We have loved featuring Shauna James Ahern from Gluten Free Girl this week and are delighted to share this recipe for Ice Cream Sandwiches with you. Continue reading
If you know someone who has to eat gluten free, you know how drastically their eating lives have changed. Shauna James Ahern and her Husband Danny, create meals with pure love of food. Shauna has a fantastic way of capturing the beauty that is gluten free living.
Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake
Corn Tortillas
Spontaneous Pork Ramen
Gluten Free Cannoli
One of the thing I love the most about Maria’s blog, Two Peas and Their Pod is the absolutely scrumptious photography. And you can see why, no? (I am also DEFINITELY putting that strawberry ice cream on my “to make this summer list”. The sour cream is just too intriguing to me to pass up!)
Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
Chocolate Chip Cookie Milkshake
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce
I love this list of tips to survive a kitchen remodel by Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod. We remodeled our kitchen while we were not living in the home and it was stressful enough. I can’t imagine taking on such a big task while being in residence but Maria shows us some ways to pull it off while maintaining some sanity. (And her results are staggeringly gorgeous!)
We remodeled our kitchen last year and are very happy with the results, but it was not easy. We did the remodel ourselves and lived at home during the construction mess. We were surrounded by tools, dust, and had no kitchen for four months. Living without a kitchen was the hardest part for me since I love to cook and bake. I knew I was getting my dream kitchen, so I tried to keep the end result in mind. I had to repeat “this will be worth it” almost every day. If you are thinking about remodeling your kitchen, here are a few tips to help you survive.
1. Set up a makeshift kitchen in your home. Move your refrigerator, microwave, and table to this area. Keep paper plates, napkins, paper towels, utensils, cutlery, and cups on hand. If you have a hot plate or toaster oven, these can come in handy too.
2. Keep meals simple. Stock your refrigerator with sandwich and salad fixings, milk for cereal, fresh fruit, and foods you can grill or microwave.
3. Stock your freezer. Plan ahead and make meals that can be frozen and reheated later. Soups, stews, lasagna, enchiladas, and casseroles all freeze well.
4. Borrow a kitchen. Offer to cook dinner for your friends or family. I am sure they would love to let you use their kitchen if you are providing the meal.
5. Dine out. Dining out can be expensive and sometimes the options aren’t that healthy. Look for coupons, split meals, or bring home a doggy bag to reheat for another meal.
6. Move your fridge and microwave to this temporary kitchen zone along with a table. An electric hot platealong with at least one pot is a good idea as well.
7. Stock the table with basic supplies: microwave-safe dishes, utensils, paper or plastic plates and cups, cutlery, paper towels, napkins, baggies, plastic wrap and garbage bags. Remember a can opener!
8. Don’t forget coffee! Set up a coffee station: coffee maker, coffee, sugar.
9. Have a supply of dry foods in boxes under the table like: cereal, granola bars, bread, Kraft Dinner, microwave popcorn, tuna and soups.
10. Stock your fridge with drinks,cream, milk, condiments, sandwich meats and BBQ foods like chicken, steak, hamburgers, sausage and hot dogs. The barbeque will become your new best friend during a kitchen remodel. Salad stuff and fresh fruit should also be readily available.
I shy away from using table cloths. For one, I usually prefer the grain of wood or the textures visible in my stainless steel table. For another, I am also REALLY bad at getting stains out of fabric. But this tip by Katie made me rethink EVERYTHING. Because really, it’s just easy, inexpensive and genius.
We entertain regularly at my house and I like to use a table cloth on the table when we eat. Call me old fashioned, but I think it adds an extra nice touch. We have a 10 foot long farm table that we all gather around to eat, laugh, enjoy each others company, and to mainly spill things on.
After a meal or gathering, our table cloth sometimes resembles a ravaged battlefield with a smear of sauce, a splotch of red wine and of course, a half dozen or so smudges of chocolate from the hot fudge dessert.
I am constantly bleaching, scrubbing, soaking and spraying the myriad of stains that my brood of miss your mouth eaters headed up by yours truly makes. Additional messiness and spots are often the work of my two nephews Chaz age 11, and AJ age 9 who often mistake the tablecloth for their napkin. Lucky for me (and now all of you) I ran across this idea while flipping through the pages of some random home/garden magazine. This tip is inexpensive and works great…painter’s drop cloths as table cloths.
Worth a try, I went to the hardware store and spent $10 on a canvas drop cloth from the paint department. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, are nice neutral creamy/tan color, they wash and wear like iron, can easily be bleached or Oxy cleaned and look brand new after they are laundered, time and time again.
I just love them…..and when they get too old, stained or helpless you can use them on your next painting job.
I hope this little tool helps you set the table a little easier! Cheers!
PS….Sometimes I like to layer vintage tablecloths on top of the drop cloths for a different, more colorful look. Vintage grain sacks work great as table runners too! Go ahead! Use your creative side and enjoy these clever, cost effective tablecloths at your next party or get together. You will be glad you did!
We are so happy to have Katie Camarro with us this week. Katie owns and operates “Sundaes Best” , and spends her days making sumpteous hot fudge sauce for people who love chocolate and the happiness that comes with it. How great is it that we kick off her week on NATIONAL HOT FUDGE SUNDAE DAY, people? Yup, it’s today-July 25th. And if you were thinking about picking any up, Katie’s bottles of hot fudge goodness are 10% in honor of the day, peeps. (We like finding a good deal on deliciousness. AND we like sharing them with people we love.) (That would be y’all. In case you were wondering. )
Two of my favorite quotes are: “If it’s not chocolate why bother” and “Life is uncertain, eat dessert first” by early 20th century writer Ernestine Ulmer….I think he and I could have been friends if I was born sooner. I am the oldest of three children and the one most likely to lie down to put her jeans on everyday. My name is Katie Camarro and I love chocolate, I love food, and I love to laugh!
