Hey, that tastes good!

coffee sugar pie

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 19:16:24 PDT

Oh hey guys, what's up with you? I've just been hanging out, making pies.
Remember when I made sugar pie? Aka my favorite pie ever? I do. I made it today but this time for an adventure I made it with coffee. It wasn't a crazy thing to do, it was awesome! This is kind of custardy and puddingy and sweet and coffee-ey and oh so good.
Serve this with very lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Coffee sugar pie

1 c each white and brown sugar
4 T cornstarch
a pinch of salt3 eggs + 1 yolk
1 1/2 c evaporated milk (a 12oz can)
1/2 c strong coffee (I used decaf espresso)
3 T room temp butter
1 T vanilla extract

Thaw out your pie crust (I use Wholefoods GF pie crusts) and preheat your oven to 350.
Combine the sugars, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan. Beat in the eggs, then stir in the milk and coffee until well combined. Turn on the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until bubbles and thickening. Stir in the butter and the vanilla until fully mixed, then pour into the pie crust. Bake 45 minutes to an hour, mine took closer to an hour. It's done when it looks a little set when you jiggle it. Cool most of the way and then EAT!

drunk blondies!?

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 09:26:26 PST

Hey did you guys have a snowstorm? We sure did. You know what goes awesome with snowstorms? Making sure you have delicious treats xto eat while you're snowed in. We've got 36" here in Connecticut and I haven't seen a single plow yet. Looks like we're trapped! At least this storm we have electricity. I was afraid we'd lose power and be very very cold like the last big storm.
This is a delicious snack and makes a bunch, so is a good treat for when you're snowed in for a while or have a bunch of people around.

Drunk blondies
From the Back in the Day cookbook via Serious Eats, slightly edited

2 c rice flour mix
1 t baking powder
3/4 t xanthan gum
1/4 t salt
2 sticks melted butter (we used 1 1/2 and 4 T olive oil)
2 c packed brown sugar
2 room temp eggs (run them under warm water)
2 T vanilla (we weren't messing aroung)
2 T whiskey (or booze of your choice)
a package of good chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 9x13 pan with foil or parchment and grease. Mix together the flour mix, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt. In another bowl, mix the butter and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and whiskey, then stir in the flour mix and the chocolate chips. Spread into the pan and bake 20-22 minutes. The top will get all delicious and crackley and the insides will be a little gooey still, like great chocolate chip cookies.
Cool completely and devour.

Coconut custard pie

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:06:47 PDT

As you guys all know, we had a hurricane yesterday. I didn't want to be stuck without pie during a hurricane, so I threw together this little baby. This may be the easiest pie I've ever made, with four ingredients that get whisked together and poured in a par-baked pie crust. Then you bake it for about an hour and ta-da! Delicious pie! Oh, and in the last 10 minutes, toss some coconut onto the baking sheet holding the pie and toast it up to toss on top.

Coconut custard pie

From Real Simple

1 pie crust

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can coconut milk

a pinch of salt

3 egg yolks

a big handful of coconut flakes or shreds

Par-bake your pie crust based on the instructions on the package. I baked mine for 35 mins at 400 covered with foil and weighted down with weights.

Turn down the oven to 325. Whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Pour into your pie crust, and bake 50-60 minutes. In the last 10 minutes, scatter the coconut on the cookie sheet to toast. The pie is done when the center is set but its still slightly wobbly. Sprinkle coconut over the top, and cool completely before serving. This is best served cold or at room temperature.

sugar pie

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 21:01:02 PDT

Thanksgiving is coming soon, you guys. Like in a month and a week. Are you ready?

Because it's fall and I'm fattening up for winter like a bear, I wanted to make a pie yesterday. But, because I'm lazy, I didn't want to go buy anything. We don't have any fruit or any nuts for any regular pies, or any cream for a cream pie, so I found this recipe for sugar pie. I didn't make the crust, there's no way I can flute a pie crust like that. I use the Whole Foods gluten free frozen crusts- they're something like $5.99 for two, and they come frozen so you don't have to use them both at once.

So I whipped this up real quick, and oh wow. I'm making this for Thanksgiving (spoiler alert, family). With the nutmeg and cinnamon it tastes similar to a pumpkin pie, and is similar in texture too. It's sweet, so I'd whip up a plain whipped cream (no sugar, maybe some cinnamon) to top it. I didn't because I am lazy and didn't feel like going to buy any. This is good cold, room temp, or hot. Eat this pie!

Sugar Pie
Recipe from Sweets: Soul Food Desserts and Memories via Joy the Baker

1 c each white and brown sugar
4 T cornstarch
a pinch of salt
1/2 t cinnamon (I used a bit more)
1/4 t ground nutmeg
3 eggs + 1 yolk
2 c evaporated milk (I used whole)
3 T room temp butter
1 T vanilla extract (or rum??)

Thaw out your pie crust and preheat your oven to 350.
Combine the sugars, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a saucepan. Beat in the eggs, then stir in the milk until well combined. Turn on the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until bubbles and thickening. Stir in the butter and the vanilla until fully mixed, then pour into the pie crust. Bake 45 minutes to an hour, mine took closer to an hour. It's done when it looks a little set when you jiggle it. Cool most of the way and then EAT!

apple cider coffee cake

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:38:25 PDT

Hi. It's fall. No, really, it is, even if it was 75 degrees today for some reason. I've been drinking cider and eating fall things like brisket and mashed potatoes and apple pie and the other day I had a craving for coffee cake. You remember, the one I made a while back, that's like those delicious coffee cakes you get in NYC?

We were going to a pig roast where we had to bring a dish that was slightly seasonal, so I put in some apples and cider into the recipe. It was delicious, but make sure you eat it the same day you make it or else the apples will sog through the cake. It'll still taste delicious but be a little soggy.

Apple cider coffee cake
From America's test kitchens best-ever recipes, previously blogged about here

Crumb topping
8 T melted unsalted butter, still warm
2 T apple cider
1/3 c white sugar
1/3 c brown sugar, packed
3/4 t cinnamon
a pinch of salt
1 3/4 c rice flour mix
1/4 t xanthan gum

Mix together butter, cider, sugars, cinnamon and salt together, then stir in the flour and xanthan gum. Set aside to cool and harden a bit.

Cake
1 1/4 c rice flour mix
1/4 t xanthan gum
1/2 c white sugar
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
6 T softened butter, cut into slices
1/3 c greek yogurt
1 whole egg plus 1 yolk
2 t vanilla

1 apple, cut up into hunks
1 T brown sugar
1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325. Line an 8x8 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Whisk the flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in the bowl of a mixer. Add the butter, one slice at a time until mostly incorporated. Add in the yogurt, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium-high until batter is light and fluffy. Scrape into the pan, and smooth the top with a spatula. Toss the apple with the brown sugar and cinnamon and spread over the cake.
Break up the crumb mixture with a fork, leaving as many pieces that are about the size of a dime as you can. Spread the crumb mixture over the top of the cake, and bake for 40-45 minutes on the shelf on the top third of the oven. Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 9 servings

Caramel cookie bars

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 17:08:53 PDT

My sisters are here, and my littlest sister likes to bake stuff with me. I was flipping through the things I've starred in google reader and came upon this recipe for salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars by gourmet girl. Ok! Looks good! We used caramels I had bought and I tossed in white chocolate chips since we didn't have enough milk chocolate chips. So good, dudes. Have people coming over? Make this. I halved the recipe since the recipe was huge and there are only three or four of us eating these, but feel fee to double.

Caramel cookie bars
Adapted gluten free from gourmet girls recipe

2 c gf flour mix
1/2 t xanthan gum
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 sticks of butter, melted
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 T vanilla
a 12 oz bag of chocolate chips (or about a cup of each white and milk chocolate chips)
about 15 salted caramels or regular ones

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 pan. Beat together the flour mix, xanthan gum, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugars. Stir in the eggs and vanilla, then the flour mix. Dump in the chocolate chips and stir. Spread half of the cookie mix on the bottom of the pan. Spread out the caramels over the top, then scoop the rest of the dough on top, and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool mostly before cutting, because the caramel is molten lava.

Stuffed grape leaves (from foraged grape leaves!)

