Gluten free cupcakes

I made my first gluten free cupcakes this weekend.  They tasted pretty good, for gluten free!  My husband said they tasted like very good cornbread!  I don't think the texture was that bad though.  My friends wanted me to share the recipe, so here it is!  Enjoy!
Preheat your oven to 350.

Sift into mixing bowl:
3 3/4 cups gluten free flour  (I used Bob's Red Mill All-purpose gluten free flour, next time I will substitute half of that flour for oat flour which is softer, but the all-purpose flour is more binding)
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp guar gum (I got this from Whole Foods, it is cheaper then xanthum gum)  (This is what binds the flour together)

Add and mix to combine:
2 cups palm sugar (you can use any kind of sugar)  Yes, I do want you to add your "wet" palm sugar to the dry flour, it makes a crumbly mixture, like when you add butter to flour for a pie crust.

Add:
1 cup + 5 tsp warmed milk (110°F)
4 large eggs
2 sticks very soft unsalted butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract

Beat at low speed with a whisk attachment for 1 minute.  Scrape down the bowl.  Raise the speed to medium-low and beat for 1 1/2 minutes.  Do not overbeat or your dough will be heavy.

Add:
3 TB baking powder

Mix at low speed for 30 seconds.

I use an ice scream scoop for cupcakes, it makes them more uniform and with the thingy that scrapes the dough it makes it easier to scoop.
Scoop the batter into the prepared molds, filling each three-quarters full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.

(Side note, I don't know how that picture ended up like that!  LOL)

The tops should spring back when lightly pressed.  Cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before removing the  cupcakes from the pan.

This is what the picture is supposed to look like!  LOL

Italian Meringue Buttercream

I love Italian Meringue Buttercream!  It has three ingredients:  eggs, butter, and sugar.  I think this has to be one of the healthiest buttercreams that I know of.   No shortening and half the sugar.  But lots of butter!
First you need to melt the sugar.  I use palm sugar, so it is easier to melt then cane sugar, in my opinion. 
In a saucepan, bring to a boil:
1/4 cup water
2 cups palm sugar

When the sugar comes to a boil set a timer for 7 minutes, and let boil.

After 5 minutes, in the bowl of an electric mixer, begin to whip at high speed:
1 cup egg whites (about 7 large eggs)  I am not exact in this measurement, I'm not worried if there is a little bit extra egg white.

Whip until stiff.  They should be done when the timer goes off.

With the mixer on high speed, slowly beat the sugar syrup into the egg whites, pouring the syrup to the side of the bowl to avoid the whip.

Continue to beat until the bowl is cool to the touch, about 10 minutes.  This works with the plastic bosch, but if you are using a metal bowl, I usually put it in the fridge for ten to twenty minutes to cool down.  If it is not cool, then you will have expensive mush on your hands after adding the butter.

Slowly add:  1 1/2 lbs (6 sticks) butter at room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces and added one at a time.  I forgot to take a picture of this stage.  When the buttercream gets thick, reduce the speed to low.

Mix in at low speed:
1 teaspoon vanilla exract

Bight until light and fluffy.  At some points the mixture might look curdled.  Just keep beating; it will become smooth again.  Seriously, just keep beating it and don't get discouraged, it should firm up.

If it is raining outside and there is a lot of moisture, try cutting out some of the butter.  IMBC does not like moisture.  If you are using cane sugar you want to use 1/2 cup of water and 2 1/4 cups sugar, reduce the water if there is a lot of humidity.  I actually accidently only used one cup of sugar for my last batch, and nobody noticed!  LOL

This is a very rich and moody buttercream.  I once used it for a baby shower cake here http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/03/his-eye-is-on-sparrow-cake.html and it was very "wet" from the humidity and I could not get it smooth, so I grabbed my green air brush and painted it to look like a bush.
I got the original recipe from Whimsical Bakehouse.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Missy

I made this cake with IMBC, the roses are royal icing

Bosch

As many of ya'll now, my Cuisinart mixer died on me.  I have some friends though that are letting me borrow their mixers and then give you my opinions on them.   This first mixer I borrowed was a Bosch.  Bread makers everywhere love the Bosch.  I borrowed Siouxsie's universal plus Bosch.  You can get more info and buy the Bosch here:  http://www.joyfullivingforyou.com/boschuniversalpluswithoptionalslicershredder.aspx
I made Italian Meringue Buttercream in the Bosch, and I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised!  I used the wire whisks on the meringue.

It has two whisks (the paddles and dough hooks are the same concept with two) and the bowl is designed to fit the shape of the whisks, therefore everything does get mixed.  I think that was my favorite feature.  I do not like the fact that the machine and bowl is plastic.  But when I poured the boiling sugar, in the heat was not trapped in a metal bowl.

