It was my Birthday!

I'm so thankful that my husband was home for my birthday. Saturday was my birthday, and the day always seems much better when it falls on a weekend.

I started out the morning with a wonderful breakfast made by my hubby. He made gluten free waffles with GF Bisquick. I also had a mimosa, fresh fruit with dip, and coffee.

We enjoyed football appetizers during the MSU game. For this game we ate skinless, boneless chicken tenders and gluten free bagel chips with cheddar and bean dip.  I'll post more about this dip recipe on a later post. 

For dinner we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Las Canarias. I savored the food so much that didn't document all of the food with photos! But as usual, it was decedent and delicious. We ordered a three course meal with a wine pairing. This is me with my final course, one scoop of coffee ice cream and one scoop of pistachio gelato. 

 The handsome man who made the whole day of food possible!

I love getting free birthday desserts! Even after my ice cream, they brought out chocolate covered strawberries for me. Remember last year when we celebrated my birthday in Dallas? I enjoyed some gelato then!

After dinner we went to a musical at the Cameo Theater. We saw The Marvelous Wonderettes, which was about four girls in the 50s and 60s. Following the show, we had some drinks downtown.

We were able to meet up with some friends I made while Justin was deployed where we danced the night away.

Me & Kara

Welcome Home

After greeting my hubby at the airport (almost 3 weeks ago already!), I wanted to welcome him home with some surprises.

I bought flowers at Central Market, and I made my own floral arrangement. (Red, white, & blue flowers to be exact because I was trying to be patriotic.) I had wanted to get some star balloons too, but there is a helium shortage so I had to stick with just flowers.

I figured we would want to snack on some food before we ate a full meal so I prepared some tapas! I bought fresh mozzarella marinated in pesto, Boar's Head pepperoni, cheese & prosciutto stuffed cherry peppers, jalapeno stuffed olives, Columbus salami, and Colby jack cheese.

Of course we needed dessert too! I ordered an entire gluten free cake from Little Aussie. (We still have almost half of it saved in the freezer.) Our favorite is the tiramisu flavored sponge cake so that is what I bought.

GF Lemon Cupcake Balls

A few weeks ago, I purchased some gluten free cake mix at Marshall's. Shortly after buying the lemon mix, I decided to to make some cupcakes. I figured I could practice some of my long lost decorating skills from last summer. I followed the box directions, which didn't require too many extra added ingredients.

I'm sure it was user error, but for what ever reason when I poured the batter, some of the cupcake holders started to buckle a little. They made a little indent that didn't look nice. I was hoping when the cupcakes baked, the little dent would pop back out.

 No luck though, they stayed looking deformed.

So I decided to try plan B. I crumbled all the cupcakes in a bowl and mixed them with lemon cream cheese frosting that I made from the recipe on the box as well. I would like to mention that I did try a cupcake before I destroyed the evidence. It was a good tasting gluten free cupcake: moist and lemony.

After that I rolled the mixture into balls. Then I put them in the freezer until the next day when I was ready to coat them in white chocolate. You need to put them in the freezer so the crumbs don't mix in with the chocolate when you coat them.

Then came my second failure. When I was in Michigan I saw a cute little Crockpot-like chocolate dipper at a store. I thought to myself, how perfect! I have a Crock-Pot little dipper at home that I can use. Clearly, I did no research because I poured white chocolate chips in the pot and turned it on. I didn't add any liquid. Oops. The chocolate burned and never got liquidy. Luckily the cake balls were in the freezer so there was no rush to get them coated. I probably should've used candy coating chocolates or added some oil or shortening. 

The next day, I tried round two. I melted white chocolate chips in the microwave. I read the directions on the bag so that I wouldn't burn them in the microwave too. I decided to add a little oil, to make the chocolate a little smoother. I dipped the lemon cake balls into the chocolate with a spoon. It worked out okay; I feel like some had too much chocolate. Also, they don't look the prettiest but I'll take it for my first try. I have the Red Velvet Mix still and plan to attempt cake balls again. This time I will correct my mistakes. I also want to drizzle some chocolate or dip them in sprinkles to make them look a little cuter.

