The BEST Marinade!

First, I will give props to Rodney, husband of one of my sister-in-laws. Dude, it's da bomb.  Now I want that pork marinade.....


OK.  Here is what you do.  Take some boneless skinless chicken thighs-as many as you need, and you can figure 2 per person or more if you want to have some to put on salads later that week- (more moist than breasts!).  Throw them in a bowl. Add to that bowl:
4 lemons, cut up and squeezed (put it all in the bowl)
1 bottle Gluten-free beer (whichever is cheapest at Whole Foods!)
1 onion, sliced up
1-2 cups water
2 small bottles Gluten-free soy sauce

Let it sit in a fridge for 1-2 days to really soak in.  Grill as you normally would (charcoal, not gas grill, what kind of fascist do you think I am?).  Then, eat.  Be first in line, because it goes QUICK.

You're welcome!

Me Like Cookies!

***First off, I am sorry I have no photos. We ate them all too fast.***

I was given a challenge this past week.
Who am I kidding?  I took another task on, completely by myself, with no goading. How's that for accountability?

Anyways-my daughter had a First-grade Completion Ceremony (don't get me started on rewarding NOT failing, or adding to the already overwhelming amounts of positive reinforcement our children are exposed to...), and there was a cookie reception afterwards. I signed up, as there are 3 GF children in the class (my daughter included, more on that later).

So, I pulled out my handy dandy Google, and searched "gluten free cookie recipes".  I had to avoid those with chocolate (and by then, what the HELL is the point???) for one of the girls. Which left me with few options. Or so I thought.

:::cue dun-dun-duuuuun music:::

I found 3 wonderful recipes, and made them ALL!  Yes, I know. Still working that out in therapy.

Here they are, with my additions:

1. Meyer Lemon Cookies (Let's stop right there, I did not have Meyer lemons. I used plain old organic.)
Oven preheated to 350.
Blend, in bowl:

1. 1 cup GF flour mix (I used Bob's Red Mill-it's a mix of rice, garbanzo, fava bean)
2. 3/8 tsp salt (I don't have a 1/8 tsp, so I eyeballed it)
3. 3/8 tsp baking soda (seriously??? 3/8? I guess I should be glad it wasn't metric. F-ing British.)

Cream, in a Kitchen-aid (or with child labor, if it's available):

1. 6 tbl unsalted butter, softened (DO NOT use light tub margarine. It makes the cookies melt weirdly, all over the pan.  Yes, I'm sure.)
2. 1 tbl rice milk or water (I used rice milk)
3. 1/4 c lemon juice (I used a teensy bit less, I was sick of squeezing)
4. 1 tbl lemon rind, minus knuckle flesh
5. 1/2 c sugar
6. 1 tsp vanilla

Add flour mixture slowly to creamed mixture. Blend well. Dough will be very moist (or soupy, if you use the wrong butter). Seriously, when they say moist, it means very runny, in my book. Each time I make something gluten free, I am alarmed by the drippy-ness of the batter. Then, sometimes I add more flour to make it like it should look. Do not do this. Unless you need some bricks to finish the patio.
On cookie sheets lined with parchment paper (this is also a key to gluten free baking. I am not smart enough to know why, but I DO know that it is important. I have ceased thinking about it) drop approx. 1 tbl of dough on paper, roughly 12 per sheet.
Bake 10 minutes, until edges are brown. I do each sheet separate, but make sure you switch the sheets mid-way if you do two at a time.
Let cool before removing from parchment.

These are very nice tangy cookies. Unfortunately, I messed up most of them, and felt like a loser bringing just 12. So I ate them. All.

Next up, #2.Vanilla Snaps
Preheat to 325
Beat together:
1/2 c butter or non-dairy butter sticks, room temp
1 c sugar
1/8 tsp (!!!) salt

In another bowl, put:
1 egg white
1 tbs GF vanilla extract
1 tbl vanilla milk (Rice? Soy? I used rice)

Add the two bowls together. Mix thoroughly.

In yet another bowl (sorry about all the dishes...), add:
1 tsp GF baking powder
1 1/3 c + 1 tbl (I have NO idea why the extra tbl...) GF flour mix (I used Bob's Red Mill)

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until totally combined.
I recommend fridging it for a while. 1 hour or more. Otherwise, they will be fairly thin.
Even if you fridge them, don't put them in your fancy Pampered Chef extruder thing-y. It's a wasted effort. Yes, I'm sure.
Scoop onto parchment,about 1 inch apart (further if you have no patience, or are tired, they will spread out more)
Bake for about 10 minutes, until edges lightly browned.
Apparently, they would make great crumbs for cookie crusts for a pudding pie. I will never know, we served ate them all.

And finally. #3.Mexican Wedding Cookies!
These are super yum.  Truly. Especially warm out of the oven, when you have to poison test them.

Preheat to 325
In a food processor, pulse:
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c pecans
1/4 sweetened flake coconut (They say this is optional, but I can't imagine them without it)

Blend until finely chopped and well-incorporated.
In processor or mixer, blend sugar/nut mixture with 1 stick butter (or buttery sticks) mix until fully blended. Then add in:
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest (I skipped this, i think I did not have an orange, and a lemon didn't seem to fit)

Then, slowly add in:
1 c GF flour (Bob, my man....)
1/4 tsp salt
Until firm. It will be sticky. Chill until firm, 2+ hours. Yep, it does need to sit this long. Nope, freezing it doesn't seem to work the same, but faster. Yes, I'm sure.

Scoop dough into small balls (the size of a bouncy ball or so) and place onto parchment paper. Make sure to space them about 2 inches apart.
Bake 15-20 minutes (15 works well for me), until edges are browned slightly (a theme is developing, right?), Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes (I left 'em on the parchment, but off the hot pan, I'm lazy that way). Sift tons of powdered sugar over them until it looks like there is too much. Perfect!

Vegan, GF Peanut Butter Cups. I'm Serious!

My mother gave me the original recipe for these amazing peanut butter cups. She clipped it from a newspaper, and brought it to me.

Alicia Silverstone (Vegan) made them originally, and I made them her way the first time, subbing only the margarine for a brand I prefer, and the graham crackers (I used the S-moreables).

Here is the link for the original recipe:

LINK

The second time, I made them a little different, trying to tone down the goo factor, and the hip expansion feature. They were equally good, and I have a few more tips.

• USE the liners. You cannot extract them from the muffin tin without mangling them all to hell. Yes, I'm sure. No, cooking spray won't help.
• Reduce the margarine to just enough to moisten the crumbs, about 2 tbls. You can probably get away with even less.
• Reduce the sweetener to 2 tbls, I used agave syrup, which has a tang I normally don't like much, but it worked, because the original recipe is a bit too sweet (and I NEVER say that about dessert)
• I reduced the milk, so the chocolate would set more, which it did.
• I left off the nuts from the top, and everyone loved them the same!

Peanut butter and chocolate is something of an obsession of mine-ever since Haagan Dazs came out with Deep Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream (why, oh why did you discontinue this, Haagan Dazs? Did I not buy enough????). If it is yours, too, and you need to indulge, justify it by saying something about antioxidants, protein, endorphins. Or all three.

Or, make them, hide them, and devour them in a corner while growling. I do. But use the smooth peanut butter, so you don't choke. Safety first!