Food means so much to my family, and to most families around the world. We store traditions in the food that we have, whether it’s $1 strawberry milkshakes at the diner in downtown Eagle Point, Oregon that I thought were huge as a kid, or pimento cheese that mom would make in big batches to bring to potlucks and Fourth of July family gatherings, or the nostalgic combo of a can of V8 and a Nature Valley granola bar that my dad stashed in his classroom and that I would munch on in kindergarten after school while I waited for him to finish grading before we walked home together. Food…
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Gluten Free Mexican Chocolate Cake
Chocolate may be able to stand on its own two legs just fine without any flavorings, but you’ve got to hand it to the Olmec, Aztecs, and Mayans for unlocking not only the fact that chocolate is, well, great, but producing the first fermented chocolate drinks and adding in complimentary notes like cinnamon, nutmeg, and chili. According to the good ol’ wikipedia, the Olmec were the first to turn the strangely-fruity cocoa beans (surrounded by a white fleshy pulp – which actually tastes great) into alcoholic drinks (good idea, Olmec) as early as 1750 BCE (a hell of a long time ago) around present-day Veracruz, Mexico. From that pivotal moment…
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Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
We may be late to the banana bread train (so many amazing loaves out there that we’ve seen during shelter in place), but it’s never too late for a good ol’ fashioned slice of this stuff. While I do adore traditional banana bread (who first thought “hey, I have a bunch of near-mush brown bananas, let’s put them in a quick bread!) and its roots in deeply homey, practical, and penny-wise baking, but there are a few twists that, for me, make some very excellent banana bread/cake. This particular recipe leans more towards cake than quick-bread (hence the nifty bundt pan instead of the loaf pan), and it’s hands down…
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Gluten Free Strawberry Lemonade Tiered Cake
Summers are for lemonade and sunblock and big, cloudless skies that seem to expose more of the world than in any other season. If you’re still stuck inside (or if you also live in San Francisco or various areas up in the PNW) then those big skies might still be a little out of reach, depending on your windows. But lemonade and sunblock are totally in-season, and anything that involves the two sounds like a plan for a great sun-soaked day. One positive adjustment that many folks seem to be making during shelter in place is a newfound love of parks. Now, it’s arguable whether your neighborhood 2×2 block green…
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Gluten Free Matcha Tres Leches Cake
My first big-city job in San Francisco, right out of my masters program, was the perfect chance for me to indulge in all of the cliche offerings of city life. After an 80 minute commute – an hour on the CalTrain (aka “nap time”) and a 20 minute walk up 8 long city blocks, I started frequenting the corner Starbucks to pick up what quickly became my absolute favorite drink: a grande matcha latte with coconut milk, lightly sweetened. I know, I know, complicated Starbucks order (another cliche I got to add to my list!), but it certainly made those sunrise wake ups and long commutes a bit sunnier as…
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Gluten Free Lemon Poppyseed Drizzle Cake with Lemon Glaze
After more than my share of work travel over the past few weeks, it’s been lovely to be in one timezone and one season for more than five days, and this one, the home one, has spring juuuuust about poking through the San Francisco fog. In a minor celebration of the single ray of sunshine that dared trouble Carl (if you’re from out of town/country, SF named its fog…), I decided that lemon was the word and poppyseeds might as well tag along. This fantastic combo isn’t new, but boy is the fluffiness and moistness (sorry) of this delightful gluten free lemon poppyseed drizzle cake making it’s debut on the…
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Gluten Fre Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars
These gluten free peanut butter & jelly bars are close to my heart. Quite literally, at the moment, they’re in my stomach. But more poetically, too – pb&j was my absolute favorite sandwich type in elementary school, so much so that I frequently made, brought, and ate TWO of them for lunch. It was always a thrill, crackling open the velcro lid of my 3rd grade lunch box to see a hefty tupperware squished full of whole grain seeded bread with thick layers of peanut butter and marionberry jam. Word to the wise, eating two pb&j sandwiches for lunch every day in 3rd grade can cause you to go off…
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Gluten Free Lamingtons for Australia Day
This recipe is bittersweet in light of the huge blow dealt by climate change to Australia and its animals, ecology, and people. Let this post be a a celebration of one of the most colorful, friendly, and wonderful countries and groups of people out there, and a digital hug from across the Pacific that might comfort those who’ve lost so much in the recent and ongoing fires and disastrous weather. Australia is dear to me for many reasons, not least of which is that Australia was the first country I traveled to outside of the US which left a cherished impact. When I was thirteen, I applied to be…
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Gluten Free Maple Hazelnut and Pear Upside Down Cake
If you’re like me, you’ve got two boxes of Harry & David’s “Fancy Gift Pears” sitting on your counter and you’ve already challenged your significant other to a competition for who can eat the most pear slices in one evening and there are still SO MANY PEARS LEFT. Thank you, mom, for these amazing pears, but what do we do with them now? We need to host a pear party. Or, look up recipes for pear desserts until inspiration strikes and you’re motivated enough to get off of the couch after work and toss this incredible cake in the oven. I promise you, it’s worth the effort. The main inspiration…
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Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cake Truffles
Ever develop a new recipe that you know will be a success, and then something goes terribly, horribly wrong? These truffles are the spiteful result of just that – though honestly, the only thing that was truly a disaster was the Italian buttercream frosting that I completely flubbed to top the chocolate peppermint cupcakes I had made. The cupcakes themselves were divine, the perfect mix of deep dark fudgey chocolate and crisp, winter peppermint that feels like candy canes and hot chocolate and everything lovely about the holidays. You’re more than welcome to make a dozen cupcakes out of the cake recipe below (or double it for a normal, two-dozen…
