Gluten Free Ricotta Squares!

I have had quite a run of working nonstop.  Last weekend I finally had a chance to look at what has been in my refrigerator.  You know:  The stuff you realize must be used NOW, or never.

I had two pounds of whole milk ricotta, originally intended for some sort of lasagna.
(Ha.)

John and I pulled it out.  It wasn't beyond the sell by date by much. 
We opened it, inspected it, tasted it, and googled it. 

No reason not to use it!

I totally re-worked an old recipe for ricotta squares.  Two cups of wheat flour plus a cup of chopped nuts?  No way - just two cups of almond meal.  Two-thirds of a cup of margarine?  Forget it....1/2 cup of real butter!  A few more adjustments beyond that, and my first recipe didn't look much like the one I created.  Better yet?  It was gluten free.

The look on my family's faces told me I was right on.  Very blog-worthy. 



Gluten Free Ricotta Squares
(Serves 12-16)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Put 2 cups of almond meal/flour into a bowl.
Add 1/2 cup of brown sugar
and 1/2 cup of butter (softened).

Use a pastry blender to make little dinky morsels of butter
mixed in with the dry ingredients.

Press ~3/4 of this mixture into the bottom of a 9 X 13 glass baking dish.
Put it in your preheated oven for 10 min, then let it sit for 5 min.
(Leave the oven on!)

Meanwhile, in another bowl,
mix 2 pounds of whole milk ricotta,
four eggs,
a cup of sugar,
about a teaspoon of lemon extract,
about a teaspoon of grated lemon peel, and
about a teaspoon of vanilla.

(Seriously, I didn't measure the flavorings, I just guesstimated!)

Pour this mixture over the pre-baked (and partially cooled) crust.
Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top of the ricotta stuff.

Pop it all in the oven again.
Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the ricotta comes out clean.

Let it cool pretty much, then refrigerate.

Cut into squares.
Top each serving with a little whipped cream. 
Observe the faces as your family bites into this!

Now:  Aren't you glad you check my blog?

Listen More, Talk Less

Most of us have heard this advice:  Listen more, talk less.

It goes along with the idea that we have two ears and one mouth,
so we should listen twice as much as we talk. 

Yesterday I couldn't talk at all.

It started on Wednesday when I felt a cold coming on. 
On Friday night, we were driving home from a family gathering.
It all went downhill on that ride home.

The next day, the only way I could talk to my Dad on the phone was to have hubby put it on speaker mode, and I pantomimed or whispered information to relay to him. 

I always think it's rather ironic when the speech-language pathologist can't talk. 

We went to a fundraiser on Saturday afternoon.  I toted along a pad of paper and the above cover page.  This only worked so well.  Communication isn't a one-way street. 

My voice improved slightly in the afternoon.  That was nice, but I felt a little guilty about going against the standard advice for "vocal rest." 

On the way home, we stopped for dinner.  My voice was declining again. 
Restaurants tend to be notoriously loud, so talking to hubby, who was seated right next to me, was impossible.  All my comments had to be made by writing.

It made me very grateful for reading and writing skills.

Today I am better, kind of croaking like a frog.  Hopefully I will be able to go to work tomorrow and lead my charges in their speech and language sessions. 

So what did I learn from this?

• Sometimes it's good to not talk, as in leaving a dumb remark alone.
• We really do need to talk, and communication impairments are somewhat isolating, even if the rest of your body is functioning okay.
• It's a lot more fun to sing along in church than to stay quiet because you're croaking. 
• Be thankful for your voice!

"Pins From Lynn"

I'm lucky to have an awesome family all around. 

As is noted earlier in this blog, my Mom passed away in early 2012. 
She was a cool lady.

Anyway, she left behind an impressive array of whimsical pins.
Flowers, birds, bees, animals, snowmen, butterflies, dolphins....
I and many others would purchase pins in our travels to give Mom as gifts.
She herself picked up many pins on vacations, or when seeing something special.

You never saw Mom not sporting a pin on her left lapel.

With all these pins, I had an idea.
Perhaps friends and family would like a pin or two.
We decided to have a "pin party," titled, "Pins From Lynn."

