Awesome First Christmas Card

Soooo....is this not an awesome postcard or what? lol!  That is my adorable niece with her hottie mom and dad and don't you think that headband just makes the photo?  I mean look at it! It just adds to her cuteness!  ok ok...she's cute enough on her own but I was excited to see her wearing one of the headbands I made for her!  After making the satin burnt edge flowers (i don't know if there is an actual name for them but Crystal Escobar from wannabe told me how to do 'em) I encrusted the edges with matching glitter so make it a lil sparkly :)  

Speaking of Crystal, (I blog stalk) she just had her baby girl and if you haven't yet, you should check out her shop it is full of the cutest things!

Gluten Free Coffee Cake with Maple Frosting

Gluten Free Coffee Cake with Maple Frosting

So what do you get when you take the Gluten Free Homemakers Basic Muffin Recipe and combine it with Silvana's sticky cinnamon pancake recipe and put it in a 9x9 inch square cake pan?  A wonderful coffee cake that is almost identical to my favorite coffee cake I can't have anymore, the Krusteaz coffee cake mix from the box.

The kids and I had decided to make muffins and we normally use the gluten free homemaker's basic muffin recipe and make chocolate chip muffins but this day I was craving a Cinnabon or something like that.  On thanksgiving we had really enjoyed the gluten free sticky cinnamon swirl pancakes with maple frosting shared by Silvana Nardone... So... I decided to put those recipes together and we got this yummy scrumptious coffee cake!  So now I'm calling it....

Candace's Gluten Free Dairy Free Coffee Cake with Maple Frosting

2 cups gluten free flour (I use Silvana's Blend from her book, it already has the xanthan gum added)

if you are using a different gluten free baking mix just add 1 tsp xanthan gum

1 Tablespoon baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cups milk

8 tablespoons softened(1 stick) butter (I use best life or vegan buttery sticks to make it dairy free)

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Line a 9x9 in cake pan with parchment paper (or you can lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray) and preheat the oven to 375.

In a medium size bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  In a seperate bowk, mix the wet ingredients and then add to the flour mixture and stir til combined.

In a small mixing bowl, combine 8 tablespoons of butter softened to room temp, sugar and cinnamon and mix together. (if butter is out of fridge just nuke it for a several seconds to slightly soften but do not melt).

Pour half of your coffee cake batter into you cake pan and spread around.

Drop spoonfuls of the brown sugar mixture over the top and spread around, reserving some for the topping.

Plop the remaining cake batter over the cinnamon sugar and spread around.  Take a knife and swirl it through the entire thing a few times and the smooth out the batter so it is evenly distributed in the cake pan.  

Top with the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

For the Maple Frosting combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons maple syrup and 1 tablespoon water and mix together.  Drizzle over the top of your coffee cake and you would never know you were eating something gluten and dairy free!

Scrappy Saturdays 12

Welcome back to scrappy saturdays, i just love seeing all the great projects each week you guys are awesome!

I love these feathers made from the pages of an old songbook made by ellens creative passage.

Aren't these monster mittens adorable? These were whipped up by the crafting fiend

.I just couldn't resist sharing these light bulb snowmen created by Lady with the Red Rocker.

I love how these Q-tip snowflakes turned out by the Brassy Apple, I can't wait to make some of these with my daughter.

I thought this was a great way to use up some odd jars laying around.  These miniatures in a jar by the Salt Tree are great!

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5 Easy Handmade Gift Ideas

Great Handmade Gift Ideas

I haven't had enough time lately to get started on all the things I have on my list of things I want to make this Christmas, but here are a few at the top of my list to try that would make great handmade gifts.

Magnetic Bookmark

I'm totally diggin' this magnetic bookmark tutorial, it looks super easy and I could make some cute ones with all the fun fabric scraps I already have on hand!  View the tutorial by Louise found on the Southern Institute.

Coffee Cup Sleeve

I definitely want to make some of these coffee/tea cup cozy's for Christmas too!  These would be a great handmade gift to make for all your girlfriends, sisters, sister-in-laws, moms, aunts, kids teachers...etc. Just follow the great Coffee Cup Sleeve tutorial by Staci HERE.

Chef hat and Apron

And for the lil' cuties, I ADORE this tutorial for the kids apron and chef hat!  You could even pair this with the paula dean kids cookbook 

Ruffle Scarf

I also heart this frilly scarf made from a T-SHIRT!  Check out the tutorial Here if you want to whip up one of these.

Holiday Clothespins

These holiday clothespins from Blue Cricket Designs are a fun and easy gift you can make.  They can either be strung along a ribbon to display christmas cards on the mantle or you can attach a magnet to the backs to put the on the fridge.  

Are you planning on making any handmade gifts this year?  Have you bought any cool handmade gifts?

Pan-Fried Kielbasa and Caramelized Onion Rice Cakes

Pan Fried Kielbasa and Caramelized Onion Rice Cakes

Two nights ago we made stuffed bell peppers and had a bunch of left over rice.  Yesterday we made sliders (mini hamburgers topped with caramelized onions) and we had a bunch of the caramelized onions left over.  I had seen the recipe for pan fried shrimp rice cakes in the Cooking For Isaiah book which gave me this idea, although I made these completely different, that is where I got the idea.  After trying the first batch of fried rice cakes, I decided to add some Tamari to the mixture and that added a really nice touch.

