While I've gotten pretty damn good at converting gluten recipes to gluten free, I've neglected the creative side of me that comes up with recipes on the fly.  Ain't no time like the present to start working on that.

I have crammed myself into a pretty small space.  So small that 90% of my cookbooks and prized baking pans are in boxes and totes.  Only the essentials were unpacked into my teeny tiny kitchen.  The dishwasher isn't even being used for its intended purpose…it's storage.

I had to work with ingredients I could actually FIND.  Along with equipment and utensils that I could actually FIND.  It took some digging, but I found my favorite cookie scoop.  And since it's the holiday season, here's another cookie for the gluten-free cookie tray.

There's something heart-warming about snickerdoodles.  The name can make a person giggle; the scent of cinnamon and sugar wafts from the warm oven.  This is not a treat I recall my mother making; in fact, I don't think I had one until I moved to Illinois.  This recipe is exactly how I like them, a little crispy on the outside, a little chewy on the inside.  Not bad for a woman dealing with a sinus infection, bronchitis, and a cantankerous elderly feline who wants to bestow his hair upon my cookie dough.

Speaking of bronchitis, I'm not sure how codeine affects you.  I do know it knocks some people out.  Me, not so much.  It makes me goofy as hell.  When my GP prescribed it, I knew the evening was going to be interesting.

As I was sitting in the doctor's office, waiting for my prescriptions…

A few hours later, sitting at home…

I should have called my internet company and asked them to temporarily disconnect me.  But nooooooooo.  I left the internet open to my drug-induced brand of crazy.

I do admit that I slept really well that night.  And apparently my little ditty made platinum.

Anyway.

Crispy/chewy snickerdoodles.  Since it's now just me and the hairdroppers, with the odd visitor or ten, I don't need to produce the copious amounts of holiday goodies that kept me in the kitchen for weeks.  For anything I've made this year, I cut the recipe at least in half.  After all, if it's here, I will eat it.  And that could end up really, really bad.

Crispy Chewy Snickerdoodles

Makes 18 cookies

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup millet flour

1 tsp xanthan

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

3/4 + 1/3 cups sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, xanthan, and baking powder.  In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until creamed.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat again.  Pour the flour mixture into the butter mixture and stir until well combined.  The dough will be somewhat crumbly; if it won't stick together, add a drop or two of water, but don't go overboard so it looks like a gluten dough.

Mush (technical term, you know) the dough together into a ball, encase it in plastic wrap, and pop it in the fridge for an hour or two.  The dough for the cookies you see here actually hung out in the fridge for two weeks because I was too ill to do anything with it.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment.  Mix the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

I prefer to use a scoop for uniformity, but you can certainly use whatever you want to shape the cookies…a tablespoon, your fingers, whatever.  However you choose to do so, divide the dough into 18 fairly equal pieces and roll them into balls.  Roll each ball in the cinnamon/sugar mixture before placing them on the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for about 12 minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the pan before moving to a wire rack.

I never believed in divorce.  I believed that marital vows were forever and you worked problems out.

I didn't think I'd be "that person" in a bad marital situation.

Over the last eight months, the "stable" home life I lived became utterly intolerable.  Through much soul-searching and prayer, I made a decision I never dreamed I'd make.  For reasons I will not go into here, I ultimately filed for divorce.  I moved out about six weeks ago to a temporary home until the townhouse I am buying goes through the short sale process.

In that six weeks, I've noticed some changes.  For example, food had become a means to an end for me – I cooked because I had to eat. Now, when I walk in the door after work or when I wake up on the weekend, I rub my hands together in glee that I get to create.  

I had stopped singing for the joy of it.  No jitterbugging around the kitchen to Stevie Nicks while I cooked.  Laughter was hard to come by.

I simply closed down.  To protect myself, I think.

Now?  Tunes are rocking all the time.  I sing at the top of my lungs.  I cook.  I bake.  I am happy.  I have found a measure of peace.  I feel like me again.  Recipe scribbles are showing up on scraps of paper.  This is the beginning of the rest of my life and I intend to start as I mean to go on.

Stay tuned.

Just think – if you attend the Gluten and Allergen-Free Expo next weekend, you could witness possible acts of awkwardness perpetuated by yours truly.  C'mon…it'll be fun! 

Happy Easter, everyone.  I sincerely hope that no one has coma-ed themselves with chocolate.  I was smart this year and tempered the chocolate fix with a little peanut butter.  However, my poor body hasn't eaten this many bad carbs in I don't know how long (this is all my fault as I cooked) and it's not amused.

This past week was the first in a monthly spree of weeks off of work.  I actually have enough time accumulated that after scheduling a week's vacation every month through the rest of the year, I'll still have almost 3 weeks left unused.

Gotta like that.

So.  Like I said, vacation last week.  Naturally, this meant rain, wind, and cold pretty much the entire week.  And when there's rain, wind and cold, I'm in pain.  Much of the time was spent reading while cuddled up on a blanket under the couch…  Wait.  Strike that – reverse it.  We had no tornado sirens that I recall, so I would not have jammed myself under the incliners, I don't think.

Although I did discover a mysterious 4" bruise on my left thigh this morning.  Maybe I stuffed myself under the loveseat in my sleep.

We did have fairly decent weather one day – Thursday, I think it was. And by fairly decent, I mean the sun actually showed itself for longer than a millisecond.  I was so happy to see the sun that I fell straight into stupid.

Since I was cooped up, so was The Gidge.  She and I began a game of fetch in the house; if I park myself at the far end of the living room to chuck the ball down the hallway and into the second bedroom, her little legs can get a good run going.  We did this for a few minutes before she decided to channel me and be a smartass, refusing to drop the ball.  So I chased her around a bit.  In the living room, this is fine.  We have carpet.  However, the tard dashed into the dining room and kitchen.  Where we installed laminate flooring a few years ago, as you may recall.

If I don't have shoes on, I wear slippers or socks with rubber-grippy-things on them, because of the laminate.  For some unknown reason, on Thursday morning, I had put on a pair of footie socks and did not remember to add the slippers.

The Gidge, for all her 12 pounds and short shih tsu legs, is a fast little shit when she wants to be.  Without considering my footwear situation, I chased her out of the bedroom, down the hall, into the living room (where we ran around the coffee table a few times because that's how she rolls), and….onto the laminate.  In socks.  Running.  On.  Laminate.  Socks.  Bad.

Did you know that laminate flooring and socks don't get along?

By the time I got past the table and slid into the open area, while The Gidge watched from the vicinity of the back door, ball in mouth, it was too late to stop.  But I tried, so I didn't end up faceplanting into the cabinets or microwave.  I grabbed for the counter across from the fridge.  Which stopped the upper part of my body pretty well.

My feet – not so much.  Hello splits.  Owie.

The Gidge thought this was part of the game.  There I was on the floor, hands still clamped around the counter edge, undecided if I should laugh or cry, and she trotted over, dropped the ball by my right foot, and barked twice.

Yeah, I'll get right on that, dog.  After you help me get my ass off the floor.

After the sun went away again (it was nice while it lasted), I curled up on the couch once more, played some idiotic Facebook games, and considered the fact that I wanted cake.  Cake, you know, is the only thing that matters.  Cake makes everything better and I needed some better after that stunning display.  I knew it must somehow be chocolatey and peanut butter wouldn't hurt.

These were Easter dessert.  I've already eaten two…on top of rolls, scalloped corn, and mashed potatoes.  I'm going to have to do 1,200 miles on the treadmill to work this carb overload off.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

1/4 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup millet flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 arrowroot flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 egg

2 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.

Stir together all of the dry ingredients (including the chocolate chips) in a medium bowl.  In a large bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.  Fill the liners in the prepared pan about 2/3s full.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.  Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

The Gluten and Allergen-Free Expo is coming up….April 29th through May 1st in Lisle, Illinois.  This is a pretty cool thing to attend – over 70 gluten-free vendors will be there, some of our fave bloggers will be doing presentations, there are cooking classes…  It's a great opportunity to try before you buy!