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 21:01:00 PDT

We have wild grapes growing in the backyard, and when I was doing some internet research to figure out what kind they were and if they would be delicious, I figured out that grapes have grape leaves. DUH! What do you use grape leaves for? Stuffed grape leaves! Good idea, internet!

So I rushed out to the yard and picked a whole bunch, then tossed together some rice and stuff, blanched the leaves to soften them up, rolled them up, and cooked them off. YUM.

Stuffed grape leaves (dolmas)

A bunch of grape leaves (you can use canned or jarred ones if you don't live in New England have have invasive grapes all over)
1 c rice (I used risotto rice, use a short grain rice)
1 c cooked, crumbled sausage (omit for vegans)
two onions, one diced and one sliced into rounds
a small pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
one lemons worth of juice
a small handful of mint (or bee balm), chopped
salt and pepper

Bring a pot with a few inches of water to a boil. Drop the leaves in a small bunch at a time (about 10) and swirl around for about a minute. Pull them out and rinse under cold water, repeating until all leaves are blanched. Now slice off the stems. Combine rice, sausage, diced onion, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, mint, and salt and pepper. Line the bottom of a dutch oven with a few layers of leaves, place the rounds of onion in the bottom of the pan. Now, roll the dolmas. Lay the first leaf shiny side down and place a heaping tablespoon of filling in the middle. Fold up from the bottom, fold the sides over, then roll. Don't make them super tight because the rice will expand with cooking.

Place the first roll seam side down and repeat with the leaves until the filling is gone. Cover with more leaves, then pour in about a cup and a half of water and bring to a light boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover loosely, and cook until rice is done. Depending on what kind of rice you use, this can take up to an hour and a half. Cut one in half to check for done-ness. Serve hot, or straight from the fridge with some sort of yogurt sauce.

Tomatoes with bee balm

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:01:00 PDT

We have a lot of tomatoes. I planted 20-something plants of all sorts, so we have plenty. The good thing is that all the different plants are coming out with tomatoes at different times. First we had a million little tiny tomatoes, now we are starting to have black Russians and Oxhearts. Homegrown tomatoes are just so much better than ones you buy.

Oxhearts are in the top left and bottom left. Black Russians are the three on the right. Also pictured: Hungarian hot wax peppers, pole beans, yellow pear, sungold cherry, and sweet 100s. Because these tomatoes are just so good, we've barely been doing anything to them besides lightly dressing them. This week I've been cubing up the large ones and tossing them with olive oil, garlic, and bee balm. Do you know about bee balm? It's only my favorite plant ever.

Bee balm is also called bergamot and horsemint, and tastes like a mix between mint and oregano and a little bit of basil. All of our basil has flowered and is past its prime but bee balm is going strong. The plants product these amazing wacky flowers that come in different colors, most of mine are red and pink. Butterflies and hummingbirds love them. I do too.

Bee balm is a little spicy but pairs really well with sweet, fresh tomatoes. You can also use it chopped up on pizza, or in salads or iced tea. I love it!!

Tomatoes with bee balm
a few tomatoes, preferably home grown
8-10 bee balm leaves
olive oil
a clove of crushed garlic
salt and pepper

Cut your tomatoes into cubes. Cut up the bee balm and mix with some olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a little bowl. Let sit for a few minutes to blend (or, don't) and toss with the tomatoes. Let sit for a few minutes (or don't). Eat!

Hot sauce from peppers I grew in the garden

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 15:20:09 PDT

Hi guys! Sorry I've been MIA, it's been hot and busy and lots of things have been happening. We tore apart our bathroom, have been sweating a lot since it's so hot, and I got a new job! It should be good. Anyway, now it's summer (deep, hot summer) and I've got plenty of vegetables! I tried to grow Hungarian sweet peppers this year for Alex but accidentally bought Hungarian hot peppers instead. Since we've been picking them, I decided to make hot sauce.

I also grew cherry bomb peppers in addition to the Hungarian ones. The Hungarian peppers are interesting because they're super hot when they're green (like, tongue and lips numb hot) but when they turn orange, they mellow out. I think this is the opposite of how other peppers work.

