Gluten-Free Cornbread Stuffing + Roasted Squash

Maple Roasted Acorn Squash Two Ways- Stuffed + Unstuffed (Cornbread Stuffing)

While we're all adjusting to turning the clocks back (excuse me while I yawn), I thought I'd reprise two Thanksgiving friendly recipes today. Both recipes are redolent with old fashioned autumnal goodness. Warm and subtle spices. Maple. Apple. It doesn't get any comfy-cozier.

First up is an easy, favorite side dish of mine- maple roasted acorn squash (and it's vegan, therefore perfect for those of you sharing your humble meal with vegetarian and dairy-free guests). The second dish is one of my oldest tried and true recipes.

It is from my very first Thanksgiving as a married woman, in fact.

We won't discuss how long ago that was, Darling, but I will admit it was way back with Husband Number #1 (it being first and all). I was anxious to do it up with style on my first Thanksgiving (as any blushing bride would be) and had the sudden inspiration to use cornbread and apples as a stuffing instead of the traditional- and familial on both sides- bagged white bread and sage dressing. And then I added curry. Maybe that's when they began to notice I wasn't exactly a dyed-in-the-wool Pilgrim-esque kind of girl.

I'm not at all certain Husband #1 cared for it.

Husband #2 is a huge cornbread fan. And a curry fan.

Coincidence?


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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Donuts

Tender and light, gluten-free pumpkin donuts, darling.

Pumpkin Crazy

You might think I'm on a pumpkin bender, glancing through recent recipes here on Gluten-Free Goddess®. And you'd be right. I do this. Every October. I go on one long, crazy, pumpkin love affair. I am head-over-heels nuts about it. Because pumpkin is magic. In fact, if pumpkin was in a fairy tale, it would be the Fairy Godmother- not the humble buggy. It makes gluten-free baking transform, you see, as if touched by a star-tipped sparkling wand.

That's why I knew I had to tackle pumpkin donuts. Because donuts can be tough to replicate gluten-free. But I knew pumpkin would bring me luck, and sprinkle good fortune on my baking endeavors today. So, yes. I am pumpkin crazy. Crazy in love.

And you know what?

If pumpkin be the food of love, play on.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fabulous pumpkin cookies, gluten-free + delicious.

My restless spirit has been wandering far and wide and away from dreams of butternut chili and baked rice casseroles toward the tempting, sweeter things in life. As in cookies. Like the character Ana Pascal confesses in one of my favorite movies, Stranger Than Fiction, I decided that if I was going to help make the world a better place this week, I'd do it with cookies.

So today's post, Dear Reader, is brief and sweet. Just like the treat I baked this weekend when I began with the idea of a pumpkin cookie. I craved something different than my Pumpkin Pecan Cookies and my nutmeg icing drizzled Pumpkin Quinoa Cookies. I craved dark chocolate. And peanut butter. So I threw them in the bowl with pumpkin and coconut flour and, well.

There was a happy ending to the story.


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Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

How do I say this? These new chocolate chip cookies are the best.

The subject of cookies is a favorite topic on Gluten-Free Goddess, and for good reason. I've written about cookies before- in posts too numerous to count.

So why are these different?

Why are these chocolate chip cookies blog worthy?

Because they are golden and gently crisp on the outside, and soft and chewy within. Like the cookie you remember- that gorgeous, sweet caramel bite of homemade love. Warm from the oven these taste remarkable like the classic Toll House cookie recipe I baked a thousand times.

I credit the new flours and fat I used.

Gone is the brown rice flour. Gone is shortening. I've nixed the tapioca starch. And the result is a truly wonderful, soft dough that tastes closer to a real Toll House cookie than any other gluten-free chocolate chip cookies (though delicious!) I've baked.


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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Karina's fabulous gluten-free pumpkin streusel muffins.

Did someone say streusel?

This isn't a Halloween post. Or a Thanksgiving post. Technically. Though Thanksgiving is just a stone's throw away- if you somehow conjure a metaphorical stone to metaphorically hurl into the time-space continuum, piercing the veil of eight and a half weeks that blows by in a singular exhale, surely faster than light. And this exhale, it was only following a previous breath- a breath I took yesterday- which turns out to be one year ago. A year since that Pumpkin Praline Pie I baked. I have a hard time wrapping my brain around this.

This is a post about time.

Some days I feel as if I am slave to the calendar, an unwitting cog in the wheel of the year with Sundays and holidays appointed by proxy, designated by some superior force that rules my random wandering nature with an unforgiving fist, demanding obedience. Charting the course of my life.

Then I remember the truth.

