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

Last week I had my first spouse's social here at my house and I decided that I wanted to have the theme for the refreshments be "Everything Chocolate" because what woman doesn't like...love...adore...cherish...die for...chocolate?? I wanted to have a chocolate fountain but I couldn't find one anywhere to rent and I just really didn't need one more big kitchen appliance to have to move every 2 years, so I decided against that.  Plus, my husband is always reminding me that "less is more" and to "keep it simply elegant" because I guess I have a tendency to overdo things...no comment. I started with my all-time favorite Brownie cookies!!  They're a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips and pecans and they are ALWAYS wonderful and a crowd pleaser!  The recipe for these cookies is in my cookbook, but I'm going to give it to you here, also. Brownie Cookies 2/3 c. shortening 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 1 T. water 1 tsp vanilla ...

I absolutely LOVE making homemade jam...and of course, eating it!  My stock was non-existent and I knew that it was time to get some summer jams made.  I always like to have some around for family use and I like to have a bunch made up and ready to use as gifts---jam makes one of the very best, all-time gifts!!  You can grab it at the last minute when you've forgotten you were supposed to take something, you can use it for a sick friend, you can add a little piece of fabric tied with a ribbon to the top and make a fabulous birthday present, you can take a jar to all your neighbors for Christmas...the list is endless!! But, first you have to make the jam :) I started with a batch of strawberry freezer jam--this is strictly for personal consumption!  I love the way freezer jam tastes SO fresh--like eating fresh strawberries.  It's hard to use as gifts because of the freezer factor...oh, darn, guess that means I have to eat it. To start, you need to wash a cou...

I had a meeting at my house last night and wanted to have some fun refreshments because who doesn't like to eat, right??  I always have a million ideas for what to serve and the problem always comes in trying to narrow down the choices and remembering to not make enough to serve an army because the leftovers have to be eaten :) Since it's hot and muggy, I didn't want to serve anything too overly heavy.  I thought first about cool drinks and decided on making fresh-squeezed lemonade. Doesn't that look good??? Lemonade is one of the easiest things to make but people always just rave about it and swear that theirs never turns out!  Take 1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix it with 1 cup of sugar.  Stir completely until all the sugar is dissolved (it will be thick).  Add 5 cups of pure water, stir and chill.  That's it! Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.... I love tuna salad on a hot day, so I decided to serve that!  I didn't want to mak...

So, last week was my absolutely favorite holiday--Independence Day!  I've been patriotic, true blue all the way through since I was just a little girl and being a military wife has deepened that patriotism to the very core of my being.  I've always been so proud that my husband has dedicated his entire adult life to serving our great country!!  And, I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to serve right alongside him---it's not just military members who serve!  Military families make tremendous sacrifices also--just ask any kid who's had to go to 2 or 3 high schools or 7 elementary schools....they'll tell you :) Since I love the 4th so much, I wanted to do something special for all the men and women who serve with my husband in his squadron.  Carlie and I were doing some searching on Pinterest and found a really cute idea that I thought we be just perfect!  I had to make 140 of them and they had to be portable and not too gooey since I was taking them...

My youngest daughter, Carlie, has been telling me for a couple of years now that I should have a blog to share all my recipes and cooking tips on and I've been telling her for the same amount of time that nobody would want to read my stuff!  But, after selling a pretty large number (everything's relative, right?) of cookbooks and having people ask me all the time about my food, I decided that Carlie just might be right. So, here I am....writing my first post on my new blog.  I love to cook!! I love to bake!! I love to eat!!! And all of that became super-difficult when I was diagnosed with celiac disease 13 years ago.  Gluten-free food tasted like cardboard and I was desperate!  So, I started experimenting through converting family favorite recipes to GF.  I was NOT immediately successful---ask my family :)  But, perseverance paid off and food began to taste good again.  Then, I began inventing lots of new recipes and, as I served my food to non-GF eate...