Grad School & Cupcakes

I started grad school this week! I am going back to school to be a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). I am now working Monday/Thursday/Friday, and having class on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. The new schedule is throwing my off a bit. Monday seemed like last week; I thought Thursday was Wednesday. My body has been protesting getting up at 0500 on Mondays. I am sure, just like any change, I will get used to it.

With everything going on in our lives, we've found a few new food short cuts. Trader Joe's Thai noodle bowls (just $1!) have been lifesavers. They have rice noodles and are super delicious. Those portion packs from Perdue have gone into quite a few dinners for us this week- Italian stir fry, pasta, with a side of rice & veggies. If the deli line looks to long, I've been grabbing the Applegate Farms lunch meat packages right off of the shelves of "normal" grocery stores. I love their oven turkey. It just melts in your mouth.

I tried out the Kinnicknnick's chocolate chip cookies (they were on sale), and was a little disappointed. They aren't as chocolatey as I had hoped. (Mind you, their "oreos" are so so so good.) My favorite cookies are still Trader Joe's ginger snaps and the "homemade" Betty Crocker chocolate chip ones I've been baking one at a time from out of my freezer.

For breakfast, our pantry is stocked full of "kid cereals"- chocolate pebbles, cinnamon chex, Rice Krispies. Nick's new thing is the Trader Joe's GF frozen waffles. To me, they taste a bit too fruit-sweetened. They are better than other GF waffles as far as toasting is concerned. They come out crispy and soft (versus cold or burnt). You still can't use the "frozen" button on your toaster (or they will burn), but who cares?

Let's talk about this whole cupcake craze thing. I find that just about everywhere now has either a frozen yogurt or a cupcake place on the corner. I do love our local Yogli Mogli (all but 2 flavors are GF!), and most fro yo comes effortlessly GF. My problem with this tend is that not too many bakery/cupcake places are into the GF cupcake making. The big deal cupcake place near work is Cami Cakes. People bring them to work for shower's, patient graduations, or for no real reason at all. Cami Cakes are adorable looking cupcakes with a tower of fluffy icing... but they don't have a single GF flavor. I do understand that baking GF and glutenous food in the same place is more difficult due to contaminants. Dedicated cookware and staff members who are serious about allergen sensitive cooking is more expensive. Only, I feel like there is a market for GF cupcakes that is being missed.

The past 2 times that I've driven by Gigi's Cupcakes for GF cupcake Wednesday, I've gone before 11:00am. Both times all of the GF cupcakes have been eaten. Gigi's has left me only with a faint memory of a carrot cake cupcake that I achieved a higher level of taste-being with oh so long ago. I went to The Cup in Brookhaven this past week (thanks to a Scoutmob) and picked up 2 red velvet cake GF cupcakes. While they do have a GF cupcake every day, they aren't all that close to me. When I went in after a long while since I got the Scoutmob, my only choice was red velvet cake. Red velvet cake is also (gasp, I know) my least favorite cake, so it was hard for me to really gauge the goodness of their baking. I will say the cake was very moist, and the cream cheese frosting very smooth and delish. My other latest GF cupcake experience was at our friend's wedding, where the bride ordered all of the chocolate cupcakes GF. I made sure to enjoy the first one (it was perfect) and hide one to take home for later. Too bad I can't just drive up to that baker's house and have one of Lily's wedding cupcakes whenever I want. Let's all hope this new trend leads to more GF goodness in the world.

Sorbetsicles

When I received my ice cream maker as a gift, nobody took it seriously. They thought I'd use it a few times and then it would grow a warren of dust bunnies in my kitchen cabinet. I've been on quite the ice cream/sorbet making kick this summer. Maybe I'm wrong, but didn't Atlanta feel unseasonably hot in May and June? Its still so hot. Nothing is better than cooling off with sorbet- its so rejuvenating!

What have I been making? There have been so many deals on strawberries, I feel like I will be strawberried out by the end of the summer. I started with raspberry sorbet that I was supposed to take to my BFF's BBQ... but then forgot it... and ate it. I've made two batches of strawberry sorbet, and one strawberry ice cream (which got rave reviews from the wedding shower I brought it to). I took chocolate ice cream to a housewarming as a present for the host. With a pint of strawberries remaining in my fridge post shower ice creamage, I thought I would attempt something different. I made soft sorbet with a shot of coconut rum (for an added "tropical feel") and froze it in popsicle molds. They are quite tasty. I think next time I will add a dash of something tropical and fruity that has a stronger flavor- the coconut taste seemed so much stronger pre-freeze. My next frozen project (we currently have no freezer space) will be that lemon-basil sorbet I've been dreaming of since our honeymoon and margarita popsicles. :)

If you aren't feeling adventurous in your kitchen, check out Edy's or Trader Joe's frozen fruit pops. They are incredibly good, no work required.

Betty Crocker

I don't know when it happened, but Betty Crocker took the soy out of their cake mix! For people like me who are super sensitive to gluten and anything chemically similar (i.e., secondary grains like soy). For New Year's Eve, I baked some of Betty's GF cupcakes. Instead of making my usual butter cream icing, I used Pamela's icing mix. Both items turned out really well. The Betty's had a very very slight GF texture, but the taste was amazing. To me, this is the best yellow cake mix-in-the-box that I have tried thus far. For whatever reason, the chocolate boxes turn out smoother and other yellow cake brands grainier.

The Pamela's icing was so soooo good! It was smooth and creamy- better than mine! It also wasn't overly sugar-sweet, which I prefer.

My cupcakes got lots of complements from the gluten-eaters at the party, which always means a lot to me. I am really excited that us GF-ers have more options for GF desserts. Go try some!

