Caprese

Heirloom tomatoes are so pretty. Seriously, have you ever seen a prettier tomato?

Sadly for this particular tomato (but joyously for me), it soon became this:

(Yes, that's dried basil. I did not plan well. Don't judge me.)

I have a serious addiction to Caprese in all forms - salads, stacks, pizzas, pastas, you name it. If it's on a menu, I'll order it. If I have the stuff to make it, I'll make it. If tomatoes are in season...well, you get the idea.

Speaking of tomatoes in season...

My mother has a green thumb. Oddly, I inherited a black thumb from who-knows-where and I can't keep a plant (or a fish, for that matter) alive even if I try really, really hard.

So, my green-thumbed mother decided to grow a garden this year. In one of the hottest summers in Texas in a long time. 

It's thriving. Over-producing, even.

I think she's come to visit us simply to pawn off produce. Which I have no problem with.

She's grown cucumbers, jalepenos, beautiful red tomatoes, and the most delicious green tiger tomatoes in the history of the world.

So what did I do when she dumped the fruits of her labor off on me?

I'm telling you - OB. SESS. ION. Add in the love and sunshine from a homegrown tomato and there's no comparison.

A better summer meal than what is shown above does not exist. Period.

Unless you plan well enough to have fresh basil around.

My Big Fat Italian-Food-Filled Weekend

Weekends are heavenly.

This weekend consisted mostly of a reading marathon. 

{Pause to push glasses up on nose.} 

After weeks of not being able to get into The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I got finally got sucked into the story and couldn't put it down. Couple that with multiple glasses of wine, afternoon naps, an action movie at an air-conditioned theatre (holy crap it's hot), and a short trip to the pool, and you have one lazy, relaxing weekend.

Saturday night we engaged in one of our most favorite pastimes - eating pizza. Luckily, there's a great local-ish place about 10 minutes from our house that has gluten-free pizza is BYOB...AND we just happened to have a previously purchased Groupon for. Score! 

We each got a pizza, not because we each needed a whole pizza, but because I'm stingy and like to have leftovers to eat later. Hey - it's not very often I get gluten-free pizza made FOR me! My pizza was topped with pesto, artichoke hearts, roasted chicken, tomatoes and mushrooms.

Yeah. It was good.

I pretty much had to go straight to bed when we got home. I ate entirely too much of it. I don't care - it was worth it.

This morning, after a cup of coffee and a small breakfast, The Hubby and I went to the grocery store to beat the crowds (and the heat). There is nothing I love more than looking into my refrigerator after a trip to the grocery store (especially during the summer) and seeing a drawer full of fresh produce and protein. 

Fresh shrimp was on sale, as were cherry tomatoes, so we decided on a light pasta dish for dinner tonight. As an extra special treat, The Hubby cooked while I attempted to keep our kitchen cool with this:

No, I'm not being dramatic. Yes, it was (is) that hot. 

Did I mention it was 108º today?

Onward.

Shrimp pan-seared with olive oil and garlic (and salt & pepper).

Pan-seared shrimp removed from pan. Hot pan de-glazed with white wine.

Addition of burst cherry tomatoes, salt & pepper, more wine, butter, and more olive oil.

Shrimp added back in to pan sauce, then tossed with freshly cooked pasta.

Fresh basil added at the end.

Hear that? I hear angels singing. 

I think I could eat pizza and pasta for every meal. It's so easy to make both healthy and still satisfying in a way that nothing else is. 

Add some wine...and you have heaven. 

-K

Such is life.

Hello friends. Freends, if you will. Ha! Get it?

Hmm. Okay. Nevermind.

I have to be honest. I just haven't felt like blogging lately. I know you've missed me. Right?

Right?

...Bueller? ...Bueller?

I've had a lot on my mind. Nothing major - just stuff that makes me gravitate toward laying on the couch with a glass of wine (after a day at work, mind you) rather than flex my creative muscles and sit down and write or play with my camera. A funk/lazy period, if you will.

But now I'm at the point where I've missed this. You. The escape. The fun. All that jazz.

I'm currently sprawled on the couch with my laptop in...well...my lap. Imagine that. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Toby, my precious 6-year-old striped/spotted brown fat tabby cat, also sprawled, but across the living room rug, in an attempt to cool off from the heat. Or to relax. Whatever. His little brother, Hobbes, a grey tuxedo tabby, is pacing the floor waiting for The Hubby to get home from class. This seemingly unimportant stuff makes me happy.

It's the little things. Write that down.

Pretty soon The Hubby will walk in the door, thankful to have missed the thunderstorm that just passed through. For the past month, I've seen him for only about an hour (sometimes two) each day. Funny how life just gets in the way of seeing those we love. I miss him - but I'm so proud of him. Plus, this week is the last week of summer school, and I get him back. We already have a date set for the weekend to go get gluten-free pizza. How great is that?

These past weeks I've had to improvise when it comes to dinners during the week. If I'm not cooking for both of us, chances are I'm not cooking at all. Luckily, I've had dinners with friends planned and meetings that have run late enough to justify eating Cheetos for dinner. What? You don't do that? Liar.

Tonight was a little different, seeing as how we actually have fresh produce and other yummy stuff in our refrigerator. I whipped up a plate of leftover cheeses from "wine and cheese night" over the weekend - Camembert and Havarti with dill to be exact - plus hummus and baby carrots (so easy!), and a few slices of salami. Not a huge dinner, but plenty of food - all washed down with Chardonnay and a chick flick.

Sidenote: In case you happen to be considering it, I do not recommend watching "My Sister's Keeper" at home alone on a rainy night with a glass of wine. Holy cow that movie is sad!

In a few minutes, I'm going to have a night cap of the gluten-free ice cream sandwich variety. Look for a review on these bad boys later on. De-lish.

After that, I'm headed to bed for a little reading and an early snooze-fest. We (as in myself and The Hubbster) acted much younger than we actually are last night, and I've been paying for it all day long. Almost falling asleep in big marketing meetings = not cool.

I promise to be a better blogger - with pictures and everything! - soon.

K

Breakfast in a Pinch

A couple of weekends ago, my parents came to visit. I love it when they visit us; I love having them stay in our home, regardless of the stress of guests.

