Gluten Free Biscotti ?

Yup, today I got crazy again and had a craving for a sweet treet.  So I rustled up my GF baking cookbook, and searched for a reicipe that required ingredients I still had on hand.  We are trying to use up all the stocked goods we have so we don't look like the Beverly Hillbilys going home.  But I found a reicipe that fit the bill. 

Biscotti, it's a family favorite, (my mom and me).  Charlie is a sport about all my cooking an will not mind my choice one bit.  He claims to be picky about his sweets, but he has never complained about any of the things I've whipped up.

I have started choosing GF recipes for the treets because the ingredients are not as familiar to me so it poses a bit of a mystery and puzzle.  See, I can cook have a sweet treet and a challenge too.  

So here's  the pictures to show the destruction of the kitchen and the reconstruction.  I'm not much of a great house keeper, Charlie is the main deep cleaner in our marriage, but I am a great tidier and organizer so between us we keep a nice house. 

The dinner mess was mixed in there also. 

Aha..... Doesn't that feel better?  Makes me feel better- that it's all done. 

This is the second baking, biscotti is baked in the log form first and then cut and rebaked to finish off. 

They came out really good, Charlie will surely like them. 

Just so you know we are really in Florida, I'm going to leave you with a peek at our thermometer today.  

Byefornow. 

Slow Sunday (I'm loving it)

For some reason this was a slow and relaxing Sunday, they most always are but this one felt extra relaxing and slow. 

As we sauntered down the main road leading to the temple in Casadaga, we spotted a most unusual flower climbing along a fence in front of a quaint old home.  I've only seen this flower in pictures and don't even suppose it grows in upstate NY, outside any way.  Check it out ! 

It's a Purple Passion!!!!

Isn't it just magical? It really was fascinating to look at, I could have pulled up a chair.  There was no special smell, but who needs perfume when you look that fantastic. 

I had to take a picture of this morrning glory because they remind me of the first day of school. 

Every year on the first day of school I would take a picture of my children, I would have them stand under the arbor that was covered with morrning glories by the front door.  Each time I moved I would create a morrning glory arbor to celebrate fall.  Come to think of it I even had one in lake George!  Some traditions are just in the blood. 

It's hard to imagine a morrning glory in April.  Florida is a magic land, you never know what you will see. 

Here's a sight that just says "a proper end to a slow Sunday"

Bye 

A Day At The Beach

Today was the first day we have actually gone swimming and body boarding since we got back in January.  And, what a blast we had! 

Charlie has his permit for driving the car on the beach so it is convient for us to go, no schlepping beach gear to the water, how cool is that.  Remembering when we were in Cape Cod last summer and dragging stuff a half mile in the beating heat and then lugging it back up a cliff that could be used in military boot camp drills. I'll take the car on the beach any day.  Thank you. 

The water was 74° so the website said, it was warmer than it has been, even pleasant.  We rode the waves for quite awhile and laughed and laughed, water and swimming do that to me, I get incredibly happy. 

The beach was full of families and sunworsherpers soaking up the abundant sun, sounds of surf and the general good mood of the day. 

What a nut, don't you think I would notice my hat was on backwards?  Charlie puts up with so much, he's a saint. 

Bye for now, I'm off to put more coconut oil on, my greedy sun soaked areas. 

Looking Forward

Wow, I'm so glad we are past the 24th of the month,that is the day our gigs renew and we go back to zero.  That's one thing I'm looking forward to - having unlimited internet at home. 

If I have things to look forward to when I get home I won't mind leaving here, doesn't that sound like some kind of Pollyanna thinking?  Pollyanna had the right idea, keep it positive.  

Truthfully there are a bunch of things to look forward to back in NY, a new baby, family, friends the beautiful scenery, I could go on and on.  It's mostly the drive to get back that gets old.  This time should be better, we have done it a few times now and are more familiar with routs and distances, so I will be present and just enjoy the freedom of being able to travel in a country where they let you come and go as you please.  

