Yahooooo! I have Officially Started Blogging

I am not computer literate yet! BUT I am totally willing to flounder along till I get it! I want to share my ideas and invite others to compare, dish, or just ad lib to what I am trying to say. . . you know what I mean? I *love* to try testing new and harder recipes. Right now I sooooo want to try and make homemade croissants with a chocolate hazelnut filling and white chocolate drizzled on top. I know I can do it. I also have seen the daring baker's website and fell in love with the idea of jumping in and having fun. I have to be honest though. I have been known to start a project totally over my head, find myself staying up till 3 a.m. after working 14 hours non-stop, to make a baking project turn out. I end up with an aching back, feet and a headache. My husband is usually sound asleep. . .snoring like a chainsaw. . .which makes my eye twitch and I now want to stuff a VERY large pillow in his mouth. By this point, I am already freaking. The end result will be pride - after I get sleep, of course. When I wake up, I will take pictures. . .maybe. The proud moment is the first taste and the hopes that it will be perfect. I have been known to make something that makes my dogs ears droop at the sight but the flavor is heaven. Yea, I know, baking is suppose to cover all the senses like sight, smell and taste but my learning only gets to come from cookbooks, recipes from friends, the internet and ideas that I come up with but have no *idea* how to accomplish.

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

Lovely blueberry muffins that are vegan and gluten-free.

Vegan Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Based loosely on my tried-and-true favorite Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins, this updated vegan and gluten-free recipe is wheat-free, egg-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free. How's that for allergen-free goodness?

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-muffin tin with paper liners.

Whisk together in a mixing bowl:

1 1/4 cups sorghum flour* see note
1/2 cup buckwheat or millet flour
1/2 cup potato or tapioca starch
1 cup organic light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Add in and combine:

1/2 cup organic applesauce
1/2 warm vanilla rice milk
1/3 cup extra light olive oil or Spectrum Organic Shortening
2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract

Prepare and fold in your egg replacer:

For two eggs:

1 tablespoon Energ-G Egg Replacer
4 tablespoons warm water

Whisk till frothy. Add to the batter and gently combine.

Karina's Notes:

If the batter appears too dry, add more rice milk, one tablespoon at a time.

If the batter is too thin and wet, add a little extra rice flour, a tablespoon at a time. Humid weather can make flours damp.

The batter should be slightly thicker than wheat based muffin batter.

When the batter consistency looks good, gently stir in:

1 heaping cup fresh or frozen organic blueberries (still frozen, not thawed)

Spoon the batter evenly into the twelve baking cups. Sprinkle a little organic brown sugar on the tops if you wish.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes if using frozen blueberries, until the muffins are golden and dry in the center (check with a wooden pick). If using fresh blueberries, cut back on the baking time and check for doneness at 18 to 20 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack very briefly, then tip the muffins out of the pan and place them on a wire rack to continue cooling (this way, they don't develop soggy bottoms).

These are oh-so-yummy warm from the oven.

For future snacking, wrap the muffins individually in foil, then freeze in a big zip-freezer bag. Thaw at room temperature or briefly re-heat in a microwave for thirty seconds.

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8 (More) Random Factoids

Will Patton photo by Mark Williams © 2007

Some time ago I participated in the Ten Things You Never Knew About Me meme. Since then I've been asked- perhaps a dozen times- to join in the Eight Random Facts About Me meme, and when Isaiah of Gluten-Free Bay e-mailed me, Tag - you're it! I knew it was time to give in, kick off my flip flops and jump in feet first.

Eight More Random Factoids::

1. Will Patton and I bonded over a hat. And an off-the-cuff dialogue edit on the set of Steve's movie The Canyon.

2. I curse like Rene Russo in Get Shorty.

3. My Irish grandfather once hid his bookmaking book in my crib. I was in it at the time. He was hiding it from the police who were searching the house. The female officer assigned to keep an eye on my mother and me evidently bought my whole wide-eyed innocence act. After all, you don't expect a toddler to be holding.