This isn't an exact recipe, but more of a general guide.

Homemade Hot Sauce

a bunch of peppers (I used 4 cherry bomb and 5 or 6 large Hungarian hot peppers)

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic

a pinch of salt

a cup or so of water

1/2 c vinegar

a little handful of honey or brown sugar

Cut up your peppers and scrape out the seeds. You can leave a few if your peppers aren't super hot. Chop up the onion and the garlic. Toss the peppers, onion and garlic into a pot, add a pinch of salt and a coup of water. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. Make sure the fan is on because this smells spicy! Next dump the whole mess into the blender, add vinegar and some sweetener. Blend until smooth, taste, and add more sweetener or vinegar if you need to. Cool and bottle, keep in the fridge.

Cochinita (Brooklyn tacos)

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:35:09 PDT

Hey, you know how I love tacos? Oh you didn't know that? Well, I do. I love tacos. I love tacos so much that if I wasn't already married, I might marry tacos. And have little taco babies.

One time a few weeks ago I went to visit my sister, Dana, who lives in Brooklyn. We went out for lunch at this cute taco place near her apartment called Cochinita. When we asked the guy behind the counter (the owner, who's name I forgot) if anything was gluten free he said "Everything! Except some of the beers." I had beef and pork tacos, and horchata. Dana and I split the tortilla soup and it was good. No one complained when we lingered there for hours after we finished eating, everything was gluten free, and it was delicious and not terribly expensive. Check out their review in the NY Times tomorrow! Yay. Tacos for everyone!
Check them out if you're in Brooklyn:
922 Fulton St, Bklyn

Bran muffins with raisins

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:48:11 PDT

Hi! I bought rice bran like a million years ago and have been meaning to make bran muffins for months and months and months. Apparently it was muffin day today, my sister and one of my friends both posted about making muffins on Instagram. Alex was mostly in charge of dinner (shrimp and olives, like this but without feta and cooked on the stovetop) so I whipped these up. Quick and easy and wicked delicious. I packed a few for breakfast tomorrow and froze the rest. They're not too sweet, they're moist, and I love them. Next time I might add in a tablespoon or two of molasses just for flavor.

Bran muffins with raisins

adapted from epicurious.com

1 c rice bran

2/3 c rice flour mix
3/4 t xanthan gum
1 1/4 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
1 1/4 c buttermilk (or, 1 1/4 c milk soured with 2 t vinegar)
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c applesauce
1 egg
1 1/2 T oil
2 t vanilla
3/4 c raisins

Preheat oven to 350, and grease a muffin tin. Combine rice bran, rice flour mix, xanthan gu, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix well. Set aside. Beat buttermilk, sugar, applesauce, egg, oil and vanilla together until frothy (I used my Vitamix, but you can use your hands or a mixer). Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and stir together, then fold in raisins. Pour batter to fill muffin tins about 2/3 full, then bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (mine baked 23 minutes). Cool in pan for a minute or two, then remove to a cooling rack. Serve with butter or eat plain.
I used a regular 12-muffin tin and had leftover batter, so I used a mini-muffin pan and made about 6 mini muffins. I'm not totally sure how many I made because I immediately ate a few of them so I lost count. Then Alex (who "doesn't like" muffins) ate a few too.
Sorry for the not-so stellar photos, I was in a rush.

Grapefruit, carrot, grape smoothie/juice

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:52:39 PST

Hi! Alex and I got a Vitamix. You know, one of those stupid expensive blenders. We've only had it a few days, but it's pretty sweet. You put whatever you want in it, and then it turns into juice or sorbet or soup, depending on what you put into it. We got it with out sweet health care credit card, which our company puts money onto for medical use, which apparently a Vitamix is. Yay! I've been experimenting and this is my favorite drink so far.

Grapefruit, carrot and grape Vitamix drink

2 grapefruits
2 big handfuls of baby carrots
2 big handfuls of frozen grapes

Cut the top and the bottom of the grapefruits and cut the skin off. Cut the peeled grapefruits in half and put them in the Vitamix. Cut all the carrots in half. Toss them in the blender. Dump in all the frozen grapes. Put the top on, and turn the blender on low, then turn up slowly and then flip the switch to high. Blend until you can barely see any more pieces, about two minutes. Makes about 5 cups.

sticky bbq tempeh

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:12:18 PST

Hi! I sure love sticky saucey things. You should too. So we're kind of eating healthy, so no desserts or anything. Sadfaces. The good news is that I made this tempeh and it was delicious. Remember last time I made tempeh and posted about it?

