Dark Chocolate-Chunk Plum Biscotti

We are so fortunate to have a dear family member named Eileen. She's a CPA and Tax Specialist, and she works very long hours trying to get everybody's everything in a straight line! She has a super sense of humor, is a pretty straight forward Gal that wouldn't think twice about telling one where they needed to head in. We adore her!
We had a great time a couple of weeks ago attending a surprise party one of her milestone birthdays.

Chocolate Chunk-Tart Cherry Cookies!

These so deserve an exclamation at the end of the title! They are just the right combination of sweet-tart dried cherries and chunks of fabulously dark Callebaut Belgian chocolate. These pretty much easily shame a well known manufacturer's recipe. Since there are several out there I'll let you guess which one to yourself.

The flavor is absolutely superior, they are buttery, just the right amount of sweet, and enhanced even further by the fruit and chocolate additions.

Creamy Lemon Vinaigrette Dressed Chicken Salad

I was looking for something tart-sweet, creamy and lemony so I had to put this together. It was absolutely sublime for our simple fresh chicken salad. It has been so sultry lately that cooking and eating something hot was just out of the question. And besides, I was out of luscious Rhubarb Mousse!

Rhubarb Mousse

Yummmmm! This dish can easily replace dinner on those hot nights when cooking just seems like it’s too much bother. It’s so cool and creamy, and just seems to hit the right spot for when you need something delicious, but it’s just to hot to cook!

Cheesecake With Brandied Apricots

Is there anything that can outclass cheesecake? You can dress it up, or leave it plain and it is stupendous either way. My absolute favorite is a lovely piece of plain New York style, piled high in an ever so slightly sweetened, buttery graham crust, topped with a gorgeous rim of tart pure sour cream. And nothing, absolutely nothing needs to accompany it. No chocolate (I know, bite my tongue!), no fruit, liqueurs, just plain and simple. : }

Grilled Lamb Chops 

With Fresh Cherry-Plum Salsa, 

Steamed Spinach, & Cilantro Rice Pilaf

We love barbecuing and grilling. I have a very heavy duty iron grilling pan. It's great for toasting buns for burgers and dogs, vegetables and fruits, and of course all types of meats and seafood. One of it's great features is that it's usable on the stove top. It makes foolproof grilling possible by the simple fact that you can watch it up close.

Chocolate-Espresso 

Brownie Cookies

I have a couple different crackle-cookie recipes. Some are quite fickle, but they all taste great. This recipe is not too sweet, a bit rich with a great full chocolate flavor enhanced by the espresso. These are tender, moist and chewy just like our favorite brownies. The recipe doesn’t contain very much flour blend, which doesn’t impede the structure or taste at all. 

Silky Butterscotch Pudding

	This pudding is naturally Gluten Free! I think our whole family loves butterscotch whether it’s in pudding form, indulgent sauce for ice cream, or

Lemon Sour Cream Mousse Tarts

With Fresh Fruits

I really enjoy looking at beautiful pies, even though mine aren't always in that state when they're done. But then again I am my very worst critic in all things. It took me awhile to be accepting of the "freeform" style, being in the thinking mode that all crusts must be crimped in some fashion, and that everything should look cooking-school-brochure perfect. Hmmm...

Lemon Orzo-Rice Pilaf

              I really liked this GF product. It cooked up well and was a nice addition to the rice.

I've making lemon rice pilaf for eons. My kids loved all types of rice dishes and when I needed to be a single Mama with three kiddos, rice was a main meal staple sometimes three times a day. We ate it steamed, boiled, pilaf-ed, usually in a savory manor.

5 Star Waffles

Yup. I know that I've already got a waffle recipe, but if we had to make a choice between the two? This would be the one. The first one has flax seeds, this one has psyllium husk powder. Nutrition wise, both the flax and the psyllium are important for your bodies health, but with the flax seeds you need to hydrate them. Adding more moisture and humidity can also have a big play in how the waffles come out, quite often they will be gummy despite using the exact same recipe.

Wow Pizza!

And do I mean WOW! My guys wanted pizza for lunch today, so that meant that I needed to make some for myself. There are a couple recipes for gluten free pizza crusts that I really like, but today I wanted to design my own. I could not have been happier with the results! I even

Edamame Salad With 

Fresh Ginger Vinaigrette

I had the very good fortune this last Friday to not only pick my Granddaughter up from school for a half day, but to buy us and my Daughter Candice some lunch. My Daughter Candice is expecting a baby!!! I'm so excited! Lela is very excited to be a big sister,

The Big Sigh of Contentment 

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes 

With Heavenly Frosting!

