Food Philosophy: Recipes and ramblings from a gluten-free naturopath

Christmas, for me, is all about the traditions, the family, and, you guessed it, the food!  I think all of those things are intricately intertwined and, when brought all together with a ton of love, are the best things in the whole world!! I especially think that traditions are important for children.  Traditions provide a sense of security and stability that children desperately need in this crazy world we live in.  I tried to have traditions all year round when our girls were growing up, and Christmas traditions were always a favorite!   One of our most cherished traditions was our family advent calendar.  When I was about 12, my Mom and I made this advent calendar together and when I had children, she gave it to me to carry on the tradition. Over the years, I had to make a few updates, but it was always there for my girls to enjoy.  Each ornament is a little pouch and every morning, "the elves" would put some kind of treat inside and then, when the girls took out

If you're anything like me, you love to try a new recipe!!  I love to take it even one step further than that...I read a bunch of recipes that are similar and then, I decide what I think would be even better than all of them, and I just let my imagination run wild and go crazy "inventing!"  This recipe was one such.  I was hosting an early Thanksgiving meal for our local church missionaries and I wanted a special, ooey-gooey dessert.  After reading tons of recipes, and consulting old ones of mine, and thinking and stewing and thinking some more, I decided to go in a totally new direction and this was the result!! Behold...German Chocolate Meringue Pie!! It was actually quite easy and turned out even better than I imagined!  There was not even a tiny speck left over, although 1 person did have to take the rest of her piece home because it was too rich for her to finish in 1 sitting....but, there was no chance that she was leaving it behind!! Here's the recipe: