#15 super easy dinner. loved by william.

#15.

I saw this idea on the food network's holiday idea show. thought I would give it a whirl...

what you need:
6 pieces of very thinly sliced ham or turkey.
4 eggs.
a muffin tin and 6 cupcake papers.

line the muffin tin with the 6 cupcake papers.

preheat oven to 325 degrees.

 started scrambling the eggs, just eggs.

place a piece of either ham or turkey into each cupcake paper,
form little cups.

 cook eggs until barely firm.... remove from stove.

 spoon eggs into each meat cup. bake at 325 degrees until the edges of the meat are crisp and the eggs are firm. about 10 minutes.

serve!! this is going to be my go-to recipe next time I have a brunch. you could make all sorts of variations, using different meats, seasonings and garnishes. my 7 year old son loved these for dinner!!

#14 my most favorite cake using almond and coconut flours.

hi all.

I wanted to experiment with almond and coconut flours this week.
Could not believe in my sleepy little mountain town, the local market carried both!! and at the same price as amazon.com. Found a very simple recipe on bob's red mill almond flour bag and have been fine tuning it to my perfection.

this is the first version;
took longer to cook than expected.
was still a bit undone in the middle, while the edges were getting too brown.

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar.
4 eggs
1/2c milk
1 t vanilla to 1 t of vanilla or almond or maple.
1 1/2 cup almond flour and 1/2 cup coconut flour.
1/4 t salt.
2t baking powder.

350 degrees for 25 minutes

when I took the first one out of the pan, the middle was sticking... but got it cooled and added raspberry jam to the middle. plated with a dollop of whipped cream and a very small dollop of chocolate raspberry crème.
OH MY GOODNESS, this is likely the best cake I have ever made. holy cow!!! it is so moist and flavorful. needs no icing... think if I tweek it just a bit, it will be perfect!! the almond and the coconut flavors are so rich and decadent

found this amazing heart cake pan at ikea last month. wish I had bought a few more...
this cake was loved by many.... including myself, William and a few friends.
to solve the problems that I had with it... I am going to make it in a larger cake pan, or for this pan, decrease the flour a bit, and an egg.
will let you know what happens. in the meantime, make it and enjoy every morsel!!

m

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mail order!! on the menu...

hi all.

I know that we don't all have time to cook and bake as I do.... so,
I am happy to provide a mail order service for you.

on the menu-
crèmes- not as soft as sauce, not as firm as fudge.
semi sweet chocolate fudge creme- 16 ounces
semi sweet chocolate mint fudge crème- 16 ounces
semi sweet espresso caramel chip fudge crème- 16 ounces
white chocolate fudge crème- 16 ounces.

$8.00 per 16 ounces plus shipping. ( will ship the most economical way possible).

these are great gifts!

$25.00 for a combination of 3 jars and the wrapping paper and ribbon for gifting!! plus shipping.

hope you will enjoy!!

fudge and shortbread. #9-13.

#9 fudge perfected.
1 stick of butter.
1 cup of mini marshmallows
1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

mix together in a double boiler. or put one pot inside a bigger pot that is half way filled with water.
when all smooth.... add the chocolate chips! mix until all smooth and creamy!! you are done. I use
16 oz. jelly jars for storage. makes 4 16 oz jars.

#10 shortbread- gluten free.
2 sticks of butter.
1 cup of powdered sugar.
2 1/2 cups of gluten free flour/ I used bobs red mill all purpose gluten free flour.
1 egg.
1T of vanilla.

mix and crème the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. then slowly mix in the flour. I ended up mixing by hand, and with my hands at the end.
spoon into a cupcake tin/with papers.
bake at 325 degrees. until the edges are brown. like above.
this makes a very flaky, light shortbread.

#11, #12 and #13 variations on the fudge recipe.

#11 white chocolate fudge
use white chocolate chips instead of the semi sweet chocolate. that's the only change.

