Weekend Successes

This weekend wasn't as baking-tastic as it could have been, but I did discover a great cornbread mix from Ed's Gluten Free Speciality Inc. I believe the brand was One Earth? I threw the packaging out before I had a chance to write it down (doh!). But it's a Creole mix, with kale and sunflower seeds. Sweet, but with a spicy kick. Highly Recommended!

Another lovely success was my first visit to Raw Canvas in Yaletown. If you've never been, and have always wanted to smock-up and paint with a glass of wine in your hand, I suggest you give it a try. I had the best time! I wish I had more time to sit around and paint, it's such a meditative experience for me. Raw Canvas supplies a variety of canvas sizes and provides all paint and tools to bring your inner masterpiece to life. I brought my own canvas (De Serres often has great deals on packages of canvases, and they have a student discount!)

Sunday called for an afternoon of puppy bonding and painting with Della, followed by pakoras and watching No Strings Attached with the lovely Abbie joining us. All around, a successful weekend. The last relaxing one for a little while, I'm hoping to get motivated enough to push through these last couple weeks of school and dominate my exams. High hopes? Probably. Last few weeks before freedom, and hopefully some sunshine! Winter is being a bit of unwelcome party guest...

Join the Fight

After watching this movie, I felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness, and yet, I know that this is a cause worth fighting for. Kony must be stopped. Not next month, not next year. Right now. I pledged to help the Invisible Children fight for freedom in Uganda, and across the world. No child, in any country should have to live in fear of being enslaved or killed. No child should feel alone or forgotten in a world that is bigger than it has been before. This is our chance to make a difference. Please watch this movie, tell your friends, family, neighbours, about Kony and the army of peace of Invisible Children. Each generation wants to change the world that was left to them. This is a chance to help a cause stand stronger and yell louder across the world. If you're moved by this movie, please join us. Silence kills, and these children cannot speak for themselves.

Something Spring-like this way comes

Spring is in the air! Can you feel it Vancouver, can ya? Personally, I'm still feeling a bit of winter skepticism, thinking, "oh it'll rain tomorrow, or this weekend... forever." But I'm starting to see the light. A full day of sunshine always helps brush the cobwebs off my sneakers and puts a smile to match the sunshine on my face. I think new years resolutions are made a bit hasty. Far and few of us really get out there and diet/workout/run/etc etc in the rain or snow. Let's be realistic. Once the sun comes out, no more excuses. If, according to the weather gods, this is supposed to stick around for a little while, I hope you all can make it out there to enjoy it!
Can't wait for the cherry blossoms to come out!

In honour of the approaching primavera, do you have any springtime rituals or tasks? Other than the typical spring cleaning (which I cannot WAIT to do!), what means "spring is here" for you? I'm looking forward to hiking weather, and the beginning of fruit season and farmer's markets. Granville Island is awesome this time of year, and it's also the start of arts and music festivals! 

Soak it up Vancouverites, the groundhog's prophecy of 6 more weeks of winter is nearly over! 

images: weheartit

The Cinnamon (Roll) Challenge!

All in all, a successful weekend; although the buns aren't exactly picture perfect, they are edible and indeed, delicious! As expected the dough was a bit of a challenge, since the original recipe wasn't gluten-free, I had to improvise. The consistency of the end result isn't the fluffy, gooeyness of regular cinnamon rolls, but hey, you can't win em all. My lovely boyfriend played photographer this time, so the whole experience has been well documented. See last week's post for the recipe!

*A couple of notes: I had to use quite a bit more flour (white, brown rice, tapioca, potato starch) than 4 1/2 cups. Along with flouring the surface, I had to add some more to the dough before I could roll it out. I used almond milk for the dough and the frosting. And, before rolling out the dough I chilled it for 20 min or so, as I've done with other GF recipes since they seem to be a bit more stubborn when it comes to staying together. Hope you get a chance to try it! They were a tasty success! 

Next recipe post! Stay Tuned!

This weekend I want to do some celebratory baking in honour of finishing my midterms on Thursday, which seemed to drag on for 3 weeks too long this semester, and to make something new for my lovely boyfriend who is coming to visit <3. I've been wanting to try cinnamon rolls for a while, and I would like to make some for my dog's birthday (yes, I'm throwing her a party) for the human guests. This recipe's been sitting in my Recipe bookmark folder for a few months and I think it's about time I tackled it. I'm always up for the challenge of taking originally non-gluten free recipes and turning them into gluten-free deliciousness. This one, like most of the others I've metamorphosed, will require me to change the flour. So far, I've had success changing most recipes this way, using my GF mix (usually brown or white rice flour, sourgum and tapioca flours, and potato starch. The ratio depends on what i happen to have in the cupboard) instead of using wheat flour.

