Cooking Up/In a Storm

Snowboarders get hungry.
This weekend we also baked... and baked... and baked.

We've discovered that, especially when you are dealing with gluten-free recipes, it is better to bake in large quantities and freeze. We've tinkered around with lots of gluten-free recipes in this house, but for Christmas we got a cookbook called "Baby-Cakes", written by the owner, Erin McKenna, of a gluten-free bakery in NYC that goes by the same name. This book is AMAZING! For any family out there that might have members with dietary restrictions I would highly recommend it. No... wait... I would recommend it to anyone, regardless of dietary restrictions. All the recipes we've tried so far have been fabulous - just as good, if not better, than the real thing, without all the processed ingredients. This weekend we made Red Velvet Cupcakes and Apple Cinnamon Muffins. Mmmmm.
We also made homemade applesauce. (Our kids - and my brother - love this and it is SOOO easy.)

Here's how you make it:
INGREDIENTS
4 Granny Smith apples
4 Golden Delicious or Pink Lady Apples
1 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves

Peel and chop up apples into different sizes. Put into a Dutch oven with water. Cook over medium heat until the apples are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. cinnamon, and cloves.

While everything was cooking, we made heart bookmarks.

We got the idea from marthastewart.com. It is a fun craft for any holiday.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!