Updates

I've been really busy lately. Ever since my discovery of eating gluten free, I haven't made many recipes that I think that are ready to be posted. Also, I left my job a month and a half ago to go back to school and pursue my Masters full time in Education. I plan to be an elementary school teacher. School was a bit overwhelming at first since I haven't been back for so long. But overall, I can't wait to start work again and be around little kids. I'll be looking for a job next month. I'm surprised there are many gluten free recipes online and I can't wait to make something.

I'll definitely keep everyone posted on my progress and will try to post something soon.

Kyle's Birthday

A few weeks ago, we celebrated my SIL's son's birthday. It was a great day for a bbq and it was a great opportunity for the adults to catch up on the conversations while the kids played in the backyard. There were plenty of kids running around playing slip and slide, playing basketball and attemping to hit the pinata. I'll attached a few pictures of that day. It was cute to see all the kids really enjoying themselves. I made two watermelon baskets for the occasion. It turned out to be a really nice centerpiece and it seems like everyone enjoyed it as well.

Gluten Free Diet

I recently found out that I have an intolerance to Wheat and Gluten. It's a lifestyle change for me. For so many years, I've struggled with not knowing why I had constant adominal pain after every meal. Just 1 1/2 weeks ago I was dignosed with Celiac Disease. It's a prevalent disease that is heredity. 1 in every 200 people have this but are not aware of it. It took 3 physicians to finally dignosed my symptoms using a blood test and a performing a biopsy. The only way to avoid further damaging my small intestine which was unable to absorb all the nutrients that I was intaking is to live Gluten Free.

I'm glad to finally find out what was wrong with me. At first I thought it was an ulcer or just antacids. It's been 2 weeks so far living gluten free. I did lose some weight, which is a plus. But,
I must admit it's still a challenging transition since majority of foods which I love I can no longer have. Although, I have found other alternatives to work around wheat and gluten products. I started baking again. Yesturday I made a gluten free banana chiffon cake using rice flour and it turned out just as good as the wheat version. Since, gluten and wheat is found in most condiments as a binding agent. It was difficult to cook stir frys since I usually use soy sauce which contains wheat. I've found a specialty market "Mothers" which carries a gluten free version. I guess you can say it's going to be a long journey but this is just the beginning. It's been going okay so far. I have been feeling much better after every meal. No more adominal pains.

I scream you scream we all scream for Ice Cream!

Dh and I purchased an ice cream maker from Bed Bath and Beyond a month ago. We were really excited to make our own ice cream. and started the very next day. It's been a fun journey since day one. I've made plenty of ice creams varieties ranging from coffee, fat free yogurt, lavendar ice cream to garlic ice cream. Yes, you didn't read this wrong. It's actually really good. The first time we tried this was at the Stinking Rose in Los Angeles. After that, I wanted to make my very own. I made my very first batch a week ago. I'll be sure to post the recipe on my blog.

One ice cream I defininitely recommend lavendar lovers is to try lavendar ice cream. One of my friends picked up a container of fresh culinary lavander for me. Since then, I've made some lavendar short bread cookies and some lavendar ice cream. Both are a real treat. The recipes below were adapted from Epicurious.

LAVENDAR ICE CREAM

*Adapted from Epicurious

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup half-and-half

2/3 cup mild honey2

tablespoons dried edible lavender flowers

*2 large eggs1/8 teaspoon salt

Special equipment: an ice cream maker

Preparation

Bring cream, half-and-half, honey, and lavender just to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, then remove pan from heat. Let steep, covered, 30 minutes.
Pour cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard lavender. Return mixture to cleaned saucepan and heat over moderate heat until hot.
Whisk together eggs and salt in a large bowl, then add 1 cup hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour into remaining hot cream mixture in saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 170 to 175°F on thermometer, about 5 minutes (do not let boil).
Pour custard through sieve into cleaned bowl and cool completely, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours.
Freeze custard in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

Cooks' notes:• To cool custard quickly after straining, set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir until chilled. • Custard can chill up to 1 day before freezing. • Ice cream keeps 1 week.

