Around The House

Everything is packed away in preparation for winter's inevitable arrival. We spent time last weekend putting the garden to bed. Today we stashed all the outdoor patio furniture in the garage. The only thing left out are the two bird feeders I plan to keep stocked this winter now that the birds have discovered we are giving away perfectly good food. Last winter I saw no birds which led me to believe perhaps the suburbs are not bird friendly. We have quite a few large trees so their absence baffled me. Maybe now they will come more often since we have been feeding them all summer.



We made our last trip to the farm stand for the season. We picked up a 50lb bag of potatoes, some pumpkins, peppers, and apples. I had hoped they had broccoli or cauliflower but no. I'd love to do some more blanching but I am afraid my freezer is jam packed. This predicament has brought the need for another freezer to the fore front of my mind. I'd like an upright one, the ones that are like fridges but are all freezer space. It would take up less floor space and be a bit more accessible for me to find what I need.



After some research I found out the least expensive upright is about $500. A savings plan is now in order. Even though I know appliances usually go on sale during the Christmas season, I have promised myself to hold off. No doubt there will be another good appliance sale in February or March, and that will give me more time to save the cash. In the meantime I will research and window shop for the right make and model.

My birthday is on Wednesday so I hope to get in some fun stuff to enjoy the day. Friends are gathering here on Saturday to celebrate both my husband's and my birthdays because his birthday is exactly seven days after mine. I shall have to find a gluten free cake recipe for the party.

Halloween is creeping up on me though. I plan to spend tomorrow morning sewing my daughters Alice in Wonderland costume. The pieces are all cut so now I get to do the fun part. This may be my last year making her a costume. She is getting older now, and needs more and more fabric each year. This is getting expensive. I told her next year she may want to consider making the costumer herself. And surprisingly she thought it was a great idea.



Other than that things are pretty much same old, same old. I am having a hard time finding things to write about that I think you all would be interested in. Is this the beginning of the end for this blog?

*** pictures were taken during a recent visit to a heritage village we visited on Thanksgiving weekend.

Gluten-Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins

I am trying to get back to my old kitchen tricks which hasn't been easy since finding out 3/4 of my family has Celiac Disease. I had success with a loaf of bread last week so yesterday I took a stab at muffins. Apples are all over my kitchen at present so they were a natural flavour to use right now.

These muffins have a nice nutty sugar topping which also makes them lovely to behold. This recipe would also work for regular bakers, and not just gluten free ones. Simply use your own flour and exclude the Xanthan gum.

Gluten-Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins



Muffin Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
2 tsp of cinnamon
3/4 tsp of Xanthan Gum

Mix.

1/4 cup of shortening

Cut in the shortening until none of the pieces are larger than a pea.
Add;

2 eggs
2/3 cups of milk

and mix. If the dough is really thick just add in a bit more milk.

1 cup of apple pieces

Spoon into muffin cups until 2/3 full.

Topping
1/4 cups of brown sugar
1/8 cup of almond slices
2 tbsp of oats (if you can tolerate them, oats are on the fence for Celiacs)
2 tbsp of butter, soften to mix

Sprinkle topping over unbaked muffins and place in the oven at 350 degrees F. bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

First Loaf of Gluten-Free Bread

Last weekend was Thanksgiving and I was desperate to still have turkey with homemade stuffing. As convenient as buying bread off the shelf is right now, paying $6 a loaf for gluten free bread is not my idea of a good buy so I decided to finally take a crack at making my own gluten free loaf.



It worked! There was this amazing freshly baked smell, something I had been missing and it actually seemed a bit easier to make than regular bread, just with a few extra ingredients. The stuffing turned out wonderfully and we had our regular Thanksgiving dinner. I used cornstarch in the gravy instead of flour. The only thing missing was a apple dessert of some sort. We opted for ice cream because I just didn't have time that weekend for dessert making.