Sugar High Friday "Sweet without the Wheat" Round-up

Yes it is time for the "Sweet Without The Wheat" Round up. To be fair I am posting them in order of arrival in my inbox...

Nicisme, from Cherrapeno, began with Chocolate and banana ice cream served in chocolate cups. Yum!

This was followed by my college roomate, Jess P. and her chocolate flourless cake. I am going to have to make this one soon!


Then Sarah from, What Smells So Good? followed up with Awesomely Delicious GF Brownies. These brownies with peanuts and chocolate chips look decadent.

In the middle of the month, I took a break from traveling and house building and whipped up these "Special K" bars without the "Special K" I really need to find a new name for them, maybe chocolatey, crispy, peanutty goodness?? I made them as a send off for my co-op as he returned to Tennessee, there was much rejoicing at the mothership.


Muneeba from An Edible Symphony, brought us Beetroot Halwa an intriguing dessert that she claims is good for you. Now, if only I could get M to eat beets!

Cheri, of Snippets, then sent in her take on Tartlette's "The Transatlantic" this one I am going to have to try, salted carmel, chocolate mousse, ganache. What's not to like? Let's just say...ummm...yum.
Renato, of Sugar Nut, turned in Queijadinhas, que-j-what? luckily for us it came with a pronouciation key Queijadinha (Kay-jah-dee-ña). Now, that we have that figured out, this coconut goodness needs to be tried. Besides, these sweet creations contain cheese and as every good Wisconsinite knows, cheese is always good.


Next is Friedl, all the way from Europe, now as her blog Kitchen Fun is gluten free, she had an advantage over the rest. But, I think she still out did herself with these Chocolate Crinkles. I don't think anyone would even suspect they are made with rice flour!


Next up is Kitty from Fahrenheit 350. With her Simple Scratchmade Lemon Ice Cream. This looks like the perfect treat for those hot summer days in Georgia.


Following up with another deliciously lemon dish is Kris from The Back of the Cupboard with her Honey-Lemon Tea sorbet. It looks light and refreshing, not only gluten free it is also dairy and egg free!

Anna, from Life's too Short for Mediocre Chocolate, brings in a summery twist to her Vanilla Bean Risotto Rice Pudding by adding a fresh strawberry compote.


And last but definitely not least is my very own Mum. With her Oatmeal Fruit bars. Made with the very rhubarb I have been trying to find time to play with.

So, thanks for tuning into this month's Sugar High Friday! I want to thank Jennifer, from the Domestic Goddess for letting me host. Find out next month's theme from Mansi at the Fun & Food Cafe!

Mom coming through for me!

So, with all the craziness in my life lately. I have yet to touch the rhubarb in my freezer, but luckily for me. My mom decided to enter my Sugar High Friday month with the recipe below:

Oatmeal fruit bars

bake at 400 for 25 min 7 X11 pan

The crust and topping:
mix together:

3/4 c butter (softened)

1 c brown sugar

stir in:

1 3/4 c wheat less flour *any flour with xanthan gum will work Mom used Nearly Normal flour
1/2teas soda

stir in:

1 1/2 c oatmeal

Filling:
3c rhubarb cooked with 1/2 cup sugar
at the end of the cooking add 1 1/2 tbls corn starch to thicken

if you don't have rhubarb, you poor soul, 3 cups any jam or fruit filling will work

Pam or grease the 11 by 7 pan

Add half the oatmeal mixture and pat firmly into bottom of pan

spread the fruit over the oatmeal mixture

Add the remaining oatmeal mixture on fruit spread to cover lightly pat into the pan

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes cool ENJOY

I promise I will get to the rhubarb in my freezer soon and I will share with you the tasty results!
Thanks again Mom!

SHF update

The posts are starting to come in and look delicious! Since today is Memorial day in the US. I'll extend the deadline a few days. I plan on working on the post on Thursday evening (eastern time), so please have everything to me by then.

Here are the rules again:
So here are the rules:
1. Entries need to be submitted by Monday, May 25th, Memorial Day here in the States, make that 5pm EDT on Thursday May 28th, and I will post the round-up on Friday, May 29th.

