November 2011

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

by Lisa on November 30, 2011

I love baking, especially around the holidays, so let’s get the holiday season started with a cookie recipe! Every year I make my mom’s sugar cookies. They are hands down my favorite sugar cookie ever. My best friend, Kristy, loves them so much that one year I made her one HUGE cookie as a birthday cake. Last year, she found out that she has a gluten sensitivity and has done her best to cut gluten out of her diet. I couldn’t let last Christmas go by without Kristy being able to eat sugar cookies, so I baked a batch of gluten free sugar cookies and surprised her the week before Christmas.

Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

Print this recipe!

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method

In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar.

Add the egg, beat well. Add in the balance of the ingredients and mix until combined.

Remove from the stand mixer and form into a ball. Refrigerate for at least an hour and up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Let the dough warm up a bit before rolling it out so that it is easier to work with.

You want a thickness of about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. I always tend to go a bit thicker with a 1/4 inch because I like my cookies to be chewy rather than crunchy. Press the shapes and continue to roll out the dough until there isn’t enough left for another cookie.

These cookies will puff up, but they won’t spread so I put as many on the cookie sheet as possible.

Bake until slightly brown, about 7-9 minutes. My oven needed 9 minutes, but test it out so they are not overcooked. Cool for about 30 seconds on the cookie sheet before moving them to a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely before storing.

To make these traditionally, just use all-purpose flour instead of brown rice flour. The only difference I noticed in the gluten-free cookies is that they tend to be more crumbly than the traditionally prepared ones, so be careful when moving them from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

I know some people ice their cookies but I’m a sugar cookie purist, I leave them unadorned. I love the simple flavor and the soft chewy texture. I hope you enjoy these cookie as much as I do!

Do you have a cookie recipe that you bake every year?

*******************************************************

Have you entered the Shabby Apple giveawayyet? You could win this necklace!

684_1_

Entries will be accepted until 6 pm on Friday, December 2.

{ 4 comments }

Pomegranate Champagne Punch

by Lisa on November 29, 2011

Every time we host a holiday, I like to put out a different drink for everyone to try. We received a punch bowl for our wedding last year and had not yet used it—this Thanksgiving seemed like the perfect occasion to pull it out.

I found this recipe in Bon Appetit and adapted it in as much as I didn’t really measure, just combined the ingredients to taste.

Print this recipe!

Ingredients

1/4 to 1/2 cup of simple syrup {bring 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves; cool completely.}
2 750-ml bottles chilled brut Champagne
1 1/2 cups white rum
1 1/4 cups pomegranate juice {I used a whole 16 fl. oz. bottle}
1 large lemon, thinly sliced
Pomegranate seeds, divided
Fresh mint leaves

Method

The night before, prepare the simple syrup and the ice block. I froze water and pomegranate seeds in a bunt cake pan.

About 5 minutes before your guests are due to arrive, assemble the punch.

Pour the champagne into a punch bowl.

Add the pomegranate juice.

Then the rum. Note, I was measuring with my eyes Smile

Add the simple syrup to sweeten to taste.

Thinly slice the lemon.

Then add it to the bowl.

Next, add the pomegranate seeds.

And the mint.

Taste it to see if anything needs to be adjusted.

Run the Bundt pan under hot water briefly to get the ice out of the mold. Then, depending on the opening in the punch bowl, break the ice in half in order to get it in the bowl {I should have checked that but it ended up working out perfectly fine.}

This punch is so festive, it would be great to serve at any holiday party.

I loved how the punch bowl provided a gorgeous centerpiece for our appetizer table.

Enjoy!

Special thanks to my mom for being the photographer!!

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit.

*******************************************************

Have you entered the Shabby Apple giveaway yet? You could win this necklace!

684_1_

Entries will be accepted until 6 pm on Friday, December 2.

{ 3 comments }

Shabby Apple GIVEAWAY!

by Lisa on November 28, 2011

******This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered!***************

I remember one Christmas, the year that Jeromy and I moved in together, I sat down on the couch on December 2 with a list of gifts to buy and my credit card. I worked down the list ordering every gift that I wanted to give online. Eventually, my credit card company called to be sure my card was not stolen. I had two thoughts at that moment: 1) wow, that fraud department is on it 2) ummmm how much did I just spend??

