Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

OmgOmgOmg! It's... almost Thanksgiving! I have been dreaming of roasted turkeys and gravy like never before, but let's not forget about the good ol' stuffin' and... gluten-free pumpkin pie! (I'm even ready for Christmas...even streaming Christmas tunes as I type. It's about 38 degrees outside, so I'm allowed! :)

Yes, it's possible... for a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage OR a scrumptious a gluten-free pumpkin pie. Pumpkins aren't really yellow, are they? Not the one in the movie.

Who am I to question Cinderella's Fairy Godmother?!

Let's not go there.

Instead, let's go to the pantry, get out all of our flours and start baking! You know you wanna. Just check it out.

Oh gosh, you say to yourself. ANOTHER PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE! Yeah, I know... last year, you tried making a pumpkin pie from scratch (using another recipe) only to end up with a tasty but kinda mushy mess, why don't those darn pie fillings set right?! Oh wait, that was me. Hehe.

The recipe will remain nameless (don't worry, it wasn't from a food blog ;), but I will say that... after doing a little bit of research and studying recipes, I figured I'd use less eggs, a little corn starch, and even powdered sugar (since powdered sugar has corn starch in it).

The end result? A spicy punkin' pie that's so firm (not like rubbery-firm, though), you can dive right in 5 minutes after pulling it out of the oven. No kidding! Just don't burn yourself! Yes, you can enjoy your pumpkin pie a la mode, with some ice cream... Pie nice and warm and yummy ice cream? Yep, you read right. Your Thanksgiving is set this year! Anyone got a good eggnog or spumoni ice cream recipe?

Recipe for the gf pumpkin pie is in the recipe card below. These are the recipes that I "studied," (this one and this one) and used some of the spices from both. The white pepper is an extra touch (got the idea from Martha's gingerbread recipe), because I like my pumpkin pie with a kick! Those are my fav.

This is how you should cover the pie to ensure the crust doesn't burn:

Get yourself a nifty pie crust protector (not sure if that's the technical name)
Thanks, mom, for getting me one :)!


Here's what I call a pie-dome. It's aluminum foil;
there's plenty of "breathing room" between the pie and foil.

Gluten Free Orange Apricot Yellow Cake with Orange Cream Frosting

What are you doing reading this blog post?! It's the 4th of July! Go out and celebrate, make this cake. Oh wait, I guess you wouldn't have found this really moist, sweet and addicting cake recipe if you hadn't checked out today's post ;). Have a good one!

Gluten-Free Gingerbread Men (and women!)

I made these gluten-free gingerbread cookies extra cinnamony, I usually prefer cinnamon to ginger. :)

Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but they're actually minis. I only had tiny gingerbread cookie cutters, so I ended up with a little over 2 dozen men and women...and bears :). I left the bears naked, though. They aren't pictured because I didn't want to expose them on the internet :P. They didn't get the pink marzipan outfits. I decided to leave them in the nude, especially after discovering that the marzipan I used contains gluten...anyone have a gluten-free marzipan recipe?

Everything's covered in snow outside! Looks like I'm gonna have my first white Christmas this year! This winter storm hasn't passed over us completely, so it'll be nice to wake up to a winter wonderland in the morning.


I just took this picture...it's not very clear, but you can easily see the piles of snow!

Merry Christmas :)!

Apple Pecan Bacon Chicken for the Birdie Know It All Tutorial Contest

What do you do when you have bacon grease left over from bacon and need to think of a fun recipe to enter into Gisele's Birdie-Know-it-All Tutorial contest?

You use it to make a sweet and savory Sunday dinner, Apple Pecan Bacon Chicken, to be exact :). So here's my tutorial! Have you all checked out the contest? It is so cool because it's no just for cooks/bakers; if you're into designing stationary, making handmade cards, or even creating your own holiday decorations, you can join too. Plus, you get to feature this cute little logo on your blog :). Click it to find out more about the contest and cute prizes!

