gluten free cookies

  Usually i make cookies with wheat flour but now i'm making cookies gluten free. I have tried two different sugar cookie recipes. One wasn't really good but the other one was really good. Here is the recipe for the sugar cookies.

You Need:

• 2 cups all purpose gluten free flour
• 3/4 tsp baking  powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tbs powdered sugar
• 8 tbs unsalted butter
• 1 tsp xanthan-gum ( if your flour already has it don't add it)
• 1 large egg beaten
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

What You Need To Do:

1. preheat oven to 350
2. mix all dry ingredients and blend until well combined
3. add eggs, butter, vanilla 
4. stir until dough is well blended and thick
5. roll out dough and use a cookie cut 
6. bake 6-7 mins. allow cookies to cool
7. you can frost them then ENJOY!

Fried Pickles?

  Fried pickles a.k.a frickles are all over now so I wanted to make some.  They are really good and easy.  Here is the recipe for them.

You Need:

• 2 cups oil( what you'll fry them in)
• 1 jar of pickles( your choice)
• 1 cup bread crumbs( i used Italian seasoned bread crumbs also they were gluten free. its was still really good)
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp black pepper 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 eggs beaten

What You Need To Do:

1. Heat oil over medium heat
2. Dry pickles
3. Mix bread crumbs, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder
4. Dip pickles in eggs then dip in mixture
5. Fry until golden brown on each side

C.C.C( cake,cookie,cupcake)

  Have you ever hear of triple C ( cool,calm,collective)? There is another way for triple C (Cake, cookie,and cupcakes). Sweet treats are the best so here are some recipes for cakes,cookies, and cupcakes.

CAKE
the cake is a Black Forest cake. The Black Forest Cake is super good and easy.

2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup milk

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
   1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
  2 (20 ounce) cans pitted sour cherries 
  1 cup white sugar
  1/4 cup cornstarch 
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  3 cups heavy whipping cream
  1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
  
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch, round, cake pans; cover bottoms with waxed paper.
  in a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.
  
  
  Bake for 35 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Loosen edges, and remove to racks to cool completely.
  
  
  Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine reserved juice, cherries, 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool before using
  Combine whipping cream and confectioner's sugar in a chilled medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form.
  With long serrated knife, split each cake layer horizontally in half. Tear one split layer into crumbs; set aside. Reserve 1 1/2 cups Frosting for decorating cake; set aside. Gently brush loose crumbs off top and side of each cake layer with pasty brush or hands. To assemble, place one cake layer on cake plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting; top with 3/4 cup cherry topping. Top with second cake layer; repeat layers of frosting and cherry topping. Top with third cake layer. Frost side of cake. Pat reserved crumbs onto frosting on side of cake. Spoon reserved frosting into pastry bag fitted with star decorator tip. Pipe around top and bottom edges of cake. Spoon remaining cherry topping onto top of cake.
  
  
  COOKIE
  The cookie is a triple chocolate cookie
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large yolk
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chip
• 6 ounces white chocolate chips

Directions

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cloves together in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove pan from the heat, add the bittersweet chocolate, then set aside until melted.
Whisk the eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla together in a medium bowl, then slowly whisk in chocolate. Stir in the flour mixture to make a loose dough. Don't overwork the dough. Fold in the chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (or 325 if convection option is available).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Form dough into balls, about 2 inches or 1 1/2 ounces each, and put on the prepared baking sheets, leaving a couple inches between the cookies. Bake until outside is crackly, but the center is still moist, about 13 to 15 minutes, or 12 in convection. Cool on a rack.


CUPCAKE
the final recipe is of a red velvet cupcake. I love red velvet cupcakes.
• 15 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 13 ounces granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons red food coloring
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vinegar (white or apple cider can both work)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 cup water
For the cream cheese frosting:
• 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 pound butter, room temperature
• 2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven 350 degrees F.
Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a bowl and set aside.
In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix oil, sugar, and buttermilk until combined. Add eggs, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and water and mix well. Add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time and mix on low, scraping down sides occasionally, and mix until just combined. Be sure not to over mix, or the batter will come out tough.
Line a 16-cup cupcake pan with paper liners, scoop the batter into the liners and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
For the cream cheese frosting:
Whip the butter and cream cheese together in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until creamed. Gradually add powdered sugar to the mixture and scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
The frosting can be used right away, or stored in the refrigerator up to a week.
Frost cooled cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting.

