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Archive for August, 2007

Sheri on Aug 31st 2007 Breads, Breakfast, Hairdroppers

Tropical (un)Wholesome Goodness

I am in a mood.

Imagine that.

I have been a good girl all week with the non-smoking thing. I have not had a drag. Not that I haven’t thought about it. But I know that if I take one drag, it’s all over.

And it’s Labor Day weekend! Three days of busting butt at the barn (nice alliteration, huh?). We are one month from opening weekend and I am starting to get nervous.

Now, if the pictures I post below aren’t there, I will fix it. Someone (-cough-TheMan-cough, cough-) neglected to pay the phone bill so I can’t get at my Flickr account. Should be rectified shortly, and I will replace the pictures when I can get at them.

Let’s see. What else is new, since my mind is on what’s cooling on the counter right now. Oh yes. A new puppy shot for you…
And here’s what’s on my countertop, calling my name…

Banana Coconut Muffins
Adapted from a recipe on Epicurious

2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup butter, melted (I seem to be on a roll for high-fat recipes lately)
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a regular muffin tin or mini-muffin tin and set aside.

Sift together the flours, xanthan gum, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, egg, bananas, sugar, vanilla, and coconut. Fold in the flour mixture until the flour is just moistened.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Bake until lightly browned, about 17 minutes for mini-muffins and 25 minutes for regular-sized muffins.

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Sheri on Aug 27th 2007 BS

I’ve been tagged…

Jean from Gluten Free Organics tagged me for a meme that’s been floating around. Here goes:

The rules for this meme are:

1. Let others know who tagged you.

2. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.

3. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.

4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

So. Eight random facts about me. Geez.


Un. I was painfully shy until I started tending bar at the age of 24. Yes, shy, believe it or not.

Deux. I am a book-a-holic. Between what I have stored upstairs on bookshelves and also in the basement, I bet I have well over 5,000 around here. And they’ve all been read more than once.

Trois. I took 4 years of French in high school and another year in college, which taught me that I didn’t learn shit in French class during high school. I still remember bits and pieces and if you give me a little time, I can still translate on paper. I gave up a chance to go to France in order to buy my first professional-model flute.

Quatre. If I don’t get a nap on my days off of work, I get very surly.

Cinq. The animals run my life. Oh wait. You already knew that.

Six. I will search out the bargain every time, except when it comes to food. Then, I splurge.

Sept. Most days, I just don’t wanna get out of bed. It’s nice and snuggly warm there with the zoo.

Huit. I feel goofy trying to come up with 8 things you don’t know.

And now, I tag…

Well, hell. Everyone I had listed here has already been tagged. So if you’re a gluten-free blogger that hasn’t done this meme yet, consider yourself tagged.

3 responses so far

Sheri on Aug 26th 2007 Breakfast, Sweets

I see a weight gain coming on

I quit smoking yesterday at noon. Since then, I have been wearing a nioctine replacement patch and trying to keep busy. One of the things I do when stressed is cook. I hope I don’t eat everything in sight while gaining control over my nicotine cravings. Just in case, I bought some baby carrots to chomp on.

But still, I baked this morning. Here’s another family recipe converted to gluten free.

Cherry Almond Coffeecake

For the cake:

3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
8 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

For the filling:

1 can cherry pie filling
1/4 tsp almond extract

For the topping:

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9×9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

In a bowl, combine these cake ingredients: brown rice flour, tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, salt, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the vanilla, egg and milk; mix well with a spoon. Add the melted butter and beat well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spread evenly, and set aside.

Combine all of the topping ingredients in a small bowl (I use my fingers for this). Sprinkle half of the topping over the cake batter and set the rest aside. Sprinkle the almonds on top of the topping.

In yet another bowl, combine the cherry pie filling and almond extract. Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the topping. Finally, sprinkle the remaining topping over the top of the cherries.

Bake for about 60 minutes - the top will be golden brown. Let cool for 15 minutes befure cutting.

2 responses so far

Sheri on Aug 25th 2007 gluten-free-ness

Baking for Bette

Sea at Book of Yum is hosting a GF blog event in honor of Bette Hagman, a pioneer in the world of gluten-free cooking and baking. I have two submissions for this event.

When I first started toying with the idea of being gluten free last summer, I did what I always do - research on the web and get some books to read. I started my quest with Amazon and, in entering the words “gluten free” in the search engine and selecting cookbooks, all of Bette’s books popped up. Because there were so many of them, I figured that she knew what she was doing and ordered two, “The Gluten Free Gourmet” and “The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy.” When they got here, I did what I always do with a new cookbook - read it through from cover to cover, marking what I thought I might like to try. There were lots of multi-colored post-its sticking out from the margins. She is the one that told me that yes, I could be gluten free and not miss a thing.

As I gained confidence in my GF baking skills, Bette’s books stayed on the shelf more and more often because I got away from the whole flour mix thing. However, there are 2 recipes in “The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy” that I go back to time and time again. These two recipes are pictured below…

Brownie Pie - chocolate decadence for a chocoholic like me

Cheese Crackers - because who doesn’t love a cheesy cracker?

If you have this book and haven’t tried these two recipes yet, do. They’re simple and oh so tasty.

And Bette (see Sheri waving to the finally-blue skies above), thank you for all your hard work from those of us that benefit most. You will be missed.

2 responses so far

Sheri on Aug 21st 2007 Hairdroppers

I needs me one of these

In my inbox this morning was a link to this…

Somebody out there loves me.

I gots to get me one of these. I just need to figure out how to connect it to my kitchen sink cold water line and drain instead of a toilet. I have moved the litter box on my boys once before and will NEVER NEVER NEVER do it again. I learned my lesson.

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Sheri on Aug 19th 2007 Main Dishes

At long last…meatloaf

Cravings can be a horrible thing. They badger and wheedle and whine at you until you give in…or figure out how to give in.

The family meatloaf recipe uses oatmeal. Oatmeal. Well, hell. I haven’t gotten to the point yet where I am willing to spend big dough on GF oatmeal, especially since I used it so rarely in my gluten days. So, do I use bread crumbs to replace the oatmeal? Rice crackers? Oh, the dilemma.

Mom and Dad put ketchup on the top of their meatloaf. The Man and I prefer cream of mushroom soup, but the GF kind I appear to have bought stock in (I have 2 cases in the basement, people) is looser than the old Campbell’s kind. So, did I want to use that? Hm.

Here is what I ended up with. This is the family recipe with my original tweaks, along with the switch-out. Feel free to actually use GF oatmeal if you have any.

I used the cream of mushroom soup. Served tonight with smashed baby red potatoes with sour cream and chives and scalloped corn.



Sheri’s GF Meatloaf

1 pound ground meat (I used ground sirloin, but you can also use ground chuck, turkey, chicken…)
3/4 cup cooked white rice (or oatmeal)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup tomato juice**
1 beaten egg
Your preferred topping (ketchup, cream of mushroom soup, whatever)0

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients gently as to not overwork the meat (it will become tough); I use my hands. Push the mix into a ball and remove from the bowl, placing it on a jelly roll pan or other baking dish with sides. Shape into a loaf and then place into the oven.

The meatloaf needs to bake for an hour and fifteen minutes for beef (internal temp of 160 degrees). Thirty minutes into baking, pour your topping on and return to the oven.

When done, remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.


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