Fun Idea for Thanksgiving

Remember how easy it is to make meringue cookies? Add a little food coloring and you can make some fun pumpkins for an attractive table place setting or for a dessert platter.

Just make the meringue cookie recipe (skip the chocolate part), beat in a little food color at the end (paste is better than liquid for this) and use a cake decorating set or a zip baggie with the corner cut out. I used a cake decorating bag without a tip for the pumpkin part by making vertical curves/lines like the curves on a real pumpkin. A round tip was used for the stem and vines and I added leaves with a leaf tip.

Make as big a batch as you wish. Remember the basic porportion of 1/4 c. sugar, 1 egg white and 1/8 t. cream of tarter.

Mine ended up to be about 2 1/2 inches wide. Since these are a little bigger of a cookie, set oven on 225 degrees F and leave in the oven a little longer to dry out.

Have fun creating!

Gluten-Free Thyme Rolls for Thanksgiving Trial #2

Thanksgiving is a few days away. Planning a meal for a large group can be stressful if one or more have food sensitivities. I remember last year felt much harder. I didn't want anyone to feel left out especially a kid. It does require some planning especially if you are going to someone else's home.

I have always loved to bake especially making yeast products. I enjoy the challenge of baking gluten-free, but gluten-free baking with yeast is trickier. I became frustrated with it early summer and bought my bread for a while. Here we are at Thanksgiving and I decided I really wanted home baked thyme dinner rolls.

I was tired of putting in lots of eggs and water and decided I wanted my rolls to have a round shape without a mold. So, I looked up recipes and tried a combination of flours I thought my family would like. The dough was stiff, but it didn't raise well. Neither did trial #2. On the upside, the flavor was great and my kids loved them warmed with honey.


A work in progress



I am still trying to get my rolls to have a shape without a mold while having them be light inside with a flavor and texture my family likes. Three days to Thanksgiving.....