Noon Mark Diner Gluten-Free Pie

The A-man's an avid hiker; I've known this for a long time. He grew up next to a National Park and mountaineering was a part of his profession in the military. The man needs his outdoor time (he's two peaks away from the ADK 46!). That doesn't mean, however, that I'm thrilled when he decides to hike Adirondack high peaks in the dead of winter.

Our compromise? He comes home with pie.

Glorious, gluten free pie from a great, little place called the Noon Mark Diner. They do mail-order pies (!!) and he tells me their full menu has a lot of gluten-free options too.

He arrived home Saturday night from a long day of trekking in negative degree temperatures and presented me with two pies this time: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble and Maple Walnut (think: the Northeast's version of pecan pie). And I learned something that night: I'm really, really good at eating pie.

The Maple Walnut, something I've never had before, was delicious. At first, I thought it might be a little too sweet for my taste, but it wasn't, the maple flavor wasn't overpowering and went perfectly with the walnuts.

The Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble was awesome. The tart rhubarb was balanced by the sweet strawberries and sugary topping.

The crust on both pies was something I was jealous of. I haven't attempted many gluten-free pie crusts, but when I have, they were failures. (Though I've bookmarked  this recipe and tutorial by Gluten Free on a Shoestring and think I'll give it another go.)

So while I have no recipe to give you, I have a love haiku to share with you:

Pie. Smile on my face.
Happiness in my belly.
Thank you Noon Mark Diner.

(You're cringing at how bad that was. I know. It's okay.)

Photo Phriday: Maine Again

Last winter: New Years Day. The A-man decides that a negative ten degree wind chill is the perfect temperature to fly a kite in.

Photo Phriday: Sad Henry

Not food-related at all. But this was Henry for the majority of the car-ride after we dropped off the A-man to leave for his deployment. I swear animals can sense feelings.

I'm Baaaaaack: Maui Post #1

Welp, it's been about a month since I last wrote a post on my dear blog. I've missed it -- a lot, and the blogging community. And I will be back to normal blogging shortly.

Married life has been great: it's hard to believe that this is the longest amount of time that the A-man and I have had together consecutively. I know I'm being spoiled because another deployment and separation is looming come September.

But let's focus on the positive: we had an amazing honeymoon in Maui. We stayed at one of the Westin resorts in Kaanapali and as a wedding gift my sister and brother-in-law hired a Westin chef to come into our suite and cook us dinner one evening!!! How darn cool is that? I'll give a little recap of the dinner:

While the chef was prepping the food, we lounged on our patio:

Then our highly talented and very friendly chef worked some magic:

First course was a tuna sashimi dish that was amazing and so fresh. Those are crispy fried potatoes on top. Mine was made sans soy sauce.

Next up were two perfectly cooked scallops and a great salad (lettuce wrapped in a thin piece of cucumber: very pretty):

The main course was a piece of white fish that was delicious with a side of lightly sauteed veggies:


And lastly we had the best. dessert. ever. Now I'm a big chocolate person, so that's where I usually go with dessert, but this was amazing: a pineapple sorbet with lavender served in a almond bowl (made with sliced almonds and corn syrup). It was gooooood:

Inspired by our dessert I recently made my own version of pineapple sorbet that I will share soon on the blog.

A big thank you to my dear sis and bro in law for arranging this great evening. It was easily one of the highlights of our honeymoon -- and gluten-free and dairy-free of course.

I have a few more posts from Maui that I want to write about : dinner at Mama's Fish House, The Feast at LeLe and a trip to a goat farm. So on that note, I'll leave you with a photo of the awesome goats we got to hang out with in Maui:

If you look closely the middle goat is biting the ear of the goat on her right. Silly goats.