And since I'm going on Saturday, you just might get to see me.  And isn't that special.

So who else is going?

I recently took my Buick Rainier in for an oil change.  I was sitting there minding my own business, playing some stupid game on my phone, when a service tech came in and pulled me off to the side.  The water pump was leaking – $100 deductible to fix thanks to my ridiculously expensive extended warranty.  However, shit that actually affects the safety of the vehicle – namely the passenger side air bag malfunction they were also checking out – that wouldn't be covered by said ridiculously expensive extended warranty.  Nor does the warranty cover the faulty sensor that causes the heat to work intermittently.  Total cost to replace two little pieces of plastic?  $2,000.00.  I passed on the $2,000.00 in repairs temporarily until I can call the warranty people and nag them into covering the issues. 

I walked through the doors of the local mall and slowly wandered through store that sold women's clothing and shoes.  SHOES.  Oh, I love shoes.  Especially crazy high heel shoes.  For some reason, I feel the need to…um…augment…my vertically-challenged body by torturing my feet with hooker shoes and boots.  What do I consider to be hooker footwear?  Anything that has a heel 4 1/2" or higher and a skinny heel. 

I decided that I was now on a mission to find sassy clothes to go dancing in…specifically a new pair of shoes (so I can practice tripping and falling) and a pencil skirt.

Since I moved to Illinois 13 years ago, the only time I've been able to dance the way I like to dance is at weddings (unless you count when I'm cooking, because I'm usually dancing too).  If you ever run into me on the dance floor, you'll want to stay clear – not because I'm going to fall on you (although the possibility does exist if I'm wearing hooker shoes) – but because my hips seem to disconnect from the rest of my body and do their own thing.  At a friend's wedding last year, a guy walked up to me on the floor and said if I ever wanted to quit my job, I could make a mint as a stripper because I've got "the moves."   I guess there was one advantage to my first apartment in college being above a stripper's apartment, because I had an unusual opportunity to…uh…learn.  Then if you consider the years I bartended at a dance club…

After trying on what felt like eleven thousand pairs of shoes and forty billion skirts, I found what I felt would work.  Maybe.  But, oh my God.  I know pencil skirts are supposed to be tight so your stride is shortened and you kind of mince around.  But I don't like going out in public wearing yoga pants without a shirt hanging down over my butt, and I'm thinking about wearing this skirt? Made out of stretchy stuff?  I finally asked a friend to tell me what she thought (her opinion was not too tight, and she'd know).  I'm still going back and forth about wearing this thing without a burka.  These really cool hooker shoes would still be visible, right?

But I digress.

After arriving home, I took a look at the receipt from the car dealership.  The service tech made sure to note how much the two little "big" repairs were going to cost.

And then he gave me a senior citizen discount.  A.  SENIOR.  CITIZEN.  DISCOUNT.  Umm….According to my birth certificate, I'm 39.  No gray hair (that's visible anyway, and it's going to stay that way until I die), no wrinkles (that I claim).  So WTF?

Hmmmph.

Anyway.

I actually got lucky the first time out on this latest recipe, which almost never happens to me when it comes to bread.  Usually I have to dump at least gelatinous lump in the trash before I get edible results.  So yay me.

I have never liked that nasty spongy white bread in the grocery stores; Mom always got our bread from a local bakery so I always knew what good bread was.  As I got older, I got totally away from white bread altogether after discovering the taste and texture of multigrain and other specialty breads.  One bread I've been missing is oatmeal bread.  I've had some chickenscratched notes for a while now but hadn't felt like creating yet another bread failure.  Not this time!

Crusty crust, soft and slightly sweet interior.   Yum.  Make yourself a sandwich – I sure did.

Oatmeal Bread

1 cup milk (I used skim because it's all I ever have in the house)

1/2 cup gluten-free oats

3/4 cup warm water

1 tbsp active dry yeast

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp grapeseed oil (use canola if you don' t have/can't get grapeseed)

1 egg

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup millet flour

1/4 amaranth flour

2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp kosher salt

Eggwash and more dry oatmeal (if desired)

Heat the milk until hot, but not boiling, either in a microwave or a saucepan on the stove.  Remove from the heat source and stir in the oats.  Set aside to cool.