Time is an invention born of the Big Bang. Debris hurtling through space- at increasing velocity. And here we are, hurtling along with it. Stuck to a rock spinning its own orbital logic. Logic so tiny in the fantastical face of infinity, the depth and breadth of vast, hollow, endless space. In the beyond-comprehension scheme of things, we are all walking talking miracles. It is truly beyond extraordinary that we are here at all, with all the subatomic quantum level things that could go wrong. With all the near misses. And all that never was.

Life is breathtakingly rare, intricately fragile, and so surprising.

Perhaps that's why we set apart a season to ponder the harvest, to cultivate gratitude. I'm all for it. I'm all for it because of all the petty, surface level annoyances we endure, all the itches and aches and heartbreaks and mundane difficulties, all the tricks and rationalizations we serve ourselves to distract ourselves, just to survive. To get through the day. To endure until tomorrow. To re-imagine what is possible. Or ignore the inevitable. To flirt with meaning. To invite love in. To create a connection. To let go of something toxic. To embrace something raw or something tender. To risk something wonderful. Or scary. Because the risk gleams with promise.

The microcosm of this past year has been the microcosm of my life. Contractions and expansions. Sloughing off and gathering in. There's been some blooming. And some fading. Inner strength toughened. Muscles softened. Authenticity inches one step closer. Understanding melts into compassion. For myself, first of all.

I am learning to hold my imperfections to the light and examine them with less acidity. This single choice alone creates more room for compassion toward others. It's true what the sages say about loving yourself first. I no longer care to be my own worst enemy.

I'll leave that purpose to someone else.

Life Aging burnishes you. And tenderizes your heart. And things fall away. Often by themselves. So many concerns I once worried about- and obsessed over- are beginning to lose their charm, their once magnetic hold on me. What is important is spinning a new magic, a silvery soft magic that you can almost inhale just before dark, when the sky deepens into that particular November blue and tastes like snow.

I am grateful for so many things this year. For the ongoing privilege of motherhood. For the new family joined to us now in marriage and through heart strings. For old and new friends. For a warm bed shared. For the means to put food on the table (thank you Blogger). For these six years of gypsy living, taking the long way home. For this opportunity to string words together in cyberspace, and share recipes and ramblings with you.

Thank you.

Have a beautiful week. And while we're at it- a spooky-lovely Halloween. A heartwarming Thanksgiving. Small and quiet or big and boisterous. Be well fed, in every way.

On to the Muffins... 

A friend was coming by to visit. So I wanted to create a new pumpkin muffin based on my moist and tender Pumpkin Pie Bread. I thought I'd add walnuts and a streusel topping. And cinnamon. I played around with my recipe and baked a batch of these little golden lovelies.

You could substitute pecans for the walnuts, if you like.

And then go read a page or two of A Short History of Everything. And we can talk about the whole time-space continuum thing.

It'll blow your mind.


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Gluten-Free Pecan Crackers Recipe

How to make your own gluten-free crackers- with pecan meal.

Crunchy, nutty, salty crackers. 


I have a confession to make. It begins with crackers. Crunchy, nutty, salty crackers. And the doom of shortening days. The curse of narrow daylight. The long slow creep of SAD and carb cravings has begun. The Fall Equinox is right around the corner. After-dinner walks will soon be pre-dinner walks. The wind that weaves through the cottonwoods down by the Chama riverbed will have a chilly edge to it that hints of winter skies and stirs the urge for goin'. I get that every year. The urge. The longing to clear out, let go and move on.

I feel the gypsy spirit in my bones--- screws and all.

And if I am stuck, as I now am stuck, back in this ancient rural desert where I feel--- screws and all- I don't belong, this urge goes underground. This urge- and it is a she- attempts a guise of humming patience and a veil of vague distraction knowing all the while that this ruse of hers is thin and she will soon be gnawing away at my futile attempts to remain buoyant and calm and satisfied with crudities and lettuce wraps. I will be rifling the cupboard for crackers and tortilla chips and baking starchy potatoes to smother with roasted vegetables and rustling up plates of steaming spaghetti and meatballs.

All to satiate The Need. The carb need. The Fix.

The serotonin impostor.

For those of you blessed with a friendly chemistry, those of you already anticipating the fall and winter holidays with their frosty allure of goodies and gaity, the ice skating and skiing, and the boisterous camaraderie of football- I salute you.

As for me?

I am preoccupied with conjuring lower carb crackers. And tossing up prayers to the wise and (one can only hope) merciful Real Estate Goddess. Maybe she'll take pity on me. If the house does not sell by November, we'll invent Plan B.

Gluten-free pecan crackers.