The parentals don't come visit terribly often, but when they do, we almost always have something fun planned. This time, we had matinee tickets to see the musical Wicked. My parents had never been to see a big Broadway-style musical, so we were all really excited. (Side note: If you haven't seen Wicked, you HAVE to go see it. It's spectacular.)

After the show, we celebrated a belated Father's Day at Texas de Brazil, which I review here. In short: awesome meal.

The next morning I was craving breakfast (and coffee, of course) at home, mainly so we wouldn't have to battle the Sunday brunch crowds. Having totally missed the boat on any type of planning (typical), I rummaged through our pantry and refrigerator and was able to make this:

My original goal was a frittata, but after realizing we didn't have the right pan in the right size, I ended up with a crustless quiche. Kind of the same thing, right?

Here's what I did:

6 eggs, beaten

4 red potatoes, peeled and sliced thin

1 tomato (mine was fresh from my Mom's garden - yum)

1/4 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon worshester sauce

Butter (I used 2 big pats, but this part is really up to you)

Salt and pepper

Garlic powder

Put the sliced potatoes, butter, worshester sauce, salt and pepper in a microwave safe bowl. Heat covered on high for 3-4 minutes, or until potatoes are just barely fork tender, checking every minute or so.

Lay cooked potatoes out in a single layer in the pie dish of your choice.

Meanwhile, saute your onion until just translucent and slightly browned.

Mix eggs, tomato, onion, and seasonings to taste, then pour over layer of potatoes.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until egg is firm and cooked through.

Easy! So many good things about this:

1. You can use whatever mix-ins you have available/leftover/about to go bad/etc.
2. You can whip it up and put it in the oven and visit with your guests or do whatever else it is that you need to be doing.
3. It looks really pretty when you take it out of the oven, even though you didn't work that hard. Score!
4. It is naturally gluten-free. :)

Isn't it fun learning to improvise with your food? 

Happy 4th of July!

Strawberry Blueberry Honey Oat Muffins

Aren't I festive?

I love leisurely waking up in the morning without an alarm clock and having breakfast at home. While it might not seem luxurious, keep in mind that during the work week I'm usually inhaling a Larabar on my way to work and washing it down with water from a plastic tumbler.

Weekends are different. For instance: this morning, I woke up a couple of hours before The Hubby, made myself a pot of coffee, and retreated to our bright and airy sunroom to read my freshly downloaded Emily Giffin novel on my new Kindle.

The house was quiet and still cool before the heat of the day set in. My book sucked me in immediately, and before I knew it, I had been there two hours. My hunger (and now functioning husband) got me off the couch and in the kitchen...where these muffins were living.

I made these yesterday, fully intending to enjoy them today. Fresh, ripe red strawberries and beautiful blueberries, baked into a healthy muffin.

---

Strawberry Blueberry Honey Oat Muffins
adapted from AllRecipes.com

1 1/3 cups gluten-free flour blend (I used Gluten Free Pantry's all-purpose flour)
1 cup rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons applesauce
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Combine all ingredients except fruit and stir until well blended. Fold in berries. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin cups (either greased or using liners) and bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

---

Now here's my confession about this recipe. They browned up beautifully (as you can see in the pic) - however, much to my chagrin, they did not cook all the way through. I didn't realize this until I had two on my plate and tried to take the wrappers off. I suggest that the temperature be lowered to 350-375 in order to allow the muffins to cook completely through and THEN brown.

Not being one to be deterred from eating, I ripped the fully-cooked muffin tops off and ate those...and they were fabulous. Not too sweet, a little punch of tartness here and there from the fresh berries. I will most definitely be making this recipe again.

I'm telling you about this, as always, to let you know that disasters when cooking/baking gluten-free are totally normal! You just have to go with the flow. I plan on slicing my next muffin in half and sliding it in the toaster oven for a few minutes to finish it off. I've done that before with previous disasters, and it's worked really well.

It's all about learning, right?

Happy 4th!
Kelly

P.S. At The Hubby's request, I also made cupcakes today from a mix I hadn't used before. Stay tuned for details and a review!

UPDATE: Check out this recipe and other healthy, gluten-free recipes at Simply Sugar & Gluten Free's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Texas de Brazil

What better way to celebrate a belated Father's Day than taking your Dad to a place that serves unlimited amounts of meat on swords?

Yeah, that's what I thought too.

Actually, The Hubby thought of the idea, having the advantage of being a carnivore-on-steroids male with the ability to read my Dad like a book.

Anyway.

As I might have mentioned before, I grew up in small town Texas. Just in case this isn't common knowledge, I'll take it upon myself to inform you that restaurants with names like churrascaria don't really exist in that part of the world.

So we approached the subject with my Dad delicately.

"So, Dad. Check this out. We're taking you to dinner tomorrow night for a late Father's Day."

"Oh, cool!" (My Dad is, without a shadow of a doubt, the cutest man alive, and incredibly animated...so yes, he did actually say 'cool!')

"We figured you wanted steak of some sort. We made reservations at two places, so you have a choice. Would you rather go to a cozy, dark, manly steakhouse..."

"Oooh!"

"....oooor...a place that serves you 14 different kinds of meat (insert clarification that this would indeed involve various kinds of steak) on swords?"

"Uhhhh. Yeah. That one." (Said in a similar tone to...'duh, you idiot, which one do you think I want?')

Our reservation was the following night at 7:00...and it went off without a hitch. After sitting down, our waitress took our drink orders, explained the process, and shortly thereafter sent us on our way to the salad bar. Before that, however, I was able to capture her attention long enough to ask about their gluten-free options. She didn't hesitate at all, and said that she would check with the chef and be right back.

A few minutes later, she said that the chef was ready to meet with me to walk me around the salad bar and discuss all of my options. I know a lot of people have one-on-one time with restaurant chefs due to their diet, but this was a first for me. A very appreciated first, and one that will take us back to that restaurant.

If you haven't been to Texas de Brazil...it has the biggest salad bar I've ever seen. They claim it has 50-60 items, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had more.  It's enormous. Indescribable, really. The unbelievably nice and patient chef (this was prime-time Saturday night and he was walking me around bowls of lettuce and salad dressing - how cool is that?) gave me a tour of the salad bar, pointing out things I could eat and things I couldn't, and answered all of my questions about things I had read online before coming in. Very impressive.

I ended up with an enormous salad, in case you were wondering. Gluten-free mecca.