Photo Phriday: Practice

It's rare that I go a week without posting but the giant work project that I'm dealing with AND the wedding planning have taken a toll on my blogging and cooking. However! Henry is still being Henry and the A-man got a little taste at what it's like to deal with a tired pooch this past weekend:

Sweet and Sour Pork

Going out to eat for Chinese food is often tricky in the gluten-free world. Many foods are made with soy sauce, which in most cases, is made from wheat. Fortunately, restaurants like P.F. Changs have gluten-free menus and do a great job at making their food available to all. But it's still nice to have a few Chinese (well, Americanized Chinese) dishes in your repertoire. Here's one of my favorites -- made just a bit healthier.

This is a typical sweet and sour pork recipe. It doesn't call for anything particularly fancy, except for agave which is my preferred sweetener (but you can certainly use sugar). Also, my sister recently made the recipe with tofu instead of pork -- making it easy to convert vegan as well. Also, instead of being served over rice, the A-man and I opted to serve it over lightly sauteed shredded cabbage; a now favorite option of mine.

Sweet and Sour Pork (gluten-free, dairy-free)

Serves 2 for dinner

About 2 pounds of pork tenderloin (or drained, extra firm tofu), cubed
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup canola or grapeseed oil
1 cup cubed fresh or canned pineapple
1/2 chopped yellow onion/pepper/carrot (optional)

for the sauce:
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup agave
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons gluten-free soy sauce

In a wok or skillet over medium heat, add the oil -- make sure it doesn't smoke. Meanwhile, add the cornstarch to a large ziploc bag then the pork and shake until evenly coated. Fry the pork until crispy in small batches and drain on paper towels. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan add all of the sauce ingredients and whisk together. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for a few minutes. Adjust agave and vinegar if desired. Add the pork back into the wok, then add the pineapple and vegetables, then the sauce. Stir to combine and serve over rice or lightly sauteed shredded cabbage.

You Know You Have a Chocolate Addiction When...

1. You require a square of dark chocolate after breakfast.

2. You immediately go to the grocery store to buy more chocolate when you see that you only have one bar left.

3. You always have chocolate in your carry on luggage during trips in case you can't find any vegan dark chocolate during your layover.

My name is Liz. And I have a chocolate addiction.

Fortunately for me, the one holiday that condones this addiction just passed. So, in order to get this out of my system, I must purge my Valentine's Day recipes.

This is the first time in six years that the A-man and I have spent Valentine's Day together and we celebrated with cooking, eating, talking about our future together and... doing yard work (he's going to give me hard time for pointing that last one out). But truly, I felt grateful that we were able to spend the day, and the weekend together and that we were both able to bask in the glory that is chocolate goodness.

We had a wonderful chocolate souffle:

The recipe for the souffle was downright easy. While I was attempting to put together an eggplant tartine, I asked the A-man to prep the egg-whites and yolks for the souffle. He did that, and because the eggplant dish took so darn long to make, he finished the souffle for me. We used Sara Moulton's recipe verbatim and what do you know -- it's naturally gluten-free and if you use vegan chocolate, dairy free as well. It was light, yet decadent. Just sweet enough. And the perfect ending to our hours-long to make meal. We topped ours with fresh raspberries.

The next night we enjoyed delicious chocolate covered strawberries:

This is the simplest dessert out there. Because of my addiction, I dip a lot of things in chocolate, so I've become pretty in tune with what works and what doesn't, and strawberries -- they're at the top of the list. I usually take the easy route and place my chocolate (in this case 3/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips) in a glass bowl and add about a teaspoon of shortening. Then I microwave for one minute and stir and continue to microwave at thirty second increments. Be careful because once it burns, it's gonzo. The shortening seems to give the chocolate a better gloss and makes it less likely to turn chalky once it hardens. Then I dip the strawberries (make sure they are super dry or else the chocolate won't stay) in the chocolate and place on parchment paper and place in the refrigerator for at least twenty minutes.

And then I eat them all.

I'm working on that last part.

Photo Phriday: Dog Sled

We learned this past vacation that Henry and Elsa (my parents dog) probably don't have any Husky in their genes. The A-man decided to MacGyver up some rope and attach it to the dog's harnesses and see if they could bring me around on a sled. It didn't quite work, but it sure was fun trying. I have first-person video of the ordeal; perhaps that will make it for next week's Video Phriday.