But I love the idea of cake balls or pops! They are smaller in size and I have been keeping mine in the freezer. Whenever a sweet tooth craving hits, I pull the container out for a minute and take one out. It is the perfect situation for me because then I don't feel like I have to devour 12 cupcakes in a week. Gluten free products are already more expensive, so keeping them in the freezer cuts out all the waste too.

Yummy Filled Donuts

While in Michigan, my mom's co-worker told her about a store in Rochester Hills called Celiac Specialties. My mom insisted that we check it out since it's really not that far from my parent's house. I looked at the website before to see if anything caught my eye. I'm glad I did because I saw donuts filled with jelly and custard on the site. I haven't come across any filled donuts since being gluten free, so I was excited about the prospect to try some. When I went to the store, I couldn't find them but I asked a worker about them. She didn't have any out but went and found some in the back! I was happy that I looked at the website before because I could've totally missed out on these donuts. I picked out two raspberry filled donuts and two custard filled donuts. 

They came frozen which is nice because then you don't have to worry about eating them all at once. I pulled out one of each flavor and put them in the refrigerator the day before I wanted to eat them. The powdered sugar comes on the side, which makes sense because of them being sold frozen.

I just dabbed powdered sugar all over and felt like I did a decent job. Doesn't it look like a regular gluten filled donut?

A gluten free jelly filled donut! The donut was a delightful treat that I usually don't consume. The dough had an airiness to it, but was soft and had a good consistency. I thought these were a good reproduction for a donut.

The custard filled donut came with chocolate frosting on the side.

 I didn't do the best job of frosting this one. Ok, it looks pretty pathetic, but it's more about flavor than looks!


The chocolate and the custard was the perfect pair. I don't think I can say I liked one flavor better than the other. The two kinds I picked were different, yet I enjoyed each equally. I recommend these donuts and look forward to eating more in the future!

Their croissant rolls are also highly recommended. I brought some to Wisconsin where Kristen and I made some great turkey and ham sandwiches from them.

Smart Cookies

Since yesterday I posted about my Wisconsin stop on my visit north, I decided to write about another dessert my grandma made for Kristen and me. I have no idea where she found this recipe, obviously a magazine. These peanut butter cookies only contained four ingredients: chunky peanut butter, brown sugar, an egg, and baking soda. I think if you click on the picture, it will get bigger if you want to read the directions. Basically you mix it all together and bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes!

I think hers looked just like the ones in the magazine. These cookies were more on the crunchy side, but the wonderful flavor of PB is what makes them great! I will have to try to make them on my own. Another bonus for celiacs and non-celiacs who like to bake for someone with the disease, is that they don't require an expensive flour. They are flour-less!

Wisconsin - Favorite Things

Before we drove back to Texas, my mom, dad, Iivana, and I went to visit my grandparents in Wisconsin for a few days. It's almost been 2 years since I was diagnosed with celiac disease and when I go to visit my grandma and grandpa I am pleasantly surprised at what they've done to accommodate my dietary needs.

1. Schaum Torte

One of my favorite desserts that my grandma makes is called schaum torte. It's been a favorite of mine even before I was diagnosed with celiac disease, so I'm excited that it is a dessert that I can still indulge in. It is basically a meringue, but I think it is more fluffy and marshmallow-like. When my grandma makes it, I don't think she even uses a recipe. I was searching for recipes on the Internet to post, in case others were interested in making it. I think this one seemed close to what I remember of hers because I've made it with her when I was younger. Although I don't think she uses vinegar, but she does the second method cooking option like the recipe suggests where you preheat the oven and then turn it off after a couple minutes and allow the torte to cook for hours. Mine pictured below is topped in strawberries and whipped topping. I came across this lemon schaum torte recipe that I thought looked interesting to try to make in the future.

2. Chicken Rice Soup
Every time we would make the drive from Michigan to Wisconsin for as long as I can remember, when we would arrive my grandma would have homemade chicken rice soup ready for us for lunch. She normally uses bullion in her recipe, which contains wheat; but she makes a special batch for Kristen and me that doesn't use it. Mmm, I always try to replicate her soup, but hers is always the best.

