Welcome to the world, Baby Rory!

Rory!, originally uploaded by Kate Chan.

This is probably the second most difficult post I have ever written. The first announced the arrival of the Chicklet via an open letter to her from her Baba and I. This is difficult only because the wait was hard, the work to bring little Rory forth into life was one that demanded enduring patience, faith and strength. And she is finally here for us to love, hold, and get to know. .

Oh! My eyes fill with tears of joy when I think of both of my girls. I see them now – each napping next to the other. The big sister laying next to the little sister – the Chicklet mimicking the Peanut’s pose in sleep (complete with Big Sister boppy pillow). She so desperately wants to play and share her toys with her new little buddy. Now begins Zoe’s test of patience and endurance as it will be a while before Rory is up to a good round of TinkerToy building, I think.

Success! She’s here!

Rory’s arrival came on Friday, July 16th at 11:29PM…. after 40 hours of hoping via labor that she would arrive, the doctor informed me that she would be coming via c-section. Not exactly what I had hoped, but to be honest, I knew better than to “plan” anything but just go with the flow. After 40 hours, my Love and I were just ready to meet this baby. (And I was *SO* ready to be able to get out of bed! NOT like that happened right away…but I was asking to get out of bed the next morning even before feeling had completely returned to my toes. LOL!) (And for those of you into baby stats, Ms. Rory arrived weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces; 19 inches.)

We have been lucky to have had family from Chicago (my Love’s parents, sister, 3 nieces (ages 7 and two 1 year old twins), a nephew (age 3), my sister Alice (sister of the heart, for sure!) and her 96 year old mother) and my parents too. Everyone has met, loved, and fallen head-over-heels for the newest member of the family. And of course, we are enamored too.

While she may have a 1:22 chance of having or developing Celiac Sprue in her lifetime, she is completely 1 in a million (or more) for us.

More when I’m awake……. don’t worry – I have some more baking/cooking recipes to come. Even though I’m not up and about yet, I have a few that I made before the babe made her appearance…. so never fear! Good gluten-free food is always here!

Happy Gluten Free Summer Days to ALL!
~Kate & Family

GF:Blueberry-Apricot Oat Bars

GF:Blueberry-Apricot Oat Bars, originally uploaded by Kate Chan.

A gentle GF warning: Your gluten-eating friends will clean you out of these addicting bars when you take them to share to summer BBQs and parties this year. Just prepare yourself by maybe placing a few gluten-free slices on a separate plate before the gluten-grubbers dig in and lose are perspective on maintaining a gluten free dish for you.  :D

Life is good around our house. Unlike most Pacific Northwesterners, I have not be lamenting our lack of warm temperatures but I have missed seeing the sunshine. I think being pregnant has made me even more sensitive to the heat than I was before – which isn’t always comfortable. However, with no sunshine and raining/gloomy days, it has been hard to find time to enjoy the outdoors with Zoe as much as I would like. Today, however, is looking to be over 80F and it’s sunny already at 7:30 in the morning! Perfect timing! Our “water table” fund reached the goal and along with a gift card and a coupon, the little Chicklet has a new water-addiction table for the backyard. I can’t wait to play with her today in the yard! She’s going to love it!

Since backyard play has been far from on the agenda, she and I have been cooking up a storm when I can. (The doctor has ordered “modified bed rest” which generally equates to a whole lot of laying on my left side these last several weeks.) Only two more weeks to go for the official “due date” is upon us. Everyone in the family is anxious for a firm DATE for the baby’s arrival. The doc tells us he’d play the lottery rather than work if he could truly call baby birth dates accurately. So… we wait.

Thankfully, my mom and dad are probably going to make it. My dad has been in the hospital a few times this summer with heart issues and his travel will officially be approved or denied at a doctor’s appointment on Thursday. And while I am seeking the comfort of my mom and dad during this new experience, my dad’s health is first and foremost on my mind. The baby will come when s/he decides. Dad/Mom need to come when they can.

In addition to welcoming my parents, Zoe will not only be meeting her new sibling for the first time but also meeting FOUR cousins (ages 1 – and an aunt too. My in-laws are taking a road trip in a week or so from Chicago through Colorado, Las Vegas, Washington State, and California with FOUR kids in the car and three adults. They are completely outnumbered and I’ve told them I can’t figure out if they are super brave or ridiculously insane. Regardless, I am looking forward to meeting my twin nieces (age 1) for the first time and my nephew (age 3) for the first time too. It’s going to be baby/kid central in our house for a while, I think.

So now you see why I am getting a few recipes and some baking in now. Not only am I anticipating the need for some recovery time for my Love, the Chicklet and I , but there are going to be a few adjustments to be made that are beyond my control in the beginning of this new little life. However it all works out, I am thrilled to have family around to welcome her/him to our little clan.
So, I’ll start by sharing a recipe that Z and I made for a drop-in lunch with my sister. The beautiful part about having friends/family around who eat sweets is that I can BAKE SWEETS! My Love is not a sweet-eater (something I’ve mentioned before) but I have to keep saying it. People email asking for sweet treat recipes and I think how delicious it sounds…. And then I think about the dozens of cookies or pans of delectables that will be in the house that only I will consume… and THAT becomes a problem. So when you know you can bring the pan of goodness over to someone’s house to share? I’m all over it!

This bar recipe is super. You can make the base or the filling layers be as thick or thin as your heart’s desire. These are sweet, but you control the sugar based upon how sweet your fruit it. And PLEASE! Vary your fruit to your tastes and seasons! I happened to have had some delicious blueberries on hand (like 6 quarts!) that I wanted to use up, so this was perfect for me.