Tempeh is kind of boring by itself, but crisp it up in a pan and coat it with a sticky sauce and it's a delicious thing you should eat. This is Lightlife brand garden veggie tempeh. This is a super easy recipe. All you do is crisp the tempeh and pour over an easy quick bbq sauce that can be whipped up in 1 second, let it cook for a minute or two or five to thicken the sauce and make it stick, and you're done. I served it over rice, with a side of kale chips.

sticky bbq tempeh

1 package tempeh (I bet this would be good with tofu too probably)

oil for cooking, 2-3 T or so

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c ketchup

4 T cider vinegar

2 T mustard

1 T hot sauce

Slice the tempeh about 1/4" thick. Heat enough oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan you're using over medium-high heat, and toss in the tempeh. Cook for a few minutes on each side, until well browned and crispy looking. While that's happening, whisk together the brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, mustard and hot sauce. When all the tempeh is crispy, pour over the sauce mixture and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for a minute or two or three until the sauce thickens. Serve over rice, or on a sandwich, or whatever.

Those same noodles, with shrimp and greens and mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:09:55 PST

HI! I've been eating these noodles a bunch of times because they're so good. Look! Here they are with kale and mushrooms and shrimp! Also they're easy and fast and cheap and easy.

Look how healthy. Vegetables!

Noodles with vegetables and shrimp

Follow the recipe for these noodles, but cook a few big handfuls of chopped mushrooms until browned, then add some chopped kale in with the noodles. Add cooked, peeled shrimp instead of the crab, and add a teaspoon or two of chili sauce because spicy is delicious! Yum. I will be making these with variations, they're so easy and good and fast.

Crabby noodles with snow peas, from The Gluten Free Asian Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:45:47 PST

Hi! Happy New Year! We're trying to eat healthy this month, like everyone else in the world, but it's not going so great. Alex has a cold so we're on a strict chicken noodle or dumpling soup diet. Before he got sick, though, I made these awesome noodles from this cookbook I for got Christmas from my dad, The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen. I've made a few recipes from it so far and it's pretty great. These noodles are easy and delicious and fresh. I tossed in some leftover shrimp, and put more cilantro and scallions on the table for serving.

Crabby noodles with snow peas
from The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen

1 package mung bean noodles (otherwise known as jellyfish noodles)
4 T veg oil
6 scallions, chopped up (plus more for the table)
4 cloves minced garlic (I used 6)
1/4 lb chopped up snow peas
8oz real crabmeat, picked through for shell pieces
1/2 c chopped cooked shrimp
1/2 c clam juice
2 T fish sauce
1/3 c cilantro (plus more for the table)

Pour boiling water over the noodles and let them sit for a minute or two until soft and stretchy (the book says to use hot tap water but I let mine soak for half an hour and nothing happened, so boiling water did the trick almost immediately). Drain the noodles and chop them up with scissors.
Heat half of the oil over medium heat and cook the scallions and garlic for a minute, then add the snow peas and cook another minute. Add the rest of the oil and the crab, shrimp and noodles, stirring well. Add the clam juice and fish sauce and cook a few more minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and toss with cilantro. Serve with more cilantro, scallions, and hot sauce if you wish.

Here is a photo of my puppy, who is growing up very fast.

Our trip to Europe

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 09:25:36 PST

Remember when we went to Europe? That was over the summer. I promised to write about it, and never did. Oops! Here are some pictures.

First we went to London.

Great architecture

We didn't go up on the London Eye

We did a lot of touristy things like take photos in front of everything

We ate gluten free fish and chips at the Mermaid's Tail in Leicester Square. It was ok, but not the best ever.

Horses may bite

Then we went to Hungary and Slovakia to visit Alexs family.