3. Wisconsin Brick Cheese
These are my favorite Wisconsin things all wrapped into one trip! Because what is a trip to dairy land without cheese. We always buy brick cheese, which is a treat because we can't really find it other places outside of Wisconsin. It's a light, buttery tasting cheese which means you can eat slice after slice. I brought a couple pounds of it back to Texas with me!

More Goods from Vince & Joe's

When my sister, Kristen was in town this past weekend, we went to Vince & Joe's together. She showed me the freezer section where they now keep many of their gluten free baked goods. It was after lunch time, so we decided to split a gluten free pizza.

It was pre-made and packaged in a metal pan with a bag around it. It was convenient to be in the metal pan because we could cook in directly in the pan.

We followed the directions on the back of the package but thought it needed some more time in the oven. Kristen and I were rather hungry and not very patient. It was cooked, although we thought the center wasn't very crispy. It could've used more time and probably would've tasted better using a pizza stone. Plus, the pizza was only 5.49, I believe.

We couldn't pass up dessert either, so we agreed on a gluten free carrot cake. It was in the same kind of pan that the pizza came in and also in the freezer section.

We kept in the fridge so it would thaw until we were ready to indulge during the weekend.

After dinner on Sunday we eat had a slice and shared with the family. We are avid fans of their carrot cake, so this was not our first one. It was moist and full of nuts and raisins. There was a spice flavor that was nicely complemented with the cream cheese frosting.

Vince & Joe's

Updating from Michigan.

Last week I decided to check out Vince & Joe's, which is a market that has quite a few gluten free items. I wandered through out the store, mostly browsing. They have a wonderful selection of baked gluten free goods; however, I couldn't find the cake section. They must have moved it since I was there last, remember my Favorite Things - Michigan post from last summer. I decided to purchase these butterscotch macadamia cookies.

I ate all the cookies by myself! I liked the fact that they were a thicker cookie which was soft in the the middle. I know I've said it, but I'll say it again: I'm not the biggest fan of crunchy cookies. I love butterscotch, but usually don't like nuts in my cookies. However, the combination was perfect for me. The butterscotch flavor was present in all bites and the nuts weren't overbearing. 

Now, Cape Cod chips are not new to me. They are often part of my lunch or a go to snack in out house. I knew they came out with the 40% less fat Aged Cheddar and Sour Cream flavor a while back, but I couldn't find them in Texas. I was pleasantly surprised to find them at Vince & Joe's. This flavor didn't disappoint either, I think it fell in the same quality category as the rest of the chips that Cape Cod makes. I think they were more Cheddar-y than Sour Creamy though.

Gluten Free!

I'm sure I'll be making another trip to Vince & Joe's soon.

Traveling, Birthday, & Food

Well, we hung around the hotel while they fixed the van. Iivana enjoyed looking out the window at the hotel.

She especially liked laying in the bed.

We had a late start on Thursday due to the fixing of the van tire, and spent the night in Indiana. We arrived in Michigan on Friday, July 6, my hubby's birthday. I was even able to Skype with him! I sent him a package for his birthday that included a microwaveable brownie packet in a mason jar with a candle. The brownie mix is gluten free, Pamela's individual packets.

I also filled the package with balloons, an idea I saw on Pinterest. In each balloon, I included money or a note. Apparently I didn't keep track of the money and only sent him $11. His co-workers wondered if there was a significance to the number 11. (No, just a zany wife!)

For dinner on Friday, we enjoyed some Carlo's Pizza, a local place right by my parent's house.

Of course my pizza was gluten free. I ordered mine with mushrooms and green peppers. The crust was thinner, but tasted decent. It must not have been too bad, because I ate half of my pizza for dinner.

Iivana has been adjusting to my parent's house. She has more room to roam around, so we've been trying to think of ways to contain her. She managed to squeeze through the chairs anyways. She is loving all the attention from my mom and dad.

And now I'm brought to today. Sipping on Biggby coffee, I was working on comps for my master's most of the day. They are due tomorrow! Hopefully this will mean more regular updates in my future.