You're right that this is a very long title, but I just wanted you to know that I'm sure you will sigh with contentment right after you bite into one of these. You won't even have to chew and swallow it, the taste and fragrance of it IN your mouth alone will be phenomenal. : } These are so light and satisfying, so chocolatey, with creamy, silky frosting, so chocolatey, so chocolatey, sorry I just had to repeat that,

Creamy Triple-Cheese Mac 'n' Cheese

I was so irritated and annoyed (I really feel those are separate terms!), that my husband and son were going to eat Lasagne, Stouffer's no less which I think everybody loves. So I got out aaallll of the ingredients to make myself killer mac and cheese. And, as you can see in the photo above it came out perfect, gorgeous and very delicious. 

Eggs Benedict Sandwich On 
Gluten-Free English Muffins 

My oh my! This lovely breakfast entrée was offered on a menu at a local So Cal restaurant. Of course I wasn't able to order it due to the wheat based English muffin, but I could come home and make it!

First I would need to make fabulous gluten free English muffins, which I did, (and was a prior post), and I might add that the entire process was so satisfying. It far outshines a commercial breakfast sandwich that is advertised daily. In fact it kicks it in right in the pan!It took me several days worth of juggling events in my household so I could take the time to make the English muffins. I wanted them to turn out just right. I felt if I couldn't give them my undivided attention they would suffer, and then so would I. 

English Muffins

I love, love, lovvvvve great English muffins. Love them. Really. I tried a store bought GF product a while ago and it was inedible as far as I was concerned, it was so dry we could have painted it black and sold it as a premium hockey-puck. Hey! There's an idea, we could make and sell those! No? 

So I decided to try making them, and I'm so happy with the results!

I had bought English muffins rings at Sur la Table, 4 for $6.00. That's it, six bucks. I bought two sets. When I first bought these they were for making hamburger buns. There are several fast food places that have regular wheat English muffins. These would triumph in fragrance, taste, appearance and cost. They are very airy-like an English muffin should be, very, very wonderful taste and the appearance is foolproof!

Granma Lane's Fresh Rhubarb Fixins'

Rhubarb has always been it's own food group to me. I love it made every way possible and the possibilities are absolutely endless. It's packed with vitamin C, antioxidants, as well as oodles of other nutrients and fiber.

I love to eat it warm, and topped with a scoop of homemade vanilla-bean ice-cream for dessert or just because at any time of the day, really.

Clam Chowder - New England Style 

In Gluten Free Foccacia Bread Bowls

I've been making this same recipe for chowder, or "chowdah" if you live in our New England states, for about 40 years. It's very creamy, buttery and perfectly thick, loaded with yummy little clams, tender potatoes, caramelized onions, and some parsley for color and nutrition. Oh, yes, and topped with some crispy bacon pieces. Fabulous.

Lazy Day English Toffee S'Mores Bars 

 God Bless Chocolate!

These are favorite "little smackerals" (Winnie The Poohism's) of both of my daughter's and their friends. I even make these for bake sales, catering, gifts...they are a sell out in many, many ways!

These are oozing dark chocolate sandwiched between a buttery, lightly sweetened gluten free graham crust and heaping mounds of toasted, tender masrshmallows. Just look at them! How could you not want to just reach right in and get one?!

Kahluá Dark Chocolate Pot de Créme

Today I made a chocolate treat for me. I might be enticed to share it, and I might not. : }

This last week my husband said that he absolutely loved butterscotch pudding. Okay, I like butterscotch as well, so I made 8 ramekins worth. They were "curing" in the fridge in the garage. "Were" of course being the key word. 

Grilled Peach Salad 

With Fresh 'n' Sweet-Buttermilk Dressing

Grilled fruits are such a delicious surprise to serve, and eat. This one has a base of fresh spinach leaves. Then I carefully built up the flavors that would be enhancing or even contrasting with the addition of slightly warm sweet summer peaches by adding sharp tangy flavored green peppers, chunky-sliced endive for color and crunch, Mediterranean herbed and spiced Feta cheese crumbles, sliced raw almonds for crunch, and dried blueberries for a little extra sweetness. Everything was and always needs to be at the peak of freshness for my salads.

