Will Loves the Snow!

Obviously if you're from the area (Boston) you know that there is no longer any snow on the ground here. BUT last week there was snow! Will loves it and is disliking this unseasonably warm weather immensely.

My View

I love the Charles River in the winter!

Gluten-Free Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

I found this recipe online tonight once I realized we didn't have any salad dressing to go with dinner! It was super easy and came together really quickly. The longest part was chopping the garlic!

Here is the full recipe, I cut this in half because I wasn't sure how it would come out.

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I only had white balsamic so I used that)
2 tsp brown sugar
2-4 cloves garlic depending on preference
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

Dissolve sugar and salt in vinegar.
Whisk in the olive oil slowly until completely emulsified.
Whisk in pepper and finely chopped garlic.

Serve and enjoy!

A Christmas Tradition: Eggnog

egg·nog  

Noun:

A drink made from a mixture of eggs, cream, and flavorings, often with alcohol.

A few years ago I found a recipe for eggnog in a ski magazine. It calls for milk, cream, eggs and a lot of alcohol. Like a whole lot. So much so that it was nearly impossible for me to drink, no joke. Here are the original directions:

Ingredients:

2 cups Brandy

1 cup Rye Whiskey

1 cup Dark Jamaica Rum

½ cup Sherry

10 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

1 quart milk

1 quart cream

Nutmeg and cinnamon to taste

Method: Mix the liquors. Separate the eggs. In a bowl, mix the yolks and sugar. Slowly add the liquor to the yolk-and-sugar mixture, then add the milk and cream. Beat the hell out of the egg whites, then fold them into the potion. A heavy pinch of the spices will do. Stick it in the fridge for oh, about five days. Stir it once in a while if it separates, and pound it cold.

This year I modified it considerably by doubling the non-alcoholic ingredients. We combined two quarts of milk, two quarts of cream, 20 egg yolks, 20 whipped egg whites and 1 1/2 cups sugar to slightly less than the prescribed amounts of alcohol. I also added a lot more of the spices and vanilla than the recipe recommends because I love them so much.

We went with smaller bottles of the alcohol because we knew we wouldn't use the extra if we went bigger. We had to use a huge punch bowl to mix because it was the only thing we had that size. We also stored it in one of those containers that has a spicket at the bottom and it was fantastic except for the fact that it was gone days before Christmas even arrived. Next year we're going to triple the recipe it was such a hit. I'm not sure how it would go without the alcohol because it needs to ferment in the fridge to "cook" the eggs but I'm sure a quick google search would answer that for you. If you don't need quite so much of the delicious stuff and don't want it strong enough to put hair on your chest-- cut the alcohol amount in half.  I would definitely recommend bookmarking this recipe for next year's festivities.

Winter Is Long in the City

...and that's the way I like it.

This isn't actually the city but upstate New York. But I like Ben Lee and I like that song.  

Homemade Gluten-Free Granola

I have always loved granola and since going gluten-free I have not found a quality substitute. I bought some Bob's Red Mill rolled oats for another recipe and thought I would put the left overs to good use.

I found a good recipe online and slightly altered it to suit my tastes. I combined all the wet ingredients and then put them in the microwave for 10 seconds to loosen up the honey and the. You mix that with just the oats. Spread that mixture on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes. Take it out and mix it around, bake for an additional 10 minutes or less. Pull it out before it gets too crunchy though or else you'll have one large granola bar. Once cooled add dried fruits (I used cranberries and raisins) and nuts (I used walnuts because that's what I had on hand).

Store in airtight containers. I used it in yogurt and as cereal with milk! I made a double batch and it was gone in less than a day.

Possible add-ins:
Raisins
Cranberries
Walnuts
Almonds
Peanuts
M&M's
Coconut flakes
Chocolate chips
Yogurt covered anything
Cinnamon


Be creative and enjoy!

Gluten-Free Mixed-Berry Corn Muffins

Last night I took a walk through Whole Foods and found some fantastic looking raspberries and blackberries. I have been craving corn muffins like the ones from Dunkin Donuts and I have a recipe for berry corn muffins that looked good.

It was mostly a (gluten-free) flour based recipe with some corn meal but the result was a cakey muffin with a slightly corny taste.

Here is the original recipe:

1 cup gluten-free flour (that contains xanthan gum)
3/4 cup corn meal
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup mixed berries

Mix the dry ingredients minus the sugar.
Mix eggs, oil, milk, and sugar.
Coat the berries in the dry mix and combine dry and wet carefully to not mash the berries up.
Sprinkle very generously with sugar.
Bake in greased tins for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.
I used ramekins because my muffin tins are really small. I

I liked them but if I make them again I am going to tweak it to be more of a cake. I will probably eliminate the corn meal and up the sugar. I also would pre sweeten the berries by leaving them in sugar overnight as they were a little tart for my taste.

Anyway still on a quest to find a really good corn muffin!

Gluten-Free Spiced Sugar Doughnuts

Today I made doughnuts. They were splended. Here are the two that are left...

I used a recipe from my favorite gluten-free cook book and the nifty doughnut pans I got for Christmas.

P.S. It's embarrassing how long I thought "doughnuts" were spelled "donuts." Thank you Dunkin's.