Happenstance

Soooooo.....of course I thought I would force all of my sisters to help me bake Christmas gifts. It seemed like a win-win scenario for me: more help means less time baking and less work. Plus, I decided to cut down on the recipes this year.  We started with Gluten Free Gingerbread Bars . INGREDIENTS : 1 3/4 cups brown sugar 2/3 cup butter 1/4 cup molasses 2 teaspoons ground ginger 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt DIRECTIONS : 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. 2. Mash the brown sugar, butter, and molasses together in a bowl with a spoon until the mixture is creamy and thoroughly combined. Mix in the ginger, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir 1/4 of flour mixture into the butter mi...

Spicy Gumbo! Makes about a bowl (or less, depending on how thick (reduced down) you make it) per serving. Yields 8 servings with 400 calories (before rice). Ingredients: 2 teaspoons ground black pepper  1.5 teaspoons cayenne pepper  1 teaspoon garlic powder  1.5 teaspoons paprika  1 teaspoon dry mustard  1 teaspoon cajun seasoning  1 teaspoon salt  .5 cup all-purpose flour  1 pound spicy ground sausage  .25 cup vegetable oil OR left over sausage grease 2 pounds boneless chicken breast  1 cup chopped bell peppers  1 cup chopped celery  1 cup chopped onions  6.5 cups (52 oz) chicken stock  1 teaspoon minced garlic  1 bay leaf  3 tablespoons Sriracha hot chili sauce Directions: 1. In a small bowl, blend together all dry seasonings and flour.  Before adding flour 2. In a large frying pan, brown ground sausage. Save oil fr...

This year I thought I would try my hand at baking Christmas gifts (again) and I decided to get my sister, Leah, to help me (as last time I sucked it up and she is a great baker). I started by scouring the Internet for easy and highly reviewed recipes (provided with additional tips below). After selecting a mere 6 and deciding to double each batch (I mean I was just sending cookies to several people, so I should send a lot!), I made a shopping list and headed out to buy it all. I had nothing on hand (did I mention I don't do much baking/cooking?), so I had to buy even the most basic materials. Still, I had budgeted for around $100 (I mean the whole point was that cookies were a great, easy, yummy, ship-able, inexpensive gift). I was obviously Looney Tunes when I came up with that budget, as I spent $200 and ended up using everything I bought. I am a firm believer that when you do something at home, you should do it as comfortably as possible. So a full day of baking defini...