Chicken Molè

  My school was having a European Day of Languages which included a lunch.  So I thought because I'm in Spanish, I would do a chicken molè.  Molè is a Mexican savory chocolate sauce.  Daddy and I tested it to  see how it would work and how it would taste cold.  When I read the recipe it said to serve immediately so I didn't make it for the European Day of Languages.  Instead I made Jumping Jambalaya (which was awesome!)  But my family really liked the chicken molè which we served with chips and salsa.  I got the chicken mole recipe here.   This is the recipe:
Things You'll Need

• 6 Skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 4 Tablespoons chicken broth
• 1 8 Ounce can of tomato sauce
• 1/2 Cup salsa
• 1/4 Cup of red wine
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves mince garlic
• 5 Teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 Teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 Teaspoon allspice

Instructions
Making the Mole Chicken

1
With meat mallet, pound the chicken to 1/2 inch thickness. Use non-stick cooking spray on the bottom of a large frying pan.

2
Place the chicken in the pan and brown on both sides. If it seems to be getting too brown add a little bit of broth to pan.


3
Mix together red wine, salsa, tomato sauce, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, paprika, allspice, and cocoa powder in a bowl and mix well. (Don't worry, the alcohol in the wine cooks off)

4
Pour the mole sauce over the chicken and bring to a boil. Turn heat to simmer and cook for about 10 minutes or till the chicken is cooked. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.  If you cut the chicken into bite sized chunks, you can feed more people.  


Tips & Warnings
If you desire a hotter or spicier sauce you can add some hot sauce or chili powder to the mole.


Hope you guys and girls like it!

Me & Mom in Prague!

     Mommy and I went to Prague in the Czech Republic over Memorial Day Weekend.  We stayed three days.  We arrived late at night and went to our hotel. We stayed at Spa Hotel Caroline.  It was more like an apartment.  There was an eat-in kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, and the toilet and the shower were in different rooms.  We also had a key to the building not just our room.  When we got there we went to bed.

The ceiling in our hotel.

     The hotel had a restaurant but not right at the hotel.  It was right down the street about one block. The first day we went to the restaurant for breakfast.  I had tea and a sausage.  I couldn't cut the sausage because the outside was so thick and I said it beat me.  I asked our landlord (the woman who owned the hotel and also the restaurant) where a specific cafe was located. She said I was too young for coffee but Mommy said I was after the cakes.  So the landlord got up, left and came back with a plate of cakes, two drinks, and a bag of candy.  She also showed us how to get to the zoo. After breakfast Mommy and I went over to the zoo boat. The zoo boat is a boat that takes you directly to the zoo.  The boats are all decorated with animals and different animal themes.  We missed one boat so we got lunch while we waited for the next boat.  Mommy and I both had salads for lunch.  It took a while to get to the zoo on the boat.  When we got there we saw most of the animals.

Three little piggies were sleeping and one wanted in!

Belly Flop polar style!

     Then we went up the ski lift to the rest of the zoo.  The zoo goes up a mountain so you can take a lift to get to the top or you can walk.  We took the lift to the top and then walked down so we could see more animals.  

The lift to the top of the zoo.

     For a snack at the zoo I got a wafer with sugar in the middle.  It was good.  



     After our fun at the zoo, we went back on the zoo boat to the hotel.  We had an early dinner so we could go on the Ghost Tour.  For dinner we went to V Zatisi, which was recommended by a friend.  It had a set menu and also a regular menu.  I picked the Indian menu.  First course I had was the mustard tandoori tiger prawns.  They were REALLY GOOD!!!!  My second course was tandoori chicken.  The third course was Indian lamb lime curry.  My dessert course was baked pineapple and pistachio ice cream.  It all was REALLLLLLLLLLLY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mommy had the V Zatisi degustation menu with four courses of fois gras, turbot, rack of lamb, and creme brulee.  She was very happy with her choices.  Since we had eaten so much good food, we were tired and never made it to the Ghost Tour.  We were able to get back to our hotel though and watch Eurovision!

     On our second day we went to the hotel restaurant and I had a sausage again with tea. I didn't let the sausage beat me this time!  After breakfast, Mommy and I went Old Town.  We saw a Starbucks and we were very happy.  There is no Starbucks in Oslo and Mommy really misses the coffee!  In Old Town we saw the Astronomical Tower. 

