Gluten Free Goodness

**Note: This is not a compensated review. I wish I had received the cookbook or GF flours for free, but alas, this is just me passing along something wonderful that I have discovered.

About six months ago, our son Henry went Gluten and Casein Free. The change for him was immediately noticeable. He stopped complaining of stomach aches. His bowels began cooperating. His tummy distention disappeared, as did the dark circles under his eyes. His swollen nasal passages and head congestion that he had suffered with since infancy went away. His mood swings improved as well, although he did get emotional for quite some time about food. (He loves grumpy faces, even when he's cheerful. Silly boy!)

I am emotional about food, too, so I hurt to watch my son go through this. At first we tried to all eat GFCF when we were around Henry, but there were two problems with this: it was an expensive way to feed a family of 7 and it didn't taste good. I gradually moved to frequently preparing two meals or two desserts so that Henry could partake with us while we ate our old favorite stuff. I did hold off on making things that were his favorites if he couldn't have them, at least until the holidays hit.

Henry has stuck to his diet, cheating only a couple of times when we have given him the option (and always regretting it later). I am proud of him, because it isn't easy. I do take heart in the fact that this experience is making Henry a stronger person, not only because it is better for him physically, but because he is learning that he can do hard things and not just give in to his appetites.

I was thrilled, recently, to find this GFCF cookbook put out by Silvana Nardone, called Cooking for Isaiah. Silvana is a foodie like me, only more so:) She is the founding editor-in-chief for Everyday with Rachel Ray (among other impressive gigs). She loves to nurture and bond with her family around good, homemade food. And she wasn't about to let her son, Isaiah's, gluten and dairy intolerances stop her from doing that. Her cookbook starts out with their story (don't you love a cookbook with a story?) and then her own recipe for an all-purpose gluten-free flour and a gluten-free pancake mix. These two flour mixes are used throughout her cookbook, but they can also stand in for all-purpose flour in other recipes. I love that she researched and tried all the options available on the market and tells you which are the best products for her recipes.


Anyhow, we are loving the recipes. Henry had a chocolate birthday cake (adapted) from the cookbook. Gluten -lovers and -eschewers alike gobbled it down (I did a base of her chocolate cake with an Irish mint frozen yogurt-- Henry can sometimes tolerate yogurt-- and her chocolate whipped frosting, frozen). Please don't look too closely at the picture, as the I was rushing when I put the frosting on and it was still a bit too warm for the frozen cake.

 The cookbook is full of sweet breakfast options. We have also loved her cinnamon toast waffles. (Yes, I had some whipped cream on mine-- and butter. But Henry loved his with just maple syrup, and it was far better than giving him a GF freezer waffle while the rest of us ate homemade.)

We also devoured her Frito-crusted chicken fingers with honey mustard aioli, and the Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Crumbs was so good I made it again only a few days later. I'm going to share that recipe with you here, but if you or someone you love is Gluten-Free, you have got to get this cookbook! And if not, never fear! She has the gluten- and dairy-filled substitutions listed as well!

Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Crumbs

Adapted to serve 8 people if a few of them are not big into meatballs (read: my family)

• 1 pound ground beef or chuck
• 1 small onion, grated
• 5 cloves garlic-- 2 grated, 2 smashed, 1 chopped
• 1 cup rice cereal crumbs (I used Rice Chex)
• 1/2 cup rice milk (or regular milk)
• 1 large egg
• 6 T. flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 package corn or rice spaghetti
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, or less if you have a wimpy family like mine

Combine the beef, onion, chopped garlic, 1/2 cup cereal crumbs, milk, egg, 2 T parsley and 1 tsp salt. Shape into meatballs. (I make 16 small meatballs, Silvana makes 8 large meatballs to serve 4 people).

In a large saucepan, heat 1 T olive oil over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Submerge the meatballs in the sauce, bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Cook your pasta until al dente. Drain and toss with the sauce.

The garlic crumbs are what really elevate this dish! Heat the remaining 1 T. olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the grated garlic, remaining 1/2 cup cereal crumbs, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 tsp salt. Cook until toasted, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Don't get impatient because you want that nice toast, but don't walk away either, or they might get too toasty (like mine did the second time around). Sprinkle them liberally over your meatballs and sauce and over your salad if you like as well! They add such a nice crunch.