The big "mouth" of the bowl without "gear" or the "arm" on top also made it easier to pour in the hot sugar.  I was able to do it all one handed!  (due to my sprained hand and wrist) My 7 qt Cuisinart bowl I would have to put the bowl in the fridge for ten minutes after mixing for ten minutes to help the meringue cool down before adding the butter, however, with the plastic bowl, after ten minutes of mixing it was ready for the butter!
The meringue mixed up well in the plastic.  I also liked the wide base that suctioned itself to the counter and did not move because it was so well balanced.  You can also mix 15 pounds of dough in it.  My cupcake recipe also called for wire whisks, so I did not test out the other hook.  It did a great job though of mixing up both things and I really liked it a lot.  My friends' say it is the best thing for baking bread.  I was not able to test that out though with only one hand!  LOL  No homemade bread for me right now!
Compared to my Cuisinart these are the cons.  It only has 4 speed settings with 800 watts.  This makes it very hard to get the exact speed you want.  My Cuisinart was 12 speeds with 1,000 watts.  The Bosch also made a whiny noise on a lower speed.  It is not easy to scoop the dough or frosting without removing the whisk.  With the Cuisinart you just pull the arm up.  But the arm gets in the way when adding ingredients on the Cuisinart.  There was no timer on the Bosch.  My Cuisinart has a timer and you can set it for ten minutes and if you don't hear the beep, it stops itself.  Which is very nice.  But my Cuisinart is tall and not very well balanced and does "jump" with heavier doughs like gingerbread and does not have suctions.
I also like on the Bosch that the place for the blender attachment is on the side rather then on top.  My blender on my Cuisinart is taller then me when added to the mixer!
My husband did not like it, because he had to take the splash gaurd off for me due to my one-handed status.  He said it is not easy to get off, it was impossible to get of with one hand.  When I asked him what else he didn't like about it he said "I just didn't like it."  LOL  He's a man of few words, unlike his wife!
So my conclusion is that I like different parts of both.  Now what am I gonna do?  LOL

Boone Hall Plantation

On Monday we visited Boone Hall Plantation.  This house was built in the thirties, and  they only let us see like four rooms on the bottom floor which was very disappointing.

This a new jumper I made!  I had it all cut out and the skirt sewn, but then I sprained my wrist and since I wanted to take this on vacation with me, my friend Chrystal finished sewing it for me.

This is the back porch of the mansion.  I want one of these!  LOL

This tree is over 600 years old.

This tree branch just made the perfect bench!

This was one of the slave cabins, these cabins were close to the house and reserved for the upper class slaves that had some kind of trade like black smithing.

Here is the gate in front of the mansion and a full view of the mansion.

The garden was not very pretty in this heat, but they had a sprinkler going that I walked through to cool down some.

The best part of the day was spending it with my husband!
Missy

broken mixer

My Cuisinart 1,000 watt, 7 qt stand mixer just died.  I absolutely loved my mixer.  It had a timer for mixer which was great when the recipe says "beat for 2 minutes", I just set the timer and it would turn itself off when done, I especially used it when making my IMBC, I'd set the timer for 10 minutes then walk off and do other things while it was mixing.  I could do double and sometimes triple batches of buttercream or cake batter at the same time.  Never had any problems with it.  A couple of years ago I made gingerbread, put the dough in, set the timer and walked off.  Whoops, I did not realize how thick the dough would get and it skipped itself right off the counter.  I guess I shouldn't have left the kitchen!  LOL  The only thing broken on it was a cracked piece on top that did not affect anything and the spring action would not go all the way down on it's own anymore.  Other than that it has worked great until I got back from vacation and went to turn it on and the motor is out.  I've had it for almost 5 years, and it has a five year warranty, but I no longer have the receipt.
It is now time to get a new stand mixer.  Here is my delimna:  do I get another Cuisinart which I loved? or should I get a kitchen aid or bosch which might not be as good, but would last longer?  I have friends who will be letting me test out their mixers and I will write a review on each mixer on here to let you know my opinions.  Please keep in mind that my reviews will be based on baking.  I hope this will help you all decide which mixer is best as I test out new mixers.  I am open to any suggestions!
Missy

Ft. Sumter

On our way home from Orlando, we stopped in Charleston to visit a couple of friends.  On Saturday we went to Ft. Sumter with our friend Zeke. All the pictures have a wter spot on the lens!  This is the ferry we took for our 30 minute ride across Charleston Harbor.

Here is Chris and Zeke.  Zeke intoduced us and we will be married for 16 years on Aug. 5.

Here is Chris standing in front of the battery in Ft. Sumter which was added later, after the Civil War.  They have a nice museum in there.

Here I am standing in front of a fireplace in Ft. Sumter.  I bet they did a lot of their cooking here and had a fresh pot of coffee going most of the time.  Remember my dress that I made?  It was so nice and cool to wear on such a hot day.

Here are a couple of the cannons.

Here is Zeke and Chris standing on top of the battery with Charleston Harbor in the background.