Turns out, all 14 meats that they serve are naturally gluten-free. In fact, I was able to eat most everything except:

• Mashed potatoes (both on the salad bar and served family-style at the table)
• Cheese bread on the table (some reviews I read before visiting said it was gluten-free and made with yucca flour; the chef said it was not)
• Any hot items on the salad bar (including pasta and potato salads, soups)
• All salad dressings except the Brazillian vinaigrette (plus hundreds - no kidding - of oils and vinegars to choose from)
• Croutons, breads, etc (obviously)
• Plus a few additional items that were noticeably off-limits, like breaded and/or marinated items

I had PLENTY to eat. Leafy lettuces, beautiful tomatoes, colorful corn salsa, boiled eggs, a variety of gourmet cheeses, smoked salmon, shrimp salad, gorgeous olives of all shape and size...I could go on and on. The Hubby and I are already talking about going back JUST for the salad bar. It's that good.

And that doesn't even take into account all of the meat: various cuts and preparations of beef, lamb, pork, and chicken, pieces sliced at your table off of giant hunks carried on swords by Gauchos. All juicy and delicious. Flip your "button: to green and the meat magically appears. Turn it to red when you need a breather. Brilliant.

We had a great time, and I felt completely confident in everything I was eating. My Dad absolutely LOVED it, and my Mom did too. I highly recommend it - especially if you're celebrating something. It's a fun, different night out.

Texas de Brazil currently has restaurants in eight states, as well as Trinidad and Aruba in the Caribbean. More are on the way. Check it out at www.texasdebrazil.com. You won't be sorry.

Pizza! Pizza! - Part 1

We've been trying out a TON of gluten-free pizza lately - I'm excited to share it all with you! More posts to come...


Thank goodness for Twitter. 

Without it, I would have never found out that my absolute favorite pre-Celiac pizza chain was working on a gluten-free pizza. 

It also would have taken me MUCH longer to figure out that the store five seconds from my house had started serving it.

I can't even begin to describe to you how happy this makes me.

In an attempt to explain, let me give you a little history on my love for Mellow Mushroom. The Hubby and I bought our house in 2007 and had to completely re-learn our surroundings. The first thing you find when you move? A grocery store. One one of our first drives between our house and the nearest grocery store (Albertson's, which is now a shiny new super-awesome Kroger that sells Kinnickinnick among tons of other gluten-free goodies), we noticed this funky-looking place called Mellow Mushroom, and the name of the place rang a bell - some guys at work had raved about the pizza, and the name (unsurprisingly) stuck with me.

We went once not long after that and fell in love with it. The best pizza I've EVER had. Beautifully hand-tossed, perfectly chewy, browned to perfection crust with every topping you can imagine available. Great beer selection, laid-back vibe. Our kind of place.

Fast forward a few months into early 2008. The Hubby and I, after much anticipation, started the dreaded but necessary process of remodeling our kitchen. This meant a new routine of microwaveable meals, take out, and eating out at restaurants...and because of its proximity to our house, we ended up visiting Mellow Mushroom at least once a week for several months. 

Ironically enough, it was during one of these visits that I finally decided to see a specialist about my stomach troubles that had been rapidly increasing in frequency. I got halfway through my first piece of pizza before literally doubling over with the worst stomach pain I've ever felt. Come to find out, they put EXTRA gluten in their pizza crust  (no I'm not kidding) to make it taste as good as it does. That was the last time we went for pizza at Mellow Mushroom.

Until now.

The Hubby follows our local Mellow Mushroom on Twitter. One Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, he saw their announcement that they were (finally!) serving gluten-free pizza, and we were waiting for a table there a few hours later. 


Here's where the cool stuff starts. I asked for a drink menu while we were waiting at the bar, and noticed that gluten-free beverages were labeled as such. I treated myself to a Strongbow cider - and it was awesome. First time I'd tried one, and I definitely had a second one to wash down my pizza.


Once we were seated, I mentioned right away to our server that I would need to order gluten-free and asked if there was a separate menu. She sat down in the booth beside me and showed me this:

It's a blurry iPhone picture (sorry!), but it's a listing of the ingredients of their gluten-free pizza crust (bean flour, rice flour, tapioca flour and starch, xantham gum, salt, yeast, egg, cider vinegar, sugar, canola oil, and calcium-something-or-other that I'm assuming is a preservative or binder), as well as all of the toppings that they have that are gluten-free. See that "Certified Gluten-Free" bit in the lower right-hand corner? Sweet.


So...I ordered my Strongbow along with my very own pizza (only comes in one size like most of the gluten-free pizzas I've had...good excuse to get one all to myself) topped with mozzarella, ricotta, tomato, and spinach. 

Sorry - this picture was a total afterthought. I had downed an entire piece and was reaching for a second before The Hubby reminded me that you guys might want to see what it looked like.

I have to say, the experience was great. The staff is well-trained and take cross-contamination issues seriously. After ordering ricotta for my pizza, our server came to double-check that I had indeed seen it on the list of approved ingredients, as the cooks wanted to verify. The best part? The pizza was GOOD. Not the best gluten-free pizza I've ever had, but (hear me out!) definitely not anywhere near being bad, and we will absolutely be going back...soon. 

The crust was different than any I've had - the outer crust (my favorite part) was light and airy with a good crunchy outside and chewy interior...things that you don't find often in gluten-free breads. I'm convinced it was the tapioca flour that made the difference.

My usual routine is to eat around half of my pizza, then take the rest home for later. This pizza was awesome reheated in the toaster oven.  I'm excited to see if the pizza improves as the cooks get used to this whole gluten-free thing.

I was so excited about our whole experience that I sent an email to their corporate office thanking them as soon as we got home. This is the response that I got back from the "Ambassador of Fun" from our local store:

Dear Kelly,

We are so glad you enjoyed your Gluten-Free experience with us! We just recently started offering Gluten-Free pizza and it's great to already receive such positive feed back. We want you to enjoy yourself to the fullest (literally!) each and every time you come in to Mellow Mushroom. We understand that it can be very difficult for someone with Celiac Disease to sit down at a restaurant and eat a pizza with confidence, it is a pleasure, a priority, and a great compliment for us. Thank you so much for taking the time to e-mail us and please let me know the next time you come in to dine at Mellow Mushroom! 

Another nugget of interest: our server told us that it had taken Mellow Mushroom longer than expected to offer gluten-free pizza because the first few recipes they came up with tasted like cardboard and did not hold up to their standards. I'm glad they took their time!


Mellow Mushroom currently has stores in the following states:


Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Product Review: Gluten Free Pantry Chocolate Chip Cookie & Cake Mix

Remember how I mentioned in a previous post that the awesome folks at Gluten Free Pantry sent me a box full of goodies to try out? Well, now that I finally have some free time on my hands, I'm finally getting a chance to go through it all. First was the pizza crust, now the good stuff - cake! Specifically chocolate chip cookie & cake mix. 

As was the case with the french bread & pizza crust mix, the instructions were easy to understand and very few extra ingredients were needed. I opted to make the cake version of the mix, which called for:

• Box o' mix (duh)
• 5 tbsp softened, unsalted butter
• 2 eggs + 1 egg white (I used three eggs because, well...I'm lazy. And I hate seperating eggs. So sue me.)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp vanilla

As I mentioned in my little preview of this baking extravaganza (at my house this is as extravagant as it gets these days), I decided to be different and use half of the batter to make cupcakes and half to experiment with cake balls. See how trendy I am?

First up: cupcakes. 

Ta da! 

Please excuse the lack of a cupcake tin that would potentially differentiate this from a muffin. In typical fashion, I was half-distracted and totally forgot.

Isn't it pretty? It baked up perfectly in the time it recommended on the box (not the case for pretty much everything else I bake) and popped right out of the pan looking all brown and glamourous. I decided to try out Cherrybrook Kitchen Vanilla Frosting on this one...which ended up being more of a glaze once I got it on there. Looks pretty, but didn't taste the way I wanted it to. 

At The Hubby's request, I topped the rest of them with Betty Crocker chocolate frosting right out of the can. It made him very happy.

Between the two of us, we decided that the cake tasted like a chocolate chip cookie (understandable, right?) and had a fluffy, almost spongey consistency. The addition of the sour cream was a great touch - it seems to hide the gluten-free taste that a lot of mixes and flours have and it added another layer of richness. Yum.

I cooked the other half of the batter in an 8x8 brownie pan at the same temperature for my very first experiment with cake balls.

If you haven't had a cake ball, you HAVE TO TRY ONE. The Hubby and I first heard of them several years ago at one of our cake tastings for our wedding (pre-gluten-free days). I'm convinced that's how our "cake lady" lured us into choosing her to make our cake for the big day. It's like a truffle...but cake...but brownie-like...but better...covered in candy coating. Oh. My. God.

And if you've never made them before, the process is slightly time consuming but incredibly easy. People will think you slaved...and really, that's what it's all about here at Gluten Freendly. :)

Anyway, The Pioneer Woman has great little tutorials here and here. I got the basics from her instructions and pictures and went to town.

Well helloooo. 

I can't even describe to you how great these turned out, but I CAN tell you that my small batch made around 30 of these bad boys and we had them annihilated in less than a week. 

I used just plain old vanilla icing (again, Betty Crocker - gluten-free baby!). Oddly (and awesomely), the chocolate chips melted while I was mixing in the icing, resulting in a more chocolate-looking cake than chocolate chip. It was perfect, though! 

I'm finishing up another batch of these tonight, this time using Betty Crocker's gluten-free Devil's Food cake mix and a mixture of leftover chocolate and vanilla icing. Don't worry -  I'll share pictures and let you know how those turn out. 

I have eaten lots of fruit and veggies today just so I can oink out on cake balls when I get them finished. Pathetic? Yep. Do I care? Nope.

So, product review short story? Awesome. Try this mix. 

You Know What's Gluten Free? Being lazy.

Being lazy is pretty much my favorite thing.

Sounds ridiculous and remarkably unproductive in comparison to a lot of people's hobbies, interests, and time-fillers, but it makes me happy. Especially because for the past month I've been experiencing a freedom I didn't have for the three years that I was in grad school. There's nothing hanging over my head except the pile of laundry that will be there tomorrow, the fact that I desperately need to clean out our closets, and the random piles of things that need to be put away. No deadlines (other than work-related and self-imposed deadlines), no meetings to rush to after work, and no major stresses to deal with (like, say, writing a thesis). It has been wonderful to say the least.

Only having my full-time job as a serious time commitment allows me to walk unhurriedly through Target (or any other place of my choosing) after work and still get home in plenty of time to have a glass of wine and make dinner with The Hubby.

On nights when The Hubby is in class, I can lounge on the couch, eat (gluten-free) macaroni and cheese as a main course, and catch up on my "girly" shows that I'm forced to watch by myself, like So You Think You Can Dance (SO good this season so far), Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice.

Instead of sleepless nights and research, my weekends are now filled with sleeping in, leisurely breakfasts with The Hubby, pool time, naps, and catching up on the endless list of movies we want to see.

I am so thankful for these lazy days. I will never take them for granted again.

I have a list of productive things that I want to do soon in addition to chores: learning to use my new DSLR camera and spending lots of time practicing, organizing the house, cleaning out the garage, hanging pictures in our bedroom...the list goes on and on and on.

Eventually, I'll be motivated to do those things and enjoy the process.

But for now, I'm going to stick with being lazy.

The First Thing I Cooked

Late last week, Shauna from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef  started the discussion (on Twitter) about a community project for Monday, June 14 (Yes, I realize today is Tuesday, June 15. I couldn't get it done yesterday and really wanted to participate!) challenging whoever was interested to describe the first food we ever cooked and how it made us feel.

I'm big on nostalgia. So much so that I was just looking through my junior high yearbook this morning (true story). This challenge immediately called my name.

Here's the thing: I have two pivotal cooking firsts. And because I like to be different (not difficult, as The Hubby has been known to describe me), I decided to write about both of them.

Ironically (given my now-gluten-free dietary situation), the very first thing I cooked on my own was a full batch of chocolate chip cookies, using the classic Nestle Toll House recipe that is still found on the back of every memory-inducing, crinkling yellow bag of chips. For years I had quietly taken my seat at the breakfast bar while curiously observing my Mom making everything from cookies to Christmas dinner, but for whatever reason (which quite possibly could have been my mother's exhaustion and/or her lack of will to argue my insistence) it was time for me to learn the ways of the kitchen.