All of this to say that I prefer to shop from the comfort of my couch than to go to the store. And why not when stores like Shabby Apple make it so easy?

Shabby Apple curates a great collection of vintage inspired clothing, jewelry, home décor and children’s clothing! I wish I had known about their maternity line when I was pregnant!

When Shabby Apple contacted me to giveaway a piece of jewelry to my readers, I jumped at the chance. I’m excited to kick off the season of giving by offering this chance to all of you!

I absolutely love this feather necklace—it is such a unique piece and would compliment anything from a suit to a sweater dress.

To Enter:

1) You must like Shabby Apple’s Facebook page and leave me a comment to let me know that you did.

2) Follow Shabby Apple on Twitter and leave me a comment to let me know that you did.

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

Entries will close at 6 p.m. on Friday, December 2, 2011.

Happy Cyber Monday!

{ 38 comments }

Giving Thanks

by Lisa on November 25, 2011

Jeromy and I love to host holidays. We have so much fun getting the menu together, decorating the house and having our family and friends over to celebrate.

This year was made even more special by the addition of Caroline.

Thanksgiving weekend started off a little rough—Jeromy went to pick up my parents at the airport. I thought they were flying into Dulles, so off Jeromy went. Turns out, they flew into National. Oops. Luckily, no one seemed to mind, not even my husband who basically drove an hour out of his way to the wrong airport. He is the best.

Thanksgiving morning arrived and we were so excited to share it with Caroline. Having a baby adds more joy to holidays than I could have imagined.

My parents are staying with us, so they jumped right in to help us with food prep and baby watching. My dad even helped with the food—first time ever!

I’m not sure we would have been able to pull off the meal that we did without their help. The only thing I didn’t make was an apple pie. But my mother in law brought one—holiday crisis averted! I was particularly excited about Caroline’s Thanksgiving outfit. I’d rather buy clothes and get Caroline dressed up than go shopping for myself—and I love clothes! It’s just so much more fun dressing my baby girl.

It’s easy to lose sight of what’s important and how much there is to be grateful for in the rush of every day life. Yesterday, I found myself feeling really stressed out that the food wasn’t ready on time or that the baby was crying. But at the end of the day, the things that went wrong didn’t matter nearly as much as the things that went right. The food was a little late, so we spent more time with family. The baby was crying, so she got more snuggle time with her mama. Neither of these things are bad.

This year, I said an extra prayer of thanks for all of the amazing things I have in my life—my family, my friends and most importantly, my husband and daughter. I honestly never thought I would be this happy.

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for this year?

{ 3 comments }

Honey Butter

by Lisa on November 23, 2011

It’s Thanksgiving. As a special Splattered Apron treat, here’s a companion post to this morning’s recipe, sweet potato biscuits.

Like I said earlier, I’m an overachiever. And yesterday, I wanted to make butter to serve with the biscuits. In my search around the internets to figure out how to make butter, I was surprised to find most recipes were just how to add flavor to premade butter.

I wasn’t looking for the easy way out. I wanted to make butter from scratch.

Enter, Joy the Baker. I knew Joy wouldn’t let me down!

Honey Butter

Print this recipe!

Yields a large hunk of butter

Ingredients

2 cups heavy whipping cream
2-3 tablespoons honey {depending on desired sweetness}
dash of sea salt

Method

Set up your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. If you don’t have a stand mixer you could use a hand mixer, but your arm will definitely get tired.

Add the cream to the stand mixer and begin by whisking on low. Once the cream begins to thicken, turn the speed up to medium. Keep whisking through the whipped cream stage of stiff peaks. It’ll start to look grainy and curd-like.

At this point, someone needed me, and I was convinced I had just ruined my butter.

I did miss the picture of the next stage of the butter. Sorry. She’s kind of important.

Anyways, eventually after about 9 minutes of whisking, the butter will separate from the buttermilk. This is the result you want!

Stop the mixer and strain the butter, squeezing out as much water as possible.

Return the butter to the mixer and whisk on medium for a few more minutes to remove all of the water.

Strain again, then return to the mixer. Whisk in the honey and sea salt.

At this point you could roll it into a log using parchment paper or you can be lazy like me and add the butter to ramekins, cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. According to Joy, the butter will be good for up to a week.