A Belated Happy Holidays!

From Henry, the A-man and me. If we were going to send out Christmas cards, we would surely use this photo taken on Thanksgiving. Though, it's difficult to get Henry to stand still when ten sheep are to the right of him.


I'm traveling quite a bit for the holidays, making my posts sparse, but I'm still cooking up a storm! Happy Holidays Everyone!

A Few of My Favorite Things... (1)

I wish I could make like Oprah and give away all of my new, fancy, favorite things to each of you readers, making you cry and scream with excitement like her audience does on her yearly "Favorite Things" show. But alas, I cannot -- not in this economy. In fact, even Oprah had a scaled-down version this year.

So you get a list -- a list of my most favorite gluten-free (okay, and a few that have nothing to do with being gluten-free) gifts for those GFers and health conscious people in your life.

First, I present to you the blender of all blenders; a kitchen tool that Chuck Norris would be if Chuck Norris had to be a kitchen tool: The Vitamix Super 5200


I got an early Christmas present this year from the A-man. He knows we are going to be traveling for much of our Christmas vacation, so he knew I wouldn't be able to "play" with my Christmas present, so he wanted me to open it early. So I did. Last night. And I almost fainted with excitement.

The Vitamix blender is especially good for people with gluten-intolerance because it comes with a "dry blade" which lets you make your own flour! From whole grains! So, I put some raw, whole brown rice into the blender and blended on high for awhile, and out comes flour! I can't wait to try it with millet and sorghrum and tapioca and...

You get the idea. This is also great for people who don't do dairy -- this thing will whip up almost anything you put in it to a creamy-like consistencty. And, if you're a nut-butter lover like me -- you can make your own peanut butter (and cashew, macadamia nut, hazlenut...)! I've only scratched the surface of what this thing can do (after all, I got it last night) but I can't wait to play with it even more. The A-man wants me to keep a tally on my blog of each time I use it and how much money he thinks we'll save over the years grinding our own flour (this is so he can feel okay about spending the amount of money he did on it; let's just say it's an investement). And I can't forget smoothies; the A-man's big on his protein and I have a feeling this thing could turn a steak into a drink. So I'm on to you A-man; it's one of those gifts you give to someone so that you can use it too -- steak smoothies -- I knew it!

On tomorrow's favorite things post: tea for all.

How Do You Like Them Apples?

The A-man and I went apple picking on Monday at Doe Orchards in Harvard, MA. I have great memories as a child here: they have over sixty acres of land for guests to roam and over six different varieties of apples to choose from. I've kind of been obsessed with the idea of the two of us picking apples this fall and using them to make jars of apple butter to use as favors at our wedding. This is a lofty goal I know, but if I start soon and have some help, I'm sure it can get done! I've been eyeing some slow-cooker recipes, so that may be the route we go. I'll certainly be posting about it.

Here's the A-man enjoying the "fruits" of our labor (sorry, couldn't resisit). For some reason, it's very difficult for him to act normal in photos; he always feels the need to make a scary face, eat something, or don a wig and glasses. Oh A-man.

While the apple butter project will be put on hold for a few weeks (we're storing the apples in a cold, dark place -- also known as my porch) we decided to use up a few of our pickings with some individual apple crisps: gluten free, dairy free, and vegan (but don't tell him that).

I adapted the recipe from the food network show, The Neely's, found here. And speaking of the food network, Jen of Sugar and Spice and My Gluten Free Life has a great post about the channel here.

Individual Apple Crisps (gluten free, dairy free, vegan)

Filling:
4 Macintosh Apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons sorghum flour (or any gf flour)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:
3/4 cup gluten-free flour mix (I used half white rice flour, half sorghum)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons of cold, vegan, gluten-free butter (I used Earth Balance)

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and place in 4 8 oz ramekins (you may have a little left over). Next, for the topping, mix together the flour mix, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and cut in the "butter" with two knives, or with a pastry cutter until pea-size pieces form. Gently fold in the pecans and sprinkle over the filling.

Bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes and let sit for at least five minutes before serving.

Man Food

The A-man is home!

Well, home as in stateside; it's not like we actually live together -- that would be too easy. Nooo, he lives about 700 miles away, so once he got to the U.S. and decompressed a bit, he flew up to see me and we spent a glorious 72+ hours together. Ahhh, how lucky I feel! Really, I do. According to his math; he has been deployed for 44 out of the past 52 weeks so he needed some darn leave time, and he got it. But alas, he's off to train for over a month down south and so the distance continues.

We started off one meal with this delicious gluten-free hard cider -- J.K. Scrumpy's. We found it at Whole Foods and it wasn't too sweet, which I find to be the case with most hard ciders. Then came the food -- I eat differently around him; the word "hardy" comes to mind when I think of the food we eat. I often try to get him to eat kale and spinach and use agave instead of splenda, but when a man comes home from war -- you just want him to eat what he likes. So no off the cuff experimental foods. Steak and potatoes (and I even snuck an onion in there) were on the menu.

It's funny how well we work in the kitchen together. I chop, he mixes. I braise, he roasts. All while not bumping into each other (and Henry who is always at our feet waiting for something to fall) in my small kitchen. I think it says something about our future: may our married life be as easy as our time together in the kitchen.

We made a horseradish-crusted roast beef with roasted red onions and a baked potato. Both recipes are care of Tyler Florence

Zucchini Fries Make You Feel Better

I'm feeling pretty drained. In the past twenty-four hours I have: found out that the A-man will be deployed to the Middle East next week, played one ninety-minute outdoor soccer game, one fifty-minute indoor soccer game, went on a run in the woods with Henry and got lost (making our run one hour longer than it was supposed to be while losing my keys, then finding my keys in the woods) and I hosted and produced a live, half-hour show at work. Luckily, today is not terribly busy so I have a chance to re-charge, but also a chance to soak in the fact that the rest of my summer is going to be completely different than I thought it was going to be.

There are a lot of emotions that come about when you learn your love is going to a war zone again. Emotions that my dear family and friends accept when they listen (and I mean really listen -- without them I wouldn't be able to deal) to the brunt of my frustrations. There's anger that he's leaving again. There's worry of his safety. There's frustration at the military -- he was just there -- for seven months! There's pain, hurt, disappointment and loneliness. We just got engaged! Then there's the realization these emotions don't depict our relationship or our love for one another -- a realization that has kept me going for the past six years. In all of those years, we have actually lived together for a little over two months. The rest have been spent with a minimum of five hundred miles between us. There must be something wrong with me I often think. That, or I just really love this man.

But, a girl's got to eat and there's no better way to distract yourself from your emotions than to mix up some food. And a day like yesterday needed something substantial. Something that's going to put a smile on my face and remind me of the simpler things in life, like fries, well fries and ketchup. But not your typical potato fries; I needed some green, so zucchini fries it is.


Zucchini Fries (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)

serves 2 as a side dish

2 zucchini, cut into "fries"
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
just under 1/2 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs (I pulsed Kinnikinick Brown Bread in a food processor)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (I use Salt-Free)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Season breadcrumbs with Italian herbs and place on a large plate. Pour olive oil on a cookie sheet and coat zucchini "fries" in olive oil. Coat each piece of zucchini with breadcrumb mixture and place back on cookie sheet. Once they are all coated put in oven and bake for fifteen minutes. Serve with ketchup if you'd like.

Photo Phriday: Save the Date?

My sister and her husband had the neat idea of using a photo of the two of them made into a magnet for their "save the date." We're thinking of using this one, taken at Pisgah National Park in North Carolina.

