options each.
Chocolate with chocolate frosting
Chocolate with Mint frosting (Andy's mint peaces on top)
Chocolate with peanut butter frosting.
Vanilla with Vanilla frosting.
Vanilla with coconut frosting.
Vanilla with orange frosting.
They come in regular size and a minni size.
They were good.
Even my family, usually not interested in Gluten free things liked them.
The chocolate is good. I have to say that even I can make chocolate cake, so that is not too impressive.
It was the white cake that got me.
It was good, it was moist, and it was fluffy.
And the price was VERY reasonable for Gluten free.
I will be going back again.

Pi Day (3.14)

March 14th, 3.14, Pi day.

So to celebrate I made pie.
My hubby is not much of a pie fan. However about a month ago a friend of ours, who is from Sweden, made a "Apple pie" that he liked.

I got her recipe, and with some comparisons to existing recipes, and having palpitated the pie as she make it, I concluded that its a sugar cookie, on top of apple filling.
Well, I have Sugar cookie mixes, so I decided to give it a try.

The mix in the cupboards was Hodgson mill Multi Purpose Baking mix. I think it was more a flour blend. All of the re recipes that came on the box still requires Baking powder, baking soda, and salt. So that only thing in the box was s blend of GF flours. So I think they should change the label.

Second, on the side of the box "serving 1/4 cup dry. servings per container 11" So box should contain 2 and three quarter cup of mix right? And the cookie recipe on the box called for two cups of mix. So why did the box contain LESS then two cups of mix? Now I like to slice the apples into a gallon bag, and then add the sugar and cinnamon "ShakeN Bake style. Then arrange the apple slices in the pie pan, and cover with the crust.
It baked up nicely, but I thought it was very crumbly and kind of grainy.

The pie top did not require all the dough, so I mixed some chocolate chips into the rest, and baked then up too.

I will have to say this in not my favorite mix.

Not even top ten.

Not likely to purchase again.

Betty and Bette

I was not diagnosed with Celiac disease until I was older, so I was raised with that red and white gingham Betty Crocker cookbook. I don't think my mother used any other cookbooks.

For my first birthday after being diagnosed a good friend of mine gave me one of Bette Hagman's cook books. And it is the corner stone of my kitchen. I've got a cupboard full of GF cookbooks but Bette is the best.

I had the honor of meeting her in 2001. I did not know who she was at the time. I attending a Celiac disease support group meeting when I was first diagnoses, and she was there, with samples of a chocolate cake. She gave me a slice, and since only a month before I had been eating "regular" chocolate cake she was particularly interested in what I had to say bout her cake flavor and texture. She passed away in August of 2007. It was a sad day. A friend (also GF) and I went down to the Edmond's beach, to eat the "chocoholic delight" I made that morning in honor of her.

I have a lot of hope for the New Betty Crocker line of gluten free mixes. Hopefully they will continue to improve. Maybe some day I can put a red and white gingham cookbook in my cupboard too. Bette and Betty side by side.

Chocolate chip cookie mix

Cherrybrook Kitchen, Gluten free Dreams, chocolate chip cookie mix.
Make about 25 cookies. Dough was palatable. Plumped nicely when baked. Cookies were soft baked in texture, not undercooked gooey, but nice and soft fully cooked. There was a slight teeth coting sensation, I attribute to the type of baking power I was unfamiliar with. Cookies remained soft until they were all gone, about 30hrs later.

Betty Crocker Gluten free Cookie mix.
Dough was palatable. First batch made cookie puddles. So I put the dough in a plastic bag and refrigerated over night (what my mom always did when her cookies made puddles). Next day I tried again, cookies still puddled. Directions on box say to cook for 11-13 minuets for Tablespoon sized cookies, However the puddles make the cookies so thin, ten minutes was more then enough. Directions also say to let the cookies cool on sheet, but I found that they were so dry and brittle that if they did not come off while still warm they did not come off at all. They had good flavor, but needed milk, and maybe more chocolate chips.

I prefer my cookies to plum, not puddle. I prefer soft baked over crisp.
So for me Cherrybrook is the winner.
And I had such hoped for Betty Crocker.

Cupcake Aprons

I have this friend, known her since we were little. Her little girl just turned 3 and had a cupcake party. So I thought it would be fun to make her and her mother cupcake aprons.
I found the "frosting" fabric first. It's hard to see but the little girl's apron is cupcake shaped, and the top is made out of a fabric printed with Sprinkles and Cherries. The bottom is top stitched to look like the little paper cup that cupcakes come in. Mom's apron is a retro style print, matched up with the same solid purple.

I cut out some of the cupcakes from the print and appliqued them onto the apron top.


The two of them took me a little over four hours to make.


I think they turned out good. I might see if the fabric store has more of that retro cupcake print and make another.

Dinner rolls

For the family dinner at my in-laws, I'm in charge of bringing the rolls.

So we popped down to the local Mega Bulk Warehouse store, and got a bag of their popular white dinner rolls.

I know that is not what My mother in law had in mind when she assigned me the rolls. But I know that no-one at the dinner will be interested in GF rolls beyond the novelty of it. Any time I bring GF food it gets nibbled at and sent back home with me. So there is no way I'm spending hours baking for that.

So our next stop was the local Co op.

Contestant number one. Kinnikinnick Tapioca Rice English Muffins. Previously frozen. 4 buns per bag. Buns are very tall, you can't get you mouth around them. If you just let the buns though at room temp, and eat them they are dry, dense and crumbly. However if you remove the frozen bun, wrap in a damp paper towel, and microwave on medium for about 40 seconds, the bun is spongy, moist, and chewier. I like to slice them into three slices each, then they are thin enough to get your mouth around them and any fillings you might wish to include. Very yummy, But a lot of prep work, in what I'm sure will be a very busy kitchen.

Contestent nunmber two: Schar Classic white rolls. 4 rolls per bag. Not frozen, however the packaging says "product may be eaten directly from package or refresh as follows..." with toasting instructions. So I tried them "directly from package" and they were OK. My non GF spouse said they tasted similar to the rolls we got from the warehouse store. Soft not too dence, thin crust, not True, once toasted they were even better, but highly palatable un-"refreshed". Over all a good on the run roll.