Thursday Thanks and Apple Pie

It's Thursday again and time to count our blessings! Inspired by Tamara from 31 Dates in 31 Days, I'm taking time each week to slow down and take note of the goodness in my life.

Today I am grateful for crisp fall days, the promise of holiday fun and family coming soon, and for the goodness of homemade pie. Is there anything better than a flaky, salty, buttery crust filled with custard, cream, or fruit? You'd have to try hard to convince me.

As with everything else, I have a hard time choosing a favorite pie. Coconut cream, Banana cream, German Chocolate, Apple, Berry, Pumpkin, Lemon cream . . . I love them all. And I come from a pie-loving family. This year we will have 9 adults and 9 kids at Thanksgiving dinner (three of them babies) and we will have at least 7 pies. And more if we have time to tack on a couple more! So when I look at the grocery ads and see Sara Lee frozen cherry pies on sale, I feel sad for anyone that will be eating them at all, but especially on this feast day made for pies.

Now my husband, he's a decisive man. He has no problem choosing favorites-- and when it comes to pie, his is apple. No question. In fact, what he likes is a very traditional apple pie made with Golden Delicious apples. No added nuts or berries, no streusel topping for him. When I first learned this about him, I was resistant. Why not tinker? Why not jazz up a boring old apple pie? But over the years, I have learned to make a good apple pie just the way he likes it-- and guess what? I love it, too! I may not have a favorite, but this apple pie ranks in my top five (or seven). And that's saying a lot.

The recipe that I have used for the past three or four years came from a friend from church, Mary Jeane. She likes to use Gravenstein apples best, but did I mention that Jared likes Golden Delicious? If you make it my way, it won't be a tart pie, but you won't mind. I guarantee.

For a great crust recipe and tutorial on how to do your own pie crust, go over to my friend Prudence Pennywise's blog. She did an excellent step-by-step guide last year. Her introduction about making a pie crust as one of the top things people are frightened of is pretty darn funny. Don't be scared. You can do it. There's no comparison to homemade.

Now the filling. You will need:

• 6 cups thinly sliced apples. Minimum. Use any variety that bakes well. If you don't know what that means, ask your produce guy or just buy Golden Delicious like I do.
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of kosher salt
• a couple pats of butter
• milk for brushing the crust
• an 8 or 9 inch pie plate

I will tell you the honest truth-- I don't really measure this. I cut up 6 cups of apples, decide it will never be enough, and cut up some more. Once I've filled up my large mixing bowl, I start with the ingredients listed and then add a little more of everything because I put in more apples. If this style of baking freaks you out, just stick to the recipe. I just like my apple pies loaded with apples.

Put the apples, sugar, flour, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and use your fingers to mix it all together. The pile it into your prepared crust and mash it down a little. The apples are going to cook down anyway, so if there are a lot of air pockets, the pie will collapse. I like to use enough apples to really mound it up. Now put two pats of butter on top of the apples.

Roll out your top crust and gently lay it over your filling. For a beautiful, bumpy pie, gently press to almost mold the crust to your apples. Don't stretch the crust, though. Now get your finger wet and run it along the bottom pie crust, then seal the two crusts together. I don't get fancy with my edges, I just pinch them between my finger and thumb.

Now put a few slits in the top of the crust. Or use a little cutter to cut out shapes. The steam needs a place to escape, but it's okay to make it look pretty.

If you want, to give it extra wow factor when it's baked, brush the crust lightly with some milk and sprinkle with sugar. For best results, cover the edges of the pie with a bit of tin foil or a pie guard to prevent the crust from over browning.

Now, pop it in a 350 oven for about an hour. When your entire pie crust is a beautiful golden brown and the filling is bubbly and looks thick. If you really aren't sure (and the slits you cut for steam are big enough), poke a knife into an apple and make sure it's soft.

Let the pie cool on a cooling rack. If you can let it sit for a few hours (I make my Thanksgiving pies on Wednesday for sanity's sake, but I'll admit that we occasionally dig into the apple pie the night before), the filling shouldn't be runny. Serve it with vanilla ice cream. Because it's just better that way.

Now go forth and conquer. And if apple pie's not your thing, find a great recipe online or in a magazine and try it out. Don't let food intimidate you. There is gratification in making good food for those you love!

