New stuff

Love my new pot holders and oven mits from Kohls!  They have a little grippy texture on the oven mits and the pot holders are all silicone.

No more sliding around the counter when frosting or spreading or cutting.  And the oven mits make for more secure oven removal of hot items.  My hands don't have a strong grip anymore so these are really helpful.

And, of course, I love the lime color!

PB&C Snack (or Celebration) Cake

I haven't talked to Bub yet to see how the surprise party went last night.  I'm hoping the cake I sent over was a hit though.

I'm making a second birthday cake this morning.  I'm thinking it is a little easier to celebrate today than on a Monday night.

17 years has just passed in a blink, or a haze, depending on which memories hit me first!

Peanut butter and chocolate are loved by many, us included!  Cocoa powder is a great "glue" when baking gluten free, egg free, corn free, and xantham free cakes.  Win win!

Happy Birthday my Bubby!

I set everything up to get to room temperature while I showered.  Everyone else is sleeping so I didn't want to run the mixer yet!

1/4 cup margarine, Earth Balance, room temperature 

1/4 cup peanut butter, I use Skippy Natural

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup GF baking mix

1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (normally I don't use so much salt but c'mon, it's peanut butter here)

1/3 cup Very Vanilla Soymilk, room temperature

3/4 cup chocolate chips, Trader Joes semi sweet

Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour an 8" or 9" square pan.

Cream margarine, peanut butter, and sugar in your mixer.  Add the cocoa powder and mix well.

Combine the baking mix, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.  Alternately add the baking mix mixture and Soymilk to the creamed mixture.  Mix until smooth.

Spread into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, when cake starts to pull away from sides of pan.

Evenly distribute the chocolate chips over the top of the hot cake.  Spread over the top as they soften. If they don't want to spread, pop cake in oven for about a minute.  They'll be ready then!

Cool and enjoy for no reason, or for a special one!

Shine Like a Superstar

I made a cake for Bub's birthday gathering today.  He is celebrating with some friends tonight and it's no celebration without cake!

A cake with no frosting is also no way to celebrate!  I wanted to make a cake that I know is a winner since I don't have time to make two.  I made:

 Cherry Colored Glasses Muffins

But in cake form.  I doubled the recipe and baked it for about an hour in a greased Bundt pan.

I know it's super moist and very flavorful but was missing frosting!  I found this at Allrecipes:

 Satiny Chocolate Glaze

It lives up to its name.  Silky, smooth, and a worthy shine to the top of Bub's cake!

3/4 cup chocolate chips,  Trader Joes are excellent
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3 tablespoons margarine, Earth Balance

This recipe also calls for vanilla but we can't use it.

Combine all ingredients in a microwaveable safe bowl.  Make sure you give it a good toss to coat the chocolate with the corn syrup so it doesn't seize up on you later.  Cook on high for 30 seconds.  Stir.  Cook for 10 more seconds.  Stir until smooth.

Handy new gadget!

I went to Whole Foods looking for a bamboo steamer.  They didn't have them BUT I did find a great Zyliss gadget that is perfect for Bragg Liquid Amino dispensing!

The container it comes in always leaks and is messy.  This is a Zyliss Shake n Pour Dressing Mixer.  I've got nothing to mix but I do have something to pour...  NEATLY!  Controlled.  Drip free.  Thumbs up.

It really is perfect.  Check it out!