0 Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope yall are having a good day and safe travels! (those of us in Virginia are having quite the snowstorm in the next few days...)

0 More Christmas Cookie Ideas and Blog Updates!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the week leading up to Christmas weekend! I made sugar cookies last night (see this recipe) and had some fun ideas to share with yall to make your cookies festive and interesting.

The first requires candy cane or peppermint ice cream and some food coloring to make ice cream sandwiches. Use food coloring (cheap and easily available in many grocery stores, especially around this time of the year) to make a variety of colored frostings. Then, scoop some of the icing with a spoon and drizzle over top cookies. Once the icing is dry, scoop some ice cream and sandwich between two cookies for some cool Christmas Ice Cream Sandwiches.

The second uses the same colored icing for the sandwiches (pictured above). First, spread once of the colored icings onto some cookies. Then, drizzle a different color icing over top to create a cool tie-dyed effect on the cookies.

Also, I've updated the Gluten-Free Recipe page, and added a Contact Us page for if you'd ever like to contact me with any suggestions or would like to discuss something with me. If you haven't already, be sure to enter for the gluten-free cookbook and Donkey Kong Country Returns giveaways! Only about a week and a half left before winners are announced!

9 End of 2010 Free Giveaway: Donkey Kong Country Returns

For those who haven't seen, Part One of my End of 2010 Giveaway is located HERE. And for those of you who have a Wii, here's your free chance to win a brand new copy of Donkey Kong Country Returns. The reason why I have a giveaway with this item is that while I love cooking and coming up with new recipes, I'm also a total and complete nerd. I mean, its in my Job Title (Software Engineer). I've always had a love for video games, and in a year of many good video games (2010 in my opinion was the best year for gamers this side of 2000) Donkey Kong Country Returns stood out as the best in my opinion. So look below for the rules and how to enter!

PRIZE:
A free copy of Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Nintendo Wii!

END DATE:
January 3rd, 8pm EST.

HOW TO ENTER:
For each of the following that you do, you'll gain one entry into the contest (i.e. If you do the first, you'll gain one entry, while if you do all three, you'll be entered three times):

1. Follow my Blog using the Google widget on the right sidebar, and comment on this post if you're interested in entering. 
2. Tweet @TRCrumbley is giving away a free copy of Donkey Kong Country Returns at http://bit.ly/fmNucr
3. Share this contest on Facebook or Google Buzz using the Share Buttons on this post. Leave a comment on this post saying you did this (I have no easy way of tracking this like I do with Twitter).

Enjoy, and thank you to all my readers!

0 Gluten Free Chocolate Cream Pie

If you're like me and travelling elsewhere for Christmas, and are trying to come up with a good dessert to bring for Christmas Eve Dinner, then here's one that I've brought to other events with great success. The flavor in this dessert isn't as dark as it is in many of my other chocolate desserts, but a little milk chocolate here and there is still plenty to cheer over!

Active Prep Time: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 6 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 3 hours
Serves: 8 people

Ingredients:
-1.5 cups gluten free graham cracker crumbs
-6 tbsp melted butter
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-1 box of instant chocolate Jello pudding
-1 3/4 cups milk
-1 tub of Cool Whip
-Semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate





Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a microwavable bowl, melt the butter
3. In a medium bowl, combine the crumbs, sugar, and butter.

4. Press the mixture into a pie pan using your hands. Place the crust into the oven for about 6 minutes to cook the crust.

5. Once done, pull out of the oven and place into the refrigerator for about 5 minutes in order for the crust to cool.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Once done, fold in half of the Cool Whip until the pie filling is fully combined.
7. Pull the crust out of the fridge, and once completely cooled, pour the filling into the crust, and spread until even. Refrigerate for 3 hours.

8. Once you are ready to serve, finely chop some of the chocolate. Serve pie slices with a dollop of Cool Whip and some chocolate shavings. Enjoy!

0 I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Less than a week til Christmas! Enjoy with a rather unique snowflake (via The Daily What) ...

0 The Messie Kitchen: The Best Toffee You Will Ever Have

I always get a little overwhelmed with all the amazing food out there during Christmas time, and here's another Christmas-y recipe that I wanted to share with you all from "The Messie Kitchen" (which has slowly grown to be one of my favorite blogs for finding sweet dessert recipes, I highly recommend). Enjoy!

The Messie Kitchen: The Best Toffee You Will Ever Have

0 Mashed Sweet Potatoes Recipe @ Everyday Southwest

Image Owned By Everyday Southwest

As I was browsing through Foodbuzz today for recipes and advice on cooking emu (one of my roommates bought emu, so I'm trying to help him find ways on how to cook it.) I came across this utterly delicious sounding recipe for sweet potatoes. I read through and it and decided I had to share it with yall for any Christmas dinners that you may have to prepare for. Photo above and recipe owned by Everyday Southwest.

http://www.everydaysouthwest.com/uncategorized/mashed-sweet-potatoes-with-bourbon-molasses-and-pecans-recipe/

0 Work, Christmas, and Blogs

Hi all! Sorry for being AWOL for the majority of the week, but I had a very busy time with tasking at work. On the bright side, I'm now on vacation for over two weeks, and am currently waiting in the DC metro to celebrate the season with friends.

Plan on seeing many more gluten free posts leading up to Christmas , as I'll have time and energy to experiment. Until then, here's a fun post from another blog (complete with Christmas story and recipe). http://a-bicycle-built-for-two.blogspot.com/2010/12/chocolate-peppermint-blossoms.html

Happy holidays!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2 Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Only less than 2 week until Christmas! There's many pieces that, once put together, comprise the Christmas holiday: Christmas parties, cookies, family, friends, the giving of gifts, time off from work (maybe best gift of them all), and the list goes on. So to go in theme with the holidays and my blog, I'd like to post some festive sugar cookies that anyone with a gluten free allergy could enjoy.

Further, this recipe is fun to make with a group of people or family, as everyone can join together to cut out shapes and ice the cookies. Hope you enjoy this festive yet social recipe!

Yields between 2-4 dozen depending on the cookie size


Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
1.5 cups rice flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/6 cup potato starch
1 tsp xantham gum
16 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla






Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a small bowl, mix all of the flours and the gum.

3. In a medium bowl, dice the butter into small cubes.

4. To the butter, add the sugar, and whip until creamy.

5. Add the egg yolks, and whip again until creamy.

6. Slowly blend the flour into the butter mixture bit by bit until the dough forms a ball.

7. Refrigerate the dough for a few minutes, and then split into two bowls. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (parchment paper is best because it is easy to remove the cookies from the pan without breaking them). Between two pieces of parchment paper, roll out the halves of dough into 1/4 inch thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and place onto the cookie sheet.

8. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on racks for about 10 minutes.

Frosting

Ingredients:
1.5 cups powdered sugar
1/8 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 2 lemons (optional)










Steps:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and vanilla together.
2. Slowly whisk the sugar into the milk until frosting is formed.
3. Whisk in the zest if you wish to have a hint of citrus in the flavor of your cookies.

4. Using a spoon, frost the top of the cookies. Once dry, store in an airtight container.

0 Christmas Season is here!

I hope everyone is excited for the holiday season, I know I am! Not only have a changed the banner to reflect the season, but the tree pictured is also the first real Christmas tree I've ever had! More festive posts to come this month.