And leave me a comment, please: What's your must have pie at Thanksgiving? Can you choose just one, or are you like me, who loves them all?!

For some reason, I've never taken a picture of this pie in all it's glory, and although I love you, dear readers, I simply can't make all these delicious goodies two weeks in a row without some serious consequences. So for now, you'll have to look at the top photo. The apple pie is the middle one in the pie stand.:) I'll throw in more photos next week.

The Rolls

At least in my family, The Rolls are one of the most important parts of Thanksgiving (and Christmas) dinner. And those capital letters are intentional-- at this feast, no other rolls will do. They must be this recipe, usually quadrupled or more because there cannot be too many of them!

The Rolls are delicate, light, and buttery, while still being a cinch to make. At times I make them once a week to go with soups or Sunday dinner, but only when I'm feeling naughty-- who can eat rolls like this all the time without some guilt? Okay, most men probably could, but those of us who watch our waistlines know better. The point is that they are perfect for Thanksgiving but easy enough to be made anytime you have the hankering for a dinner roll. You need never buy another dinner roll. They just can't touch a homemade one.

The Rolls need to be started the night before, but I'm telling you, the beauty of a well-planned and well-executed Thanksgiving dinner is in stretching out the preparation over a few days. And the night before part only takes 5 minutes. You can do it. I promise you can.

Here's what you'll need to make 2 dozen of The Rolls (but unless there are only 3 of you eating dinner, you'll need more than that!):

• 1 cup milk (skim is fine, but 2% or whole is better)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt (heaping if it's coarse kosher)
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 T. yeast (or one packet if you buy them that way)
• a pastry mat or floured solid surface counter (but not until the next day)
• a rolling pin

Put your milk and butter in a large, microwave proof bowl and put them in the microwave long enough to scald the milk and melt the butter (around two minutes). Let this cool for a few minutes, stirring in the sugar while you cool it down. While you wait for it to cool, proof the yeast by putting it in a liquid measuring cup with the warm water and the teaspoon of sugar. Watch it grow for a few minutes. Be sure that the butter and milk mixture is not hot enough to kill the yeast, then add the yeast mixture and the eggs to the bowl and mix well. Stir in the salt, then the flour. Dough will be quite sticky-- that's okay. Now you just put some plastic wrap over the top of the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight-- or if you live in a cold place (but not too cold) you could just keep it in your garage overnight. (By the way, these actually need about 4-5 hours of chilling time, just in case you don't want to do it overnight.)

The next day, punch down the dough. Sprinkle flour over your work surface. I use a pastry mat, but if you have a solid surface countertop, you can just use that. Take half of your dough and gently roll it out into a large circle, sprinkling dough with flour if it sticks-- but the less flour you add, the lighter the roll. Once the dough is in about an 14-16" circle, use a knife or pizza cutter to slice it in wedges like you are cutting a pizza. To get two dozen small to medium rolls, cut 12 wedges in each circle. If you want bigger rolls, cut each wedge into 10 or 8.

Take each wedge individually and roll it up into a crescent. Place it on a greased cookie sheet or baking tray. I put one dozen on my jelly roll pans (large cookie sheets). Allow to rise until double-- in most kitchens that will be about 90-120 minutes, but it depends on how warm your kitchen is.

Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, between 10-14 minutes depending on your oven. If desired, brush with melted butter.

Look, see how easy those are?

Turkey Tutorial

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. At least it is this month. If I have to choose a favorite, which frankly, I am terrible about. I have a hard time choosing a favorite movie, book, food, holiday, or child. And why should I? But at the moment, I am all about Thanksgiving.

I thought I'd share some of the recipes that I love to usane for Thanksgiving. I love seeing what other families eat and if you are scrambling for a good recipe, look no further.

Today, I'm sharing my method and recipe for the turkey, and hopefully I'll follow through in the next few days with recipes for rolls, pies, and more. Sadly, even though I've roasted a turkey for most of the last five Thanksgivings, I can't find a single picture of the bird itself, so for now we'll have to be satisfied with this picture of my Thanksgiving plate in 2008! Next week I'll be sure to snap a photo of our guest of honor and add it here as a post edit.:)

Call me crazy, but I love to make the Thanksgiving turkey. The truth is that roasting a turkey is not difficult at all-- any one of you could do it and turn out a decent bird without much effort. But I am not one to be satisfied with "decent" if a little more thought, preparation, and effort will produce "exceptional". If you are going to spend the week in the kitchen preparing this feast, you might as well present a feast that elicits oohs, ahhs, and moans, right?

