Giant Gummy Bear on a Stick

Perfect for filling that giant empty corner of the kid's Easter basket.

From Vat19.com

Vat19 touts themselves as purveyors of curiously awesome products and this giant candy is no exception. After watching the curiously awesome video accompanying the product, I'm hooked! I know CheesePuff would love getting one of these in her basket from Mr. Cottontail on the morning of April 12, 2009.

Vat19 also has other curiously awesome products that I never knew I needed until scanning the files. A coffee mug with a picture of Vincent Van Gogh whose ear disappears when the mug is filled with hot liquid? Curious! Adhesive bandages with Batman-style ka-POW! statements? Awesome!

Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Contest

Get your Peeps, Bunnies, and hot glue guns ready!

Found on Flickr

Each year several newspapers hold contests to see who can do the craziest thing with Marshmallow Peeps within the confines of a shoe box.

My lovely Auntie sends me the clipping from the St. Paul Pioneer Press in hopes that I will secretly submit an entry and somehow win the contest. Last year I had a pretty good idea and I still have it tucked away, for now. If the urge strikes me, I may follow through and finally send in an entry.

This year, I see the Pioneer Press is making it harder for me. They are allowing video. I can't quite tell from the article if that means two contests or if the videos will be judged against the still photos.

Entries are not yet viewable but will be available some time in the near future at http://www.twincities.com/peeps .

I'll let you know if I win.

Visit the Marshmallow Peeps where they live at Just Born. Join contests, join the Fan Club (you do get stuff, but it's not free), or just enjoy the cute.

Oh, and by the way, most Peeps are Gluten-Free, but be sure to check the label (I noticed the Peppermint Stars at Christmas time were not Gluten-Free).

Ritz Crackers Mock Apple Pie

For some time I have been planning to post this recipe but it slipped my mind until now. MrG talked about on numerous occasions because he recalled seeing it on the back of the box of Ritz Crackers for years. He says, "When Chuck Yeager hit Mach One, Ritz Crackers achieved Mock Apple Pie."

It's something you just have to see to believe.


Mock Apple Pie

It looks like Apple Pie. I'll bet it even smells like Apple Pie with the addition of cinnamon. But there's no apples in Mock Apple Pie. The apples mock us in our stupidity from the produce drawer of the fridge. Yummy, tasty, juicy apples. Were apples truly that hard to come by in the 1960's that Ritz had to come up with an alternative for dessert?

Sadly, Mock Apple Pie is not Gluten-Free so I'm afraid all I can do is dream about this treat. *commence with the snickering*

Axl Gets The Doctor

If you missed Yahoo News (don't worry, I space it off most of the time too) you'll be glad Mr.G was paying attention.

This Sunday, November 23 2008, log on to Dr. Pepper's Website to receive a coupon for a free soda.

My suggestion is to log on early before the website overloads and crashes. I'll be able to get a good jump on the competition for soda since my Thanksgiving flight to Florida leaves prior to the buttcrack of dawn.

Sweet Swap

Salt Caramels

When I received an invitation to join a Sweet Swap hosted by Liz at What's to Eat Baltimore I was excited.

Then I recalled the horror story conveyed to me years ago when an aquaintence told me the story of the Cookie Swap she had recently attended. She told of a party of women bickering around a table of treats when one woman didn't receive her 'fair amount' of cookies. Someone else had received more than her and she was having none of it! An exaggeration by the story-teller? Maybe, but the story did make me wonder if this Swap was going to be a good idea.

Liz was a brave brave woman to invite a bunch of relative strangers to her home and I let her know I thought so in an email. But she seemed undaunted and I think that put me a little more at ease.

I had quite a long drive to Liz's place - over an hour according to my mapped directions. I gave myself plenty of time to get there (because I always seem to get lost whenever I have to drive further than around the corner) and I didn't get lost once! Which meant I arrived early.

The drive was really lovely and it amazes me that all that countryside is just beyond Baltimore. Just prior to the turn-off, there were gorgeous cattle in the field and surrounding the house were acres of corn.

I got to meet two other area bloggers, Katie at CupcakeRN and Courtney at The Practical Gourmet, each of whom brought a friend, and a few members of Liz's family. Everyone was really great and no one fought over the treats though there was an amount of fun treat-stealing while the swap was happening. I picked up some great recipes that I may try to convert to gluten-free very soon since my Baking Jones is almost out of control now that autumn is here.

The Salt Caramels were a good choice since no one else brought candy. They are Gluten-free. I also brought the makings of Sugar Cookie Martinis, which were really wonderful (and Gluten-free, yay!), if unphotogenic (they look like milk in a martini glass... I know you can imagine that).