Cookies, Ice Cream and Rum Balls

My afternoon turned into culinary experimentation yesterday. With a *free* day of no work and no pre-scheduled errands, I had a large window to create a few tasty tidbits for upcoming events. I started with pre-cut cookies in a box to bring to a dinner and charades party at a friend's house. That turned into needing ice cream to make ice cream cookie sandwiches. Once I ate some lunch and finished those two projects, I moved onto rum balls for our soccer-watching get together this weekend. When all was said and done, I was tired.

ICE CREAM
When my sister gave me the ice cream maker for my birthday/Christmas gift, she also gave me the Ben & Jerry's recipe book. I made Jerry's Chocolate to pair with the cookies. Aside from lots of dairy (not so friendly for me), it involves melting chocolate over a (make shift) double boiler before titrating in the remaining ingredients. It's a little time consuming, but melting chocolate slowly can be quite the enjoyable contemplative activity. Once the ingredients are put together, it has to cool in the fridge, leaving a bit of time to: a) bake the cookies and b) eat some lunch. Once it's cool, it's time to throw it in the ice cream maker.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Dad brought me the cookies in a box to try a while back. French Meadow's idea behind the box was that you can make them one by one and have a hot cookie whenever you want one. It's genius. I decided to make the whole box since I was planning on feeding more than one person. They would have been perfect. When I took them out, they needed like 2 more minutes. And then I forgot about them for about 5. Oh well. The bottoms are a bit dark, but the rest of their GF, CF, SF cookiness is great- crumbly, not too sugary.

RUM BALLS
Our theme for World Cup soccer watching (US VS England) is balls. Yes, balls. Meatballs, cheese balls, popcorn balls, and rum balls will all be included. I can count the times I have eaten rum balls on about two fingers. I really didn't know what I was getting into. I used Martha Stewart's recipe. It involved making a brownie (I subbed regular flour for GF flour), then letting it cool. The cooled brownie is crumbed into a mixing bowl and rum is added. What should happen, per the recipe, is a giant ball should form. No clumping happened for me. Clumpage is essential for forming the balls. I added Karo syrup and a little more rum until the crumbs clumped. Whallah! Balls. We'll see how good they are when they get served cold on Saturday.

The New Nest

I have a friend who can remember the exact day that just about everything in her life happened. It's not just that she remembers she graduated from 8th grade on a Friday. No, she remembers the first time she made a spearmint lifesaver to the day, day of the week, month, year, and (often) the hour. I love to pick her brain for things that we were involved in together.

While I might not be quite as accurate as my friend, I can remember moments down to every scent, sensation, snapshot. I remember meeting Melissa for the first time- we were walking into the first day of chemistry class in college. This weekend was her housewarming. My how much we've grown up! Making new memories of christening Melissa's new nest required some GF treats.


New Nest Cupcakes
Ingredients
* cupcakes of your choosing (try any mix or your favorite recipe. I used Whole Foods chocolate cake mix, using rice milk instead of buttermilk for a lighter fluffier cupcake.)
* Simple Frosting at room temperature (see below)
* shaved baker's coconut
* M&M's or other chocolate egg-shaped goodies

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut shavings evenly in a thin layer across a baking sheet. Once the oven has pre-heated, place the baking sheet in for about 5 minutes. The coconut should turn out to be a golden brown. Check the coconut frequently to make sure it doesn't burn- it can turn quickly!

2. Put a thin to medium-small width layer of icing over the top of the cupcake. Using an icing bag makes the process easier. Roll the cupcake in the coconut. If needed, you can add another line of frosting around the edge and roll it in the coconut again to build up sides of the nest.

3. Add a few "eggs" into the nest. Enjoy!


Simple Icing
Ingredients * 1 stick room temperature butter
* 3-4 cups GF confectioner's sugar
* 2 tbs-1/4 cup rice milk (or your milk of choice)
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* electric mixer

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, about 2-3 minutes.

2. Turn down the mixer to a low speed, and titrate (gradually add) the first 3 cups of sugar until the desired consistency is reached.

3. When the frosting is fluffy, add the vanilla. If you find your frosting is too stiff or un-creamy, add the milk, starting 1 tbsp at a time. Be sure to blend the liquid thoroughly before adding more milk or sugar!

GV Lives!

I disappeared so that I could take my exams for my certification and then enjoy the holidays. Now that I *gasp* have free time, I intend to be back on more often. Case in point: this weekend I cooked up a storm. A few things were great... and some were not so great. Pretty much everything I made this weekend related to our Christmas celebration.

For Christmas dinner, we ate prawns in a Spanish-style sauce. They were awesome. The shrimp broth/tomato soup I made with the leftovers, heads, and tails? Horrid. It was like a tomato ocean of briney nastiness.

The dessert plan for dinner involved Granny Smith apples turned into a pie, or bake, or something something. Only, when Tiffany (my sister) and I were done cooking dinner, we were exhausted. I could not let those lovely green apples go to waste. The first thing I made was an apple spice cake, using a recipe from a GF cookbook. I have never eaten apple spice cake before, so I really had no idea what to expect. The recipe description says that it is one of the author's "most requested" cakes. It turned out well. To me, the flavor is just okay.

One of the things on my wish list was an ice cream maker. I was soooo excited that my sister gave me one. The other half of those Granny Smith's went into making Granny Smith Apple Sorbet. It's so great! The recipe came ala Martha Stewart. The only change I made was adding juice from half of a lime to prevent browning and adding a little "flavuh."

Granny Smith Apple Sorbet

Makes enough for 10 servings

• 3 1/2 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Simple Syrup

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in the jar of a blender; blend until pureed. Transfer mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer sorbet to freezer until firm or up to 3 days.

Simple Syrup

Ingredients

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine water and sugar over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove and let stand until room temperature. Will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to 1 month