GF Recipe Roundup

I've been baking as much as ever and haven't shared much (or photographed much for that matter). I thought I'd pass on some links and a few comments on some recipes I've been enjoying lately.

Focaccia Bread – I used white rice flour and cornstarch for this. I put 2 T of sugar in on round 2. This is great for paninis (another food I've been missing over the last few years)!
Fruit Filled Coffee Cake – I used cornstarch in place of the starches on this one, and used strawberry pie filling. I think this tastes like a cereal bar only better. I'd like to experiment with some other fillings, maybe even raisins and brown sugar?
One Bowl Chocolate Cake – I tried this recipe out a few weeks ago in hopes of finding a birthday cake for Eliza's party. I wanted a simple, delicious chocolate cake recipe to add to my collection as well. (I'm a big fan of crazy cake). This is an easy, delicious recipe. I just used white rice flour. You'll want to use a fairly thin frosting as this is a very moist cake. I'm wondering if putting it in the freezer for an hour would help with that. I put a vanilla butter cream frosting on it. Yum!
Baked Penne with Chicken – I doubled the chicken and cut the noodles in half on this one (and omitted the mushrooms). I just used a shredded Italian blend of cheeses in place of the provolone, and subbed rice flour of course. I love Martha's recipes and this has made it into the regular rotation.

I hope you're enjoying some delicious foods this winter. We've had a little relief from the arctic temperatures, but I'm still in comfort food mode. I'm sure I'll be ready to fire up the grill before too long, though. Spring will be here before we know it (and so will our baby girl)!

Log Cabin Potholders

A crafting friend was having a birthday, so I decided she needed something handmade. I went round and round and finally settled on some potholders. I bought some insul-bright awhile back because I was feeling inspired by the potholders I saw popping up on blogs. I saw some really cute log cabin potholders on the Crafts Dept. blog (Martha Stewart).
These are really simple and came together super quickly. I've never done log cabin blocks before, but may be incorporating them into more projects. I think I would add an extra layer of batting to these if I make more.

Baby making

I've had the machine fired up a lot lately with pink and white thread trying to get a few baby things done. I even managed to fire up the knitting needles and get a couple hats ready. I'll be heading to the hospital with multiple sizes this time as our little munchkin was a (shocking) mere 5 pounds 13 ounces. She drowned in everything I had for her. We haven't had any babies in our family under 8 pounds, so that was a giant surprise.


I decided to get a contour changing pad this time around. We don't need much, so I picked out a few convenient items to add to the baby gear. The pad covers are so expensive though, so I did a little hunting for a tutorial. This one was great and I'm really happy with how this came out. I'm hoping I have enough Anna Maria flannel to do another.


I also managed to crank out a couple bibs and will likely do a few more as these were super easy and turned out pretty cute. If you use this pattern beware that the hole you leave for turning is quite small. It works, but just barely. I had a bit of hand-cramping to get them turned.


I wanted to do a lacy homecoming hat in a worsted weight. I thought it would look pretty, but knit up fairly fast (I need to limit time with my needles due to some carpal tunnel troubles). I used this pattern and only worked 2 rows of seed stitch. They're not perfect, but I think they turned out very sweet. I used BSA Worsted Cotton in Shell.



I'm sure there will be more baby things before April arrives, but I should shift gears back to Eliza's quilt so we'll be ready to dress her bed when (and if) it arrives. The verdict is still out on upgrading her to a toddler bed, but it would make mom's c-section recovery a bit easier. I'll be forging ahead as energetically as I can muster to get some more crafting in before a hiatus come spring.