To make Sugar Cookie Martinis I mixed Vanilla Vodka, Rum (I used sugar cane rum), Butterscotch Schnapps,and Licor 43 with half & half in a shaker of ice. They were really delicious. I don't have amounts of each liquor to give. A friend had one at a bar, conveyed the ingredients to me and I mixed and taste-tested to get the amounts correct.

I have to say Thanks again to Liz, her family, and the other bloggers and guests at the Sweet Swap. You made the experience really wonderful and not at all scary!

Good Friends

You know you have good friends when they secretly send the perfect gift... what could be a more perfect Halloween present than giant eyeball, candy slime with body parts, and stickers with hairy backs and armpits???



...just the fact that it's all Gluten-free!

Thank you THANK YOU Karan!



(I do apologize for the hack-editing job. I don't have the fancy photo editor I used to have.)

Getting Over The Gluten Hump

My family doesn't know it, but I am systematically phasing out gluten from their dinners. It's going to take some time but making two separate dinners - one regular and one gluten-free - is getting old very quickly. I spent most of the summer not cooking anything for anyone. I ate a lot of cereal in front of the TV at 9PM. Everyone else fended for themselves. That got expensive and I'm trying to help them help me. Hopefully we'll all be a little healthier in the process.

In order to make the gluten-free transition a little smoother for everyone I'm trying to find foods that everyone will eat. If you didn't know it before, or are new to reading here, you should know that Mr.G is one of the pickiest eaters on the planet. If it isn't chicken or Italian, you can pretty much forget it. I can eat a lot of chicken but CheesePuff complains if we eat it more than two days in a row. So now, instead of winging it for dinner, I've made a little calendar of dinners and made everyone aware that it exists and where it can be found on the fridge. To my surprise, they actually read it! I suppose asking for their input was helpful in the success of the calendar and I included days when they can have Chef's Choice (that's: whatever you make for yourself is your dinner) and days when they each cook for the whole family. Cheesepuff graced us with a lovely Summer Salad (a variety of lettuces, sliced apple, and toasted almonds) just tonight.

Having the calendar also helps me to know if I have to take out meats to defrost and helps me to grocery shop less often! I already know ahead of time what I'm going to cook so I don't buy ingredients I won't need (I tended to buy a lot of pretty produce that ended up in the bottom of the crisper, forgotten). I also am learning to cook smarter - I roast a whole chicken on a weekend and save the left-overs to be used in Chicken Enchiladas another day... and I already know ahead of time which day that will be so the extra chicken doesn't go to waste before I can use it or before I remember to stick it in the freezer.

This list has been helpful on many occasions to get me through the regular grocery store when I can't make it to the Organic Market: Gluten-Free Mainstream
It's a list of products one can typically find at a standard grocery store. If you've done any checking on the Internet for sources of gluten-free foods you'll find long, long lists of foods that are ok to safely consume. Lists are helpful but long lists make my eyes glaze over. You'll also find a lot of links for Internet ordering of gluten-free foods but who has time to grocery shop on the Internet and wait for delivery? Not this chica. This list is compiled so you can look up 'spaghetti sauce' and find brands that are tasty as well as safe. I know if I came home with a jar of spaghetti sauce that boldly stated it was Gluten-Free, Mr.G would wrinkle his nose and head for the peanut butter and Ritz crackers. However, using this list and carefully reading the ingredient list on the jar of his preferred spaghetti sauce, I realize it is indeed gluten-free and it's safe for me to eat. Of course, being spaghetti sauce, I have to cook my own Gluten-Free pasta* or slice up some yummy Polenta to go on my plate. I tried to get them to eat Quinoa pasta, but they balked and asked to not find it on their plates again.

I've been doing a lot of reading about Celiac Disease lately and I forget where it was found, but I read that removing wheat from my diet is much like breaking an addiction and some days I really feel that. I feel I'm craving donuts, cakes, candy bars... any number of things I haven't eaten much of in a long time but now that I've told myself I can't have them at all, I want them more than ever. I did find Gluten-Free Cinnamon-Sugar Donuts by Kinnickinnc Foods at the Organic Market and they are amazingly delicious. I would never have known they were gluten-free if I found them lying on a lonely plate in the breakroom at work. I told myself this was a treat to satisfy my Gluten-Tooth (like a sweet-tooth, only different). If I tell myself a thing, it must be true, right? .

*Quinoa Spaghetti and Linguini are quite delicious, but if you followed this link, you probably saw those cute pagoda-shape pastas. I tried those and honestly, the texture and taste of them was quite different from the spaghetti. Based on my last purchase, I would probably not buy the pagodas again.