Prague's Astronomical Tower

 I thought it was very cool.  There was also a bridal gown photo shoot happening right in front of the Tower.  After we saw Old Town we went to the Powder Tower to meet a tour (the Assassination Tour).  I learned the number three Nazi was killed by an infection caused by a horse hair.  The horse hair ended up inside because some of the shrapnel came through the car seat.   We were there for the 70th anniversary of the assassination.  For dinner we went to Bellevue.  It is part of the same group as V Zatisi.  It also had fixed menus and regular menus.  My first course was homemade ravioli carbonara.  It had a liquid filling and was really good.  The second course was rack of lamb.  It was hard to get the meat off until I bit it.  It was really good too.  The third course was my dessert and I had a chocolate puck.  It was a puck shaped chocolate cake.  It was really good.  I don't remember what Mommy got for her courses, but she did get the tiramsu for dessert.  It was served in a fish bowl.

Mommy's fish bowl tiramsu!

     Our last day in Prague we got up before the hotel's restaurant opened so we went to Starbucks.  Mommy and I then went to the spa at the hotel and got foot massages with pepper peelings.  When the masseur massaged my feet, it tickled.  After the massages we went back to Old Town and went on a horse tour around Old Town and also had lunch.  We had lunch at an open market in the square.  I had pork from a stand that was grilling whole hogs.  Mommy got potato and ham salad.  The food was delish!  Then we went on a boat tour up and down the Vitava River that runs through Prague.   Our boat tour let us off near a really neat hotel and restaurant called Matylda.  It is a botel (boat and hotel) and we had snacks on the deck.  It is right near the Dancing House (aka Fred and Ginger Building).

Can you tell which is Ginger and which is Fred?

   After that we went back to the hotel and packed and then had dinner across the street at Platina.   I had lamb again (can you tell I really, really like lamb).  It was really good.  After dinner we went back to the hotel and waited for the cab.  This was a great way to end a great trip.

M...R...E...?

     How many of you have heard about an MRE?  The M stands for 'meal', R stands for 'ready', there is no t but if there were T would stand for 'to', and E stands for 'eat'.  All together that makes Meal Ready to Eat.  


     For my 11th birthday I got an MRE from a friend.  The main course was spaghetti and meat balls, the snack was bread (which was gross), the dessert was cherry blueberry cobbler.  There were also potato sticks and some sort of cheese spread (which looked so disgusting I couldn't bring myself to eat it.)  The MRE also had coffee, creamer, sugar, salt, two gum chicklets,  handi-wipe, toilet paper, Tobasco sauce, fruit punch, and a plastic spoon.  I brought my MRE to school for lunch two months after  I got it. Every one asked what it was and if they could try some.  Most thought the potato sticks were good.  My teacher ask if I was ready to go back to home cooked meals.  The spaghetti and meat balls tasted like a weight loss meal and the meat balls were the size of the top of my pinky (so basically very small meat balls).  The cobbler was good and didn't taste like a weight loss meal.  One friend asked if he could take the MRE packet home.  I said yes.  When I got home I made the fruit punch and then I fizzed it up.  The fruit punch dyed my top lip red!  


     I told my friend who gave it to me how much I liked it and he gave my another one.   He gave Aidan one too.  This time I got beef enchilada and Aidan got chicken and dumplings.  Aidan ate his MRE that night.  I'm going to bring my MRE for lunch when I go back to school after April vacation is over. 

This is what is in an MRE.

This is an MRE( not mine)     

Happy St. Patrick's Day

     So when most people hear happy St. Patrick Day they think of shamrocks, leprechauns, and green. Well, when I heard St. Patrick's Day I though of cookies.   Now I know that has nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day but I thought maybe I should make shamrock cookies for my class.  I did this because I thought my class would like a treat.  So on 15 March I made 54 shamrock cookies and brought them to class the next day. Turns out they LOVED them.  Some people asked if I would put the recipe on my blog.  So without further ado here is the recipe:


SPRITZ COOKIES (You need a cookie press to make the cookies)

1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 1/2 (14 ounces) cup all-purpose flour

colored sugar or sprinkles (optional)

1.     Preheat oven 200∘C . Beat  butter on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.  Add sugar, egg, and vanilla; beat well.  Add flour, 1 cup at a time; mix well. Dough will be soft; do not refrigerate.

2.    Using a medium sized spoon, fill a cookie press - fitted with disk of your choice - with dough.  Press dough onto flat baking stone or wax paper covered cookie sheet, 1 inch apart.  Decorate cookie with sugar or sprinkles, if you want.

3.    Bake 10-12 minutes or until firm but not brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking stone or cookie sheet; remove to nonstick cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough.

Enjoy!