26 September 2011
A peaceful Saturday morning. (See another shot here.)
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” —Colossians 3:16-17
23 September 2011
Peach Pie
[Gluten-Free or Otherwise]
Filling:
10 fresh peaches, sliced
1/2 cup coconut sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Crust:
CeliacTeen’s Gluten-Free Pie Crust
(or your recipe of choice)
Bake:
1. Bake for 15 minutes at 450°F
2. Then bake for 30-35 minutes at 350°F
3. Turn off oven, leaving pie inside to cool and thicken for 1-2 hours.
It’s delicious!
10 September 2011
The Cosmo flower patch is a welcoming place for happy visitors. (Do you see the beetle, too?)
3 September 2011
Once upon a time there lived a little girl whose mum was an embroiderer. The little girl began to embroider, being taught by her Mum while sitting by her side watching every stitch and creation of detail.
When this little girl saw her mother’s box of embroidery floss, she was quite perplexed – how could someone find the color they needed when the colors were so terribly out of order? So she made up her mind to solve the problem.
She moved quickly, wanting to surprise her mum with a newly sorted embroidery box – in perfect color coordination.
As she finished, her mum entered the room to see what the little girl was working on. As the little girl looked up in delight, the mother’s response was one of great surprise!
As you might’ve guessed, years ago that little girl was me. A kind gesture, without all the facts, wasn’t exactly interpreted as kind. But the problem was easily solved. And, one by one, I put them back in order – by number – so that when it was time to work from a pattern, the colors would be easily discovered.
Yet now, after all these years of number-organized colors, we’ve switched them back to the way they seemed like they should’ve been all the while.
Organized by color.
8 August 2011
Harvesting (scanning) textures and graphics out of a stack of old books from my collection. Stepping Heavenward is a wonderful book – if you find a copy, whether it be new or old, I highly recommend you pick it up and read it!
Making French Toast out of our gluten-free almond bread. Delicious! I believe it had been a little too long since making French Toast.
Smiling at Mum’s Toad-in-the-Hole creation for Dad’s breakfast. (Yes, that would be gluten-rich bread – homemade whole-wheat bread, to be exact.)
And also cooking up some ideas for re-opening the Etsy shop! Stay tuned!
18 July 2011
When we switched to gluten-free eating over a year ago, there were three main foods we wanted to find excellent gluten-free recipes for: bread, pancakes, and pizza crust.
After a disappointing experience with a box-mix pizza crust (tasting similar to what I would think cardboard tastes like), I was left with little hope. Mum, on the other hand, persevered and the next week found a recipe. And it was delicious, aside from being soggy and flimsy.
Since then I’ve created a new recipe, based on the original. Below you will find my finished creation which makes for a thin, crispy, delicious gluten-free pizza crust!
.
The Best Gluten-Free Pizza Crust
(even gluten-eaters like it!) Makes: 2 large crusts
DRY Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups brown rice flour*
1 1/3 cups tapioca flour/starch
2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoon (1 packet) gelatin
4 tablespoon dry milk powder
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
WET Ingredients:
1 cup water
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
3 tablespoon olive oil
*To make this recipe grain-free, use almond flour instead of brown rice flour.
Mix wet ingredients in mixer. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in mixer and beat on high for 3 1/2 minutes.
Divide dough onto two well-greased pizza pans…
If you’ve worked with gluten-free dough before, you already realize how sticky it can be. For this reason, the best way to roll out the pizza dough is to drop it in dollops on a well-greased pizza stone and then roll it out until smooth. (It’ll be well worth the extra work of smoothing it out.)
Bake for 10 minutes at 400°F.
Remove from oven, flip the crust, and bake for another 8 minutes at 400°F. (Since this recipe makes two crusts, you might as well go ahead and bake the second one on both sides, too, before adding the toppings.)
(The apron in the upper left corner is a creation of the delightful Marie-Madeline Studio!)
Remove crust(s) from oven, and spread desired sauce (no need to let cool).
Add desired toppings. (We stick with the basics – simple yet delicious!)
Bake for 8-12 minutes at 400°F, depending on desired softness or crispiness.
There you have it! Want a slice? Enjoy!
P.S. The baked crusts freeze very well. We usually freeze the second crust in a turkey oven bag (which we reuse) – the one bag we found that fits the diameter of the crust. When you’re ready to use the frozen crust, let it sit out for a few minutes on the pizza pan/stoneware. Then add the toppings and bake for 10-12 minutes at 400°F.
11 July 2011
It wasn’t the fireworks that lit up the sky that night, even though they could be seen above the horizon. No, that night there was a greater show, a mightier display. It was a display speaking loudly, declaring the glory of God.
It was a glorious sight to behold the strength of these bolts which lingered oh-so-briefly before our eyes, with nearly blinding shocks of light.
“His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.”—Psalm 97:4
P.S. You can view a closer glimpse of the lightning bolts here.
8 July 2011
Freshly-picked, these berries are a portion of our largest – though still rather small – harvest we have had to date. We’re not professional raspberry-growers, but we do enjoy the trickling of berries we’re blessed to have from our bushes.
“[The righteous] still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in Him.”—Psalm 92:14-15