I am fortunate this year to have lots of family coming to town and everyone is bringing a couple of side dishes, so my jobs will be easy and fewer than in years past: a few pies, some gluten-free dinner rolls for my Henry, the turkey and gravy.

If you want a turkey that turns out succulent, delicious, and moist, look no further. I'll walk you through it. Several years ago I studied out an article by Alton Brown in Bon Appetit (Nov 2003) on turkey technique. I combined the technique learned there with a recipe from Bon Appetit (Nov 2005) for an apple cider glazed turkey that is heavenly. It may seem labor intensive because of the brine, but it really isn't-- you just have to plan ahead. And if you can't plan ahead for Thanksgiving dinner of all the meals in the year, then you might be better off letting someone else make the turkey:)

You'll start this dance with your turkey 2 days before the feast. You will need:

• A brining bag (or two if you want to be very careful about leaks) that will accommodate your bird OR a stock pot big enough for your bird-- at least 20 quarts.
• A turkey. That's obvious, I know. I prefer a fresh turkey but can't stand the prices for a free-range organic bird when I'm cooking for a crowd. I generally get mine at Costco or order one from the butcher at my local nicer grocery store for under $1 per pound. You could do this with a frozen bird, but beware that they are generally full of injected saline and other chemical treatments to keep them tasting like they haven't been frozen. If you use a frozen turkey, give yourself plenty of time to defrost. This brine recipe makes enough to cover up to a 24 pound turkey.
• 4 quarts apple cider, plus 2 cups more on Thanksgiving Day.
• 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
• 1/4 cup WHOLE allspice (I get mine at Smart and Final for a good low price.)
• 8 bay leaves
• 4 quarts of cold water
• A large cooler or space in your fridge for the brining bird
• A big roasting pan (if you are using a foil disposable pan, plan to double them up and then put on a jelly roll pan for stability)
• A probe thermometer that can stay in the oven
• tin foil
• butter
• aromatics (I use an onion, apple, celery, and fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary)

For the brine, simmer 1 quart of apple cider, the salt, allspice, and bay leaves for 5 minutes, stirring often. If you are going to brine right in your stockpot, use that for this step. I prefer doubled up brining bags so that I can put it in a cooler in my garage. Add the remaining 3 quarts of cider and 4 quarts of water. Place turkey in the brine and cover it up. Keep it cool in your fridge or large cooler.

The next evening, drain the turkey and rinse it. Arrange on several layers of paper towels in your roasting pan. Refrigerate it overnight UNCOVERED.

Now it's the Big Day. Calculate 15 minutes per pound of turkey, plus 30 minutes once it comes out of the oven to rest before you slice it. I find that it's best when serving Thanksgiving dinner to have a target time to eat, but you really need to let the bird dictate the actual time you sit down. Since I like to eat around 3 or 3:30pm, and my oven tends to run a little bit hot, I'll plan to put my 24 lb turkey in by 9:30 am, anticipating that he will be done around 3 and ready to carve at 3:30. If it's done a little earlier (which has happened to me before), it won't be so early that we can't flex with it.

Heat your oven to 500 degrees. This is not a misprint! You will turn it down later, but this will crisp the skin and basically sear the bird. You need to use a v-rack in your roasting pan or make a fat snake out of tin foil and coil it like a loose cinnamon roll in the bottom of the pan. You don't want the turkey sitting in it's juices. Prepare a piece of tin foil that will cover the entire breast of the bird. Placing it shiny side up, mold it into a breastplate. Then take it off and spray the underside with cooking spray (I use olive oil spray).

This recipe does allow for stuffing the bird, whereas most brined birds are too salt to be stuffed. However, I prefer to bake my stuffing separately. I stuff my turkey with a quartered onion, an apple, a stalk of celery, and some fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme. These are not going to be eaten, but they help keep the turkey moist and flavorful.

