Feathery Salt Dough Ornaments

a while back, i wrote a blog post about the most humble of craft mediums - salt dough; that unpretentious little ball of clay formed from salt, flour and water. apparently, people got excited about it because not only has it become my most popular post, it's also the one most pinned. and what with christmas practically in our back yards already, i thought i'd play around with the stuff a bit and use it to make feathers. some pretty snazzy ones at that.

the salt dough ornaments i made previously were done by rubber stamping an inked image onto the dough and then using cookie cutters to get my desired shape. these feathers were made free-form with a knife, a pastry cutter and my imagination. and really, it's the embellishing that makes them come to life. i think several of these would be lovely on a big green tree (nobles are my personal favorite) with lots and lots of white lights and some silver mercury glass ornaments here and there.

i sure hope you give them a try!

Gluten Free Chocolate Shortbread Songbirds

 

it's not like i started out to eat gluten free; at least not on purpose. it came about because next year, i'm going to start catering meals out of my house once a week and want to focus exclusively on gluten free and vegetarian meals. so... i've been trying out a bunch of new recipes because everything has to be delicious, and i don't want anything to taste like it's lacking in flavor or richness.

one of my favorite things to eat are cookies. love love love them! and shortbread...be still my heart!!! crispy, buttery, rich and just sweet enough. while there are various and sundry recipes out there for gf shortbread cookies, i end up not wanting to tackle the ones that call for 5 different gf flours (too daunting and pricey!). and i've tried a couple of recipes that use almost all brown rice flour which, in my opinion, resulted in a cookie with a cracker-like consistency which i wasn't a fan of.

finally, the heavens parted when i came across a chocolate gf shortbread cookie recipe that i've kind of fallen in love with. perfect texture, subtle sweetness, a delicate crunch and just enough chocolate to satisfy any craving. the dough comes together with minimal effort and no one - i mean no one - would ever know that they were gluten free.

Gluten Fee Chocolate Shortbread Songbirds
adapted from this recipe at G-free Foodie

the what...

½ c unsalted butter, softened
½ c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¾ c gluten free all purpose flour (i used trader joe's brand)
2 tbsp sweet rice flour
¼ c cocoa powder
¼ c almond meal (i used trader joe's almond meal)
¼ tsp xanthan gum
1/8 tsp salt
¼ c unsweetened cocoa powder

the how...

1. Beat butter and sugar until cream, add vanilla, mix well.

2. Add dry ingredients, stir until a soft dough is formed.

3. Mound dough onto plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment.

5. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of apgf onto your work surface and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Cut into desired shape(s) and place on lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Chill again until cold before baking (about 10 minutes in the freezer).

6. Bake 9-11 minutes. Cool cookies on cookie sheets for 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

of course, you can cut these into any shape you want...i happen to think the little birds are super sweet but they'd also be a great slice-and-bake cookie when you don't want to deal with your rolling pin. either way, you'll want to eat keep them all to yourself.

love ya!!!

Make Mine Vintage

 on the 3rd sunday of each month there's a great antique flea market i love to go to. starting at 5am, one can walk among aisles and aisles of terrific vintage finds, shabby treasures and retro gems until their head starts to swim . last month i came away with some old children's books, dictionaries and flash cards that i knew still had life in them.

these flash cards were the perfect fit for some blank note cards i already had. and i used this tutorial to put together these little gift bags using pages from a 1957 nursery rhyme book that had the most gorgeous illustrations.

i can't wait to use the cards to send a special note and the bags will definitely be used to wrap up some sweet little gifts. there's just something about vintage items that immediately calms me down and gets me longing for simpler times. i remember books i read as a little girl (something by beverly cleary with a passel of children eating cake from chipped china plates in old box cars), stories passed down by parents and grandparents, classic movies with black and white beauties on the arm of their fellas.

are you a vintage junkie too?

Goat Milk Cappuccino

i go in spurts when it comes to drinking coffee. i might drink a cup each morning for a couple of weeks then switch to tea for a bit. this is because i drink coffee for the taste and not the pick-me-up that most others do and since my tastes change with my mood, well...

lately, i've been delving more and more into goat milk in all it's various guises and am really loving it; goat cream cheese = wow; goat butter = angel song. and lately the milk...yummm. today, i felt like sipping on a cappuccino and because i had some goat milk in the fridge i thought i'd experiment.

a little aside here. a lot of people can't tolerate dairy which isn't a newsflash. when this became more and more apparent many years ago, most popular coffee houses made soy milk available as a replacement to the usual cow's milk and those who were lactose intolerant could still enjoy a blended drink or just a regular cup of coffee. now i'm starting to notice almond, hemp and coconut milk showing up as well which is great for those who have forgone dairy completely or just want to make a healthier choice.

as i mentioned in this post, there are several benefits that come with drinking goat milk, one of which being that it's easier to digest than cow milk and therefore usually tolerated by those who can't handle lactose. so, a cappuccino with goat milk? yes please!

the verdict...pretty good. a bit 'goaty' which does change the flavor of the coffee a bit but, in my experience, soy milk does the same thing due to it's flavor and to some degree, so do the others. it definitely frothed up beautifully though and looked exactly the same as if it were made with cow milk. since i haven't come across any coffee houses that offer goat milk as an alternative, you may be trying this at home for the time being but i hope you do. come back and tell me what you think.