I don't remember how old I was, but I know I still needed our pink folding stepladder to reach the ingredients in the pantry (always at the top, the same place I keep the baking stuff to this day) and the spot on the counter always used for prep. Mom cautiously took my seat at the bar while I assumed her role in the kitchen, armed with an electric hand mixer from the early 70s, a big shiny metal mixing bowl, a spatula, a cookie sheet, all my ingredients, and a soup spoon (for testing my dough to make sure it wasn't poisonous for the rest of the family, of course).

Mom let me do most everything completely by myself. She showed me how to preheat the oven, but everything else I did by myself. Even dealing with the oven. (Dangerous for a child? Maybe. But I remember her saying some form of "If you're old enough to cook, you're old enough to get used to the oven.")

I remember feeling incredibly independent while putting each ingredient into the bowl. Even more so when my little brother and sister marched in to find out what I was doing, only to be told that they weren't allowed to help but could sit next to her in the remaining bar stools and watch.

I remember turning purple with embarrassment after learning the valuable lesson about having the beaters down in the bowl before turning them on, not turning them on and then putting them in the bowl.

I remember falling in love with the sound of chocolate chips being poured into a metal bowl. Feeling proud as I put big scoops of dough on the cookie sheet, one by one. Feeling scared as I opened the hot oven and slid the cookies inside, and again when I carefully reached in and took them out. Feeling anxious and excited as I watched the balls of dough puff up and brown perfectly, just as I'd known they would do.

And then feeling disappointed when my cookies weren't perfect once they'd cooled.

A roller coaster of feelings, all from making some cookies.

That didn't stop me from falling in love with baking. I baked cookies, breads, and muffins for my family and friends consistently through school, then baked cookie bars and cakes and all kinds of goodies for my college roommates. It was soothing - both the process of preparing and baking and the act of consuming something straight out of the oven that I made myself.

Then came the Celiac diagnosis.

An entirely new food-related roller coaster of emotion followed. At first, relief that someone finally found what had been making me ill for years. Then came panic. As soon as the realization came that I wouldn't be able to bake (or cook) some of my favorite recipes, I felt as if the floor had dropped out from underneath me. For a while, I ate nothing but frozen gluten-free meals, salads, and sandwiches on horrifically bad rice bread, terrified to start over.

And then I got sick of eating cardboard-flavored bread and burning my hands on microwave meals.

I remember going to Central Market for the millionth time, only this time looking for gluten-free bread mix (playing it safe and easy) rather than frozen loaves. I remember feeling completely and utterly overwhelmed staring at the numerous mixes, trying to decide which one I wanted to take a chance on. Feeling excited once I made my purchase (Bob's Red Mill Hearty Whole Grain Bread Mix) and feeling thrilled when I pulled out the bread machine we registered for and finding out that it had a gluten-free cycle. Feeling exhilarated as the bread baked, and as I took the loaf out of the machine to find that it looked, smelled, and tasted like real bread. A feeling of hope.

That feeling still carries me through gluten-free baking experiments that turn out inedible and the frustration of undercooked pasta and entirely-too-crumbly-to-the-point-of-dissolving muffins. To keep trying new things until I figure out what I like the best and what works the best for me. It's what gets me through non-food-related frustrations. It's what made me start this blog.

Life lessons through cooking. A novel idea. I like it.

You Know What's Gluten-Free? FRIENDS.

I had what one might call an awkward childhood/adolescence, filled with (but absolutely not limited to) the following:

• Being entirely too obnoxious precocious.
• Being the fat kid.
• Being the precocious fat kid.
• Having issues with being the fat kid, not eating, then being the super-skinny weird girl that didn't eat.
• Being born with incredibly thin hair that my mother permed, thus resembling a poodle during my formative years.
• Having two front teeth the size of chiclets (literally), plus an all-kinds-of-jacked-up-grill that required close to four years in braces.
• Getting those braces (and matching HEADGEAR) on -- and for -- my birthday. No I'm not kidding.
• After getting rid of the braces, being tormented by hellacious acne.
• Being the skinny girl with the enormous feet. Yes, it looked like I had skis attached to my ankles.

What that boils down to is being made fun of relentlessly, taking it personally (now it's hilarious, of course), and having very few friends.

But, the friends I did have were fiercely loyal and supportive.

You can imagine that my small social circle made going off to college and meeting people difficult. So I drank a lot to put myself at ease (that's a whole other story) and made some friends. Which ended up being a small circle again.

Then I graduated, got married, and moved to a place where I knew no one. I got involved with the community, and made yet another small circle of friends.

These small circles from all walks of life thus far are filled with some of the best friends a girl could ask for. I consider myself lucky to have many acquaintances (that I love spending time with) and a (large) handful of really great friends.

Last night I met up with a couple of my girlfriends to catch up over a glass of wine (I'm seeing a theme here...). One of them just had a baby, and of course I jumped at the opportunity to see her as soon as said she needed to get out of the house. The three of us ended up spending two hours talking about the "joys" of new motherhood, recent promotions and job stresses, and anything else that happened to come up. I love that.

One of my college roommate's (and best friend's) birthday is on Sunday, and I'm absolutely thrilled to get to see her and another great friend over brunch and hours of girl time and nonsense.

In the next few months, I'm going to Vegas with friends, the Bahamas with friends, and tons of happy hours and summer get-togethers with friends.

Most importantly, I'm married to my best-best-best friend. He makes me happy EVERY day. We have already had adventures (and mis-adventures), and we will continue to have them for the rest of our life together. With him, LIFE is an adventure.

So, what is the point of all this?

First, to express gratitude. I am so very thankful for my friends. They support me, encourage me, and keep me going.

Second, and relevant to this blog (see - there's a point!), is the friendly reminder that there are so many more important and meaningful things in life that don't revolve around having a "different" diet. Yes, eating at restaurants is awkward, having people over is awkward, going to people's houses is awkward, and life in general is a little awkward. BUT...having great people and friends in your life makes that not matter. They make it fun. And they make it MUCH easier to laugh when the gluten-free bread you try to bake ends up disgusting.

Without my friends and Hubby, going gluten-free would have been so much harder. I am so incredibly lucky.

And now, I have NEW friends - YOU!