Now rub butter all over the skin of the turkey like you are a masseuse. This is going to yield crisp, golden skin. Put the turkey in the oven (no foil yet), neck end first. Set the timer for 30 minutes. Remove the turkey when the timer goes off and turn down the oven to 350 degrees. Apply the breastplate to the turkey. If you want your glaze (recipe below) to have the most flavor impact, put it on before you put on the breastplate. My only warning is that sometimes it will produce a bird that looks burned (even though it isn't). This year I am going to wait and put the glaze on at the end. Insert your probe thermometer through the foil into the deepest part of the breast. Put your armored bird back in the oven and set your thermometer's alarm to go off at 161 degrees. Don't worry, Tom Turkey will coast to done once you have him out of the oven. We don't want overcooked white meat--is there anything harder to choke down than dry turkey? So now just leave the bird alone and the oven door closed until the alarm goes off.

At this point, I will add my glaze, wanting a beautiful and delicious bird. Then, cover the whole thing with foil and let it rest for 30 minutes. This is important! In the meantime, you can make the gravy, put finishing touches on the table, and mash the potatoes. If you only have one oven, this is the time you can put in the sweet potatoes, stuffing, rolls, etc. All the while, the turkey is working to retain its juices-- if you carve too early, they will just spill out all over the carving board and leave dry meat behind.

Now take a moment to show off your beautiful bird to your dinner guests. It's okay to feel proud of what you've done! Carve in the kitchen or at the table, whatever your family likes to do. Now sit down to a glorious feast! Don't forget to give thanks-- that's the point, after all!

The apple cider glaze is easy. Put the remaining 2 cups of cider in a saucepan and simmer until it has reduced to about 1/4 cup. Remove from heat and stir in a stick of butter, unsalted if you have it. It's ready!

For other recipes that I use at Thanksgiving, look at Johnson's cranberry relish and The Rolls. As for pies, this one never lets me down:Toasted Pecan Pie. This apple is an absolute must every year-- in fact, I make two. And I'm going to try out these from Better Homes and Gardens: Banana Butterscotch Cream, Dark Chocolate Pecan (instead of the other pecan this year), and Lemon Velvet Cream.

Which recipe is a must at your Thanksgiving table? And which do you want me to post as soon as possible?

S'more, Please!

Have you seen these enormous marshmallows? Until our recent trip, I had heard tell of them, but believed them to be an urban legend spread by sugar fiends.

Well, they are not fictional. And they make amazing, HUGE, and might I say, sticky, s'mores!


Just another magical moment from our trip to Utah. (The little girl getting sticky with Bronwen is her second-cousin(ish), Macy. You can read her mom's blog here.)

Summer's Best

Tomatoes from the garden have got to be in my summer top ten.

This morning, this is what I harvested from our jungle-like tomato garden. There are tons of yellow and orange tomatoes just waiting to turn red in the next couple of days. It's a good thing that I kept garden tomatoes in mind when I planned this week's menu. If you want to see what's for dinner tonight, or read a post I wrote two years ago about the nurturing power of food and the importance of family dinner, go here.

Just got home from a 2 week road trip. I have lots of posts churning around in my mind and filling up my camera card, so stay tuned for a full report of all the people and things we saw.

The Last 84 Minutes

You would think that cleaning up vomit would take away my late-night sweet cravings. You'd be wrong.

84 minutes ago, I was driving home from a book discussion group, thinking about the topics discussed of the Founding Fathers and the balance of powers in government, and thinking about how much I wanted to eat something sweet when I arrived home. I knew I shouldn't have anything, particularly since I had a little leftover birthday cake after lunch and I am trying to maintain my weight loss at the moment. Still, I was considering the vanilla ice cream in the freezer or the chocolate in the high cupboard.

When I got home, I found my three younger kids sleeping peacefully. Jared was watching a World Cup game and getting ready to leave for a late night indoor soccer game. The two older boys hadn't arrived home yet from Cub Scout camp. I contemplated that I would pay the bills and fold some laundry and maybe even have time for my fun book before Jared got home from soccer. The evening stretched out deliciously in front of me and I even forgot about the sugar calling me from the kitchen.

Then, within moments, my dream was shattered. From the girls' bedroom we heard screaming. (I am learning recently that girls really like to scream more than boys do.) I rushed in to find both girls hysterical and vomit (Bronwen's) on the floor by the door. I tried to comfort and clean up Bronwen while Jared tried to clean up the floor and comfort the traumatized baby sister while Bronwen wailed on. Just then, the big boys bounded in, anxious to tell us all about their adventures at camp and to eat at this late hour.