LAVENDAR SHORT BREAD COOKIES



1 1/2 cups (3/4 pound) butter, at room temperature (no substitutes)

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons very finely chopped lavender florets (fresh or dried)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

2 1/3 cups flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F.Cover bottoms of two baking sheets with parchment or brown paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, lavender, and mint with an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour, cornstarch, and salt and beat until incorporated. Divide dough in half. Flatten into squares and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm. On a floured board, roll or pat out each square to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 -inch squares or rounds. Transfer to baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Prick each cookie several times with a fork. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden (do not brown). Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack. Sprinkle with lavender powdered sugar. Garnish:lavender powdered sugar: Put a 4 or 5 sprigs of lavender flowers in a sealed jar with powdered sugar for a day before using the sugar.

Enjoy!

Edible Arrangements (Belated Mother's Day)

This past weekend we celebrated a belated Mother's Day. One of the projects that I have always wanted to do was make an Edible Arrangement. I've seen them in ads and they look really pretty. Therefore the night before, Dh and I bought all the supplies we needed. I felt bad because we did our last minute shopping at 10:30 pm and I stayed up till 1:30am putting int he finishing touches to the two pots. I made two arrangements since we only took my mom out to dinner and the other would be for my mother in law. Here are some pictures of the two vases Dh and I put together. It was a little difficult at first but once you get the hang of it. It's pretty easy.



Making your own saves you a lot of money as well as you can add in your own creativity.

Slow Roasted Garlic Bulb

Yum! If you're a garlic lover, I definitely recommend making this recipe. Dh and I love garlic. I don't like it as much as he does but we still enjoy it together. That's definitely a plus, since you don't want to be the only one with bad garlic breath. It's also good for you health. Garlic has many uses and it is sometimes labeled as the herbal "wonder drug." Some benefits includes preventing the common cold or flu and also acting as an antibiotic and fighting certain bacterias. On the same note, I decided to roast some garlic bulbs.

There are many uses. You can spread it on breads for added flavor as well as using it in pastas and any other dishes. I adapted this easy online recipe.

Time needed: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

Garlic Bulbs (3 or 4)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 cup of water
*salt to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove as much of the paper from 2 whole heads of garlic as you can without breaking apart the cloves.
Place garlic heads in 1/4 cup water in a small baking dish.
Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Cover with aluminum foil or baking dish cover.
Put into oven and baste with olive oil/water mixture after 30 minutes.
Bake until garlic is soft and easily pierced with a thin-bladed knife, about 1 hour total cooking time.

Slow Roasted Garlic Bulb

Yum, it turned out really easy. I had some crackers in our pantry and decided to spread a few cloves on each. I can still taste the garlic.Be sure to spend extra time brushing your teeth the next morning. Enjoy!

Birthdays Birthdays and More Birthdays

April is definitely a popular month for birthdays. This weekend I attended 2 birthday parties. Both were for Henry's niece. Little Jasmine turned 5 and baby Roxy turned 1 month. Both girls were definitely dressed for the party. Jasmine was wearing a cute little flower dress and baby Roxy a cherry printed outfit. It was a nice little party with activities like water balloon fights, hide and seek and to top it off, it ended with a pinata. It was really cute seeing the kids run around and having so much fun. I'll be sure to share a few pictures of this event.

Friday night, I decided to bake some cupcakes to bring to the party. I ended up baking 75 . Yes, 75 little strawberry cupcakes. Although this time, I didn't make it from scratch. It took longer than usual because these were mini muffins. Below are a few pictures my DH took from the night before. The cupcakes were left to cool on the rack.

Strawberry Cupcakes

Above: frosted cupcakes with sprinkles and cream cheese

Above: chocolate frosted cupcakes with sprinkles and fresh strawberries

Although we ended up with so much left over, Since there was so many different types of food. I definitely had a great time making them. I always enjoy baking and cooking in my free time.