Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Gluten Free Crispy Peanut Butter balls


Peanut butter balls are typically one of those treats that are made during the Christmas holidays.  But sometimes there are events that need to be given that much special attention too.  Unfortunately these came to my mind to make for the family gathering after the memorial service for a very special woman - Craig's aunt Joyce.

The three sisters: June, Joyce and Dixie


I always held a special place in my heart for Joyce because I felt that she and I were alike in some ways.  Only, she was much better at showing her love and compassion than I have ever been.  She was a strong woman of faith, put her family as her top priority, was very strong in her opinions, kept lists and bins, travelled all over the world and spent more years than she would have liked in the middle of house remodeling projects.  My girls loved her deeply, Craig loved her deeply and I loved her deeply.  But even more than that - we all confidently know that she loved us just as deeply too.

So with that said, and now that I've wiped my still-fresh tears away, I will try to describe this recipe.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Surprise inside "sweet" 16 gluten free cake


I'm still cleaning up my files to get all the baked goods posted that I have actually been able to make in the last couple months.  This one was a favorite for sure!  My young cousin was turning 16 and I very much wanted to do something special for him.  I've made a couple pretty nice cakes for his little sister (you can look at here at one of them) but had never had the opportunity to make one for him.  But, being a guy, and a quiet one at that (not to mention that he's grown up with 4 older girl cousins and a little sister), I couldn't make some "sweet 16" style cake.  He is a wonderful swimmer so I decided to do an understated blue, wave style ombre