In a stand mixer bowl, add the yeast, 1 tsp of the honey, and the warm water.  Allow the yeast to bloom, then add the rest of the honey, the grapeseed oil, and the oatmeal mixture and combine.

In another bowl, stir together the brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca flour, cornstarch, millet flour, amaranth flour, xanthan gum and salt.

With the mixer set on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.  Use a rubber scraper to scrape all the flour off the sides of the bowl.  Continue to beat until all the flour is incorporated.  While the mixer is running, prepare a loaf pan (I use a 4×8 pan but use what you have) with cooking spray or more of the grapeseed oil.  Pour the bread dough into the pan and cover it with a piece of plastic wrap that has been lightly coated with cooking spray.  Place the pan in a warm place to rise for 60 minutes.

When the dough has risen, heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Remove the plastic wrap and place the pan in the oven.  Bake for 30 minutes; bring the bread out of the oven, brush it with egg wash, sprinkle with oatmeal, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing the bread from the pan and placing it on a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.

OK.  We all know I'm a klutz except when I'm rocking in the kitchen. To give you some background, I almost went flat on my face about 3:30 this morning because of a dog toy.  Because that's how I roll.

I've kind of been a good girl about my 2011 intentions and kicking my own ass.  For example, this past Sunday I cranked out 45 minutes on the treadmill, at 4 miles an hour, full incline.  For those of you that know me well, this actually had the potential to be a HUGE. DISASTER.  Because I trip over air.  And when you trip over air, damn-near running on motorized equipment on bad knees and ankles installed on runty legs such as mine is just asking for trouble.  From there, I hit the TG for squats, butterflies, and a bunch of other evil exercises designed to get rid of the double wave my arms have going on and get my ass off my knees.  Disaster, however, was averted.

Fast forward to Tuesday, 6:15 AM.  Not so much luck this time with the disaster avoidance. 

Yoga pants?  Check.  Tank top?  Check.  Hair out of the way?  Check.  This is important later in the story, so make a note.

The tushie was little sore from Sunday, so I left the treadmill incline all the way up, but dropped the pace down to 3.5 mph and only did 20 minutes.  Moving to the Total Gym, I only did 2 reps of 20 instead of 3 on all my bottom half  torture.  I set the machine up for my last exercise of the morning – squats.  [I started doing these (and then slacked off) when I was diagnosed with osteoporosis because bones like weight-bearing exercise and the stairs to our basement quite frankly scare me (I'm gonna fall down 'em, I just know it).]  Anyway, I slide the thingy on the machine all the way up, pinching my thumb in the process, but that's nothing out of the ordinary 'round here.  I laughed at The Gidge, who was barking the walls down because she hates all this machinery, and neglected to disconnect the pulley system.

You may already know where this is going if you've looked at my latest photo under "The Lunatics" tab on this site.  See how long my hair is?  On this particular day, I pulled it back into a simple braid and left it hanging. 

Yeah, you know where this is going.  Cuz we're talking about me.

TG at full incline, wing accessory at the bottom of the sliding board.  Pulley NOT disconnected.  Me on my back on the board.  Push…whimper….push….whine….push…. (wait for it)

OWWWWWWWWWWW!  SH**DAMNFU**INGHELL!  This was what came out of my mouth when I pushed the board toward the top of the TG the third time…and MY BRAID GOT CAUGHT IN THE PULLEY.

People, I swear to God I should not be left to my own devices.  Give me a computer, fancy cell phone, software, saw, hammer, broken garbage disposal, plugged plumbing, or a cordless drill (unless I'm expected to drill through 1/4" plywood with the biggest bit – I have proved that I can give myself a concussion doing this and there were witnesses) and I am pretty dang competent.  But anything having to do with my body?  Better wrap my ass in Charmin because there are bruises comin'.