Grilled Garlic Cheese Toasts 
With Spicy-Mango-Pineapple Salsa

Talk about easy-peasy! This is another favorite pot-luck-dish. It has few ingredients, and they are either easy to prepare or they come in very acceptable pre-made forms, 
(like canned or frozen corn kernels). Of course the salsa is the best made with the freshest ingredients possible. If you haven't cut corn off of the cob to use raw in a salad or salsa, you've missed out terribly! The gorgeous sweet corn from summer just begs to be eaten in any form possible.

Chelsea's Favorite-Dreaded 
Green Bean Casserole!

So, this is the "dreaded casserole!" For the story about the green bean casserole, see my post about Every Child's Favorite Mac 'n' Cheese recipe. 

Chelsea loves green beans and will even eat Swiss cheese, but just not together. This dish has a creamy and slightly sweetened sour cream base that counters the tang of the Swiss cheese brilliantly. Add to that some tender shallots and a bit of black pepper, drained canned green beans (canned beans in this actually work and taste the best than any other form) baked to bubbling perfection. Then topped with your favorite brand of Swiss cheese (I use lite Alsace) and broiled until golden brown, oozy, and bubbly-crusty. To my family, there isn't any other way for cheese to be when it's cooked. We love those bits at the edges that are tender-crusty, and then again we love it when you take a portion of food and the gorgeous cheese pulls and strings from dish to dish! That's good eating right there!

Every Child's Favorite Mac 'n' Cheese

Fresh homemade mac 'n' cheese can and should be so much better than any boxed variety! Hook your kids (and yourselves) up on this simple pleasure that has a creamy delicious cheese sauce with soft but firm pasta. And guess what? It tastes like REAL cheese because it is! You can probably sneak in some secret "V". Let me whisper the dreaded word, (vegetables).

Fresh Banana Cupcakes With 
Dreamy-Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

I just happened to have a very large plethora of very ripe bananas. I usually freeze them as they get past the point where the three of us like them. We'll only eat them if they are green tinged around the edges. This gives a clean, fresh and firm banana, not soft, bruised or mushy. The latter description is apparently how the Polynesians used to like them. Insert a nasty, tongue-sticking-out face here ☟.

Caldo de Albondigas

 Mexican Meatball Soup is a family favorite. Today however, I write this recipe for you with a heavy heart. My brother Dave, passed away just this past Tuesday March 4, 2014 of surgical complications. He was only 59. 

Chocolate Scottish Shortbread Cookies

I absolutely love Scottish shortbread! It's buttery, very lightly sweetened, and tenderly-crisp. I 've formed them into triangles, medium sized galettes as shown, 1" round buttons sandwiched with a fabulous frosting, the base for all of my Streusel Bars, plus the buttery-moist and sandy topping for bars, and added all kinds of things to the batter itself. I even made them into cutout "spoons"

Sugar Polka-Dot Cookies

I have two very good, no, great tasting sugar cookie recipes to share with you. This first one today is an adaptation from a recipe on the back of a sugar bag. I think they look like big polka-dots. Or as my youngest daughter Chelsea called them when she was little - Po Po Dops! 

When reading a food box or bag, don't you just love how we're roped in to try another recipe, which

 Angel Food Cake With Blackberry Coulis

 

Down to the last morsels of deliciousness! I knew I'd better get my last piece with the last of the blackberry coulis or all would be gone! I did forgo with a fork in order to stick each loving morsel of cake into the bowl and scoop up some beautiful fresh blackberry goodness, which I gladly licked off of my fingers. This is such a beautiful cake, it rises very high and is perfect plain or topped with fresh blackberry coulis, and of course everything else, like chocolate! 

It's very tender and light, has a beautiful fragrance and amazing flavor. I can guarantee that you could serve this as "regular" Angel Food Cake, no one will be able to tell that it's gluten free! I promise!

 Lemon Blackberry Curd Tartlettes

Every year about this time means that I reap an enormous windfall of fresh lemons, and I am soooo grateful to receive these beautiful blessings! Thank you Joyce! 

There's a small variety involved with these oranically grown beauties, some are small and round, some more pointedly oblong and medium size, and then there are my favorites; gorgeous monster sized Meyers. These Meyers are absolutely massive, and each has the potential of giving at least 1/2 cup of juice. At least!

I always make lemon curd. My son and my husband love these tarts.