4. While Kelly at Celiac Chicks once got on stage at a Chris Isaak concert, I barely escaped fisticuffs at one of Chris Isaak's gigs (see Factoid #2). Steve bought us front row seats for my fiftieth birthday. The view was serious eye candy. Unfortunately, the drunken buffoon behind me decided to scream Freebird! and Stairway to Heaven! while Chris was performing his acoustic set. When the lout responded to my request to Please! Shut the f*ck up! with Go f*ck yourself! and then poured beer on my jean jacket, things almost got ugly.

5. Leonard Cohen asked me to dinner once and my response was, Oh. I'm not dressed for it! (Note to self: When Leonard Cohen asks you to dinner, you say, Yes.)

6. I eat chips and salsa in bed.

7. When Warren Zevon died I cried for a week.

8. My fantasy dinner party would be to invite Lauren Bacall, Frances McDormand, Martha Plimpton, Kathy Bates, Diane Keaton and Dame Helen Mirren. I like to laugh. What would I serve? Pitchers of margaritas and green chile enchiladas, of course.

In the spirit of playing nice I'll reach out and tag a few people- but if any of you Dear Readers who blog want to join in and post your own 8 Random Facts- don't be shy. We don't stand on ceremony here at Casa Allrich. Kick off your shoes and confess your own juicy tidbits. (Note: comments are closed.)

I tag-

Cindy at Cindalou's Kitchen Blues
Garrett at Vanilla Garlic
Bureka Boy at Is That My Bureka?
Alexander at Stir of the Moment
Dylan at Dylan's Gluten Freedom

Kindred Spirits joining in the fun:

Cate at Beyond the Fields We Know
Mrs. GF - Recipes for a Gluten-Free Life
Fab Grandma
Love-Me-Gluten-Free

Spaghetti Squash New Mexican with Black Beans + Lime

Cumin and chili roasted spaghetti squash ready for black beans and lime

 

This is not your typical spaghetti squash recipe. Rather than using the squash as a mere substitute for pasta with red sauce, this recipe combines strands of spaghetti squash with Southwestern-inspired ingredients such as black beans, lime juice, tomatoes and roasted corn.

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Gluten-Free Oatmeal-Quinoa Breakfast Brownies

Gluten-free oats and quinoa flakes make a tasty breakfast brownie.

Good morning! A brownie for breakfast? This recipe says, Yeah, Baby.

It's been bright and hot and here by Black Mesa. We've been tossing cool salad greens in olive oil and vinegar and stirring simple stir-fries. Nothing blog-worthy.

The biggest news I have to share is that we got to see a rough cut of The Canyon. Very rough. No soundtrack or color correction. It was an odd experience. The fun aspects: Yvonne Strahovski kicks ass. She engenders the character of Lori with the heart of a lion. And then there is the sly and talented Will Patton in a role unlike any you've seen him portray. I loved every minute he was on screen. The not so fun? All the lines cut and altered by a certain third actor's ego.  It was a complex stew of pride and disappoint to see the rough cut.

This whole process has been surreal. I am so proud of my husband. Even if it isn't a perfect film.

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Grilled Veggie Kebabs on Dirty Rice

Easy grilled vegetables make summer cooking fast and fun.

Grilled summer vegetable love. It's dead obvious I have a few passions. Color is a big one. I search for color with an appetite that rivals my hunger for fresh vegetables. And they happen to be my number two. Passion that is. At least when it comes to cooking.

Roaming farmer's markets and organic produce aisles is my idea of a good time. It's as sexy to me as a candlelit date on Saturday night. Seriously. 

I'm that easy. 

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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Crunchy golden gluten-free oatmeal cookies.

Spectacular! Spectacular! No words in the vernacular. In all my six-plus seven-plus eight-plus years of living gluten-free, this is the tastiest damn cookie yet. And- lucky for those of us living also dairy-free and egg-free- it's a vegan recipe, to boot.

After combing through all my pre-GF cookbooks this weekend to find some baking inspiration I decided to create a gluten-free egg-free version of a classic oatmeal raisin cookie. And Babycakes, am I glad I did. This bumpy crunchy golden cookie is pleasantly crisp on the outside with a hint of chewiness in the center. After two days stored in the fridge (tightly wrapped) the cookie is still quite good. Your tenacious gluten-free goddess is one happy camper.

With cookie crumbs dotting her keyboard.

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