Gluten-Free Pecan Cracker Recipe

By Karina Allrich

These crackers taste a bit like rye crackers, due to the caraway and cocoa powder. If you're not a fan of rye bread or rye crackers, leave out the caraway.

Whisk together the dry ingredients:

1/2 cup millet flour or sorghum flour, more as needed*
1/4 cup potato starch (not potato flour!)
1/2 cup GF buckwheat flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons organic cocoa powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 to 1 teaspoon caraway, to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme or dried crushed rosemary

Stir in:

1 1/2 cups pecan meal
Ener-G Egg Replacer for 1 egg mixed with warm water
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 cup warm water or non-dairy milk, to start
1 teaspoon raw organic agave or brown sugar

Stir the ingredients until a stiff dough forms- you'll need to press the dough out into a thin layer, so if it appears too dry, or it falls apart, add a tablespoon of warm water at a time until the dough is malleable but not too sticky. My dough used almost 2/3 cup liquid- but this will vary according to flours and humidity.

Note*

The second time I made these crackers I needed three extra tablespoons of millet flour to get the dough sturdy and glossy. As always- dough and batters vary slightly with humidity.

Instructions:

When dough is mixed, divide in half.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a reusable Exopat.

Using oiled hands flatten and spread half the dough on the prepared baking sheet. Make as thin a layer as possible. Use the edge of a rubber spatula to straighten outside edges, if you like. The thinner the cracker is, the crisper it will be.

Prick the dough with a fork- or not- it's your choice.

Score the flattened dough into cracker sized pieces. I used a pizza cutter to do this.

To bake:

Sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt, if desired.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes till firm and slightly crisp (they will crisp up more as they cool). I use an Exopat, so the crackers baked a little longer- and were done at 24 minutes. Keep an eye on them.

Remove and allow the crackers to cool on a rack.

Store in an air-tight container. Or freeze. If they soften from humidity, reheat them on a baking sheet for a few minutes before serving.

Makes 36 crackers.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

All images & content are copyright protected, all rights reserved. Please do not use our images or content without prior permission. Thank you. 

For substitutions, please see my guide to baking with substitutions here.

Gluten-Free Turkey Meatloaf with Pecan Crust

Gluten-free turkey meatloaf with sun-dried tomatoes and pecan crust.

A Turn Toward the New

The morning was cool and bright. It was going to be one of those quintessential Cape Cod autumn days. A day tourists swoon over. Worthy of a post card with The weather is sublime- wish you were here scrawled in black gel cursive between sips of a Hot Chocolate Sparrow latte. The sky was a cake bowl of cobalt blue with that particular pink edge to it that only painters notice, the blush that softened the tree line at the north end of the West Barnstable marsh gentling the heavy greens of the pines and oaks into a bluish, almost violet gray.

She brushed her teeth with fennel toothpaste and spit into the low slung sink, pausing to breathe. A long inhale to slow her heart. The cottage was pin drop quiet. The boys had climbed the rubber lined steps into the school bus hours ago, peanut butter and honey sandwiches bagged, milk money in their pockets. She had waved from the street and watched them navigate the bus aisle in shadow, avoiding her maternal gaze, not turning to wave back. Too risky, she understood.

The walk back up the curve of road to the rental she had found last spring felt different this morning. Not because of the air and its September clarity that sharpened the asters and the Queen Anne's Lace with impossible precision- though she felt a kinship with the acute focus the turning of the seasons always brings. That sense of realignment, a perennial return to purpose. Ironically, she always felt as if fall was the season of new beginnings. Not spring.

Fall was the season she woke up, as if from a dream.

Today was the first day of a plein air painting workshop. A post-divorce return to premarital roots, when she painted for the love of it- not the pragmatic bill-paying need of it. Painting for an income (however necessary it may be) is dangerous business. Courting the marketplace changes your work. A self consciousness slithers in and infiltrates your choices. The observer becomes observed. Judged. Rewarded for meeting expectations.

She had always been more than willing to please. To notice the cues and needs of others. It was more than habit. It was ingrained in her bones. She had an uncanny knack for it. And she hated it about herself. She hated her automatic willingness to anticipate and acquiesce. Sometimes she would hear her own words hang in the air and for a quantum, split second wonder who had just spoken. There were entire days lost to living outside herself, hovering above her left shoulder, just beyond reach.

Stepping into the tiny sunlit kitchen she stood still for a moment, tempted by the cluttered breakfast table. The sticky bowls and spoons. The allure of distraction. The comfort of routine. But it didn't take. She snatched her car keys off a hook and grabbed a canvas bag of painting gear by the door, turned the knob with her free hand and opened it wide. Three minutes later she made a right at the empty bus stop, and accelerated east down Old King's Highway.

To be continued...


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