"Kahlua" Fudge Valentine Heart Lollipops

I love coffee liqueur! So do my girls and my sons-in-law. A lot. I've made this recipe for at least 30 years, and usually make this highly requested confection at Christmas time, but that schedule's not set in stone. So I thought that it would be fun to make a batch for Valentines Day. This fudge just is the best ever. You can keep it in the fridge in an airtight container (if there's any left!). It's super creamy with deliciously deep chocolate flavor

Golden Coconut-Lemon Bars

If you are a lover of  lemon and coconut then these are for you! The topping is just the right sweet-tart and so creamy, flecked with tender strands of sweetened shredded coconut. And the crust? My buttery-rich Gluten Free Scottish Shortbread crust is the ultimate compliment to the creamy filling. I just know that you're going to love them!

I find it extremely comforting knowing that I can convert all of my favorite recipes

The Best Cornbread - Ever!

It was so prettyI took it's picture on a beautiful pedestal! It's moist, the crumb is just right,
 it's holding together beautifully, and the flavor is phenomenally good! 

I love good cornbread. I like it tender and moist, savory with maybe just the barest hint of sweet, and a bit of saltiness, and I love to slather it with fresh butter and gorgeous golden locally sustained bee-keeper's honey.

 Sunday Roast-Brisket-Stew Dinner

Do you ever wonder how many families still have "Sunday Dinners"? Unfortunately it's probably way, way less than we could even speculate. Families are so torn apart by so many to-dos on their lists. We always tried to have dinners together whether at home, a restaurant, church, school, while driving, or with family or friends. There were many, many times that we took a "picnic" in the car to eat while on the road to another event of some kind.

Raid The Fridge - Chicken and Vegetable   Enchilada Stack With Homemade Sauce     

My Grandfather "Buster" Wells ranched about 80 thousand acres for the Irvine Company of Southern California, back when I was in Elementary School. Quite a bit of it bordered along the the outside of the MCAS "H" Base where the enormous hangers are still located. Of course the base is closed but it's still interesting to me and I'm sure many others in this area, that those are a major landmark. You can figure your way just by seeing them.

Succulent Fresh Shrimp Cocktails  

I have been craving really good seafood lately. My hubby Greg took the three of us to lunch yesterday to nice little Italian restaurant called Nello's. Christopher had the Chicken Paillard served with Baby Greens with a Lemon Dressing, Greg had Blackened Swordfish with a Salsa Mix on top served with Roasted Vegetables, and then me? Ohhh, I had Calamari Steaks with Gluten Free Pasta - all lightly dressed with a piquant Lemon, Garlic, Caper Sauce. I was in heaven!

Quinoa-Chicken Enchilada Casserole With Homemade Sauce First I have a disclaimer-my computer is trying to die and refuses to format correctly. So I am having to trick it on occasions like tonight. Unfortunately there is a huge open space to the right of this column and up above the recipe title that refuses to be nice and just go away. So please ignore that. It'll be interesting to see what it does tomorrow. Yesterdays post took me about 6 hours to post 45 minutes worth of info. Today is only about  1 &  1/2 hours, but with this ridiculous space problem! This is a wonderful, light but hearty dish for those cold weather nights. Those protein-packed little seeds are great for soaking up the enchilada sauce, and then there's the part we all love - cheese! And we don't skimp on our cheese in this household. I used sharp cheddar and jack, but you could use whatever kind is your favorite. We love it when it's time to take it out of the oven, the cheese is all bubbly, melted to oozing perfection and has a crispy top to it all. Wow!

Parmesan Quinoa 

With Tender Vegetables

This sweet little platter was a birthday gift from my niece Rachel and her sweet hubby Jared. This photo is of this recipe, but I cut it in half for two for lunch. As you can see it's still a substantial amount. We had no problem eating it all!

Quinoa is one of my very favorite things to eat. I almost love it as much as chocolate. Almost. Anyway,  

many years ago (that makes me sound so old! but I'm not) I was blithely shopping in our town's health food store and ran across this wonderful book called "Gourmet Grains" copyright 1993, by Candia Lea Cole.

I love this little book which is jam-packed with so many different grains

I will be away for a few days. 

So I've put a few pictures of my Grand Daughter who turned 6 in November 2013. 