I hope you enjoy these bars as much as my family and I did.

Gluten Free Blueberry-Apricot Oat Bars
Recipe makes one 8 ½” x 8 ½” pan of bars
You can find a printable copy of this recipe here.

Filling Ingredients:
1 ½ cups chopped dried apricots (put 2 cups dried apricots into your food processor to chop easily)
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar (ADJUST this more/less based on how sweet your berries & juice are!)
1 Tablespoons cold water – reserve
1 teaspoon cornstarch – reserve

Crust & Crumble Topping Ingredients:
1 ½ cups GF oats
½ cup GF oat flour (grind 2/3 cup GF oats in blender/processor to flour)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon each: dried orange peel and freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ cup slightly softened (or room temperature) butter

Directions:

1. Put the chopped apricots, blueberries, orange juice and lemon juice into a pot on the stove. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 10 – 12 minutes. (Do step 3 while your fruit simmers.)
2. Mix the teaspoon of cornstarch into the 1 Tablespoon of cold water. Pour this mixture into the simmering fruit. Stir together and simmer for another 2 – 3 minutes until thickened.
3. Mix together all crust ingredients in the bowl of your mixer.
4. Preheat your oven to 350F.
5. Press ½ of this mixture into the bottom of a 8 ½” x 8 ½” pan.
6. Pour your fruit mixture over the bottom crust.
7. Crumble the remaining crust mixture over the top.
8. Bake at 350F for 30 – 35 minutes or until your crumble topping is golden brown.
9. Allow to cool before serving as bars– or serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.

Enjoy it while it lasts!

Happy GF Eating, All!
~Kate

Gluten Free Easy Sponge Cake

GF Easy Sponge Cake, originally uploaded by Kate Chan.

Really, truly, honestly…. this is the best and easiest cake I have ever made. And… I can’t even count how many times I’ve made it in the last 6 months – it’s that good and that easy.

I started making a cake like this back at Christmas. I was actually experimenting while trying to develop a sweet treat that we could share with family for Zoe’s baptism. My Love is not a sweet-eater, but he does love fresh fruit. He also likes fresh cream cakes from the Asian bakery… alas, those are not gluten free and I wanted to participate in the sweet-noshing because I *am* a sweets-eater!

This cake went over smashingly with a HUGE range of gluten eaters – ages 4 – 78! Thus, in one swoop, it made itself part of my go-to recipe repertoire. I have even made this dessert while my Love was clearing the main course dishes. Oh yea. It’s a dream dessert: delicious, easy and gluten free.

But I repeat myself. Maybe I should just stop typing and get to the recipe, huh? Well… okay then!

Feel free to fill this with whatever makes your mouth joyful. We use freshly made whip cream, strawberries and blueberries. (Sometimes strawberries and fresh mint leaves, etc) and dust the top with a bit of powdered sugar. The cake is light and moist – so it will adapt itself to any number of fillings or occasions. I think will agree – make just one and you will be back for more!

Here’s the recipe – please do let me know what you think and how you fill yours!

Gluten Free Easy Sponge Cake
Makes one sponge cake (length of a jelly roll pan or full sized cookie sheet), serves plenty! (depending on the size of your slices.)
You can find a printable copy of this recipe here.

Ingredients:
8 eggs, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup potato starch (NOT flour!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons GF vanilla extract
1 teaspoon GF lemon extract
1 teaspoon GF almond extract

TOPPING:

freshly whipped cream
fresh fruit  (strawberries and blueberries)
powdered sugar (for dusting)

Directions:

1. Separate the egg whites and the yolks.
2. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and set aside.
3. Beat the egg yolks until light yellow and creamy – about 2 – 3 minutes)
4. Sift together powdered sugar, potato starch (not flour!) and salt.
5. Add sifted dry ingredients to the beaten egg yolks and mix thoroughly.
6. Add the extracts.  Mix again.
7. Using a spatula or spoon (not your mixer!), gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
8. Preheat the oven to 325F.
9. Line a jelly roll pan or a full sized cookie sheet pan with parchment paper.
10. Gently smooth the cake batter out to the length of your pan with even depth.  (My pan is 18″ by 13″ – and the batter is about 2/3 – 1″ thick).
11. Bake the cake for 15 minutes then turn off the oven and open the oven door.  (I open the oven by cracking it open about 2-3 inches.)
12. Leave the cake to cool in the oven for 5-8 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and cool.
14. Gently lift the cooled cake up off the parchment paper just to loosen it from the paper.  Lay the cake back down on to the paper.  You will use the parchment to help you roll the cake.
15. Top with freshly whipped cream and fresh fruit slices.
16. Have a piece of fresh parchment paper the length of your cake OR a serving platter that fits nearby.  Use the parchment paper to help you roll the cake.  (I roll it so I have LONG cake (see picture) rather than rolling the short end and have a HUGE rolled cake.)
17. Lay the cake on the fresh parchment or on your serving platter.  Gently lay a few pieces of fruit on top and dust with powdered sugar.
18. Serve and enjoy! (We have served this with ice cream, macerated strawberries or whatever strikes our fancy/hits our budget point!)

Happy cake baking, everyone!
~Kate

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Two! Two! Two!, originally uploaded by Kate Chan.

Today you are two!

You’ve been our baby since our dreams collided and brought you home.

You are an absolute joy and you make us happy everyday.

May each year of life bring you happiness, adventure, good health, great friends, and time to love it all.

We adore you, our child!
xoxoxoxox
Mama and Baba