As always, I was fed extremely well. Pictured here - gluten free bread, keilbasa and a weird rice and liver and blood sausage (delicious), and little pickles and apricots

We made something called 'Spanish Bird' which is beef pounded thin, filled with salami, bacon, hard boiled egg and pickle, then cooked in the pressure cooker. Deliciously.

A relative of Alex's made me this giant loaf of gluten free bread. His son has Celiac, so he brought this over for me and I devoured the whole thing. I've never had anyone give me fresh baked, warm bread before.

This is lecso (lech-o), a mix of tomatoes and onions and peppers and bacon that you eat for breakfast in Slovakia.

Slovakia

I made friends with this little spot-faced dog (sure didn't think I'd have a spot faced dog of my own soon after we got home!)

We went to an 'adventurepark' where we went on a ski lift up a mountain and then rode a roller coaster and did a ropes course thing

We cooked fish and chips for Alexs parents (using my recipe)

We went to the Budapest Zoo, which is my favorite zoo. I touched a sloth.

We went to the Vasarcsarnok Market, where there are a million stands of vegetables and meats and things.

We went to a great flea market in Budapest and I bought some cameras (what else)

We ate a lot of delicious salamis

Then on the way home we stopped in Iceland for 24 hours because a flight was cancelled. This was my favorite part of the trip. We saw a friend of mine from summer camp (really, in Iceland!) and ate a ton and explored and loved it. I want to go back.

We ate the best lobster soup of my life at this awesome seafood restaurant, the Sea Baron. I obviously didn't eat the bread.

We had two different kinds of fish and whale, and it was all delicious.

This is the Sea Baron. He came around offering samples of things like fermented shark (what he's holding there, it was not delicious) and whale blubber (so delicious).

Iceland was cool. I bought a really expensive, perfect sweater.

Alex bought a great hat.

The end! Vacation was great.

The stuffing of your dreams (sausage stuffing)

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:04:28 PST

I know, Thanksgiving is over and no one wants to look at another scoop of stuffing or turkey slice or plop of cranberry sauce until next year. Everyone except me! I love Thanksgiving. We had a great time. My mom and sisters and a friend all came over and I cooked a giant turkey, way bigger than we needed for the six of us.

This post is a little delayed because my computer crashed and I bought a new one online on Thursday (did you know a lot of electronics stores start their black Friday online sales on Thursday?) and it arrived yesterday, but I had to set it up and play with it and catch up to all the internet things I'd missed in a week. New computers are so fast and shiny! I love it. It's a Toshiba of some sort.

Back to this stuffing recipe. I found it on Epicurious, and it claims to be the stuffing of your dreams. Obviously I had to test that, and they're right. It's a dreamy stuffing. Butter, cream, sausage, garlic, parmesan cheese, etc. These photos are from when I remade it, to eat with the rest of the turkey we have. It's not too involved to make, cook some sausage and some veggies and mix up some liquid and stir it all together and bake it. Oh and drizzle it with some cream if you want right before you bake it. Seriously.

Sausage and bread stuffing
From Epicurious

1 loaf gf bread*
1 T olive oil
2 lb sausage, casings removed (I use sweet Italian like the recipe called for, but I can imagine it would be delish with half spicy and half sweet)
1 stick of butter
3 onions, chopped
4 ribs of celery, chopped
a head of garlic, minced or pressed
2 t paprika
4 lightly beaten eggs
3/4 c heavy cream, divided (you can use half and half and it will still be ok)
1/2 c really good stock
1 c parm cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350. Chop up your gf bread into cubes, then spread onto a cookie sheet and toast until crispy. Turn the heat up to 425 if you plan to bake the stuffing now. Heat up the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat, then break up half of the sausage into the pan and cook until well browned and delicious. Remove to a bowl with a paper towel in the bottom to drain the fat. Cook the rest of the sausage as well. Wipe out the grease from the pan, then melt the butter. Cook the onions, garlic, paprika and celery together until softened. Combine the sausage, bread, and vegetables. Whisk together the eggs and 1/2 c of cream and cheese and stock. Stir in the liquid and spread into a glass baking dish (your largest). Drizzle the rest of the cream over the top and cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes until heated through, then remove the foil and bake another 20, until crispy and lightly browned.