Double-Chocolate Mocha Brownies

Oh how I wish you could have breathed in the incredible aroma of these brownies while they were cooking! And even better, I sure wish you could taste one still warm when cut. These are super easy, and soooo delicious. I was having a craving so badly for something chewy-fudgy-heavenly, and what else could satisfy that but Brownies!

Tender Crispy Battered 
Fried Chicken Dinner

Crispy Gluten Free Battered-Tender Fried Chicken Dinner!

I've decided that some general cooking qualifies under the gluten free category that I'm posturing about. After all, the gravy is gluten free, as well as the chicken batter, so that cinches the deal, right? Right!

It occurred to me that there's a major misunderstanding regarding many types of cooking and eating choices that different people make for just as many different reasons. For example; vegetarians do not want any animal products save for dairy and eggs. Vegans don't want any animal products, period, no eggs, no dairy, no thank you. Then you have those that eat raw foods only, never cooking anything, I'm sure there's a "title" for their group but I don't know what it is, do you? Let me know, please. There are those who eat chicken and fish, but no beef, veal, or lamb. Then there are those that eat only fish and rice and vegetables with some occasional fruits. I'm sure we could go on and on....

Guiltless Decedent Chocolate Cloud Cake!

I was inspired regarding this luscious dessert while checking out Nigella Lawson's recipes. She uses Contreau and orange zest in hers. I used Creme de Cacao. You could use whatever flavoring you want as all of them would be amazing.
I love to watch her cook and read her recipes, she's very down to earth with a great sense of humor, and her recipes are generally pretty simple.

You know you're in a hurry when you really don't stop to analyze every minute detail. Such as baking these gorgeous chocolate treats on pretty much you're worst looking baking pan. You know, the one you were going to clean this last weekend? <sigh>

Baking on an old marred baking pan in no way taints the ultimately indulgent-consuming of this to-die-for ethereal pleasure, however.

Cinnamon-Sugar Crusted 

Berry Muffins

I find myself at a culinary crossroads. I am "now"gluten intolerant. Actually we, (the Doctor and I) think this is probably at the root of lifelong issues with my stomach. This does not sit well with me as I could live on bread! Not anymore. I love baking breads, cakes, cookies... you name it, I can bake it! So now I'm faced with the challenge of changing everything possible to gluten-free. And, pass it off to my family without a lot of hub-bub. My husband Greg and my son Christopher are doing a very good job of excepting these changes, but occasionally the request for "regular stuff" comes in and I do it for them out of love.

My Favorite Multi-Grain Sandwich Bread

My favorite sandwich, a delicious BLT!

Well! I had started out writing to share with you my New Year's Quiche baked in buttery, flaky pie dough, but somehow right before I was going to push the publish button, I hit some other button and erased the entire thing. And I had just saved it, but to my dismay after looking everywhere it's flat out gone. So on to other delicious things. 

Blackberry Shortbread Bars *Updated!

These are to die for!

June 3, 2014

So, I made an interesting discovery this past weekend about unsalted butter brands. As we all know every brand of butter on the market whether it's from the local grocer's, or a wholesale restaurant supply establishment, has different amounts of butterfat, and it can be made from cow's milk, milk and cream, or just cream. A well known manufacturer of butter in California, now has a query email from me regarding the disastrous outcome of this particular recipe. I had not used their butter before as I generally purchase the butter that we use from Costco, or a local restaurant supply source. I used my original recipe of 4 parts flour mix, 1 part butter, and 1/2 part sugar with this CA butter brand. The results were horrifying! The product was so dry that it could not be pinched or pressed into a crust and have it hold together. So I had to start adding more butter one Tablespoon at a time, AND sour cream. THEN and only then did it hold together. This was quite upsetting, so I have adjusted the amount of butter and added the sour cream for YOUR recipe, and I hope you have a wonderful product in the end!

What you will see re-worked below is the old amounts in black, and the updated amounts in red. My suggestion is to start with the amounts in black as the butter you use might not need to be increased, and you might not need the sour cream. If you do need extra, add the additional butter amounts one Tablespoon at a time, and add the sour cream at the very end only if needed.

I've never baked from scratch at high altitudes so you're going to have to make further adjustments - Please let me know how your bars come out and what amounts you used, I will give you full credit here on my site. ; }

12.20.2013
I took three different streusel bars for snack at our final dress rehearsal for the Concordia University Christmas Concerts. Needless to say they were a fanfare success! There were **plum butter and apple butter bars