Candy Cane Mallo Pops

• 1 Bag of Large Marshmallow (check ingredients Jet-Puffed contains blue dye)
• Mini Candy Canes (You CAN find dye free)
• Crushed Candy Canes
• Bag of Chocolate Chips (I use Enjoy Life brand, it's gluten and dairy free)

Insert a candy cane into each marshmallow. Crush candy canes so you have about 1/2 cup. Very carefully melt chocolate. Dip each marshmallow into chocolate, then in crushed candy canes. Set on non stick foil, wax paper or parchment paper. Let cool. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup coconut oil
1 can (16oz) pumpkin
3 1/2 cups GF flour (I used Pamela's Artisan Blend)
4 eggs
2/3 cups water
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt


Mix sugar and oil together. (Coconut oil solidifies around 76 degrees.  If yours is solid, warm it to bring it back to liquid.) Mix in eggs and pumpkin. In separate bowl, combine flour, spices and soda. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mix alternately with water. Pour into 2 well greased 9x5 in loaf pans. Bake 350 1 1/2 hours or until done. Remove from pan to cool. If using 3 smaller loaf pans, check at 1 hour.

Simple GF Stuffing

8 cups cubed GF bread (I cut up bread, put in the the oven at 250 degrees for 10 minutes or so to crust it up.)

1/4-1/2 cup chopped onion

1-2 ribs celery, chopped

1 grated carrot

1-2 TBS melted butter

1/4 cup chicken broth

Mix bread and veggies. Mix broth and butter together. Pour and mix over the bread cubes. Stuff in turkey. Any that doesn’t fit, I put in the oven with the turkey for the last 30 minutes then mix it altogether.

Easy GF Green Bean Casserole

2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 cup sour cream
3 cans French style green beans, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onions in butter until soft. Add the salt, sugar, onion, and sour cream. Heat gently until sour cream is melted smooth. Mix in green beans until they are coated with the sauce.

Transfer the mixture to a buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle cheese and crushed chips over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot.

GF Peppermint Bark

My nephew started a baking blog.  I shared a couple of his recipes when he was here visiting.  His first blog recipe is Polygonal Peppermint Bark.  After hearing how wonderful it was, I embarked on my own journey to create a gluten free candy/dessert. I love mint, and thought a layer of dark chocolate would be delightful with the white chocolate. I have one daughter who does not like mint, so I tried not to make it too minty. If I was making this for myself, I'd add a bit more mint.

9 oz. Bakers Premium White Chocolate
1 Bag Ghiradelli Dark or Semi Sweet Chocolate
4 tsp. shortening, divided
2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/2-3/4 cup crushed candy canes

Line 9 x 13 inch pan with non stick foil or parchment paper.  Place dark chocolate in glass dish and melt in microwave.  I have a setting to melt chocolate and used that.  Do not overheat.  Stir frequently to avoid burning.  Stir in 2 tsp. peppermint extract.  Spread in pan.  Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to harden.

Melt white chocolate as you did the dark.  You can add more peppermint if desired, but I left the white layer plain.  Spread over dark chocolate.  Sprinkle crushed candy canes over the top.  Place in refrigerator to harden.  Can be broken or cut into pieces for serving.

Cranberry Salsa

This is tasty, and very pretty to serve for your Christmas/New Years celebrations.
1 12 oz. bag of cranberries (frozen)
4 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup sugar (can add more, if desired)
2 limes, juiced
1-2 minced jalapenos (remove seeds & membranes for less heat)
2 garlic cloves, minced

Mix all ingredients together in food processor. Serve with chips or Chalupas.

Ice Cream Pie

This pie recipe comes from PW's Place. It is topped with caramel. I am not a caramel fan, so I found it necessary to add chocolate. Nobody noticed that it was gluten free.

Crust:
2 large Egg Whites
¼ tsp Salt
¼ cup Sugar
1 cup Pecans, Finely Chopped

Filling:
1/2 gallon Ice Cream (Vanilla or 1/4 vanilla, 1/4 coffee or other flavor )

Caramel Topping:
4 TBS Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar, Packed
½ cup Cream or Half and Half
Dash of Salt
1 TBS Vanilla

Chocolate Drizzle:
1/2 cup gf Chocolate Chips
1 scant TBS Coconut Oil or Butter

To make the crust:

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add sugar and salt and beat until well blended. Fold in nuts. Spread mixture in a pie tin, (not glass) covering the bottom and sides well. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, at 350 degrees. Remove from oven when crust is light golden brown. Watch closely the last few minutes, as it browns quickly. Allow crust to cook completely.