It was time for Jared to leave or his team would have to forfeit their game. I held the crying baby, asked the boys to get ready for bed and just skip a shower because Bronwen was in the bathtub, and rifled through the loads of clean clothes on my bed looking for some pajamas for Bronwen to wear. No luck. Where were they? Meanwhile, Bronwen wailed from the bathtub that she's cold and wants to get out. Finally I found something that would work for her and got her out as I discovered another puddle of vomit that Jared had missed. The baby had to go back in the crib to avoid having her play in it, which only made her sob all the more. A few minutes later, Bronwen was dressed for bed and the puke was cleaned up, but Bronwen wanted me to cuddle her. Margaret was still crying, and the boys wanted something to eat.

I told Bronwen that I couldn't cuddle her, I needed to help Meggie calm down and feed her brothers. She says plaintively, "but Mommy, I need your help," and I can't say no. Instead, I tell her I'll be right back. I ran out to the kitchen and helped the boys find some leftovers to warm up. Ian wandered out, groggy-eyed, and announced that he felt like throwing up. Fantastic. Kimball announced that his goldfish is dead. This was not the time to find me full of sympathy or helpfulness when it comes to a goldfish. Luckily, he seemed to need neither.

I got Meggie calmed down as long as I was holding her, sent Ian back to bed with a throw-up bowl, left Kimball and Henry to eat, and went back to Bronwen's room. She was sucking her thumb and trying to sleep, but still wanted me to cuddle her. I tried to sit by her and stroke her back while still holding the baby, but neither girl was interested in sharing me and I finally left the room with the baby, hoping Bronwen would fall asleep quickly.

This all went on for another 20 minutes or so. At 10:00 pm when all but Henry are in bed, I look at the clock and realize that I'll be lucky to load the dishwasher before Jared gets back, let alone pay the bills and fold the laundry or read my book.

Instead, I remember my sugar craving from earlier and find a chunk of milk chocolate in the high cupboard, which I have with a spoonful of this heavenly stuff. As I eat, I wonder how I can do so after so recently cleaning up after Bronwen's sickness. Then I decide to write a blog post instead of doing any of the work I need to do. There goes another 25 minutes!

Gotta go. Ian just threw up. Something tells me it's going to be a long night.

Delusions of Grandeur

Post Edit: I added a couple more pictures of the birthday girls from my mom's camera. 6/27/10

It seemed like a good idea when I started out. I didn't mean for it to get out of hand. It's just that once the ball is rolling and I am pinched for time (which, let's face it, I always am pushing up against a deadline), I ignore that little voice that tells me "this just won't work" and push on. It's not that deep down I really believe it will work, but something inside me hopes that the vision in my head will become reality, even when all signs point to some other outcome.

I've been planning Meg's first birthday cake (and my 37th) for weeks. Chalk it up to the fact that I spent most of April and May on an uber-restrictive diet with carbohydrates and sugars being gradually added in this week. Oh, and consider that I adore birthdays AND birthday cakes. AND parties. How could I not think about this, the light at the end of the tunnel, while I was depriving myself of practically everything that is good? Needless to say, I planned it out several different ways, but a few weeks back I settled on white cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. It was going to be perfectly Margaret and perfectly me.


Then yesterday, I started thinking about the fact that I was going to make 3 cakes. After all, the birthday baby needed one of her own, the gluten-free folks in my family needed to be included, and then there were the rest of us. "As long as I'm making three cakes anyway," I said to myself, "I might as well make it a tiered cake."

I imagined, of course, something gloriously wedding-cakish, each tier stacked perfectly atop the last, the filling between the layers thick with white whipped cream and sweet, red strawberries. It was perfectly Meg, perfectly me. I made the layers last night in 3 different sizes and then went off to bed, dreaming of cake.This morning it occurrs to me that there are 6 egg yolks in my fridge (since the white cake only called for the whites) and that sounds like a great start to vanilla custard. "Just what my filling needs!" I decide. I will just put the whipped cream on the outside and the custard and strawberries in the middle. I check out epicurious.com for a recipe and find one that looks easy, delicious, and fast enough to be chilled in time for my cake. Perfectly Meg, perfectly me.
When the custard was finished, it sure seems runny, but I had followed all the directions, down to checking the temperature before taking it off the heat, so it had to be right. I am sure it will thicken up as it cools. And it will be perfect.