Chocolate-Chip Banana Cookies

I needed to celebrate this morning -- the A-man and I have booked a venue for our wedding! I was getting worried because after looking at many venues, dates were starting to go fast; apparently a one-year engagement isn't that long anymore. I really love the place that we booked: it's a historical estate run by an ecological organization on nintey acres of farmland and there are sheep and llama there. Yes, sheep and llama! I love them both! And because the wedding will be in the spring, there's a chance that there will be lambs there, and because they are the cutest animal ever, I hope to have a picture with a baby lamb (baby lamb -- repetitative, yes, but it helps describe how darn cute they are) on the wedding day. And not with a lamb lollipop -- something I am sure the A-man will insist upon having as an appetizer at the wedding since he loves to eat the animal that I adore so much... with mint jelly.

But I digress. I had a hankering for a "treat" this morning and had two ingredients that I wanted to use -- almond meal and the overly ripe bananas sitting on the counter; mix in some chocolate and you've got a winner. The only sugar in these cookies is found in the chocolate chips and the two tablespoons of agave nectar, so they're certainly not sweet. If you omit the chocolate chips even, these cake-like cookies would make a tasty breakfast-type cookie. Ooh! And they're even low carb!

Chocolate-Chip Banana Cookies (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian)

2 1/2 cups almond meal
2 overly ripe bananas (makes about one cup)
1/2 cup organic shortening or vegan margarine
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon xantham gum
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, combine the shortening, banana, egg, vanilla, and agave nectar. Then mix in half of the almond meal and the baking powder and xantham gum. When that is combined add the rest of the almond meal, scraping down the sides until thoroughly combined. Mix in the chocolate chips by hand. The dough will be somewhat sticky. Form into heaping tablespoons and place one inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake these for 18-22 minutes, depending on your oven.

*not a banana fan (ahem, Kate) go ahead and omit them

Photo Phriday: The Moment

Almost as exciting as the sky-dive proposal is the fact that I was wearing a one-piece purple jumpsuit.

Where I've Been & Double Chocolate Cookies

My apologies for the lack of posts this past week, but I have good reason -- I swear! I spent the last ten days in North Carolina soaking up some quality vacation time with my love, the A-man. We went sky-diving, mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, played some tennis.... oh yeah, and WE GOT ENGAGED! I don't like to brag, but his proposal was pretty darn amazing. He organized a "surprise" sky-diving trip (he jumped solo, I jumped tandem) and right before he exited the plane he yelled "Lizzie!", peeled off some tape he had on his helmet to reveal the words "Will you marry me?" and jumped 5,500 feet (which is really low and an entirely different story) to the ground. I was in total shock, so I didn't answer right away, but once we both landed he got on one knee, presented a gorgeous ring and asked me again. I managed to mutter a yes and gave him a really long, teary-eyed hug. All of this was apparently caught on camera; I can't wait to see it.

The hat I'm wearing in the photo above actually says "bride" on it in sparkly, gold lettering and was given to me by my sister (as a joke) when she found it in the dollar bin in target. Showing off the ring isn't really my style, but it really is quite gorgeous. Since we have never discussed rings before, I have no idea how the A-man chose the perfect ring for me (actually, I think my sister helped quite a bit) but I know he put a lot of research and effort into it, so in addition to me wearing it the rest of my life, I thought it deserves a feature photo (with some gluten-free, dairy-free double chocolate cookies) in my blog.


What's really cool about the ring is that it's a conflict-free diamond from Canada and it's in an "active" setting, which means I won't clumsily snag it on things. So, the past week or so has been amazing and life-changing. It's a pretty wonderful thing to talk about the future with the man you love for a week straight and bask in the afterglow of being asked for your hand in marriage. The real frosting on the gluten-free cake? Knowing this is only the beginning.

Oh, and a recipe! My family is so extremely supportive of our relationship, they love him just as much as I do, so in order to celebrate when I got home, my parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece picked me up at the airport with flowers and gifts and had a wonderful gluten-free, dairy-free dinner that ended with what will now be called "Double Chocolate Engagement Cookies" created by my sister. It's pretty difficult to describe how good these cookies are, so I'll use the Boston phrase for awesome: they're wicked pissah.