Let ice cream soften a bit before spreading into pie crust. If using 2 flavors, layer coffee ice cream first, then vanilla on top.

To make the caramel sauce:

Mix butter, brown sugar, cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes. Add vanilla and cook another minute to thicken. Let cool.

When crust is cool, remove ice cream from freezer. Allow to soften. When soft, spread in crust. Top with a layer of caramel sauce.

Gently melt chocolate chips and butter on low in sauce pan or in microwave. Drizzle over the caramel. Place pie in freezer until ready to eat.

Pumpkin Pie Fail

I decided to practice my gluten free pumpkin pies before Thanksgiving. I wanted to do one crustless and one with crust. Last year I made one gfcf, thanks to coconut milk. I couldn't remember what I did for the crust. I found some lovely, albeit expensive, gluten free crusts. I grabbed a can of Libby's Pumpkin and set to work. I followed the recipe on the back label-as I did back in my gluten days.

As I measured the sugar, it didn't seem quite right. I peered at the label more closely. One quarter of a cup. I poured half the contents into the prepared shell, and the other half into a prepared pie tin. They smelled wonderful while baking.

Elisabeth sent me a text message. She was having a lousy evening at work. I asked her if pumpkin pie would make it any better. She answered, "absolutely!" I felt like such a good mom.

She sampled this first slice.


"Hmmm...it isn't very sweet." Oh no. My suspicions were right. I knew one quarter of a cup didn't sound right. I retrieved the can from the trash.

"Elisabeth, how much sugar does this recipe say to use?"

"Three-fourths of a cup."

Sigh. It's obvious. I need reading glasses.

Click here for another pumpkin pie story.

Gluten Free Cranberry Bread

Once again, Pamela's Baking Mix came to my rescue in baking. I wanted to make a cranberry bread in preparation for the holidays, gluten free of course, and chickened out on mixing flours and chose to use a gluten free baking mix instead.

2 1/2 cups baking mix
1/2 TBS Baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 TBS Poppy seeds
1 cup milk
1/3 cup melted margarine or butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 cup chopped cranberries

Mix dry ingredients well. Add eggs, butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add wet to dry ingredients, then stir in milk. Fold in cranberries. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. I baked this one for 50 minutes and think it was a little too browned. then the rest, except cranberries.

Roast Turkey

The secret to a deliciously moist turkey? Very simply:

Seriously, this is all it takes. Oh, throw in

a 20 lb. turkey

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. onion powder

Fresh ground pepper

1 TBS flour

Homemade Stuffing (and yes, you stuff it inside the bird) if not stuffing, use an onion cut into quarters to stuff inside. Either way, you're gonna stuff it.

Wash and dry your turkey. Make sure it is completely thawed, when not using fresh turkey. Take out your cooking bag, and as per instructions, add 1 TBS flour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stuff your turkey, stitching it closed to keep the stuffing inside. Or just throw the onion into the cavity.

Now get out that big bottle of olive oil. You're going to get your hands messy. Slather the oil onto the turkey the way you did the baby oil years ago when you wanted a good tan. (If you're that fussy, or don't recall those days, you can pour some of the oil into a mug and brush it on with a basting brush. But it won't come out quite so nice.) You can wash your hands here, but if you have an extra set of hands, don't bother just yet. And in case you are wondering, I used 1 TBS of oil. It looks like more and feels like more. But it isn't.

Pop the turkey into the bag with the flour and seal with the twist tie. Cut obligatory slits into the top of the bag. Place into a roasting pan and set in oven. Bake according to instructions inside the baking box, or approximately 3 hours for unstuffed, 3 1/2 hours for stuffed. Let set 5-10 minutes before carving.

(I consider this a frugal meal when you get a good buy on a turkey. This one was 49 cents a pound. I plan to make several meals, including sandwiches.)

Green Bean Casserole

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 cup sour cream
3 (14.5 ounce) cans French
style green beans, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crumbled buttery
round crackers
1 tablespoon butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Cook for one minute. Add the salt, sugar, onion, and sour cream. Mix then add green beans. Stir to coat.

Transfer the mixture to a buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle cheese over the top. In a small bowl, toss
cracker crumbs with 1 TBS melted butter. Crumble over the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.