These are a few of the things I look forward to.

My gardens. 

The awesome rhubarb patch, I'm drooling at the thought. 

Lake George in all it's different moods. 

Shepard park, at night overlooking lake George. 

And, if I'm super extra lucky, the night blooming cirus will bloom!  There is a world of good to find wherever you are. 

Byefornow. 

ACK!!!!

KA POW!!! No blog till tomorrow!! 

I hate counting gigs :(

Soooo sad.

I'm Learning to "Look Up"

I have to confess, I really never paid much attention to the weather.  I just woke up and went through my day, just did my thing and worked around whatever was going on outside.  Sounds pretty sad don't you think?  I mean, Alice! open your eyes, lift your head look around, for heavens sake!! 

We'll, I am noticing more now down here.  I think it is because I am in a strange area, not at all like where I spent my last fifty plus years; you could get drenched in a moment if you don't pay close attention to the sky here. Forget watching the news those poor fellows on TV can only give you a random estimate of what to expect.  I'm sue they do the best they can but Mother Nature plays crewl jokes on them. 

Take last week rain was predicted, dose this day at Daytona beach look rainy? 

Looks pretty sunny to me.  The sea was rough but beautiful none the less. 

Here's Easter morning our sunrise service, a sunny warm magnificent day projected, hum. 

Yup, that's right cloudy and cool, 60s, there was actually a light mist in the air. 

So compare that to the day before- the pic says it all,( yes that's hot coffee, I'm nuts .)

Who drinks hot coffee on a 90° day?  A wacko northerner that's who, LOL.

So I guess what I'm saying is, people that live here have to stay very present and observant or they could end up very, wet, cold, overheated or just plain frustrated. 

Here are two northerners that find living in the moment a growth process, we are learning to, look up. 

Thanks for visiting, leave a comment or email me if you like what you've been regrading on my blog. 

Bye. 

Rain, Rain Go Away......

Florida can be very wet! 

I never expected the kind of rain that we get here; I didn't think about rain at all actually. 

Torrential, yes thats the word for the rain we get here. And thunder, lots of it!  

I had prided myself on coming from a hilly area in NY where we get loud dramatic thunderstorms. Yah sure forget that. Where we live here in Florida, just south of Daytona is the lighting Capitol of central Florida, (I actually heard it refered to as that on the news.) 

Those are ugly clouds FULL of rain! 

Charlie is diverting some of the rain to water the plants- he's so smart. 

FLASH, CRACK! Thunder - eeek!!!

REALLY - Thats waaaay to loud!!

OK, OK.  Charley you can stand out here all day an point out grumpy looking clouds but, I'm going inside! 

You can enjoy the storm with the kale. 

I'm going inside, and keeping my feet off the floor, not taking a shower or talking on the phone. 

Safey First!   Bye.

Landscaping and A Visitor

Charlie decided that we needed mulch around our plants today, so off we went and purchessed five bags of a light tan mulch. I was sure five bags would be a ton.  Wrong! It turned out to be just enough, so much for my guesstimate LOL. 

When we got back from buying the mulch I was about to run into the garage and put the other purchases in the house and there waiting for me was a visitor.  Really, it's the first one I have seen since we have been here.  You can imagine how startled I was as I went to grab the door handle.  

After that little burst of energy, I was more than ramped up for helping Charlie spread the mulch. 

 

Looks great don't you think?  We were pleased with how it turned out. 

Oh, where did the snake go?  He I hi-tailed it right off the carport, around the end of the house, past the back shead and through the fence that leads to the athletic field of the school in back of us- he's some grounds maintaince mans problem now!  Yes! I followed him the whole way, a piece of mind for me. 

Bye for now. 

Cooking Craziness

This afternoon was dark and cloudy, a perfect day to cook.

  Yesterday I had met a friend at Barns and Noble book store for coffee.  Before she got there I had eyed and picked up a gluten free baking book.  Well, I won't lie it was actually right in the foyer as you go in, see how pathetic I am when it comes to books, I wasn't even IN the store yet and already picked out a book.  But it was on sale! $7.98, you can't beat that price... Especially since this GF cookbook called for cheap ingredients, right up my alley!

