Lionden Landing

We had these cupcakes last Shabbat before all the craziness set in.  I had meant to post this writeup much earlier.   I made a successful dairy-free caramel sauce.  For a long time I did not believe it was possible but it is.  It  is complicated and actually took two recipes but is well worth it. First I made my own sweetened condensed milk using this recipe.   It was not hard at all. I used honey rather than agave nectar because I can and had it on hand.  It made plenty and I am storing the extra in the fridge for my next batch of caramel during Sukkot. Then I made the caramel itself.   The  Caramel sauce is slightly harder and absolutely requires a candy thermometer.  But if you just trust the thermometer and leave it alone it turns out great.  Here is the recipe. Thick Caramel 1/2 cup Earth Balance 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup light corn syrup 6 ounces sweetened condensed milk (from above) 1 tables...

Monday - Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs with Pineapple, Grilled Zucchini, and potato wedges Tuesday - Salad and Pizza Wednesday - Fish Ala Jenn, peas and rice Thursday -Breakfast for Dinner, scrambled eggs, pancakes and strawberries Shabbat  -Cookout Style. - Challah, Salmon Patties , Tossed Salad, black bean and corn salad, pasta primavera salad ( I am sure I will hold one for Shavuot but not sure which yet)  Beef Ribs (done in the crockpot), green beans, corn on the cob and Strawberry Icebox Cake. Shavuot dinner - a dairy antipasta style meal of salads and spreads with yummy breads and decadent cheeses.  Shavuot Luncheon - Not sure of all the details yet but I know I am making my blintz casserole now that I have finally found a parve way to do it that is not too too sweet. And of course it is not Shavuot without ice cream.  We will make homemade strawberry ice cream on Thursday in preparation.

I love the idea of expanding my horizons and trying new things. Daring Bakers encourages me to do just that. The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen . Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca . The graham cracker recipe I used is from 101 Cookbooks . Here it is. My notes and changes are Purple Graham Cracker Recipe 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour. I did not use the additional 2 TBS 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen. I used 3.5oz margerine since we need to be dairy- free. 1/3 cup mild-flavored honey, such as clover 5 tablespoons whole milk I used coconut milk 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract For the topping: 3 tablespoons granulat...

Froggy is just not a big breakfast eater. That makes mornings hard especially when we need to be somewhere at a certain time. Many many days breakfast gets eaten in the car on the way to our morning activity. But it is important to me that she not eat much in the way of processed foods. And she gets bored with food easily. Together that means I need to be very creative Well here is the idea I am currently working on. I am modifying the recipe to use ground turkey rather than sausage since we do not eat sausage. The first batch will use shredded soy cheese. I am not hopeful. Froggy seems to like the soy cheese in her mac&cheese but the rest of us think it is vile. I am still looking for other flavoring / texture options to use instead of cheese.