Gluten Free Angel Biscuits!

I have made lots of gluten free biscuits before and they have always left me missing the good old fashioned biscuits my Nana made. The ones I have made with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free flour were heavy and grainy and dried out too fast. I was reminded of Angel Biscuits and how much a little yeast can do to a plain baking powder biscuit. I thought I'd give it a try.

I came across a gluten free flour mixture from Art of Gluten Free Cooking. This mixture makes light and fluffy baked goods! It's now my go to mix for all my gluten free baked goods.

Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix (mix together and store in fridge):
1 1/4 C. brown rice flour
1 1/4 C. white rice flour
1 C. tapioca flour
1 C. sweet rice flour (also known as Mochiko)
2 scant tsp. xanthan gum

Gluten Free Angel Biscuits

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups Jeanna's Gluten free flour mix
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup buttermilk or almond milk

1 stick butter, cut into pieces

Dissolve yeast in the warm water, set aside. Mix together dry ingredients then cut in the butter until small pea sized pieces form. Pour the yeast mixture and milk into the flour mixture all at once then stir until just combined. Turn the dough out on to a GF floured surface. Knead dough 3-4 times then roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out and place on a lined baking sheet. Makes about 12 biscuits. Preheat oven to 400*. Cover and let rise slightly in a warm place for at least 30 minutes to 1 hr. The warmer the room the quicker the rise. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Serve warm.

Happy Summer Solstice!!

Growing Kale

I grew kale for the first time this year. It grows so well from seed. I chose Dinosaur kale and Red Winter kale. I've read that if kale goes through a frost that it is sweater and better tasting. I think I will plant kale this fall and over the winter since the Bay Area doesn't get snow but some freezing and frost.

We have been juicing a lot so I knew that I wanted to add kale to my garden. Amelia and I go out in the backyard to pick kale leaves for our green juices in the morning. She loves helping.

 

{Dinosaur Kale}

{Red Winter Kale}

Besides green juices we enjoy kale chips, sauteed kale, Portuguese kale soup and kale salad. 

Kale Waldorf Salad

4 cups finely chopped raw kale

2 large crisp apple like honey crisp, pink lady, or fuji, chopped

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup golden raisins

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2-4 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

salt to taste

Add the chopped kale to a big bowl. To the bowl of kale, add one and half of the chopped apples, sliced celery, 1/4 cup of walnuts, and 1/2 cup raisins. To make dressing, add to blender, 1/2 of one of the chopped apples, 1/4 cup of the toasted walnuts, 2 tablespoons golden raisins, mustard, vinegar, 2 tbsp water and salt to taste. Blend until smooth. Add more water if it wont blend well. Pour dressing over kale salad and toss well. Chill for about 30 minutes.

  

This garden box was a an experiment. This side of the house doesn't get much sun so I was surprised to see the kale growing so well! It has actually done better here than in the other areas of the garden. You can see that the alyssum flowers have spread to my vegetable boxes. Those flowers will grow anywhere and spread like crazy.

Link Show and Tell

 

Link Show and Tell

1. Taste Spotting is a beautiful food blog filled with gluten free and grain free recipes.

2. The Spunky Coconut sure knew what she was doing when she developed this grain free and egg free brownie recipe! I've made is so many times. So simple and quick to make. I bake mine for 20 minutes instead of 35 minutes.

3. I'm loving the Gluten Free Goddess' website. So bright and full of tasty recipes.

Grain Free Zucchini Muffins

In our quest for more grain free recipes I came across a few grain free muffin recipes. After trying some, swapping out ingredients and substituting others I developed one that we liked. This is a lightly sweetened muffin, perfect for children and breakfast. If you want it a little sweeter you can add extra honey or a few drops of liquid vanilla stevia. These freeze well. Just wrap them up individually and store in a freezer bag in the freezer.

Amelia loves them. They have a great texture and are moist.

Grain Free Zucchini Muffins

2 cups grated zucchini

6 eggs

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 cup chopped toasted walnut

Mix wet ingredients together, set aside. Mix dry ingredients and walnuts together. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and mix till combined. This batter does stick to cupcake papers so if you don't like that then you can butter and "flour" the muffin tins with coconut flour so they release easier or try a non stick spray. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until center is set.

Edible Flowers

Today is my 7th wedding anniversary! 

My husband surprised me with yellow roses today. I love yellow flowers and prefer yellow roses over red ones. Did you know that rose petals are edible? Of course you will want to eat pesticide free edible flowers only. Always know for certain that the flower is edible. Remove the pollinated parts and eat the petals only.

Our new favorite thing is using edible flowers on our salads. We pick our lettuce and edible flowers from the garden to serve for dinner that night. When Amelia and I are out in the garden she always asks if she can eat a flower. (I told her to always ask first before eating anything in the garden.)

I remembering being interested in herbs and edible flowers at a young age. I read about edible flowers used in Colonial Williamsburg. Tulip petals filled with an herbed goat cheese served at tea time sounds delightful! Sugared pansies placed atop petit fours would look beautiful for Amelia's 4th birthday party. I listed below some, but not all, of the edible flowers out there. You can learn more about edible flowers and their flavors here, here and here.

Edible Flowers

 Sweet Flavors
• Chamomile
• Dandelion
• Daylily
• Elderberry
• Linden
• Okra 

• Pineapple guava 

• Red clover
• Yucca 

Spicy/sweet

• Anise hyssop
• Bee balm
• Dianthus
• Fennel
• Pineapple sage

Floral

• Honeysuckle
• Jasmine
• Lavender
• Lilac
• Rose
• Scented geranium
• Sweet violet

Minty

• Johnny Jump-up
• Mint
• Pansy

Citrus Fruit Flower
• Hibiscus
• Lemon
• Lemon verbena
• Orange
• Signet marigold • Tuberous begonia

Peppery/spicy

• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Kale
• Mustard
• Nasturtium
• Radish 

{Nasturtiums}

{Chive flowers}

{Violas}

{Harvested lettuce and edible flowers from the garden.}

Link Show And Tell

Link Show And Tell

1) Learn the 10 Commandments for perfect pin curls! 

2) I need to buy a Sculpture Pin Curler! I think it would make pin curling my hair much easier!

3) I love the Glamour Daze blog. It's full of beautiful pictures of vintage fashion, makeup, hair, etc from the 1900s to the 1960s. Great inspirations. 

4) Gertie talks about vintage pattern sizing.