Here's the original recipe: Apple Cinnamon Rolls. If anyone happens to try it before I do this weekend let me know how it goes! If you make it GF, vegan, dairy free, also let me know! I also usually use almond milk in my baking, I will probably do that this time as well. Almonds and apples are a good combo (also an alliteration combination!) This one probably won't be entirely dairy free, as I like to make cream cheese icing instead of the sugar-based one in the recipe.

Bear with me, I haven't attempted a recipe like this before so it'll be an experiment!
Also, in lieu of the miserable weather, (and the fact that my motivation to study has dwindled since I found out I was accepted to UBC for September) I am looking for recipe suggestions! Particularly muffins or loafs. If you have a favourite you'd like to see me wizard into a gluten-free delight, let me know in a comment!

As for today, I plan to be neck-deep in studying for the rest of the day.
Hope you all enjoy this chilly Tuesday!

Anyone have leap-day plans for tomorrow? Maybe doing something you would never normally do, this day only happens every 4 years, make it count!

Summer Lustin'

We get a taste of sunshine every once in a while, and it wets our appetites

 for less rain, more sunny days! 

Summer, come soon! 

photo: Weheartit

New year..new leaf? (Or at least a new recipe)

Sigh.

(puppies make it ok, right?)

I've tried to start writing this post probably about a dozen times...mostly in my head. It feels like the break-up letter circa 1495 and I'm using up all my parchment, my ink has doth spill'd...and I've started using olde english to compensate for the fact that I haven't written anything in eons. 


The real motivation is the fact that I'm becoming aware that I may be repressing some unresolved stress in my life. Hell if I know what stress that might be at the moment, but I heard from my resourceful coworker that that constant leg jiggling, that a lot of people do (mostly me) is a sign of repressed stress. Argo, the slow revival of this little blog in hopes that this repression is radically relieved (on the other hand my alliteration skills have been vastly improving). A creative outlet is probably going to do more good than harm anyway, it's a far more productive procrastination pastime than updating my Pinterest, or trolling Nasty Gal...


So, without further ado, a new recipe! As always I love hearing any variations that you lovely creatures come up with. These lip-smacking morsels were originally supposed to be linzer heart cookies, but I followed the advice of one of the commenters on the orginal blog and made them into thumbprint cookies! Still vegan, still dairy and gluten free. Raspberry jam is awesome but I'm sure you could make them just as delicious with a different kind.

2 ½ cups blanched almond flour (I used equal parts brown rice, tapioca flours and potato starch) 

½ teaspoon celtic sea salt (I found the regular variety to work just fine)½ cup grapeseed oil (also a possible substitution...maybe almond?)

¼ cup agave nectar (or honey! Let me know if you try this with success!)                                                          

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup raspberry jam

(I also added a tsp of cinnamon)

1. In a large bowl, combine flour(s) and salt
2. In a smaller bowl, combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry
4. Chill dough in freezer for 30 minutes (I fridge'd that bad-boy...freezer dough is hard and I don't have the patience to wait for freezer dough. You just might have to chill it for a few minutes in between rolling out sections of dough. This timing works out nicely as your batches of cookies bake)
5. Between 2 pieces of parchment paper, roll out dough 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick

I followed these steps from the original recipe (Elana's Pantry) But it calls for two different sized heart-shaped cookie cutters. This is where I broke free and chose to make them into little round cookies. 

6. Once you've cut and laid your cut-outs on a pan (I kept mine lined with parchment paper) GENTLY press your thumb into the middle of each one to create a slight indentation. 

7. Place a small dollop of jam in said indentations.

8. Bake hearts at 350° on a parchment lined baking sheet for 5-7 minutes until brown around the edges (I found they needed 7 min but my oven runs on the hot side)

9. Cool and Serve

I should have taken a photo as evidence of my success but alas they did not last long, too many cookie nomm nommers in my house...I'll try to make them again soon with other modifications. 

Hope you enjoy this very belated baking blurb. I'll try alleviate my alliterary austerity...