Makes about a million servings, and can be made a day or two ahead if you keep it in the fridge, just bring to room temp before baking.

*I use Food for Life brown rice bread. Their breads are pretty crappy for eating, but great for things like breadcrumbs and stuffing. Soft breads like Udi's tend to get all soggy if you don't crisp them up enough.

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, and here is a picture of my puppy.

Cranberry cocktail ideas

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:01:02 PST

Wondering what to do with your cranberry liquor? Lots of things!

You could mix it into some ginger ale for a fancy Shirley Temple-y drink.
You could make a cranberry cosmo, by mixing 2 oz cranberry liquor with 1 oz cranberry juice, 1/2 oz of triple sec, and a squeeze of lime juice.
You could mix it into some orange juice.
You could make a sparkling cranberry with 1 oz of cranberry liquor in the bottom of a glass topped off with champagne.
Or you can just sip it straight.
Freeze some cranberries to chill your drinks instead of ice cubes.

Cranberry liquor

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:01:00 PST

Hi! Happy almost Thanksgiving! Need a drink? Here is a good one.

Look what a pretty color! It tastes good too. This needs about three days to set, so don't make it on Thanksgiving morning.

Cranberry liquor

12 oz cranberries
2 c sugar
1 c water
1 liter vodka

Microwave the water and sugar 30 seconds at a time until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool while you run the cranberries through the food processor. Combine the cranberries and sugar mixture, then stir in the vodka. Pour into a large jar or two and let sit in the fridge for at least three days. Strain, and then use to make cocktails!

Cranberry orange relish

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 14:33:39 PST

We used to make this in elementary school, although never this way. In the food processor, yes, but in the meat grinder? Nope! This is the fastest and easiest and my favorite of the cranberry sauces. This relish needs no cooking, and it can be made in advance. These are important things for someone who is working every day until Thanksgiving, which is being hosted at her house.

Plus, this is super delicious. Three ingredients!

Cranberry orange relish

1 orange
3 c cranberries
3/4 c sugar

Slice the orange, leaving the skin on. Run the cranberries and orange slices through the grinder, then stir in the sugar. That's all. Store in the fridge. Makes about 3 cups.

Thanksgiving leftover recipe #1 - Stuffing dumplings

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:41:25 PST

Hi! So Thanksgiving is in like, a week and a half. Are you ready? I bought a really big turkey. I made a practice batch of stuffing the other day, and made dumplings out of the leftovers. If there's one thing I love, it's dumplings. I've been making them a lot lately, since we've been eating a lot of soup and trying not to get sick. Anyway, I had leftover stuffing, and chicken and gravy in a box, and made this! Hooray.

Stuffing dumplings and leftover Thanksgiving things in gravy

Leftover turkey, cut into bite size pieces
leftover vegetable things (I used carrots and celery and onions and mushrooms)
1 c gravy
1 c water or wine or stock
2 eggs
1 T melted butter
1/3 c flour mix
2 c stuffing

Combine the turkey, whatever vegetables you have, the gravy and the liquid in a pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for about ten minutes. Beat the eggs in a bowl, stir in the butter and flour, then stir in the stuffing. Using two spoons, shape into dumpling shapes (like quenelles) and slide into the bubbling gravy. Cover the pot, turn down the heat a medium-low, and cook about 15 minutes, flipping the dumplings halfway through.
If I was making this for breakfast, I might poach some eggs alongside the dumplings. Just sayin.

Oh and here is a picture of what my life is like now:

Salted hot fudge

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:48:54 PST

Alex and I went to my moms house yesterday to introduce her to the puppy. You know, this puppy:

He's pretty great. Anyway, my mom liked him even though she pretended she didn't, and then we ordered Chinese food and made hot fudge. Then we had ice cream sundaes for dinner. This is extra easy, and extra fast, and super good. My mom used Baker's chocolate, but I used Scharffer Berger because it was on sale. I accidentally doubled the salt which turned out to be a great idea. So delicious. You can halve this recipe, but I made the full recipe because a can of evaporated milk is 12 oz.