Friends and family were invited to come yesterday,
have cookies and coffee or tea, and select a pin. 
Mother's Day weekend seemed to be an appropriate time to do this in her memory.

A box was available for a free will donation
to help area patients undergoing cancer therapy.

We collected a good sum!

People really seemed to like the idea,
and I got to see some relatives and friends that I wish I could see more often.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.
I hope you like this idea, too.

Brownies for Cinco de Mayo!

The recipe can be found here.
It uses Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie mix, and Cinnamon Chex cereal.


These are delicious!

If you want to see a rainbow, you gotta have rain.

Hubby and I decided to go for a walk last night.  I looked out and saw that the back porch was wet, but it didn't seem to be raining at the time.  I had partially cleaned up from dinner.  I'd finish after we returned.  We should seize the moment!

After grabbing jackets, we headed down the street, looping around the cul-de-sac. We were homeward bound when we looked at the sky.

"I wonder if there's a rainbow,"  Hubby mused.  We looked around and, sure enough, a faint rainbow was in the sky, opposite the sun.

As we watched, the rainbow became clearer.  We could see all the colors, even the violet.

All I had was my cell phone, so I took photos with it.  It worked!

We stood there a while, admiring nature's beauty.  What had started as a mist was turning into a light rain.

"Oh, it's raining,"  I pouted.

"Well, if you want to see a rainbow, you gotta have rain." 

So true. 

Birdwatching!

I have been bird-watching this weekend!

No, not outside.....from my computer!

Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, has an awesome Red-Tailed Hawk nest webcam.
Click here to see the Red-Tailed Hawk nest.
I'm rather partial to these hawks.
(Hubby would like a few in our yard to take care of our chipmunks!)

The hawk babies are expected to hatch sometime during the week of April 13th.


As I stared at the hawks and read the chat going on, I found out about the Bald Eagle cam.
This one is in Norfolk, VA.
Click here to see the eagle's nest.
There aren't any eggs yet, but I'm sure there will be soon.
There have been some amazing close-up views of the happy couple.


Following that, I learned about the penguin cam.
It's in Sea World in San Diego, California.
Click here to see the penguins.
I laughed out loud as they waddled around.
Futhermore, I wasn't aware that they made so much noise!

My daughter loves penguins, which is why she made the
penguin ring-bearer's pillow for her wedding,
pictured above.


Finally, I found a webcam on a hummingbird nest!
Click here to see the hummingbird nest.
This is in Orange County, California.
Babies are due soon!


All this is very addictive.
(Beware!)

White Sauce, Gravy, and Condensed Soups

I have been doing a little research on making white sauce.

It's not any harder than making gravy!

For gravy on Thanksgiving, I have used the technique set forth by
"GlutenFreeGirl," here. 

I used her proportions of
1/4 cup butter,
1/4 cup sweet rice flour, and
2 cups of turkey stock.

I don't like my gravy too light in color, so I add Gravy Master to this.
(I understand that Gravy Master is GF.)


What do you do when you need
a "can of condensed cream of mushroom soup" for a recipe?
Those certainly are not gluten free, for the most part.

This week I made a dish that called for just that. 

I did it this way:

I melted 2 Tbs of butter in a saucepan.
I stirred in 4 Tbs of rice flour.
I let it cook a while, stirring often,
until it started looking light tan in color.
(It's my understanding that this will
improve the flavor over uncooked flour.)

Then I took a 12-oz can of lowfat (2%) evaporated milk.
I -very slowly- mixed in 8-10 oz of this, stirring constantly.
(I did have a few lumps, but I smooshed them out with a spoon.
Next time I will use a wire whisk!)
I finally added 1/2 tsp of salt.
(You may decide to add more, to taste.)

My recipe called for "cream of mushroom soup."
I could have taken a can or jar of sliced mushrooms
and stirred it into the white sauce concoction, above.
Since it was all getting mixed together, anyway,
I just put it in with the rest of my ingredients. 

If you need a cheese sauce, you can stir 4 oz of shredded cheese into this mix,
along with some paprika and a pinch of dry mustard, if desired. 

If you want a thinner sauce, not the condensed soup version,
just add more liquid.

Not too difficult!
Give it a try!