another baby on the way

I was at work one day and bumped into a friend and found out she was pregnant with her second baby.  She is due seven days after the Tall Short Person.  I was hoping to get a quilt done for her and I am working on it but I did get a hat done.  I had a very quiet weekend while My Beloved was taking a course on slip joint knife making (a type of folding knife).  I had brought a lot of small projects and books with me so I could just unwind.  So instead of a quilt at the baby shower, this hat will be there.  I really like the colors.  Still working on the quilt though.

roasted cauliflower

My Beloved likes cauliflower.  I do not particularly do but I can cook it.  I roasted it for my Beloved and it smelled good.  It disappeared in minutes.

Roasted Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower

six cloves garlic, sliced

olive oil

salt 

pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut the head of cauliflower into flowerets.  Put the olive oil on baking sheet (I use a cast iron pizza pan).  Add the cauliflower, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Toss.  Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until there are golden bits.  Stir at least once during the roasting process.

My Beloved will tell you this is yumminess.  I will tell you it smelled wonderful.

sourdough biscuits

It was a good weekend.  There was some strangeness Friday evening but, overall, it was pretty fabulous.  I relaxed a lot and my Beloved learned a lot.  One of those things I have been relaxing with is perfecting biscuits.  I saw a recipe in Country Living Magazine that I had to try.  I decided to try it first with wheat flour and then try it with a gluten free flour mixture.  The wheat flour biscuit was compared quite favorably to my Beloved's Grandmothers homemade biscuits and I have the gluten free one almost there.  A bit of tweaking with times still needs to go one. 

For both, I am using sourdough starters instead baking yeats.  I have also not used buttermilk in either.

Sourdough Biscuits

Note:  Adapted for October 2011 Country Living Magazine

Sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

5 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cream of tartar

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup butter

2 cups soured heavy whipping cream or hempmiilk

The morning before you wish biscuits, mix your soudough starter with 1 cup flour and 3/4 cup water in a large non-metallic bowl.  Let sit, covered, until evening.  Remove two to four tablespoons of starter for your next sourdough use.

Into the remaining sourdough, add the buttermilk, sugar, and salt.  Mix in the butter.  You can leave big chunks.  Mix in the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  The dough will be very wet but you do not wish to add anymore flour then you have to.

On a floured surface, pat out the dough into a large rectangle.  Fold the dough into thirds.  Cut into the size of biscuits you wish.  Put on a baking sheet that is covered in parchment paper or a silpat.  Cover with plastic wrap and but in the refrigertor overnight.

Pull the biscuits out of the refrigerator at least ten minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once the biscuits have sat and the oven is preheated, bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I was very pleased.

Toasted with a bit of homemade strawberry jam, heaven.  You just need a pot of tea.

to celebrate autumn even when it is too warm, gf apple crisp

I am so ready for autumn but we really do not have seasons here.  We will be traveling soon and I hope to see autumn for the couple weeks we are gone.  I may be scarce here while I am away but I will try to find someplace.  A new adventure all the way around.

I decided to make an apple crisp to pretend it is autumn.  At least it is cooling down a bit.  It is gluten free because of my Beloved.  Not really a hardship at all.  The gluten free sourdough biscuits were good yesterday.  I am perfecting the recipe but I do have the starter down.

Apple Crisp

Note:  To use wheat flour, use 1 cup of flour, all purpose, white, or wheat.  In this case, 1 cup will work.  2/28/2012:  I modified the flour quantities and types.  i am much happier with this recipe now because it tastes much more similar to the ones made with wheat flour.  5/24/2017:  Updated to say use 1 cup wheat flour if replacing the gluten free flours.

2 large apples, cored, peeled, and sliced into small pieces

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1 heaping teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup millet flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup arrowroot flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In an 8 inch by 8 inch pan, put the peeled, cored, and sliced into small pieces apples.

In a small bowl, put the butter and brown sugar.  Cream together.  Mix in the cinnamon, ginger, sorghum flour, teff flour, sweet rice flour, and almond flour.  Put on top of the apples, covering as many as possible and making the layer as even as possible.

Bake 45 minutes.

Serve warm or cold.  

We happen to really like with the crisp with homemade vanilla ice cream.  Heaven.

getting ready for winter, if it every comes, or at least the ice rink

Last night was interesting.  i got home from an event with my Beloved and went boom!  He could visually see my crash and I was asleep by 7.30.  The only reason I woke up between then and my alarm going off was to wobble to the bathroom.  And my Beloved followed me both ways because I was wobbling so bad.  It was an interesting evening that I do not care to repeat.

I have been crocheting a lot.  I had enough yarn leftover from the mitts I made to make a hat.  I also added a band on the edge that was an alpaca wool blend that was very soft.

I like that it is big enough to cover my ears and my hair when it is up on the back of my head.  In another words, I like soft hats that are too big.  I keep warm that way.  The Tall Short Person likes it too but this is not for her.  I will be working on Christmas gifts very soon.