#12 chocolate mint
use chocolate mint chips instead of the semi sweet chocolate. I used the winter variation that nestle's had during the holidays. I also used peppermint marshmallows. I don't think that made much of a difference.

#13 espresso caramel chip fudge
to the fudge recipe I added a large tablespoon of instant espresso coffee, and 8 oz of caramel chips.
the caramel didn't melt as fast as the chocolate so I left them in more as a chip than melted with the chocolate chips. super yummy!!

 how to plate the combination of recipes.

I plated with one shortbread round, 3 very fresh organic strawberries and a dollop of the fudge crème.

super yummy!

snow snow... #9, and #10.

snow snow oh beautiful snow. you turn our neighborhood into a winter wonderland! but sure make it difficult in the morning to get my son to school. need to start shoveling at 7am... in order to make it to school on time. yeh!! we did it.
since yesterday was such a busy out of the house day, carpool, stretch class, 45 minute drive to get an evaluation on my carpel tunnel... yes, I have it and yes, I need surgery. that will be interesting since I use my hand for everything... a bit of thrift store hunting, sign up for a new cell phone, then home. totally exhausted. 
I was able to make dinner but that is it. let's see it was 3 days from when I did all of that crazy ice removal on my driveway. this is how my fibromyalgia shows up. a few days later, in bouts of pain, exhaustion, depression and the feeling that I am the worst mom out there, can't do anything, and defeated. I know what I need is a super good nights sleep... and a very kind day to myself today.
so after dropping off my son to school, I decided to come home, no zumba. started to tidy up. cleaned the kitchen. organized my canning, and got on the computer. this is where I am now.
my thought for the day, since I have made so much lemon curd, it is time to create the perfect gluten free shortbread/tea cake recipe.
will report back in a bit...
oh nothing like cooking while watching Julie and Julia. one of my most favorite movies and my muse at the moment.
made up my first batch of gluten free shortbread. here the batch at the crumble up point. well, I just took them out of the oven... they smell divine!! can't wait to plate them up with lemon curd and berries! seems that I need to set up a tea party when spring is soon upon us. date tba. I will post my updated perfected fudge #9 and shortbread recipe #10 in the next few hours. until then, time to clean up.

enjoy # 9 and 10.

welcome to my journey.

welcome to my journey.

six months ago today, I moved my 6 year old son, our two small dogs and myself from the heart of silicon valley to a very small town in the sierra mountains.

I can say without a doubt this is the best decision I have ever made.
  
I have been an over-achieving, driven, creative, business minded gal all of my life. eventually, it all caught up with me. I am now on disability with a fixed income. in order to be able to live on $1500 a month, i needed to move from the bay area. we have been living with my mom for the past 2 years. it was great timing, but not healthy for either of us for the long haul.

my mom has a cabin up here. I have spent every summer for the past 15 years visiting this area. i consider it my second home. last summer, while my son and i were spending our summer vacation here, it was obvious to me that this was the time, and this was the place to move to. we looked at the rental market and the real estate market. the timing was perfect to buy and with my mom's help we did. we found a quaint 2 bedroom house, close to town, and needing very few repairs. it all worked out and now this is our home.

immediately our lives simplified. only one market, no box stores, few restaurants, no movie theatre, no bowling alley, no stop lights, no traffic,
only one school with only 155 students, no starbucks, no peets, a small post office... you get the picture.

what we gained was lots of fresh air, numerous lakes to swim, kayak and fish in. a beautiful state park for hiking and exploring, lots of new friends. and the ability to finally take a deep breathe and exhale the stress of the past many years, and so much more.

I have wanted to simplify our lives for years... get back to the basics without
the distractions that move you in the opposite direction.
I wanted to release my full mind and become mindful. 
I wanted to get back to all of the domestic arts that i love; cooking, baking, stitching, knitting, quilting, spinning, felting, weaving, gardening, home decorating... basically creating a heartfelt life and home.

this blog is my journal of my journey...