Laughing so hard I almost wet my fave yoga pants, I planted my feet on the floor and slowly let the board back down until my head was straight and I could carefully work my hair out of my latest graceful move.  The Gidge was barking the whole time and I had tears rolling.  Baby just looked at me like he always does – you know, the "this human is beneath me" cat look – before using his litter box and making the whole scene complete. 

Well, not quite.

I got a grip on the giggles, took a drink of water, and went back to my squats AFTER putting my braid into a bun and…you guessed it…disconnecting the pulley.  When I finished,  I let myself slide all the way down to the floor to calm the spastic dog.  I sat for a few minutes petting her, then tried to get up.  Ladies and gentlemen, this movement was a FAILURE.  Go figure – too much with the dancing in hooker shoes and plies and squats and the treadmill ass-beating on my out-of-shape self left my thigh and hip muscles under mutiny.  I finally dragged myself off the floor and got ready for work, but every time I had to get out of my office chair that day was a rather unpleasant experience.  I actually considered just rolling around the building in my chair, but I figured I would find a way to dump myself onto the floor…and me without a "help-I've-fallen-and-I-can't-get-up" button.

Good times.  I'm such a knob.

How does this lead into today's recipe?  I don't have the first clue yet I'm sure it will come to me shortly.  But you have to admit that was funny and we all know I'm all good with poking at my sore spots with a stick.  Now onward to the real reason we're here.

DoDoDoDo….DoDoDooooo….DoDoDoDoDut…DoDoDoDoDo…  Ah, the elusive connection no longer hides from me.

I grew butternut squash in my garden last year for the first time.  I had way too many of them to eat all by my lonesome, so I roasted what I couldn't eat, pureed and froze it.  I got a bunch of pie pumpkins from the farm and did the same thing.  So I have frozen gourd goo coming out my ass.  Perhaps I should have considered stacking them under my ass last fall rather than shoving them up so I wouldn't have to bust those muscles, but then I wouldn't have been able to entertain you with yet another tale about my unparalleled skill for self-inflicted damage.

Aaaaaaannnnnnnnd there's your connection.

Ahhh…pumpkin.  I love me some pumpkin.  I put it in muffins and cakes and pies.  I put it in my morning oatmeal with currants and chopped, unpeeled apple.  I put it in cupcakes.  I put it in risotto.  I roast it and put it in vegetarian lasagna.  But until today, I hadn't put it in a cookie.  So here we are.  Drizzle them with a simple powdered sugar/milk icing, slather them with cream cheese, eat them naked…whatever floats your boat.

Sometimes accidents are awesome; when I did my first test cookie after whipping up the batter, I was a tad horrified by the height and texture (not so much a cookie as we'd think of one).  But they quickly grew on me as they are.  Considerably cakier than anticipated, I'm thinking that I may be eating some for breakfast while I watch my ass creep back toward my knees.

Pumpkin Puff Cookies

Adapted from The Vault

3/4 cup brown rice flour

3/4 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup millet flour

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 teff flour

2 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree (DON'T USE PIE FILLING!)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir together the brown rice flour, tapioca flour, millet flour, potato starch, xanthan, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.  In a large bowl (and a hand mixer) or stand mixer bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the pumpkin, egg, applesauce, and vanilla.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until fully mixed.

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared pans.  I use my trusty baby ice cream scoop for this (spray it with cooking spray first).  If you don' t like the rustic look I have going here, feel free to slightly flatten the tops before placing in the oven.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cookies comes out clean.  Let the cookies stand for a minute or two before moving them to a cooling rack to finish the process.  Ice them or leave them plain; they're excellent either way.

Next on Just Not Dinner….Another recipe and maybe a conversation about my latest hooker shoes, the slut skirt and my plans for both.

Holy old nuts, is it cold today.  For those of us that reside in the Midwest, today's temperature is just adding insult to injury.  But hey, I've got blueberry buckle so it's all good.  Until I have to go outside, that is.