I have the sweetest job in the world, especially for an American history major. Who would have thought I would spend my days spinning kettles of chocolate into joy in a jar! I grew up in Saratoga Springs, NY the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. Saratoga has a special significance to many for its healing spring waters, it’s historical significance as the turning point of the Revolutionary War, and for many sports and equine enthusiasts for its world class horseracing.
To me, Saratoga is where I call home. The place that tugs on your heartstrings and in my world represents the true definition of contentment and the place I want to hang my hat forever.
I love history, horseracing, anything vintage, dogs, animals, and of course anything food. It’s the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep at night. I often wonder how people manage to muddle through their days without being inspired by food….especially sweet food.
My love of chocolate , hot fudge, ice cream and sweets comes naturally. My mom Patty has been known to eat 9 peanut butter cups in one evening. Yes, 9, that is not a typo, and we are not talking miniatures!
She also is famous for having ice cream from Mr. Mumfert’s Dairy Queen on South Broadway in Saratoga Springs during the mid -1960’s as many as 3 times a day. My marvelous Aunt Mary, (Patty’s sister) who I also share my sweet tooth with, loves to tell stories of my pregnant Mom waddling down the brick paved Victorian sidewalks of town on her way to satisfy that sweet tooth and get her dairy allotment in for a healthy baby. Little did she know that I would be a 9.5 pound butterball baby obsessed with chocolate, ice cream, and anything sweet and 47 years later nothing has changed.
Wells College, a small women’s college, nestled on the Eastern Shore of Cayuga Lake in the picturesque and charming village of Aurora, NY was where I earned a liberal arts degree, and gathered the wherewithall and skills that I continually draw from even some 20 years later as I run my own business. After graduation from Wells I fell in love both figuratively and literally with the Finger Lakes region and a dapper young fellafrom Skaneateles NY whose family’s secret recipe keeps me busy jarring chocolate, packing orders and peddling chocolate most of my days.
My husband Jeff and I live in the country just outside of Saratoga, 1 mile from where I grew up, on a small farm with our dogs (2 amazing GreatPyrynees: Sundae and Esher, and 2 senior Jack Russells Brady and Jane) and some pygmy goats. We enjoy our family, friends and animals, and all the beauty that surrounds us in Upstate NY.
Together we spread the love of hot fudge sauce through my business, Sundaes Best (www.sundaesbest.com), which I founded in November of 2001 and can hardly believe that we are celebrating 10 years of making this chocolately goodness.
Currently I am working on my first recipe book, committing to being a more consistent blogger, tracing our family ancestry with my nephews and patiently waiting for George Clooney to call me to star opposite him in his next big picture, and as always…wondering what I will eat next.
Oh yeah, and I am very much looking forward to celebrating my favorite holiday….National Ice Cream Sundae Day! (July 25th) What a great reason to have a sundae; as if you need a reason have ice cream!
In all seriousness, I am blessed to be able to share this family tradition with others and to be able to meld my personal passions with my professional career- I recommend it enthusiastically. My wish for you is that you too follow your dreams, live your passion, laugh with abandon, and that all your days are very sweet.
BIG round of applause to Sarah at the end of her feature. Not only was she an utter delight that creates amazing food but I have to say it…she has the most awesome band of commenters we’ve seen round these parts. (If they could trail around every person giving support the world would be a MUCH better place.) Thanks to you all. Now let’s enjoy some gorgeous food photography by her good friend, Jenny B of Absolutely Photography!
I would like to share with you my friend, my sous chef, my photographer, Jenny B of Absolutely Photography. Jenny and I work as a seamless team while in the kitchen. It’s a perfect union, I focus on cooking food and she sees the food, so together we do some pretty great work. Please enjoy her visual efforts and check her out at http://www.
From Jenny
Before photography, I worked in the food industry for 18 years. I worked in a funky vegan restaurant in Laguna Beach, while cutting vegetables and fruits the natural detailed structure fascinated me. Being captivated by nature and its elements both simple and complex, I dreamt of being the one who earned a living photographing my favorite things.
Macro photography delights my soul. It sounds really corny but it is true, just ask Chef Sarah. With the help of depth of field and quality glass, the camera captures finite structural details of food.
I find this type of photography very satisfying.
A few years ago, while in Sarah’s kitchen, I started picking her brain for a better understanding of cooking things I had yet to learn. Poultry for example, is often over cooked and dry. Chef Sarah’s baked chicken was moist and tender. Just delicious! I learned correct temperatures to cook meat. I learned the beauty of mixing cumin and white pepper to spice chicken for tacos. Over time I began to read more on my own and learn from cooking shows. Cooking, really cooking became a fun creative outlet. With more confidence, I stepped closer to my roots, as my father had cooked in the army and owned a few restaurants growing up. Sometime in the middle of all this creativity, Sarah started her food blog and announced she was headed to culinary school. I squealed with excitement knowing she would be a great student. I hoped to benefit from her training but I had no idea it would be in the waste band too! I expressed interest in photographing her meals to achieve my goal of shooting food. She said, “Bring it!”
These days, I juggle the sous chef and photographer hats while working with Chef Sarah. I truly enjoy being Sarah’s sous chef because of her easy going teaching style. Collaborating with her is a total party, really, we geek and laugh and then EAT of course.
In the future, I hope to attain more food styling skills and shoot a few cookbooks too!
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