Double Chocolate Cookies (aka Engagement Cookies) gluten-free, dairy-free

*adapted from Annalise Roberts chocolate chip cookie recipe

1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (make sure it's gluten-free)
1 1/2 cup, plus two tablespoons of gluten free flour mix (she uses a superfine brown rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch mix)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon xantham gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 ozs. vegan, gluten-free good quality chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Beat shortening and sugars at medium speed in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add flour, baking soda, xantham gum and salt and mix at medium until well blended. Mix in chocolate chunks by hand.

Drop heaping teaspoons of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake in the center of the oven 8-10 minutes.

Photo Saturday?

I'm a day late on this one, but Henry, the boyfriend and I had a great day at a local park where Henry got in the water a bit. He doesn't exactly swim, but he will wade up to his chest to retrieve a ball.

Welcome Home Pancakes

One of the many questions I asked my boyfriend when he was overseas was, "What foods do you miss?" Well, it sounded like he was pretty well fed over there, he had to search a bit for an answer. He didn't have any serious cravings, but once he came to the realization that he hadn't had any blueberry pancakes in quite a long time, he knew he'd want them once he got home. I had a lot to live up to, he's a native Mainer, so he knows his blueberries, his Mom is an amazing baker and he describes the local, volunteer-firefighter pancake breakfasts that he attended as a child with such passion it made me shudder to think of the Lions Club pancake breakfasts I attended as a child, surely they didn't use fresh blueberries in their pancakes.




So, I had a lot to live up to. Try making them gluten-free and dairy-free and serving them to a gluten-eater. Well, a gluten-eater when I'm not around. You see, once he understood the ins and outs of my gluten sensitivity, learning that even a small amount would make me sick, meaning that if he eats a sandwich and gives me a kiss, most likely I would end up with stomach cramps, among many other things for at least twenty-four hours, he basically swore off gluten when I'm around. Pretty. Darn. Cool. And just another reason why I wait through eight-month long deployments, month long trips and hundreds of miles between us, because he's just that worth it.

Enough of the sappy stuff and back to the pancakes. In my quest to find the perfect gluten-free, dairy-free pancake I had grueling taste tests, often involving my family. We tasted mixes, including one that was so dry that one pancake could literally soak up 1/4 cup of syrup. We tried recipes, including one that involved teff flour, which I love, but which my parents definately did not. And luckily, I stumbeled upon a recipe from allrecipes.com for "delicious gluten-free pancakes" that received rave reviews and euereka! after tweaking them to my requirements, no dairy and no sugar -- they were delicious! The following is the recipe I adapted from this one.


Blueberry Pancakes (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, no added sugar)

1 cup superfine brown rice flour
3 tablespoons tapioca flour
1/3 cup potato starch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 eggs
3 tablespoons extra light olive oil (or any light tasting oil)
1 1/2 cups soured almond or rice milk (to sour milk, simply add one tablespoon per cup of "milk" and mix, then let sit for about five minutes)
1 cup fresh blueberries (frozen will work well too)

In a bowl, mix together the brown rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. Stir in eggs, "milk", and oil until well blended and few lumps remain.

Heat a large, well-oiled skillet (or non-stick) over medium heat. Spoon batter onto skillet and add about five blueberries (make hearts and funny faces if you feel inclined) per pancake. Cook until bubbles begin to form. Flip, and continue cooking until golden brown on bottom. Serve immediately plain, with maple syrup, or condiment of choice (agave nectar is tasty too).

Photo Phriday: Homecoming Edition

Meet Bella: an Iraqi dog that my boyfriend (and his buddies) "adopted" while overseas. This post is being written with a big smile on my face because he (and Bella) are stateside now. Deployment is over. The weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I will get to see him soon.

Today is a good day.