Salty hot fudge

1 1/2 c evaporated milk

2 c sugar

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

4 T butter

1 t vanilla

1 t salt

Heat the milk and sugar to a rolling boil, then stir in the chocolate and remove from the heat. Beat with a whisk until the chocolate is all melted, then whisk in the butter and vanilla and salt. Keep whisking until butter is melted. Don't worry that it seems liquidy, it'll thicken up as it cools.

Makes about two pint size jars mostly full (about 24 oz).

Snow storm already? and corned beef hash with eggs and cheese recipe.

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:41:14 PDT

HI you guys! I'm back from Europe, and all kinds of things have been happening. First, we came back from Europe which I will write about eventually, probably. In the meantime, you can look at photos here. Next, Alex got a big promotion at work. Hooray! He's the best. Then, we got this little monster in the photo above. Look how cute he is!! His name is Fritz and he is an English Setter puppy. We found him at a shelter in Beacon, NY and drove down on a whim and picked him out. Have you ever tried to pick out a puppy from a pile of them? It's hard. Also, if you're looking for an English Setter puppy, two of his brothers are left! Puppies are the best.

I'm sure you heard, but we had a hell of a storm this past weekend. We got something like ten inches of snow, and lost power for three and a half (very cold) days. Luckily we were still working, so we had a few hours of warmth and light. It was pretty hard. And they cancelled Halloween!!

I'm glad we bought a grill with a side burner when we picked ours out this summer, because it's saved us in both storms since we've moved in.

My favorite storm food is corned beef hash and eggs. This time I stuck in some american cheese, and it was one of those 'this might be the best thing I've ever eaten' meals. We were freezing, it was dark, and this was a spirit lifting meal.

For coffee I always make cold brewed coffee when we don't have power. It may be cold (or, room temperature, which is cold) but at least it's delicious.

Emergency corned beef hash with eggs and cheese for when you don't have electricity
I buy corned beef hash in a can for emergencies only, because it's super bad for you but nothing tastes as good when you're without power. Hormel brand is gluten free.

1 can corned beef hash
4 slices cheese
4 eggs
pepper

Heat up your cast iron skillet on your grill, either on the side burner or on the grill itself. Plop in the corned beef hash, and spread around. Let it sit for a while, then stir it and flip it over. Next cover the top with cheese slices, and then break in your eggs. It's ok if one breaks. Let that sit until the whites are set, probably about ten minutes depending on how hot your grill is and how cold the air is. Remove from the pan and sprinkle with pepper, and maybe hot sauce. You shouldn't need salt because corned beef hash from a can is super salty. Now keep your fingers crossed your heat comes back on.

See ya!

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:08:17 PDT

Hey guys, Alex and I are going on vacation! By vacation I mean going to Europe to visit Alex's family, with a side trip to London and a quick stop in Iceland on the way home. I am excited. See that picture above? That's from me doing a cartwheel in front of Westminster Abbey sometime in the mid 90s.
Anyone got any gluten free restaurant recommendations in London, Budapest, or Reykjavik?
See you guys soon!

Apple crisp delicious

noreply@blogger.com (jill elise) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 10:09:00 PDT

Hi! Like I said in our post about pickles, Alex and I belong to a CSA this year. Don't know what that is, you say? A CSA is where we pay a local farm in the early spring and then all summer we get big boxes of vegetables and fruits. Last week we got a lot of apples, and I made this.

I used a recipe from Joy the Baker, because she's the best. I changed a few things, like multiplying the recipe to make more because I had more apples, as well as making it gluten free and cutting the apples into little cubes so this is more like a crumble on top of a delicious applesauce. This is good both cold and hot, with ice cream.

Apple crisp
From Joy the Baker

ten or so apples, peeled and cut into little cubes
1/3 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon

2 c gf flour mix
2 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon

2/3 c gf oats
a big pinch of salt

1 stick plus 2 T butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 13x9" pan. Toss the apples with the sugar and cinnamon, and spread evenly in the pan. Combine flour mix, brown sugar, cinnamon, oats and salt, then smoosh in the butter until none of the flour is dry. Sprinkle over the top of the apples, and bake 45-50 minutes, until browned on top and bubbly underneath.

Makes about a million servings, or approx eight.