What You'll Need

~ 2 cups cooked rice (we like Jasmine Rice)

~ 1/2 cup chopped Kielbasa

~1/2 cup diced caramelized onions

1/2 tsp salt

little pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1-2 Tablespoons Tamari (a WAY tastier alternative to soy sauce)

Chop up some Kielbasa

Dice up your caramelized onions

to make caramelized onions, just chop up an onion and saute in vegetable oil over med-high till onions turn golden brown, stirring occasionally

Add the Kielbasa, onion, salt, pepper, beaten eggs and tamari to cooked rice and stir together.

Add some vegetable oil (and I likeadd a tablespoon of coconut oil because it has a higher cooking temperature) to a medium size skillet and heat over medium/medium/high heat.  When oil starts to sizzle, use a tablespoon and spoon the mixture into the pan, creating a mound and then use the spoon to flatten out your rice cake a bit. 

Let the rice cake cook for about 2 minutes or until golden brown on bottom and then flip over and repeat til golden brown on both sides. 

Remove from frying pan and set on paper towel covered cooling rack and then start the next batch.

If bits and pieces of rice start to burn in pan after making a few fried rice cakes, try to scrape out the burning pieces with a spoon or just dump out the oil, wipe clean and then start again with fresh oil. 

You could also leave out the Tamari sauce from the recipe and then use the Tamari as dipping sauce when eating.

ENJOY!

Scrappy Saturdays #11

Scrappy Saturday

Welcome back to Scrappy Saturdays, I apologize for the temporary hiatus, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the time visiting with family and holding my precious little niece and all that while I was away...

I'm really looking forward to seeing all the great Christmasy things that you all have been doing!  But before you link up, check out some of these great posts from the last link up....

I love this Jersey Ruffle Scarf from Quiver Full of Blessings..This would make a great handmade Christmas gift!

I got so excited when I saw this Swing Top to Girls Dress Refashion TUTORIAL by the Brassy Apple...I have turned cute knit tops of mine into dresses for my daughter before and I love how Megan refashioned this one and made it into a tutorial.

How did Amanda from the Little Giggler know I was looking for a chef hat tutorial for some handmade Christmas gifts for youngsters in my life?  

I love all these little owl pillows avsusanne made from mostly scraps she had around.

Talk about scrappy, avsusanne also made these sweet little gift boxes out of toilet paper rolls!

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Thanksgiving Recap

Hello out there....if anyone is still there!  We are alive over here, however we had family come visit, then went and visited family...pretty much the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving just happened at warp speed.  But we are back and Scrappy Saturdays will be back on this weekend too.
After not posting in so long it's almost hard to know where to start so I thought I'd start with a recap of our Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving day started with these

Gluten-Free Sticky Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes with Maple Frosting

 by Silvana Nardone

 For her other great thanksgiving breakfast menu recipes including this one, visit Silvana's Kitchen!


And our Day Ended with this

Toasted Marshmallow topped Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie with Ginger Snap Cookie Crust from 

 from Silvana's Book Cooking for Isaiah 

(I LOVE LOVE LOVE this gluten free dairy free cookbook!)

Both were super yummy and delicious, along with everything else we had in-between.  My husband cooked the actual meal and did a great job on everything.  I sure am Thankful for such an awesome hubby!!!  And I'm thankful for all the great resources, including Silvana's recipes that make eating gluten and dairy free easy and delicious!  We had company over for Thanksgiving and they said they would have never guessed everything was gluten and dairy free.

I did make ONE thing for the actual meal from a recipe my sister gave me. I made this the night before and I  want to make this everyday, just to make my house smell like this.  Now I'm desperate to find the perfect candle that smells like this...cranberries, apples, vanilla, cinnamon and clove! *I left out the raisins.

homemade cranberry relish

2 cups fresh apple juice

1/2 cup sugar

24 ounces cranberries

2 slightly sweet apples, peeled and diced

1/2 vanilla bean, slit open

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 -2 cloves depending on preference

1/4 cup golden raisins

Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, on medium-high heat until the cranberries have popped and everything has begun to gel. Spoon into a casserole dish. Let cool.

This is beautiful and super Yummy!!

Gluten Free Corn Bread Stuffing (also got this recipe from my sister)

Use your favorite GF cornbread mix - (Bobs Red Mill is awesome) or substitute gluten free all purpose baking mix for the flour in any basic corn bread recipe. Mix dough then stir in 1/2 Tbs of dried thyme. Bake according to recipe directions.

Once the cornbread has cooled, cut into cubes and arrange on a baking sheet. Let this sit overnight to dry out and create cornbread crumbs.

Stuffing ingredients:

2 Tbs Olive oil

1/2 onion - chopped

4 cloves garlic - finely chopped or pressed

1-2 stalks celery - chopped

1 apple - peeled and chopped

.75 oz of fresh Rosemary, Thyme and Sage

Vegetable or Chicken stock as needed

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute onion, garlic and celery. Add apple, salt and pepper and herbs, cook stirring frequently over medium heat for 3-4 mins. Lower to med/low heat and add cornbread crumbs, toss to coat with herb mixture. Add vegetable stock to moisten cornbread to desired consistency/texture. Serve warm.