Extraordinary Message of the Day

Just received this incredibly powerful & encouraging word today via the Brave Girl’s Club daily messages & I had to share.  Check out this INCREDIBLE site (and sign up for the daily messages yourself if you’d like) at www.bravegirlsclub.com

Dear Extraordinary Girl, You can do amazing things with the simplest things. You can have so little and be so happy. You can take small amounts of time and perform life-changing acts. Is it time to simplify? Is it time to pare down your life to the handful of things that mean the most to you and let the rest go so that you can give the very best of yourself to the very best thing, instead of being spread in a too-thin layer all over the place? Your heart knows when it's time, and you will have the strength to do it. And best of all, you will see enormous changes happen in your life when you let the unimportant things go and embrace the things that quiety sustain you and bring you joy. It may not look like the most glamorous life, but it is one filled with joy, peace, and harmony; one where laughter is a welcome and frequent companion; one where worries are few, where long meaningful conversations are many; one that is waiting for you when you are ready to take the steps to get there. Simplify today, one little thing at a time. You can do it. xoxo "A little bird told me" - your Daily Truth from The Brave Girls Club - www.bravegirlsclub.com

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Gluten Free Quiche

As promised I am continuing my highlight of recipes to host a gluten free tea party.  Today I will share the incredible, oh-so-yummy recipe for gluten free pie crusts & quiche.

The crust takes some work because the recipe utilizes several mixes BUT it is well worth it.  The following recipes come from Gluten Free baking with the Culinary Institute of America  by Richard J Coppedge Jr. – This book is AMAZING & I recommend to everyone that is beginning the process of going GF.

Pie Crust

This crust is INCREDIBLE! It has a slightly different consistency than bakery crusts (strange to say but it is a tad bit tougher) – but it tastes like a crust from Marie Calendar’s or something.  No kidding!  Even my gluten eating guests liked the crust better than the traditional version.

12 T Butter, cold

2/3 c Flour Blend #2

¾ c Flour Blend #4

2/3 c Flour Blend # 5

2/3 c Water, cold

Cut butter into small chunks & blend into flour mixtures with a pastry blender or two knives.  Add water & combine until smooth.  Refrigerate unwrapped for 1 hr.  Roll out, place into pie pan, dock with a fork & bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 min.

Quiche

1 Gluten Free Pie Crust

¾ c meat of choice

2/3 c shredded cheese of choice

2/3 c chopped veggies of choice

4 eggs

½ c milk

½ c heavy cream

Mix ingredients with a whisk & pour into baked crust.  Bake 30 to 35 min at 350 degrees.

Flour Mixes

Flour Blend # 2 (contains a little protein & fiber from brown rice)

1 ¾ c white rice flour

1 ¼ c brown rice flour

¾ c potato starch

1 c tapioca starch

Makes a total of 4 ¾ c

Flour Blend #4 (this is a stronger mix & is higher in protein)

1 ½ c white rice flour

1 ¾ c Tapioca starch

2 ¼ c Soy Flour

Makes a total of 5 ½ c

Flour Blend #5 (very strong, high in protein)

1 ¾ c white rice flour

1 ¼ c Tapioca Starch

1 ¾ Soy flour

½ c Whey powder

Makes a total of 5 ¼ c

Here is a LO featuring this recipe.  I created it for Janet’s monthly sketch challenge on Kitchen Keepsakes http://kitchenkeepsake.webs.com/ .

Two of my favorite photos

I took these photos of my husband and youngest daughter a few years ago.  As I looked through the lens of my camera I felt that I had captured something special.  I have paired them with some of my favorite verses.  



Since you are precious & honored in my sight, and because I love you, Isaiah 43



Over Labor Day weekend one year our family visited a water park in Virginia Beach.  Nadia did not yet know how to swim, but as she held on to Eric’s hand she confidently plowed through the water ready to take on any challenge.    Her confidence may have been boosted a bit too much & she selected a kid’s slide that was still a little big for her.  She came down quickly and didn’t have time to get her feet under her before she hit the water.  She plunged into the water and started to sink, but before she could take her first breath of water her papa reached into after her and lifted her into his arms.

  I love this photo.  I love how you can see the water droplets that are still falling off of Nadia’s face.  I also use it as a reminder of our Heavenly Father’s Love.  Understanding His love is something that I have struggled with the last several years.  I fail to understand the “whys” behind events and the reason why God chooses to intervene during some difficult events and why at times He chooses not to.  That is an answer that still evades me, but somehow, looking at this photo that displays a beautiful image of an imperfect father’s love helps me to trust a little more in a love that I still do not understand.

Gluten Free Tea Party - Vol 1

This week I hosted a tea party to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  It was the first tea party that I’ve hosted since having to go gluten free & so I was anxious to adapt my favorite recipes and see how they turned out.  I am very happy to report that everything turned out beautifully and I will be sharing the recipes with you in the next several posts.