Only it doesn't thicken much. I pull it out of the fridge at 11:00 when I can't wait any longer to fill the cake. I look at the recipe again, wondering if this happened to anyone else who had made it. NO REVIEWS? How did this happen to me? Whenever I find a recipe on line, I ALWAYS read the reviews of other cooks. I must have been too distracted by all my birthday well wishers on Facebook. I decide to whip up some heavy cream and fold it in. I am pretty sure that I have done so once before with success, although I can't quite recall where or when. But no worries, the cream will make it perfect.Okay, now it's 11:10 and the cream is folded in. Still a little runny, but the completely irrational and unreasonable side of me is sure that it will thicken on the cake somehow. It has to, because my family will all be arriving in less than 2 hours and lunch isn't ready yet, either. I split the first layer and attempt to spread the custard filling, but it's almost a pour. I add strawberries and some more custard, then the next layer. So far it's not leaking out the sides too terribly. I'm sure it will work because I refuse to listen to the voice in my head screaming, "ABORT MISSION! DITCH THE CUSTARD LIKE A REASONABLE PERSON!"

11:25 I put whipped cream between the next two layers and place my gluten-free layer on. A little bit of custard spills out the sides of the lower layer under the pressure. More custard and strawberries, then the top gluten-free layer and more whipped cream. I begin to consider that this cake might not sit perfectly straight and might even slide right off the bottom layer. I find some wooden skewers and cut them down to just the right height.
11:45 The top layer, the one that I'll take off for the birthday girl to let her eat any way she wants? It is next. By the time I place it on the cake, I'm starting to wonder if I'll be able to ice the sides after all. Maybe we'll just go for the torte look. Can this cake pull it off, or will it just look half-dressed? I thought it was going to be perfect, and now I'm facing the fact that it won't look anything like the cake in my head did. At least it will taste good. That's all my guests really care about, isn't it?

12:00 I finish the cake and very, very carefully find a place for it in my fridge. I wonder if we should have cake first and then lunch afterward, because at this point I'm sure that the cake will slide, melt, or both within a couple of hours. I decide to call it "whimsical". That sounds like I made it look like this on purpose, like I was never even going for the "perfect" look anyway.


12:30 My darling father in law, who had come early to help cut watermelon, tomatoes, avocados, and basically save my hide because lunch wasn't ready, tells me not to be such a chicken and shoves my sliding cake layers back to semi-straight. Hmmm. He says we should definitely eat our hamburgers first, that the cake won't perish in the meantime. I know he only has the nerve to man-handle a cake like that because he didn't put all the time, energy, and ingredients into it, but he's right. It looks much straighter now.
1:15 My husband opens the fridge and says, "What happened to the cake?" I hurry over and find that nothing has happened, I just forgot to warn him that it's "whimsical".

We feast on hamburgers, chips, fresh fruit, and carrots. I'm so glad I resisted the urge to do sweet potato fries and onion rings because when would I have found the time? Now it's time for cake. All eyes turn to Miss Margaret. Will she like it?

She does. And she doesn't seem to care that it's whimsical instead of perfect. In fact, I'm pretty sure that she thinks it is perfect.

As for me, I don't care what the cake looks like-- it's my little Meggie who is perfect. I think about that day, one year ago, when I spent my birthday being poked and prodded, injected and sliced, attached to monitors and praying for her precious life to be spared. It was not a fun birthday last year, but I received a wonderful gift then and it makes my birthday even more special now.
Happy birthday, my Margaret. You couldn't be more perfect to me.

It's Beginning To Taste A Lot Like Christmas

Christmas at our house means Christmas Cookies! Here we are making a family favorite. Click here for the recipe.

Margaret helped from her favorite location-- strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn, swiping at cookie dough and candy.

Later that day, we went over to Nana's for more baking. Bronwen helped us clean up after dipping the macaroons.

Today is Christmas Eve. We still have our sugar cookies to roll out and bake before I put the roast in. I guess I'd better get off the computer and back to the kitchen.

Hope your day is merry!