Cranberry-Apricot Muffins (Gluten, Dairy and Sugar Free)

Cranberry muffins with apricot jam.

By the time you read this post, Dear Reader, I'll be walking Venice Beach. And sighing a long slow sigh. At last. A long overdue getaway- the first vacation since our last visit to the City of Angels- way back in the fall of 2007. Which, considering the roller coaster ride of a year we've all had- personally and collectively- feels like a virtual lifetime ago.

I'll be away for a week. But don't worry. You know I couldn't leave you on your own without a new recipe to tempt you into the kitchen. So I stirred up a new batter for you- some tender breakfast muffins. A fresh combination of tart cranberries and golden apricot preserves in a flour base that features buckwheat, sorghum and quinoa flours- yielding a higher protein profile than your average gluten-free muffin. And, as a bonus to those of you eschewing sugar cane, this recipe has no added sugar. (I didn't add nuts this time, but if you like a little nutty crunch in your muffins these would be lovely with chopped pecans, or toasted almonds.)

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Savory Vegetable Pancakes

I love savory pancakes- shredded veggies add so much flavor.

Savory or sweet? That is my question today- not to indulge in the duality of either/or and divide the pancake universe into opposing sensibilities or anything, but if push comes to shove (and I'm four square against shoving, honestly) the naked truth is I'm more of a savory, salty, golden crunchy pancake lover than a soft, sweet and sticky with maple syrup craver.

Maybe it's because I love pancakes for supper.

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Gluten-Free Banana-Blueberry Muffin Cake

Beautiful banana-blueberry muffin cake. Gluten-free.

Muffin Cake Madness

My partner in (culinary) crime- the infamous and ever-up-for-baking husband Steve- informed me our bananas were mucho ripe. In fact, to be completely accurate, he poked his head into my cozy little studio the other day and declared, Our bananas are ripe. I should bake something.

I looked up from my iMac and murmured Hmmm, in assent. 

But what, exactly?

Ripe bananas were calling. Begging to be a part of some grander life affirming tastebud tingling scheme. But do readers really need another banana cake recipe? I pondered, slurping cold coffee with vanilla hemp milk. Which reminds me. I should share this.

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How To Cook Quinoa in a Rice Cooker (with recipes)

How do you cook quinoa? I was recently asked. The answer is simple.

Easy. Fast. Rockin'.

I cook it in a rice cooker.

In fact, quinoa is the easiest no-fuss "grain" you'll ever cook. It's healthy fast food. Cook up a batch ahead of time and you can stir up a fabulous light lunch (like the Lime Quinoa Salad with Mint) in a New York minute.

Well, maybe a Los Angeles minute. No wait.

A Venice Beach minute.

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Karina's New Mexican Stew with Ground Turkey + Green Chiles

Dust off the slow cooker.

Looking for a simple but truly fabulous slow cooker stew recipe to warm you up? Here is one my all time faves. A New Mexican style stew with budget-friendly ground turkey spiked with roasted green chiles, lime, and cilantro. Butternut squash and potatoes round out the spicier flavors. Make it as mild or as spicy as your taste buds prefer. It's perfect comfort food for any time of year. We serve it with my favorite gluten-free corn muffin recipe.

Need more slow cooker inspiration? Check out the tasty gluten-free cookbook Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by fellow food blogger Stephanie O'Dea.


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Yeasted Cornbread

Tender gluten-free yeasted cornbread baked in a skillet.

The pairing of a tender, grainy bread (freshly baked, still warm) with a bowl of soul-fortifying soup or stew is a favorite combo for winter comfort around here. Steve and I are big fans. We slow-cook a lot of soup. And we bake a different cornbread every week. So today I'm posting such a pairing. Two recipes- a new yeasted cornbread I am crazy about, and a New Mexican Stew that will chase away the January back-to-reality blues and blahs and whatever else may ail you, Dear Reader.

When all else fails, a simple earthy meal of hot soup and rustic bread can soothe the crankiest of beasts. Especially when that beast happens to be my mood, infused with cabin fever.

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US to Metric Conversion Help

Here are some measurement equivalents to help you with US measures and conversions.

US Teaspoons and Tablespoons and Cups

1 cup = 8 oz. (236.6 milliliters) or UK 3/4 cup plus 2 dessert spoons

1 teaspoon = 1/6 oz. (4.929 milliliters) or UK 3/4 teaspoon (slightly rounded)
1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons (14.79 milliliters) or UK 2 1/2 teaspoons

2 tablespoons = 1/8 cup
4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup

16 tablespoons = 1 cup
48 teaspoons = 1 cup

1/3 cup = 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon- or UK 1/3 cup plus 2 dessert spoons
2/3 cup = 10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
3/4 cup = 12 tablespoons- or UK 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons
3/8 cup = 6 tablespoons

1 metric teaspoon = slightly rounded US teaspoon
1 metric tablespoon = 1.2 US tablespoons

US Ounces and Pounds

1 pound equals 16 oz.
1 US cup equals 8 oz.
1 US teaspoon equals 1/6 oz.
1 US tablespoon equals .5 ounce
1 US fluid ounce equals 1 oz.

US Liquid/Fluid

8 fluid oz. equal 1 cup
2 cups equal 1 pint
2 pints equal 1 quart
4 cups equal 1 quart

1 fluid US ounce equals 29.57 milliliters

How to convert ounces into grams:

Multiply fluid ounces by 29.57
Multiply dry ounces by 28.35

1 stick of US butter is 113 grams

African Peanut + Sweet Potato Soup

FLAVOR!

Happy New Year, Gentle Reader. It's a new dawn. It's a new day. And it's time for a black-eyed pea recipe. One of my favorites, with African inspired flavors. Serving black-eyed peas and beans at the start of a freshly birthed year is serious good mojo in some circles.

At least that's what they tell me.

Why eating a plate of legumes on New Year's Day brings luck I've no idea, but someone somewhere decided these humble little nuggets of vegan protein were a good and fortunate culinary choice. So why not?

Rather than rummage through cookbooks searching for Southern Hoppin' John recipes or Italian white bean escarole stews I turned instead to the sun drenched flavors of West and North Africa and reprised a stew that is spicy and hearty and peanutty. If you cannot use peanut butter try sunflower seed butter. It is no less fabulous.

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