Today I will be sharing a very easy, and incredibly decadent, recipe for truffles.  I highlighted the original recipe in a layout I designed for a recent challenge on Kitchen Keepsakes web site http://www.freewebs.com/kitchenkeepsake/ .  The challenge was to incorporate a banner into your layout & I must thank Kristie http://www.lotstoscrap.blogspot.com/  for the push to try something new.  It was very fun to take the challenge and push myself to utilize a shape for the banner rather than the traditional ribbon and triangles.  It was also a good way to clean out some of my stash of old letters and embellishments.  I just jazzed them up a bit with Michael’s version of stickles glitter glue and diamond glaze.

Here is the recipe

Easy OREO Truffles

1 (16 oz) package OREO Cookies

1 (8 oz) package Cream Cheese, softened

16 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor; reserve for later use. Crush cookies in the processor. Add cream cheese & blend well. Chill the dough for about 15 min & form into 1 in balls. Chill in the freezer 10 min. Dip the balls into melted chocolate & roll in crumbs or coconut. Place on waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm, & refrigerate leftovers.

For variation try lemon, orange or strawberry flavored cookies & dip in colored chocolate. Jam or liquid flavoring can be added to enhance flavor.

I’ve tried several adaptations of this recipe.  For a gluten free version I used a package of gluten free chocolate sandwich cookies.  Since those packages are smaller I didn’t waste any cookies for crumbs but rather rolled them in coconut.  My family liked them so much I had to remind them that they had their own gluten filled version J

For the tea party I wanted something to blend into the brighter spring décor & so I made lemon, orange and strawberry cream truffles.  ALL of them were a big hit!  The recipe is simple enough to make multiple batches . . . ready to try some?

Valentine's Day Photo Idea

I got this idea a few years ago from a scapbook magazine & I thought that I would pass it along.  Even though these photos are several years old they are some of my favorites!

Wearing bright red lipstick carefully kiss your kids on the cheeks & forehead.  Make sure to re-apply lipstick after 2 kisses so that the color is fresh & grab your camera quickly before they start smudging!

This is also a fun idea for a sleeping baby.  Change the photos to black & white . . . and/or leave the kiss marks red.

Have fun & share your creative efforts!

Can you tell my oldest is a ham?  They are actually looking up toward their Papa (melt your heart!)

And just because it is a cute photo - she had just learned to wink & had to show off :-)

I was looking for the perfect treat for our Girl Scout Valentine’s Day party & I took some advice from my new friend, Tawnna from www.bakemeacakesupply.com & decided to make heart-shaped whoopie pies. This was new territory for me, so I looked up a recipe & forged ahead. The pies tasted great (I cheated & ate one even though it isn’t gluten free) but I learned the hard way that this is NOT one of the recipes that can handle substitutions. I exchanged margarine for butter & used low fat cream cheese & the filling was WAY TOO soft. Even after adding an additional box of powdered sugar (so much for being healthier) it was still so soft that I had to store the pies in the fridge or the frosting melted into a blob. So learn from my mistake J I think I may try again for St Patrick’s day . . . in search of a shamrock cookie cutter!Whoopie Pies Pie Ingredients:

• 1 boxed cake mix (I used both strawberry and red velvet)
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (don’t substitute margarine – you won’t like the results!)

• 1 1/3 cups Marshmallow Fluff
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened (don’t sub low fat – again, it isn’t pretty!)
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• Theme sprinkles
• Chocolate Hearts

Heart-shaped cookie cutter.
　

• Preheat oven to 400 & line cookie sheet with parchment paper (I just re-discovered this stuff & forget why I stopped using it! The pies just came out beautifully with it.)

• In mixing bowl beat all ingredients on medium low speed until well combined. Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. (I used an ice cream scoop so the pies were larger & uniform in size & shape.)

• Bake 8-10 minutes, until puffed and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

• While the pies are still warm cut with a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Cool on rack.

• In mixing bowl, add butter, marshmallow, powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and salt & beat until smooth.

• Once pies are cool, top half of them with 2T of filling, top with an additional pie & roll in sprinkles. Finally, top with a small dab of filling & the chocolate heart.

• Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

For one of the Feb challenges on Kitchen Keepsakes http://kitchenkeepsake.webs.com/ I created the layout above.  The challenge was to include red, pink, chocolate & hearts. Recently, I have been very inspired by my Grandma Kemper's cookbook that I inherited.  The cookbook is partially handwritten & so in honor of Grandma Rosemond I wanted to include her original recipe even though I was adapting it to make it chocolate.  I photographed the original recipe & edited it to include the chocolate adaptation & to note the sentimental value of the source.

  As always, I adapted the recipe substituting a gluten free chocolate cake mix for the yellow one, low fat cream cheese & margarine.  Even with these healthier substitutes these cookies are AMAZING!  You can't eat just one. . . These little bite-sized cookies disappear 3 or 4 at a time!

Lay Out Ingredients
Glitter Paper - Paper by Spectrums Cool by My Mind's Eye
Paper Doily - Close to My Heart
Felt pieces - New House - Fleece Baby Cream
Vintage Keyholes by Melissa Francess (I LOVE these!)
Martha Stewart's Punch Around The Page boarder punch
Pearl Rhinestone Stickers by Recollections
Lace by Decorative Trim
Random heart, flourish & chipboard title from my stash (sorry they are so old I don't know where they came from :-)