Congratulations to the Northwood Aces... Eastern PA Middle States 12 and under Team Tennis Champions!

Just a proud Dad saying congrats to Louis and his teammates for winning their recent Team Tennis Tournament at West End Racket Club.  They came out on top after a long, hot, grueling, well-fought-by-all team tennis match.  They now advance to the Regional Finals in Princeton NJ on August 5th.  Special kudos go out to both Coach Jim and Coach Giant for their great coaching, dedication, positive influence, and kindness provided to all the team and their families!

Good luck Aces...and have FUN!

Thanks Giada!! A GF Version of Giada's Apricot Oat Bars

I recently saw an episode of Giada At Home, and saw something that I had to try!  It was a delicious-looking apricot oat bar.  So, I did the conversion with a few twists, and they turned out wonderfully.  Below is the way I altered her recipe to meet the GF requirements.  Please see her original recipe at Food Network's website.

APRICOT OAT BARS

Filling

1 1/3 cup apricot preserves (Smucker's is definitely GF as of this printing)
10 dried apricots, chopped into 1/4- inch pieces

Crust

1 3/4 cups GF flour blend
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cups GF oats
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, at room temp, sligtly beaten
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9x13 baking pan, and line with parchment paper.  Then butter or spray (with vegetable oil cooking spray) the parchment paper.

For the filling, mix the preserves/jam with the chopped dried apricots.  Set aside.

For the crust, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  Stir in the oats and walnuts.  Add the butter, egg, and vanilla, and stir until thoroughly incorporated.

Divide half the crust, and spread evenly into pan.  Then spread apricot filling, leaving about a half-inch on all sides (the filling spreads out when cooking).  Gently drop the remaining crust over the filling and spread evenly.  Don't worry if it is sparsely covered, the crust also spreads when cooking.

Bake until lightly golden, about 30 minutes.  Cool for an hour or so, then cut into bars.  Store in an airtight container in the frig (for us gluten free bakers) for 3-5 days.

Trust me, they won't last 3-5 days!  :  )

Gluten Free Apple and Sour Cherry Cake Recipe on the way!

For those of you who read my last post concerning sour cherries, I neglected to add my new recipe for the Apple and Sour Cherry Cake I've recently created.  That will follow soon...I want to bake another one and have a photo for you to see.  It really is a decadent yet simple dessert.  And, oh, have I mentioned that I LOVE sour cherries?!  ;  )  Get them at Scholl's Orchard.  They are coming in around the first week of July.

-Scott 

SOUR CHERRIES ARE ALMOST HERE!!

Well, it's time to renew my love of sour cherry EVERYTHING!  Having such simple yet delicious treats like cherry pie, cherry cobbler, cherry cake, and a new one for me...Apple and Sour Cherry Cake...means I can use up some of last year's frozen sour cherries, and get some fresh ones.  It is such a wonderful family memory, picking sour cherries at Markley's Cherry Orchard (in Lehighton, PA), which is long gone.  As a kid, my brothers and I would take huge buckets, and have one of the most fun days of the year.  In early July the sour cherry  trees would yield their precious fruit.  We would then spend hours picking and subsequently pitting the cherries.  My Mom would bake a couple pies with the fresh cherries (as a reward for all the picking and pitting), and the rest we froze for later in the winter...especially around the Holidays.  The tradition was so ingrained, we would schedule any other summer activies around the cherry harvest.

Well, today that orchard is no more, but fret not!  The wonderful family owned and run little Scholl's Orchard in Bethlehem is my source of...or should I say my 'fix'...for the cherries.  I think I make a fool of myself when I go there and repeatedly buy sour cherries by the ton.  Well, not literally, but I do buy so many that the owners know me as the 'guy who buys SO many cherries.'  One customer asked me what in the world I do with all those cherries.  Truth be told, I eat them!  Of course my Mom still wants some which I gladly get her.  The rest are pitted and frozen and turned into yummy pies, cakes and other creations I can come up with.  I have included my Gluten Free Cherry Pie recipe below.  It's a simple yet delicious version.

Hope you enjoy, and please send me any cherry recipes you think I might enjoy.  I love trying to convert new ideas/recipes from fellow bakers into gluten free treats I can enjoy and share.

Remember try out Scholl's Orchard!!  They have the most wonderful fruits and vegetables AND they are so very friendly.  

Scott's Easy Gluten Free Cherry Pie

I really can't get enough sour cherry pie.  I've tried many combos of recipes, but always come back to this one...easy AND tasty!

Pie Pastry:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons gluten free flour mix  (I use Bette Hagman's Featherlight Rice Flour blend)

2 tablespoons sweet rice flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

1/4 tsp. salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 6 pieces

1 large egg

1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

2-3 tsps. milk or water

Mix flours, sugar, xanthan gum, and salt in large mixing bowl.  Add butter and mix with pastry cutter or fork until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.

Add egg, vinegar and milk/water.  Mix with fork until your dough is together and workable.  Shape the dough into a ball and rest in fridge for 20 minutes.  

Remove dough to a large sheet of plastic wrap.  Roll dough out with rolling pin to desired round.  **Use additional sweet rice flour when rolling out dough.

Turn dough into 9-inch pie plate, and form edges as desired...I like fluted or crimped edges.

Filling:

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 cup gluten free flour blend

6 cups sour cherries, pitted

2-3 tablespoons butter

Mix sugar and flour.  Stir in cherries.  Pour into unbaked pie crust.  Cut the butter in tiny pieces and drop all over the top of the cherries.

**You can make a second pie crust (double recipe) if you like a top on your pie.  Or, you can make gluten free crumbs and sprinkle on top of pie.

Bake at 425 degrees F about 35-50 minutes or until your shell is golden brown (gluten free crusts tend to be lighter in color even when overbaked!!)

Cool the pie and then enjoy!!

Happy Piitting!!

-Scott

GF Italian Seasoning Blend...Homemade!

A small and easy recipe that can help make your GF cooking much more safe and easy.


I needed a seasoning mix that was to be in a slow cooker recipe I was trying, Italian Slow Cooked Pork Loin.  Not ever trusting spice/seasoning blends, the ones the celiac folks worn us about, I set out to make the best tasting blend that could be used for whatever recipe might call for an Italian seasoning blend.  It works super in soups, stews, and with any meats.  The blend is easily stored, and since we start with GF spices, you KNOW it's GF!!


Italian Spice Blend
1 1/2 tablespoons dried basil
1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper


Directions
Mix all ingredients together.  Put in a mini food processor, spice grinder, or mortal and pestle.  Grind away!  
Store in a freezer bag or air-tight container.  I store in the freezer, although the literature says that this will be fine on a shelf, air-tight for up to 6 months. 

No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls Gluten free

Now this a recipe that can be called a 'Blast From The Past!'  I got this one from my Mom.   She tells me that she found this recipe on the back of a Skippy Peanut Butter jar before I was born! Every Christmas since I can remember, she made these scrumptuous peanut butter balls/cookies that are a no-bake bite of Christmas joy!  Growing up, we had so many wonderful baked goods to choose from at the holidays.  Image the utter glee that I had as a kid, finding that I was the only one of the three boys who actually sought out the Skippy Balls as a first choice dessert!  Eric and Jimmy were so busy with the other cookie options, that I found myself eating the entire batch...if allowed or not caught trying to do so.  Another reason I got most of them was they are kept in the refrigerator, and I had a way of hiding them that kept them off the radar as much as could be...I still do that!!  So, if you like peanut butter, and a dessert with no baking, and only a few minutes prep work, this is a winner!  Give it a try, and see if you don't keep this as a regular staple for your holiday AND everyday dessert menu.




Skippy Balls
1 1/4 cups GF graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I use Jif Natural)
1/3 cup light Karo corn syrup
Powdered sugar


Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  The mixture will be thick and sticky.  Roll in your hands to make 1/2 to 3/4 inch balls.  Roll the balls in powdered sugar, and store in a freezer-style Zip-lock plastic bag in the refrigerator.  (I just put a half cup of powdered sugar in a plastic bag and add the balls as I roll them.  Then gently shake them in the powdered sugar to make sure they are completely coated...then frig)




These are so easy AND so good!  If you try them, let me know what you think.  Easy and delicious...who wouldn't love that!


-Scott

Aunt Tricia's Guacamole Recipe...With a Twist

My thanks goes out to 'Aunt Tricia' (who could be my daughter!!) for the BEST Guacamole recipe I've ever had!  Tricia is my incredible sister-in-law who shared this recipe this past summer while our whole extended family vacationed at The Outer Banks.  When we go to the beach, our four families take turns preparing the evening's main meal.  Actually, each family is responsible for one night only...Grandma does all the other nights, which we truly appreciate.  Last summer, Tricia and Tom made absolutely delicious Chicken Fajitas for their special meal, and the Fajitas were accompanied by the tastiest Guacamole recipe I ever ate.  I have taken a few liberties with the recipe, but this one is all about Aunt Tricia!  



Aunt Tricia's Guacamole


3 ripened avocados, pitted and smashed with a fork, leaving chunks as desired (I LOVE it chunky)
2 medium shallots diced small
1 medium tomato, diced small but large enough to be seen  :  )
3 cloves of garlic, minced/pressed
splash of lime juice
1/2 tsp. lime zest
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
Kosher salt to taste, I usually like about 1/4-1/2 tsp


Combine all the ingredients, except for the tomatoes, in a small bowl.  Mix thoroughly.  Add the tomatoes at the end, and stir gently to blend.  


Serve with chips of your choice, baked pita pieces, and/or use as a topping for your burgers or chicken! 


This works great for chicken dishes which might need a bit of a flavor boost.  I just love it the way it is, and, of course, it's gluten free!  Celiacs, careful to use only GF spices...I use McCormick's.


Thanks again, Tricia!  I think of you every time I make this...and that is quite often.  : - )  Love you!!

Wow! Has It Really Been THAT Long??!!

Howdy, All!

I am so very sorry that my posts were on a hiatus for so long.  I promise that I am back...and with more gluten free recipes and tips to share with anyone who is interested.  I want to thank all those who have inquired why I have not been posting, and when would I be posting again.  It makes my heart feel so good to know that so many of you folks are interested in this site.  Thanks, so much!


I am going to be adding a whole bunch of recipes in the near future.  A lot have built up in the passing months, and, boy, have I been experimenting.  Hopefully, one or two of these creations might find their way onto your table and into your recipe box.  Please feel free to post any questions, suggestions,  or answers you might have.  I am always looking for ways to improve my recipes/postings!


I want to personally thank Melissa for all the recipes she has been funnelling my way.  We do spend a lot of time together at our children's tennis classes, and exchanging ideas and thoughts, as well as recipes, is a great way to enjoy the tennis AND learn more about the ever changing world of FOOD!


Keep an eye out for my next additions, and please let me know what you think!  Thanks again.


peace
-Scott