I had made the oatmeal cookies yesterday, with little chocolate chips in them. But, in true Alice fashion, I refused to buy the xanthan gum because it was sixteen dollars!!! (In the back of my mind I was sure it was a frivolous ingredient, the recipe only needed two teaspoons.) 

I have to say the cookies were incredibly yummy, Charlie loved them.  Umm, did I mention they came out more like granola. OK !  Turns out you must use xanthan gum when cooking GF or what you bake falls apart. 

 I just laughed, I crack myself up when my cheapness come back to bite me.  

I did find a small package of said chemical hiding in the door of my fridge.  Truly I could not remember if it was in  the fridge here in Florida or the one in Lake George; I had squirreld one away in one of them - yup it was here. 

So today I tried again.  Did I mention I love to bake? 

I try to do my concocting when Charlie is gone, I think he would be horrified if he could see how distroyed our kitchen gets. 

I love the freedom of not worrying how crazy messy the kitchen gets, it's all in the name of sweet comfort food and uninturupted concocting ooh la la. 

Today it was GF scones, they were really good, I made them small so we would have more of them. 

Crunch, crunch - Aaha ..... 

PS, the recepie needed two tablespoons of 10x sugar, yah to cheap again, but this time I tried making some in our vita mix - oh yea!, worked perfectly! 

See, that's why I get in a pickle sometimes, I gamble on my odds of being able to work around an expense.  But, I did learn you do have to use xanthan gum when they call for it. 

Bye ... Crunch crunch. 

Park Picnic & Party Games

Beautiful day here for our park picnic.  

Lots of friends and tons of food. 

The whole shebang !

Now on to the games, horse races, yup they were older thoroughbreds. LOL  

Ballon races and of course the bean bag toss, or as they call it down here, corn hole; I'm sorry that just sounds BAD! 

We had a great day, can't wait till next year. 

Hot Dogs & Hawks

Today was Charlie's dream job day, working in the clubhouse selling hotdogs with his two friends Dave and Andrea. The social club sells hot dogs one for a dollar every Friday from eleven to 12 noon. 

Charlie used to always joke that he was going to sell hotdogs in Lake George when he retired.  Well, he's not selling them in Lake George but he is selling hotdogs in retirement. 

After selling hotdogs we decided to take a walk across the road to Reed Canal Park. They have a pretty walking trail that goes around the pond / lake and into the woods. 

 Today we were lucky they are setting up for a Native American Festival, and we got to meet a woman who has hawks for display there.  

She also had a cute little owl with large yellow eyes and a very serious look on its face; Charlie squatted down to take its picture and it swung its head back and forth like it was trying to hypnotize him, it was so adorable. 

I found the perfect house for Charlie and I if we ever go out west again. 

Bye.... I've got to go in and start a fire for dinner. 

Sugar Mill Garden

I thought you might like to come on a tour of the Dunlawton sugar Mill Gardens with Charlie and I today. 

I am just smitten with the water gardens here, they are beautiful, so quiet and tranquil,  it is nice to relax and listen to the birds and the water falling into the quiet little ponds. 

There were a few flowers in bloom but the shade took the day, just gorgeous, the way it reflected off all the leaves and trees. 

The dark quiet paths were mysterious and eerie, but you knew they held old mysteries. 

Even plants have a mystery of their own here. 

Here is the reason for this beautiful garden, the Dunlawton sugar mills. Abandon over 200 years ago, a place where they made or tried to make sugar out of sugarcane; it was never successful too hot and hard to harvest dependably. Florida is just not a great place for sugarcane. 

Well that was pretty tiring LOL. I'm ready for a rest,  I'll sit down on this little bench rest up and be able to ride my bike home with Charlie; to think this is closer than the library from my house. 

Hope you liked the tour, Bye.