I was sitting in this very spot last night, playing Facebook games, reading, working and working on a project for my photoshop certification course (how's that for multi-tasking!).  For some reason, I started thinking about the blueberries in my freezer.  I have a totally awesome neighbor that shares her bounty with me each summer.  Other than tomatoes, we don't plant the same vegetables in our garden on purpose.  That way, we can exchange whatever for whatever or give extras.  She gives me cucumbers; I give her zucchini.  That sort of thing.  There's a pretty great pick-your-own blueberry farm not too far from here, but I can never seem to get there myself.  So she always gives me a few quarts of what she picks when she goes.

Anyway.

I sorted through the piles of recipes in The Vault and ended up taking bits from a few, trying to find something tasty that wasn't going to take a ton of effort (after all, it was 9 PM already).  It didn't "buckle" as much as I'd like, but it's damn tasty.  It's breakfast…it's dessert…it's whatever you want it to be.

Blueberry Buckle

For the cake:

3/4 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup amaranth flour

1/4 cup potato starch

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups blueberries

For the topping:

1/3 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 2-quart baking dish with nonstick spray.

Combine the dry cake ingredients in a mixer bowl (3/4 cup white rice flour, tapioca flour, amaranth flour, potato starch, xanthan, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon).  Give it a quick stir, then add the 1/4 cup of butter pieces.  Turn the mixer on low and allow it to mix until the ingredients resemble small crumbs.In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and vanilla.  Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients.  Mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.  Patiently spread the dough evenly out to the corners of the pan.  Sprinkle evenly with the blueberries.

In another bowl, mix the topping ingredients (1/3 cup white rice flour, sugar and cinnamon) quickly, then add the remaining 1/4 cup of butter pieces.  Cut the butter in using a pastry blender or fork, until crumbly.  Sprinkle the topping over the blueberries.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean of cake (the blueberry goo will stick, of course).

Dear Mother Nature,

Please stop.  Momma put a hundred thousand layers of clothes on me and I.  Don't.  Like.  It.

Love, The Gidge

A slighly blurred view from just inside the garage

Looks cool with the flash on, eh?

I don't like you right now, Momma.

I wrote this post a few weeks ago but didn't have a picture to put in.  I feel a little odd posting this now, seeing as Karina also posted a recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits today.  I apologize for the craptastic picture – I finally decided to suck it up so I can move on to the next recipe, since I haven't had a chance to make more biscuits.

It's flippin' cold.  It's goddang snowing (or was earlier). I want to curl up with a good book.  I want to snuggle under a warm blanket with the Hairdroppers.  I want hot cocoa.  And cinnamon raisin biscuits.  Conveniently, I have all on hand.

My first non-babysitting job in high school was working the front line and drive-thru at Hardees.  On weekends, I worked third shift, either 9 PM to 3 AM or 10 AM to 6AM.  I'm sure The Father recalls the 3 AM phone calls to come pick my tired ass up so I didn't have to walk home.  The thing I loved most about working the drunk shift was the fresh biscuits right out of the oven.  I'd slather one with butter and jelly and shove it in.  Or I'd grab a cinnamon raisin one and dump a half cup of frosting on it before pushing it in my face (and consequently frying the flesh off my tongue).

I have been making these delicious gems for months now.  They bring happiness to me now but also remind me of some pretty damn good times as a kid.

Humor the crazy – let them cool down before diving in.  Really…your tongue skin will thank you.

Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits

1/4 cup millet flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup amaranth flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, cornstarch, xanthan gum, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Incorporate the shortening with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly.  Add the raisins and milk; stir until well combined.  The dough will be thick.

Either sprinkle white rice flour on your rolling surface or cover it with plastic wrap and spray with nonstick spray.  Place the dough on the prepared surface; shape it into a disk with your hands.  If you go the flour route, rub some on your rolling pin and do a light dusting on the dough; if you go the wrap way, pull a second piece of wrap, spray it with cooking spray, and the lay it spray-side down on top of the dough.  Roll the dough out into a 1/2" thick circle.  Cut the biscuits using a biscuit cutter or glass.  Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, put it into the oven, then bake for about 12 minutes, or until just golden.  Allow to cool slightly before adding icing.

Simple Icing

Mix together:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract