Drying Herbs

 Over this summer, thanks to the ever loving and benevolent Pyper Jean, I've amassed a nice little stash of delicious herbs.

Chocolate mint

I've never dried my own herbs before, and I was under the impression that it takes tons of effort. I mean, yeah, I'll use the heck out of fresh stuff from people's gardens, but that's as far as it can go. Mostly because I was terrified of the process. I vaguely remember seeing a screen set up that required a fan and carefully timed leaf turning schedules. Yeah, you don't need any of that nonsense.

Chocolate mint dried for tea

All ya gotta do is pop those plants on a wall outside. Or inside. Or anywhere!! Lucky for me, the previous tenants in our apartment put lots of nails in the wall on our balcony: perfect for herb drying.

Sage

I dried chocolate mint, oregano, sage, rosemary, tarragon, orange thyme, lemon thyme, and regular thyme. I am so pleased to now be culinarily adept enough to be able to say to myself, "Oh I should season this with some of my home-dried herbs!"

Because I'm the only one who really feels special about it.

Well, my wallet does too. Do you know how expensive herbs are at the grocery store?? It is straight up RIDICULOUS, yo. But now, I'm not slave to the Spice Islands or  old man Mckormic anymore.

Herb gardens!!!!! For the win!!

Oregano

Have you ever dried herbs at home? What's your favorite herb?

Gluten Free: Hyvee & Trader Joes

 On Saturday, Sailor and I took a little trip to a couple of towns to check out a couple grocery stores that have bigger gluten free selections than the ones in town here. We went to HyVee and Trader Joe's. I was a little disappointed in HyVee's selection. The HyVee we used to go to before had a huuugggeee selection of health foods and g-free stuffs. The one we went to was a bit lacking in the g-free department, but I was still happy with what I found!!

 My haul at HyVee: three cans of Gluten-Free Cafe soup, Eater's Digest Peppermint Tea, Rice Works brown rice chips, and Angie's Dark Chocolatier Sea Salt Kettle Corn. I forgot to picture the g-free cocoa rice krispies I got as well. Had some of them for breakfast this morning!! Yum-city!!

I could not resist cracking the kettle corn opened. I mean, really. Look at this stuuuffff. And it's certified g-free!! I call that a win. Salty sweety goodness without any fear.

On to Trader Joe's! Neither Sailor nor I had ever been to a Trader Joe's, but I have heard that this is a great place to look for g-free stuffs. And it was indeed that!! I was astounded that their generic brand of almond milk, kefir, and g-free pasta were so much cheaper than what I am used to paying. I am one happy lil Celiac-stricken thug.

Where do you like to shop for gluten free goods?

Yours hungrily,
Carolyn

Did she say CHOCOLATE?

 

Sometimes the most interesting places are tucked right in front of you. You just have to look! On Tuesday, Mr. Sailor had the morning off. I had to drop off a hat I made for someone at a local coffee shop I have never been to. I love coffee, if you don't know, so I was excited to explore a new coffee shop. However, we discovered something way cooler than the coffee shop.

Next door to the shop, there was an unassuming place with a name that made me go, "whoa."

Wholesale Candy Outlet.

Of course, I had to twist Sailor's arm REALLY HARD to get him to go in. Just kidding, he almost beat me to the door. Just kidding, I tripped him so I could get there first. Just kidding, that's mean.

The point is, we went in. And I'm so glad we did! The place specializes in distributing fine chocolates to local sellers. The owner (who we met) travels all over the US and world to sample specialty sweets. They even make some of their own chocolates and all their fudge in house. Awesome!!


We chatted with the owner while browsing their selection. It turns out, his family is from the same small town that our families are from! What a small world.

In the end, I could not resist getting some chocolate. We got two Belgium truffles and scarfed them right away. The two chocolate bars we got actually made it home.

This milk chocolate is made in the US but tastes like the most fahahahaaaancy imported candy I've ever had. It was buttery, smooth, and had a depth of flavor I have never tasted in a milk chocolate. The label did not list any gluten-containing ingredients, but if you are really really sensitive to gluten, I would call the company.

This mini bar did not have any ingredients listed on it, but I felt fairly confidant that it would be okay. It was a dark chocolate bitter-bar with coffee flavoring. Ohmylanta guys. It was like a nice dark roast cuppa joe married cocoa. Loved it. So did Sailor!

Find the E. Guittard 38% Milk Chocolate here

Because I love Spongebob. No regrets.

Stay sweet guys!
Yours,
Carolyn

Gluten Free: Gluten Free Cafe Chicken Noodle Soup

 I was not going to write a review about this soup, but one bite and I changed my mind. Completely.

I'm talking about Gluten Free Cafe Chicken Noodle Soup

I got one can of this soup as a part of a care package from the hospital when I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I didn't think much of it because I was so super excited about the rest of the stuff in the care package.

As I have mentioned, the last few weeks up here in the Northlands have been bitter cold. Monday night was no exception. After I finished up tweaking yesterday's post, I realized it was after 6pm and I hadn't eaten. Uhhh....oops.

So I pulled out this can of soup and thought to myself, "Yes. Warm. I don't care what it tastes like. It'll be warm."

Fast-forward ten minutes or so, and I'm headed back, soup in hand, to Monday Night Football with Sailor. I take my first bite and.....whoa.

Did I read the label wrong?? Those are rice noodles?? How?! What?! They taste and feel just like their wheaty cousins....is this real life?

I want to lick the screen.

 Look at those noodles, guys. So good.

There were plenty of pieces of chicken, celery, and carrots. The broth was so good, I wanted to lick the bowl. Then the pan. Then dig the can out of the trash and lick it. Not really, but pretty close.

After the first bite, I trotted my lil self back into the kitchen to take some pictures of the glorious stuff before I scarfed it down. I knew I needed to share my new-found love!!

My favorite soup bowl. Scored it for a dollah at a flea market. Woot woot!!

All gone!!

If you can't find it in your local grocery store, I know Amazon has some good deals on it. If you like soup, and you do gluten free, I'm telling you, this is the stuff!!

Stay warm friends!!

Yours cozily,
Carolyn

Gluten Free: Betty Crocker G-Free Devil's Food Cake (Cupcake Style, yo!)

Hello friends. Today, I have a very important topic to bring to you all. It's one that I find very relevant to so many of my comrades-in-bad-guts. Holla at me Celiacs! This one is fo' Y'ALL!! -ahem- Yes, so on to the important topic:

That's right. Cupcakes. And not just any cupcakes, oh no. I'm talking supah chocolate, mega easy, gluten free cupcakes. Please note that I did not say healthy. Because....these aren't. There's a whole stick of butter involved in this glorious dozen of cakies.

 But come on. Look at them. Is your mouth watering? It should be. Because seriously, these cupcakes are vury niiiice.

On Thursday I made a decision. Over Thanksgiving I had purchased a box of Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Devil Food Cake Mix with the intent to make it as my birthday cake. Well, as you know, my mother and sister tag-teamed to provide me with awesome brownies on Turkey Day. So, the unused mix came home with me. As well as a jar of double mega heart attack chocolate frosting. Which is really bad.

Throughout this week, I've been...uhh....sampling the chocolate frosting to make sure it hasn't gone bad. I may...or...may not...have eaten over half the jar. Maybe I have self-control issues, okay? It was gluten free. -pouting-

Anyways, I decided enough was enough on Thursday and that I had to make the devil food cake or suffer the wrath of my bowels after eating the entire jar of frosting in one week. Since I've had enough bowel-wrath for one lifetime, I opted to do some baking.

Annnnd, lemme tell you: I'm really glad I did. Since my diagnosis, baking has been a major source of anxiety for me. I love to cook, and the thought of having to sort of re-learn all the awesome skills passed on to me by my grandmothers and aunts and mom was a little....terrifying. I know, I know. There are so many tutorials out there for g-free baking and blah blah blah it's so much easier than conventional baking and blurhgblahbluuuhhh. I know. I KNOW. But, there is something satisfying about kneading a yeasty, gluteny bread dough that just cannot be replaced with the sometimes-paste-like g-free doughs. It's something I have to deal with. And I am doing so by taking baby-steps into the world of g-free baking.

Aka, using mixes.

Normally, I'm pretty violently against baking mixes. But on my gluten free endeavours, I am not. Here's why:
-They are easy.
-G-free ingredients are PRICEY. If I'm going to drop big dollas on some baking goods, I want to know that it will be tasty. I'm not ready to get all experimental up in here.
-If I know which mixes I like, it is easy to tell friends and family what to make me if I come over. G-free cooking is daunting enough for me. I want to make it easy for people to make things I can eat for me, if they want to cook for me.

So, my thoughts on Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Devil Food Cake Mix :
Ease of preparation: *****
Five stars. Very simple. Just like regular cake mix.
Bang for your buck: ***Three stars. It was about $7/box. Which only made 12 cupcakes. I probably could have scrimped on the batter and made 15-16, but I didn't want to do two batches.
Flavor: ****
Four stars. Very chocolatey and niiice. My standard for five stars is the Tastefully Simple Brownie Mix. It's that good.
Consistency: ****
Four stars. Not gritty, but still had that minor 'gluten free flour aftertaste.' I judge this on whether or not a gluten eater can tell it's different. These cakies are just a tiny bit chewy, but still super amazing.
Overall: ****Four stars. I definitely would recommend this mix. It is rich, and certainly not the most healthy dessert option, but good for a little splurge. I paired it with Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Chocolate Frosting (which is gluten free as well)

You should have PLENTY of frosting in one can for 12 cupcakes. I swear I won't tell if you need to...uh...sample half the jar before icing them.

If your grocery store does not sell the g-free Betty Crocker mixes, I know you can buy them on Amazon. Crazy, right? They have a super cool deal where you can get six boxes at once for a mega discount. Really cool if you are going to do a bunch of g-free holiday baking!!

Alrighty, dumplings. I have waaayyy too much crafting to do. Talk to you later loves!!
Yours sweetly,
Carolyn