I think Paula Deen would've been so proud seeing me use up the bacon grease to fry some chicken! (Have you all seen that episode of Paula's Party where she fries everything, including that yummy pumpkin cake? Delicious!)

This dish is tasty and fun to make, it offers afew different textures and tasty flavors...not to mention two of my favorite fruits, cranberries and apples! Yum! Plus, I threw in some bacon, the hubby's favorite food. It wasn't a one skillet meal, even though it kinda looks like it. I cooked the apples in a separate pan, then I baked the chicken, but it was worth all the dirty pots/pans/cutting boards/time etc. :). (The cool thing is that you can stick that skillet in the oven, though.)

These pictures are a part of the tutorial, please excuse the not-so-pretty yellow tinge of my kitchen, I don't get very much natural light in there! A big thanks to my hubby for taking these photos, please don't cook and take photos...it really isn't safe :P!

Ingredients:
You can use 4-6 chicken drumsticks for this recipe.
Bacon drippings (from about 4 strips of bacon)
1 iron skillet
1/2 cup gluten-free chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1/4 cup chopped leeks
2 TBSP honey
pinch of pepper
1 large Macintosh apple
2/3 cup pure apple cider
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup cranberries
1 strip of bacon
Aluminum foil
1/4 tsp crushed bay leaves
1/4 tsp thyme

Instructions for Tutorial:

1. Preheat oven to 350
   
2. Cook 4 strips of bacon in an iron skillet.
   
3. Save the bacon drippings in the skillet.
   
4. Chop 1/4 cup each of sweet onion and leeks.
   
5. Cook onion and leeks on medium/low in bacon grease (in the skillet) for about 3 minutes.
   
6. Add chicken, use tongs to brown chicken drumsticks on all sides (watch for popping oil, be careful not to burn yourself).
   
7. Sprinkle chicken with a pinch pepper and add about 1 1/2 - 2 TBSP of honey.
   
8. Pour 1/2 cup gluten free chicken broth in skillet with chicken; cover and cook chicken on low for about 20 minutes.
   
9. Flip chicken onto side that wasn't cooking and now cook for another 15-20 minutes on low while you prepare the apples.
   
10. Peel and slice 1 large Macintosh apple.
    
11. Pour 1/4 cup warm water and 2/3 cup pure apple cider into a sauce pan, add about 1 1/2 TBSP brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Then add about 1/3 cup roughly chopped pecans. Cook on medium/high for about five minutes (without apples). Then lower flamer to low, add apples and 1/3 cup cranberries and cook for about 5 minutes (you don't want them too soft, just cook until they are slightly soft but still somewhat crunchy).
    
12. Cover the chicken in the skillet with the apple mixture (use only 1/2 of the apple mixture if you use 4 drumsticks, use all of the cooked apples if you have 6 drumsticks). Sprinkle with thyme, bay leaves, and bacon bits (from 1 freshly cooked but cooled strip of bacon) and bake (COVERED WITH ALUMINUM FOIL!) for 10 minutes then turn chicken drumsticks over. Lastly, bake for about 15 more minutes minutes. Let cool then eat! :)

Gluten-Free Cranberry Carrot Cider Cupcakes with Gingerbread Frosting

This Gluten-Free Cranberry Carrot Cider Cupcakes with Gingerbread Frosting recipe is my November Cupcake Hero submission! I love cranberries, so I was happy to see that these colorful and festive jaw-locking berries were this month's spotlight ingredient. The tartness of the cranberries really pops and gives the cupcakes a refreshing burst of flavor.

These cupcakes remind me of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Why? Well, they have the pumpkin pie spice, they've even got a bit of cider, and let's not forget about the gingerbread frosting! I was so happy that the frosting ended up tasting like gingerbread, just like I'd hoped!


When my husband tried them out he asked, "Are these gluten-free?!" as if I'd suddenly thrown him a curve ball and started cooking with AP flour again :). Nope, haven't done that, these cupcakes are as gluten-free as cupcakes can get! But the great thing is that they don't taste gluten-free at all; serve these at your holiday party and no one will know that they're not eating any gluten! These cupcakes are really tasty, try 'em!

Apple Picking, Apple Stuffing, and Apple Pie...& I'm still not tired of apples

Last weekend we went apple picking. It was SO MUCH FUN! The weather was perfect; the sun was shining, the air was crisp and sooo clean. The apple farm was packed with families and kiddos, but we still managed to collect enough plump and juicy apples to last us about two weeks. Did I mention how gorgeous it was? I felt like I was walking through a life-sized postcard all day!

Now how about that pie. I recently met a gluten-free blogger who asked me if I'd ever made a gluten-free pie. Though I have made a gluten-free pie, I hadn't made one completely from scratch (as far as the crust goes), so I promised to post a 100% from-scratch pie recipe. I have to say, this pie was delicious; I have a feeling it has to do with using freshly picked Mass. apples (last time I made a blueberry pie with the berries we picked, it made a huge difference in the pie's taste). They are delicious and crunchy; there's nothing worse than a mushy apple. I used Macintosh apples and sprinkled them with the juice of half a lemon to add a bit more tartness, it counteracted the sweetness of the pie quite nicely. I think this recipe's a keeper, tell me what you think!


All this talk about the Fall is making me crave Thanksgiving food! I mentioned before that I wanted to make a stuffing, so this weekend I made a gluten-free apple stuffing (using the apples we picked, of course, we have so many!). It was tasty but for some reason it came out tasting like...tamales! Tamales? Yep. I think it's the funky cornmeal I used... Anyhow, next time I plan on using better cornmeal and I also plan on only roughly chopping the veggies. It's hard to tell (because my food processor works so well and I'm still trying to figure out how to use it) but there are quite a bit of veggies in the stuffing.


I'll leave (no pun intended :P) you all with these photos of the verrrrry Falllish Massachusetts countryside. I almost forgot to mention, some of the photos are from Walden Pond (think Thoreau, if that doesn't ring a bell). GORGEOUS! Can I build a cabin here, too? I won't write about ant piles, I promise. Oh wait, it isn't winter yet...I'll probably change my mind when it's 7 degrees outside ;)...or maybe not! Have any of you ever danced in the snow before? I'm a weirdo from California who was fried by the sweltering Texas sun, so that's what I'll be doing during the first snowfall ;).

Thingies Thursday and Cranberry and Brown Sugar Pinwheels

Is it just me, or is this year flying by? I nearly forgot about September's Daring Bakers challenge, and when I remembered, it was too late to bake the crackers. (I'm posting this a bit early because I know I won't have time to work on this entry tomorrow!) I will attempt last month's challenge some time soon, though, especially since we had the option of doing a gluten-free version of the recipe :).

Gluten-free crackers can be expensive. Up to $5 for a small box! I've never appreciated the ability to make my own food more than I do now. Despite the fact that I wasn't able to make the crackers before the DB posting date, I'm grateful to the Daring Bakers for selecting a cracker recipe that could easily be made gluten-free or vegan. Not only was it a nice surprise, but it was a fun way to introduce foodies to unique diets that can literally be life-changing for some.

Speaking of changing, we're slowly starting to see some colorful Fall foliage here in Boston. The mornings are more refreshing and definitely on the cooler side. I've unpacked my sweaters and I'm finding ways to stay warm that don't involve my rickety radiator! Here are some photos of the area :).



About a week ago, around 3 AM, the apartment complex decided to give the radiators their first trial run of the year. It was a cool night but I woke up feeling a little sweaty and a lot freaked out. I couldn't figure out why it felt like I was standing outside on a hot August day in Texas while lying in bed on a very cold night in Boston.

Because I was half-asleep, I thought the apartment was on fire...I even got up to look for the flames, but it was just the radiator! It blasts intense heat for about a half hour every 4 hours when the apartment gets cold. Since it turns on very infrequently, when it does come on, it releases enough heat to keep a room warm for oh...about a day or two! It's not exactly very discreet either. I recently purchased a down comforter, thinking I was going to freeze without it, but my rickety radiator won't let that happen. I might have dark circles under my eyes on the coldest days of the year, but at least I'll be warm!

Now, I can't think of a better way to stay warm than with baking cookies! Still celebrating the flavors of the season and up and coming holiday season, I made spiral cookies with cranberries and a brown sugar filling. Lately, I just can't get enough cranberries. I'm craving them so much that I'm going to make stuffing tomorrow just so the cranberry sauce I purchased this weekend doesn't feel lonely :)! I know a lot of people don't like it, but I'm not sure how most folks feel about dried cranberries, or craisins. I love their tart flavor, it really balances out the sweetness of these cookies.




Now moving on to this week's award. You all make it so tough to choose a winner! Not only do most of you already have these awards, but there are also quite a few fun blogs that are just getting started! Before I pass this award along, there are two bloggers I'd like to thank: Michele of My Italian Grandmother and LK of Food for Tots!

VeggieGirl: A dedicated blogger who has a fun writing style and exciting life as a talented dancer!
Taste and Tell: Her photos are always so polished and delicious :)!
A Southern Grace: Engaging readers with her yummy recipes and sense of humor; never a dull post!


Thingies Thursday:
I love old cookbooks for a couple of reasons, they're fun to look at and add spice and color to a bookshelf. I also get a kick out of the illustrations. A little silly at times, they're generally pretty entertaining. I scanned the fudge recipe from this 1950s cookbook, but this same book includes a tuna casserole recipe that comes with a comedic/borderline disturbing illustration. The boy is feeding his party-hat-wearing pet tuna spoonfuls of tuna casserole! Hmm...I leave you with these milder photos. Until next time, let's not feed our pets anything remotely resembling a member of their same species :D!

Pomegranate Vegetable Pork Stew

Ok. I get it. I'm now fully convinced that basil and xanthan gum are conspiring against me :)! Just a few days ago, I talked about giving the September Iron Cupcake Challenge another try (using Basil, this month's special ingredient). Tonight, I did. Except...I forgot the xanthan gum again!!! You'd think my muffin-turned-pudding recipe from last week would've taught me a lesson, but I still managed to forget about the xanthan gum. As a result, I've decided to enlarge this photo; it's going on my refrigerator in the morning:

If you're wondering what that icky stuff in the middle of the cupcakes is, it's lemon curd. I was going to refrigerate the lemon basil cupcakes with the lemon curd filling and give them a 'cream cheese' (tofutti) frosting...but when I tried taking them out of the pan, they crumbled...sigh. The good news is, I added enough lemon to counteract the basil taste. Bad news is, I don't taste the basil at all. This month, I'm going with the Cupcake Hero challenge instead. I've decided to give basil a break and move on to more exciting flavors...like coffee, cinnamon, and vanilla :). Stay tuned for Flour Arrangements' (xanthan-loaded) September cupcake hero entry!

Though the sweet mixed with the savory didn't seem to work with the cupcakes, I'll tell ya what it did work with: a Pomegranate Vegetable Pork Stew. Inspired by the delicious, very drool-worthy Braised Pork Shoulder with Quince recipe in October's Bon Appetit magazine, I decided to use the free Pomegranate Honest Tea I received on Saturday (when the hubby and I were checking out Boston's South End). I am a huge, huge fan of Honest Tea. My favorite flavor is Black Forest Berry, but the pomegranate tea is also very delicious. Bon Ap's recipe sounded soooo tasty, but I'd never heard of Quince (I'm ignorant, I know) and I didn't have some of the ingredients, so I just used some of their spice recommendations and the pomegranate juice idea (but I used tea) then experimented with the rest.

Have you seen the cover of next month's edition? (I get it in the mail, that's why I'm talking about the October issue. :) I want to dive right in to that pot of chili with autumn squash. The Autumn squash part really got me, of course. I'm pretty much counting every orangey-red colored leaf that falls off the tree a few feet away from my apartment building. Check out these Fall/foodie photos I took when we were exploring the city this weekend:

So when I got home after a mildly cold and rainy day of grocery shopping with Jose (and it was a day of grocery shopping, we went to 3 stores!), all I wanted to do was curl up under a blanket, watch Masterpiece Theatre's version of Jane Eyre, and eat a bowl of stew. But if I want stew, I have to make it! No complaints here. Though cold, rainy weather does put me in a slow and sleepy mood, it also makes me want to cook warm, savory comfort foods (especially stews)!

The stew was delicious. It's also healthy; loaded with protein and veggies, it'll hit the spot. It did take some time to put together (all that chopping), but the whole cooking process was really relaxing. I even managed to make the stew 'gravy' gluten-free by using rice flour. Oh, that reminds me. A few of you have asked how I've been feeling after starting the diet. Well, I am better. I notice I can eat more desserts than before, and that's always a good thing :). Though I'm not 100% where I want to be, I'm having a food allergy/sensitivity test done next month and also undergoing a few other tests. I'm optimistic, though. Thank you for your concern, I really appreciate it :).

I'll be back in a few days with the mystery cupcakes! And, yes, they'll contain xanthan gum ;).

I hope you all had a blessed and restful Thanksgiving. I had the opportunity to make Jose's family a Thanksgiving meal this year and it was a lot of fun. I was telling Jose afterward that when I was younger, I was so intimidated at the thought of making an entire Thanksgiving meal all by myself. I was afraid I'd undercook the turkey, or that I'd have to rely on canned goods for every side dish... I thought it would be an exhausting, stressful, and unrewarding process... But, thankfully, this year I was able to discover it's actually quite the opposite. Sure, it took a little while, but it was fun. I think one of the tougher parts about it was that I had to cook for a group instead of just one or two people, so I was a little worried that I wouldn't season things right...but somehow it all worked out and there wasn't a complaint made about the food!

One thing I still really want to get the hang of is tamale-making, though. In my family, my grandmother usually makes tamales for Christmas/New Years and I'd really like to whip them up the way she does, effortlessly. I have a feeling I'd probably just end up with a kitchen disaster...but who knows, maybe it'll turn out the way the Thanksgiving meal did if I just give it a try? Hmm...probably not. Just last year I was helping her roll up the tamale dough in corn husks before she cooked them, and that was tough enough for me. It's a lot harder than it looks! Still, I have a strange feeling my attitude about the tamale-making process will change...just wait and see.

Moving on to this apple-oatmeal bar recipe; I have baked this over and over again. I made it for Jose's Thanksgiving office party, then I made it for my mom, then I made it for Jose's family as a Thanksgiving dessert...it's been a hit every time! I was bored one night and, as usual, had a sweet tooth for something not too heavy but still carby, so I made these apple-oatmeal bars. The initial recipe is completely fat free, but the next couple of times I made it, I decided that butter should be included in the topping. Sometimes butter does make it better, especially when used in moderation.

This is even easy to make because everything can pretty much be mixed up in one bowl, and I love that because that means there are less dishes to wash in the end!

Apple-Oatmeal Bars
2 Cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup apple juice
2/3 cups apple sauce
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
1 TBSP apple pie spice
These ingredients can all be mixed together in the same bowl, then put in a large baking dish (9X13"). Put in the oven for 10 minutes at 325 then add the following topping:

The topping (unhealthy version):
1 small fuji apple, cut into little cubes
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tbsp melted butter
1 2/3 cups oatmeal
You can mix all these ingredients together in a bowl, then add it to the top of the bread dough (10 minutes after it's been in the oven). I also lightly sprinkled the topping with cinnamon and sugar.

Fat-free healthier topping:
1 small fuji apple, cut into little cubes
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 2/3 cups oatmeal
1/3 cup vanilla soymilk
1/8 cup honey


Raise the temp of the oven to 350 and bake for about 50 more minutes to an hour.

Now it's time to start thinking about a Christmas dessert! I can't wait for my favorite holiday, we purchased and decorated our tree just today! I'm counting down :)...and so are my guineas, yoshi and mochi!