With the husband asleep on the couch all weekend after getting his wisdom teeth yanked out, I spent two full days in the kitchen last weekend. It felt refreshing; usually this is the time of year when my friend Cas and I pull out the glitter and glue for a week-long craft-a-thon. Alas, Cas has…
Gluten Free Desserts
Iced oatmeal pumpkin spiced cookies (gluten-free)
This week was a big first for me. My first time passing out candy to little people dressed in bizarre outfits. Earlier Halloween day, I was on the phone with my mom when my brother called her to ask how much candy he needed to buy – would he get trick or treaters? How many?…
Sparkling ginger apple punch with muddled cranberries
When we moved into our new place, we promised our friends that we’d throw a barbecue not long after. We also taped up our bathroom with blue painters tape with lofty plans of turning the walls gray. It’s been 7 months since we moved in and we have neither painted our bathroom nor had a…
Pumpkin pie rice crispy treats
Summer weather finally rolled in to the East Bay a couple of weeks ago. And just as quickly departed this week as chills of fall and early winter took over. A trip to the produce market confirmed what the crisp air indicated: summer 2013 was officially dead. Get your last few baskets of strawberries and…
Root beer float ice cream
There was a time when “suicide” was my fountain soda of choice. Because who doesn’t love Pepsi, Sprite, Fanta, Dr. Pepper and A&W Root Beer swirled into one? Heck, while you’re at it, toss in some over-sweetened pink lemonade and iced tea to really mix things up. At some point, though, your taste buds mature….
Triple chocolate gluten-free brownies
How many potlucks with piles of freshly baked flour-filled goodies must a person like me endure? Pure torture for the gluten-free, I say. The host of the last one boasted a brownie taste-test among the spread of chocolate-y confections. So what does one who can’t eat them do? Force-feed all the homemade treats to your…
Dashboard chocolate chip cookies (gluten-free!)
“Golly, it was hot this weekend!” said everyone everywhere. Usually it doesn’t hit the hundreds in Chico until August, but we’ve already survived three heat-wave weekends at my parents’ house. At least this time the pool wasn’t covered with a dance floor so we could hop on in after sweating through our tee-shirts. The day after…
Candied ginger peach sherbet
Now that we’ve moved into our new digs, there are nights when we just have to drive 25 minutes and have to wait another 25 minutes in line @ our favorite ice cream joint just to get a scoop of whoknowswhat. The menu changes each time we go, but it always, ALWAYS hits the spot. One…
Sesame peach mochi cookies
On each plate at the reception, we had a “Letter to the Bride & Groom” Madlib to entertain guests while we rushed to take as many pictures as possible in our now 20 minute cocktail “hour” that got cut short because of the shuttle snafu. We grabbed them all at the end of the night…
Strawberry lemon curd tart with gluten-free almond crust
I went to a dessert party last night. Every year during finals, my late advisor would host a dessert party at her home, bringing together people from all different academic communities for a night of relaxation, strange drinks, chocolate fondue, and ice cream sundaes. To continue this tradition, her research group hosted the same party in…