Kelly

Weekend Warrior

It has been SO amazing to have two weekends in a row where The Hubby and I had absolutely no commitments. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing friends and and going places and doing fun things, but there's just something so sweet about laying around guilt-free. The past three years I was in school, so there was always a looming guilt cloud hovering above my head every time I wanted to be lazy. There were always articles to be read, papers to write, research to be done, and homework to finish. Even between semesters, I was constantly aware that I should probably be doing something productive like cleaning out closets (still needs to be done, but it will be there tomorrow) while I had the time before school started up again. No more! Doing whatever the hell I want to is so incredibly freeing.

This weekend, The Hubby and I perfected the art of doing nothing...except in the food department.

Friday night, we tried out a new local chain of pizza cafes, Palio's Pizza. Apparently these have been around for a few years, but the one in our area recently opened. It's literally 5 minutes from our house, and they offer gluten-free pizza! One of my friends visited there last week and told me about it immediately, probably because they have this sign all over their restaurant:

The place itself is nothing fancy; it's sandwiched between Starbucks and a yogurt cafe in a generic-looking shopping center, and I probably would have driven right past it had it not come recommended. Inside, you order at a counter, take a number, and wait for your pizza to be delivered to your table. (Side note: one great thing about being gluten-free while The Hubby isn't: I usually get my very own pizza. Yesssss.) It's also BYOB, which is an added bonus! The pizza is cheaper than the gluten-free pizzas at national chains (Uno and Boston's), and they don't charge extra for the special crust. It was crispy and chewy, full of flavor, and absolutely delicious. Mine was the "Classic" - roasted chicken, garlic, tomato, basil, and mozzarella. I refuse to take pictures of my food while sitting in a restaurant, but I took a quick pic with my phone yesterday afternoon as I was about to devour the leftovers.

See? Amazing. I can't wait to go back.

After annihilating my leftover pizza and watching some college baseball with The Hubby, I decided to bake. As I mentioned in this previous post, Gluten Free Pantry sent me some awesome samples, and I wanted to try the Chocolate Chip Cookie and Cake Mix next. Feeling a little snazzy, I decided to make both cupcakes and cake balls out of the mix. Yum yum yum. I'll post details about both in a future post, a review of the product in general. Until then, here's a little sneak peek (shown iced with a little bit of Cherrybrook Kitchen Allergy-Free Vanilla Frosting):

Sunday morning, The Hubby and I both woke up with nasty colds. I hate it when we're both sick at the same time. It took me a while to get up and moving, but after a cup of coffee I decided I was going to make myself an omelet. Sounds innocent enough...except for the fact that the last time I tried to make an omelet it ended up as a scramble. I had some leftover (cooked) gluten-free chicken sausage from Memorial Day weekend that I chopped up and threw in...

...as well as some pre-shredded cheddar cheese and half of a tomato that happened to be living in my fridge. The end result was enormous (I had so much 'stuff' I wanted to put in it that I used three eggs), but surprisingly tasty!

Sidenote: Please disregard the darkness of this picture. I promise the outside wasn't burned. I just bought a new camera (finally splurged on the DSLR) and the two of us (as in me and the camera) are having issues. I'm taking a class next weekend, so hopefully picture quality will improve!

On another note, I may or may not have eaten a total of four cake balls yesterday. 

All in all, a great, lazy weekend (other than the colds). 

Until next time,

Kelly

You know what's gluten-free? WINE.

Welcome to the first of weekly posts about the randomness that is my life. Wondering what in the world I'm talking about? Check this out.

It's Wednesday (okay, technically it's actually Tuesday, but I'm posting this on Wednesday...and I'm just so excited...so cut me some slack, okay?)...and you know what's gluten-free? WINE.

Currently enjoying: Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio
(Bad picture - sorry!)

I've always loved wine. I first discovered it in college...granted, it was in a box and very pink, but it was wine nonetheless. Since then, I've learned a lot about wine, and continue to learn with every bottle I buy and every glass I order - which is always a challenge and so much fun!

Here's the amazing thing though: since going gluten-free, my palate has gotten remarkably stronger. I can taste little intricacies of wine that I never thought I would be able to taste. I can differentiate the characteristics that make me like a wine and what makes me dislike a wine. Before, I could just tell I didn't like the taste. Now, I can delineate exactly why and then choose a better variety for my taste. One of the many unexpected benefits of a gluten-free diet!

My personal goal when trying new wine is always to find great, inexpensive bottles that I would be proud to serve to guests. Some are complete misses and taste like cough syrup...but others are surprising, and that's a big part of what makes it fun.

I love pairing food and wine - even with my limited knowledge. I love enjoying a glass with The Hubby after work. I love having girl talk over a couple of glasses of wine. And I love finding a good bottle under $20 to add to the rotation at home.

I will leave you with a wine suggestion. Take it or leave it. I absolutely LOVE Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc in the summer. It's a light, fruity, refreshing wine with tons of citrus (mostly grapefruit) notes, and you can pick up a bottle at Target (or a similar grocery store) for about $15. I've found it as cheap as $10. It's wonderful!

Cheers!
Kelly

New! - You Know What's Gluten Free?

A lot of times, beginning and/or maintaining a gluten-free diet becomes all-consuming. For me, the transition was brutal. I LOVE to eat - and constantly learning how many foods contain gluten still gets me down sometimes. To me, food is: comfort, fun, memories, love, laughter, adventure, excitement, experience, respect, travel, knowledge, celebration...among many other things. When you are forced to completely re-learn everything you thought you knew about something that is connected to so many emotions, it can easily become frustrating. 

One thing that helped me through all the frustration (and still does) was stopping every once in a while to reflect on other aspects of my life that make me happy. Food or not. Even the little things. Especially the little things. 

Allowing myself this reflection is exactly the nudge I continue to need to make myself try that disastrous muffin recipe again, re-work a family recipe a different way, or try a different kind of boxed macaroni and cheese (my weakness) in hopes of finding the perfect one - rather than getting frustrated and giving up.

So...I'm happy to announce a new part of my blog: a series of weekly posts - each focusing on my random reflections. Stay tuned for "You Know What's Gluten-Free?" - every Wednesday, starting this week!

Kelly

Product Review: Gluten Free Pantry French Bread & Pizza Mix

About a month ago (maybe a smidge longer...the past few months have whizzed right by), I was contacted by a representative of Glutino/Ian's Foods/Gluten Free Pantry about whether or not I had any interest in receiving and reviewing a few of their products. I didn't even have to think about it! I'm always interested in trying new things in my search for easy, delicious, gluten-free staples.

I received a glorious package with the following inside:

• Gluten Free Pantry French Bread and Pizza Mix
• Gluten Free Pantry Chocolate Chip Cookie and Cake Mix
• Glutino Breakfast Bars in Strawberry and Cherry
• Ian's Gluten-Free Animal Cookies

The Hubby and I decided to try the French Bread and Pizza Mix first. We've tried several times to make gluten-free pizza at home, either with a mix or a pre-made frozen crust, all with mediocre results. Either the crust was too dry, didn't cook correctly, or just plain tasted like cardboard and/or glue. However, with this mix, THIS is what we ended up with:

That is beauty if I've ever seen it. 

The last dough we tried required rolling out...and it was REALLY FREAKING HARD. 

However, the Gluten-Free Pantry mix created dough that did not have to be rolled out and was spreadable - especially after we (and by "we" I mean The Hubby because I had no brain function left after my thesis...and he's awesome) figured out that if greasing a spatula or other spreading utensil made smearing the dough onto the pizza pan more like working with a thick icing rather than dough. The mix makes enough for two large round pizzas - we used half and froze the rest. (I'll update later with how it turns out after freezing.)

With this mix, you just throw your stuff on and bake! No pre-baking required...although we decided that we might try that next time to see if that changes the consistency at all.

We chose turkey sausage, tomato, and onion. YUM! The outer crust baked up nicely, browned, and was just crispy enough, while the crust under the "stuff" was chewy. The flavor? The most reminiscent of a gluten-filled pizza dough that I've made at home yet! Even better? It tastes like "real" pizza when cold (rather than a mouth full of cotton balls and sawdust like other crusts I've tried) and reheats beautifully in the toaster oven.

Uhh...anyone craving pizza?

Kelly

Easy Gluten-Free Vacation

I'm baaaaaaaaaack.

I want to take a quick second to apologize for having disappeared for several weeks. I was in the midst of the busiest time of the year at work and the final hoop-jumping to complete my thesis process. However, work has slowed down (a little), I finally finished that beast of a paper - and I'm graduating on Saturday! It's a very happy time for me right now.

To celebrate my impending graduation, The Hubby and I took a fabulous vacation: a 7-night Southern Caribbean cruise! We visited Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, and St. Croix (pictured). Heaven! We're already planning our next cruise.

We chose the Royal Caribbean line for several reasons, one being that it's the favorite of The Hubby's cruise-enthusiast parents. The other reason? You can opt for gluten-free meals when you book your cruise. 


I did have to inform our dinner waiter on the first night (you have the same one every night, for those of you that haven't cruised before) that I was on a gluten-free diet, but that's all I had to do. The wait staff was informed and took it very seriously. In fact, each night after dinner I was presented with the following night's menu so I could make my choices beforehand, allowing the cooks to alter and prepare my meal separately. I felt like royalty.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of any of the meals - I couldn't bring myself to pull out my camera and take pictures of my food while seated with a tableful of strangers. Plus, we were having a good time! I will say, though, that the food was excellent - we were even served lobster on the second-to-last night. Awesome.

Now, granted, I realize that dinner is not the only meal of the day. Fortunately, eating is a major part of cruising. I didn't believe this when The Hubby told me (this was my first cruise, but not his) but I kid you not, there's food available any time, day or night. The main café onboard was our favorite - it consisted of a huge buffet with tons of options, and the dining area was flanked by huge windows as well as a large outdoor dining area overlooking the ocean. I have to say, it was an amazing way to have breakfast every morning.

Speaking of breakfast, this is what I ate pretty much every morning:

Watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, a hard-boiled egg, grilled tomato, and smoked salmon enjoyed with cream cheese so I could pretend I was eating bagels and lox. YUM.

Lunch usually involved more fruit and either a big salad from the salad bar, some sort of deconstructed sandwich-like creation of meats and cheeses, or a random assortment of things I could eat. Not a big meal, but always followed by another visit to the buffet a few hours later for a snack.

I was a little nervous about the food situation before the trip since I had never cruised before; I even packed an emergency stash of Larabars so I'd have something to eat. I only ended up eating one of them the whole time.

All in all, the trip was a huge success. Each of the ports were beautiful, the food was wonderful, and I SO enjoyed being away from work, email, my phone, etc and focusing on my sweet Hubby for a week.

I'll leave you with this - my favorite picture from the whole trip (taken by The Hubby himself):

Maho Beach in St. Maarten

Until next time -
Kelly

Bisquick!

Okay people. I realize that I have been MIA. Trust me, I would much rather be blogging than doing what I've been doing the past few weeks (Thesis writing for life! I love working late!), but it just hasn't worked out that way. However, because I love you, I'm making a point to write a quick note telling you about some awesome news that I learned yesterday.

General Mills is introducing a gluten-free Bisquick this summer!

I cannot even begin to tell you how happy this makes me. Bisquick was a staple at my house growing up...from pancakes on a regular weekend to sausage balls at Christmas. I am thrilled! Plus, General Mills has done a fantastic job of not only transitioning a ton of their products to gluten-free, but also making their products readily available and clearly labeled. They make it so much easier for me to go grocery shopping without having to go to a specialty store.

Anyway, that's the scoop. For all of you Hamburger Helper fans, they are also introducing a gluten-free line of those.

Hope all is well. I'll be back soon!
Kelly

Eggs Benedict

Yesterday, The Hubby and I opted to make Easter brunch at home. We slept in, got up slowly, had some coffee (okay I did, The Hubby hates it), and then got to work on our Eggs Benedict. After seeing a recipe for a smoked salmon and spinach strata, we compromised and had a smoked salmon and spinach benedict with skillet potatoes on the side.

Oh my goodness. I can't even begin to tell you have fabulous and rich this was. 

The best part is that it is so simple! Time consuming, yes, but simple ingredients. All we used for the entire dish was:

• Eggs
• Butter
• Red potatoes
• Smoked salmon (purchased pre-smoked and ready-to-eat)
• Fresh spinach
• Onion
• Lemon juice
• Garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• Sugar
• Vinegar (for poaching the eggs)

I've never poached an egg in my life, so The Hubby handled that, along with the hollandaise. 

He used Alton Brown's hollandaise recipe and it turned out great!

I worked on the skillet potatoes and wilted the spinach.

I had never made skillet potatoes like this before, but let me tell you, it was super easy! Here's what I did:

• Cut as many potatoes as you need into small chunks. I used about 4 small/medium red potatoes for the two of us.
• Melt one tablespoon of butter in a skillet, then add potatoes and toss/stir to coat them all with the melted butter.
• Add salt/pepper/other seasoning of choice. I also added a little bit of chopped up onion.
• Cover and let cook on medium heat for 10 minutes or until potatoes are softened from the steam.
• Uncover and let cook an additional 10 minutes or until potatoes are browned.

Ridiculously easy and the perfect accompaniment to the benedict. The spinach was easy, too...I just put a little olive oil in a skillet on medium heat, added  about 3-4 cups of fresh spinach (it shrinks waaaay down), salt, pepper, and garlic, and stir it around occasionally while it wilts.

I think I got the easier end of the deal. For a lot of the time I sipped my coffee while watching The Hubby get a major workout from whisking hollandaise for half an hour.

After it was all said and done, I had my benedict without any bread -- the spinach, salmon and potatoes was plenty rich -- and he had his over a non-GF english muffin. I have to say, it was a success...and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed spending the time with him and watching him cook. We need to do it more often!

Kelly

Jellybeans!

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday...and regardless of your religious views, it's impossible to miss the mass amounts of candy in prime view at every grocery store, pharmacy, gas station, and...well...pretty much everywhere. I grew up celebrating Easter, mostly for the Easter Bunny the Easter egg hunts. And the candy. Lots of it.

We weren't allowed to have much sugar growing up (I'm still bitter that I wasn't allowed to have Fruity Pebbles at any point during my childhood...unless I was visiting my super-cool aunt...but that's another story), but in the months between Christmas and Easter, Mom was a little more flexible. Especially between Valentine's and Easter. ESPECIALLY Easter. I can't remember any other point in my life where either of my parents handed me a giant basket full of sugar (read: I didn't have to go beg for it at the neighbors' houses like at Halloween) to enjoy with no consequences.

That being said, I've found that people are very touchy about their Easter candy of choice. Some people, for example, are passionate about their Peeps. I, personally, have only ever enjoyed Peeps while watching them triple in size in the microwave. Others are crazy about the Cadbury eggs. Ick. Something about a runny, sugary inside that looks like a raw egg just isn't appetizing to me. Easter candy, to me, is Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs--which now I have to double-check...some of the eggs have wheat flour, some don't---and Starburst Jelly Beans.

I only crave these once a year - and as you might have guessed, that once a year is now. I scoured the Super Target yesterday for these and managed to snag the last bag that was buried under the "other" jellybeans. You can imagine my excitement and near inability to wait until I got home to open the bag. I even contemplated buying the plastic Easter eggs to fill with these and put in the "Easter basket" I put together for The Hubby, but decided against it because that was just more between me and the beans.

The best part?

Yeaaaaaah! While these might be made of all kinds of sugary crap, they are gluten-free and I love them! It's the tiny victories, right?

Hope you're having a wonderful, if not festive, weekend! Looking forward to our homemade Easter brunch tomorrow morning...more on that later. 

Kelly

Short Hiatus

I have been horrible about blogging lately. Sorry!

I am in the throes of finishing my thesis (finally!), and found out a couple of days ago that my deadline was much sooner (okay just by about a week, but a week makes a huge difference!) than I was thinking. I'm now scrambling to get things done in the free time that I have, and dealing with the occasional (and increasingly frequent) panic attack (or three).

Needless to say, I'm not doing a whole lot of cooking, quality or otherwise (poor Hubby), so there's not a lot to blog about in that department, and my entire life is thesis, so I'll spare you. I'll be back soon! Give me a couple of weeks.

See you soon!
Kelly

Carrot Cake

Nothing says springtime to me quite like carrot cake. About this time every year I crave it...and I finally made one this year. The last one I made was pre-GF days!

Obviously, I'm all about easy. I was cruising around Albertson's a couple of days ago looking for cupcake liners (which, by the way, they didn't have and it totally burst my cupcake-craving bubble), and noticed a brand-spanking-new display of all gluten-free baking mixes, flours, and snacks. Yes! At the bottom of the display were a couple of Simply Organic mixes that I hadn't seen anywhere before. Seeing as how I was planning to bake up a carrot cake from scratch, I opted for the unbelievably easy Carrot Cake Mix instead. Lazy? Yep. That's how I roll.

I was almost doubly lazy and started to buy a can of the ever-delicious Betty Crocker icing (I might have kept it in the mini-fridge and eaten it straight out of the can in college...but I'm not confessing), especially since they just announced recently that their icings were gluten-free, but after reading the ingredient list and seeing all the chemicals and corn syrup, I opted to make cream cheese icing from scratch. SO glad I did.

Here's the finished product:

This cake was DELICIOUS. In fact, my brother and his best friend came to visit over the weekend and I served it to them without telling them it was gluten-free and they loved it. They didn't believe it when I told them. The cake is super moist, and the icing is divinely rich.

I followed the instructions on the cake mix box exactly (even down to the cooking time), except for one thing: instead of using a cup of shredded carrots, I used a cup of carrot baby food. It's much easier than grating the carrots (no chance of grating a finger), and the cleanup is a cinch. Plus, it adds a little more moisture to the cake, and there are no carrot lumps. 

I made the icing from the Cream Cheese Icing recipe in my absolute favorite cookbook, The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. I've had a copy of this cookbook in my possession as long as I can remember. It's such a good staple cookbook. Anyway, here's the recipe (for one cake or 12 cupcakes):

• 4 oz cream cheese (half a package), softened (I used low-fat and it turned out great)
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Beat together (on medium speed) the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until combined and creamy. Slowly add in the powdered sugar a little bit at a time while beating, and continue until it gets to spreading consistency. Make sure fully combined.

After that, I just scooped out the icing and placed spoonfuls onto the top of the (cooled) cake, then spread it around. So easy...but it tastes like you worked all day!

I made this cake on Friday night...and it's now Sunday night and there's one piece left. I think it was a hit.

Kelly