2. In your entry please include:

• a photo of your fabulous dessert (no larger than 500k in size, please)
  
• your name, the name of your blog and a link to it
• a brief summary of your dessert
• any other information that you would like me to share
  

3. What if you don't have a blog?... Please send the same information to me along with the recipe. I'll be more than happy to include it in the round up.

4. So where do you send all that information to... Zilla.CTW@gmail.com

Horror of horrors...broken phone on a business trip

So, I travel a fair bit for work. Such as I was remarking to someone "I haven't traveled in a long time" they replied "How long has it been?" I then realized it had been less then two months. Yup, I travel "a fair bit" for work.

Now, that I am back on my regular travel schedule, I will be spending this week and next in San Antonio have a week in Atlanta and then head to Ft Lauderdale for a conference. Sad to say, this can be pretty standard for me!

So, Friday night M and I go out for dinner at Dakota Blue (note to self: do NOT!!! go to Dakota Blue for a early quiet dinner on Friday nights with your hubby, the entire under 7 population of Grant Park has invaded the place)

Then he drops me off at the airport. Yes, I had to be in San Antonio for Saturday morning. So, I fly through security, grab some books at the bookstore in the terminal and head to my gate. Sit down pull out my phone to call M and let him know I'm all set.

It dials his number and.....nothing.....the little timer is counting up, but I can't hear a thing. No ring, no dial tone, definitely not M's voice on the other end of the line. Hmm... maybe my service is bad??

I try again...the same thing.

Then he calls me...the phone rings and....Nothing.

I check my voicemail...nothing. It is playing, again I can see the timer, but no noise is coming out.

Texting, email, web, those all work, just no basic phone service.

First issue: I am leading this expedition to San Antonio and everyone has my cell number to check in. I'm not going to be able to get their calls.

Second issue: People not in San Antonio are going to want to "check-in" and see how things are going.

Third issue, and most important: How am I going to talk to M????

Luckily, I had one of my partners in crime meeting me at the airport. When the masses in the terminal cleared, I was able to find him and he verified that my phone wasn't working, but his was!!

I spent the next day having people call me and me calling them back on whomever's phone was available. To call M I had to log into the mothership network and use my softphone (voice over IP) to talk with him, a long tedious process.

Yesterday (Sunday) I was able to make an appointment at the Sprint store where they replaced my phone with the same model, updated my contacts and transfered my sim card. Other then a few shortcuts I am back up to speed. all in less than 30 minutes.

The lucky part was that I actually somewhere with a Sprint store and not in the middle of nowhere!

"special K" bars without the "Special K"

I'm halfway through my month of hosting SHF and have yet to post a recipe. So here goes:

"Special K" bars without the "Special K"

Now, if your from the upper Midwest like I am, you probably have run into these bars at some picnic or family gathering. Unfortunately for me, the cereal Special K contains wheat, but the combination of peanut butter, crunchy cereal, chcolate, and butterscotch chips is to good to be missed! My mom began making them with rice crispies a few years ago, so I could partake, and now I have found an even better substitute, Erewhon Rice Twice gluten free cereal. The cereal, while good by itself usually ends up in these bars at my house.

The recipe:

in a large pot, bring to a boil over medium heat:
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup (last time, with moving and all, I only had about a half a cup of corn syrup, so I used a 1/4 cup of honey and agave nectar to make up the rest of the cup)

Once boiling, take off heat and add 1 and 1/2 cups peanut butter, mix well

then add 6 cups of cereal, be it special K or rice twice, again mix well.

Press the mixture into a 9"x13" pan creating an even layer on the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle over the top 6 oz butterscotch chips and 6 oz chocolate chips.
Cover tightly with foil or the lid of the pan for 10 minutes.
Once the chips have melted, spread the mixture evenly over the top of the bars.
Let cool and cut.

If you are feeling generous, share with family and friends. Otherwise hid them well!



Once I get back from San Antonio, I'm going to tackle this:

Rhubarb!!!!

Fresh from mom and dad's garden...I'm thinking Rhubarb bars, Rhubarb crisp, Rhubarb chutney....