I'll finish up this post with all of the flags flying at Ft. Sumter.
Thank ya'll for looking!
Missy

Peppermint Water

I wanted to share a great way to keep cool in this heat.  In TX it is very hot.  It is supposed to be 110 on Tues.  If I am in the heat for very long, I suffer from terrible, pounding headaches that make me useless for the rest of the day.  In fact my husband won't let me hold yard sales between June and September anymore because of my headaches.  As many of ya'll know, we went to Orlando and Charleston for the past two weeks.  I went to Sea World for a couple of hours by myself while my husband was working.  (He had a work conference and our hotel was across the street from Sea World and our tickets were good all week).  After just two hours my head was pounding and I couldn't enjoy the evening with my husband because of it.  I always carry a small spray bottle of peppermint water with me because of my asthma.  It is made with a few drops of peppermint essential oil http://stores.mybutterflyoils.com/-strse-76/Peppermint-Piperita-Mentha-Pure/Detail.bok and water.  It is also great for sanitizing the hotel room.  The next day I was in the heat and I could feel another headache coming on so I sprayed my face and the back of my neck with the spray frequently through the day.  I did not get a headache!  I did this the rest of my vacation and not only did it prevent the headaches but the peppermint in the water really helped keep me cool also! 
I know this was not anything about cooking or sewing, but I hope it helps to keep you cool.  I also included a link to buy a very high quality peppermint oil at a good price.
I don't have any pictures for this post so I'll share a picture of my Pippi.
Pippi sleeps with her tongue sticking out and I had just woken her up!

Vacation Food and boiled peanuts

After eating out for almost two weeks, I am very thankful for home cooked foods.  After a very long day at Sea World we just ate supper at the hotel.  I ordered organic chicken nachos, they were $12!  That is a lot of nachos, unfortunately my husband wouldn't share them with me.  They sure were good though!
For breakfast at the hotel on Mon. morning we shared a plate of organic orange souffle pancakes with an orange marmalade syrup.  They were delicious and just melted in your mouth.  The secret ingredient was ricotta cheese and melted butter instead of milk.  They also whipped stiff egg whites into the batter.  The chef gave me the recipe!  Forgot to take a picture of them though, sorry!

While Chris was working I walked up to an Indian restaurant with a buffet.  It was delicious!

They use this bread to eat their food.  I am definitely going to be making some for my husband.
We really enjoyed the guest luncheon at my friend  Cara's church.  We had homemade lasagna and German chocolate cake.  It was so nice to have a home cooked meal in the middle of our vacation.
I had boiled peanuts a couple of times and brought some green, raw peanuts home with me from Charleston to make some at home, and totally ruined them by adding too much salt!

To make boiled peanuts - green peanuts work best, but I can only find raw peanuts in TX, so that is what I use.  Put about 2 lbs of peanuts in a stock pot and boil for about 8-9 hours.  Add about 3/4 to one cup of salt at the beginning, depending on how salty you want them.  Let them sit for a couple of hours in the water after boiling if you want them to soak up more of the salt.  Or you can soak the peanuts for 24 hours and then boil for only 2-3 hours, I have not tried this way yet though.
To sum up my vacation photos, we were going to go to Charles Towne Landing the day we left, but it was storming, so my friend Cara and I went to the mall instead.  I didn't get any pictures of her!

 Here I am in the hotel room ready to go to Charles Towne Landing.  Remember this jumper that I made?  I was busy sewing clothes before my trip until I sprained my wrist!
Missy

I'm back!

I've been out of town.  My husband had a work conference in Orlando and while there we went to Sea World.  We also paid extra to pet the penguins.  I love penguins and was so excited!

This is Stephen, he is a king penguin and 17 years old.

This is Leon, he is a baby king penguin and only four months old.  He has not lost his baby feathers yet and is very soft and cuddly.

They are very friendly and like to nibble.  Stephen's feathers were very soft and he was suishy.

These were the only two penguins we were allowed to pet.

Here I am thanking my husband afterwards!

Here's my husband petting a sting ray.  They are very soft and velvetty.

We also rode the paddle boats which were kind of boring!  LOL

I hope ya'll don't mind me sharing some of my vac. pics on here!  I'll get back to regular blogging soon, I promise!
Missy

4th of July dresses

I'm sorry it's been so long since you have heard from me!  We had a 4th of July program at church on Monday and I helped sew two of the dresses.  I made some changes from the original pattern, it was from the 70's.  It had a high collar and long sleeves.  It took me a few tries to make the collar the way I wanted them.
My 15 year old nephew has been visiting this week and we went roller blading Tuesday morning.  There was a small hill, and I thought I would be fine, but I started going too fast and realized I needed to stop before I was going even faster.  To make a long story short, I ran into a trash can, knocked it over, landed on my bottom and sprained my wrist!  At least I'm pretty sure it is a sprain, I don't have insurance and nothing seems to be broken so I didn't get it checked.  Please pray the Lord heals it without any complications.
I'm going to Florida next week and I don't want to be encumbered by a sprained hand!  I also have an order for 5 aprons to make!
I hope you are enjoying your summer!
Missy