Gluten Free Chocolate Sea Salt Ice Cream Sandwiches

Recently made this recipe for dessert at a Life Group BBQ. It was a hit! Enjoy. I found the originaly recipe on Pinterest. I've included a link to the original source. I doubled the entire recipe and made 8 very big ice cream sandwiches. It could probably be 10 sandwiches fairly easily. I made half with chocolate ice cream and half with vanilla. Obviously any kind would work. I doubled the flour amount (so quadrupled for a double recipe) and tripled the espresso (because I usually find I can't taste the coffee flavor in cookies, and because I used instant coffee instead of espresso too). The cookies are definitely yummy enough to use just as a typical cookie recipe, not just for ice cream sandwiches.

Here's the non-gluten free recipe. For Rachel's cookies we used Bette Hagmen's "Chocolate Surprise" cookies - minus the surprise part. Here's that recipe: 1 1/2 GF flour mix 3/4 t. xanthan gum 1/2 t. salt 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa 1/2 t. baking soda 1/2 c. suagar 1/2 c. brown sugar 1/2 c. margarine 1/4 c. creamy peanutbutter 1 t. vanilla 1 egg Bake at 375 for 9 minutes. I sprinkled them with a bit of coarse sea salt just like the "regular" cookies. If making the "surprise" cookies. 3/4 c. peanutbutter 3/4 c. powdered sugar Mix the filling. Make into balls and form the dough around the filling. Roll in granulated sugar.

Gluten Free Lemon Zucchini Bread

A "lemon zucchini bread" recipe has been circulating on Pinterest. For Rachel I decided to attempt a gluten-free option. It turned out really well. Everyone at the table asked for seconds, which equals success for me!

1 c. oat flour 1/2 c. tapioca starch 1/2 c. sweet rice flour (or, 2 cups of your choice gluten free flour) 1/2 t. salt 2 t. baking powder 1 t. baking soda 1 t. xanthan gum 2/3 c. sugar Mix dry ingredients. Add: 3 eggs 1/2 c. oil 1/2 c. buttermilk 2 T. lemon juice Fold in gently: 1-1/2 c. grated zucchini Bake in a greased large loaf pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Test with a toothpick and watch closely at the end of baking. Allow to cool for 10 mintues then turn out onto a wire rack to cool further. Slice and drizzle with lemon glaze. Glaze: 1 c. powdered sugar 1 t. lemon juice water - to desired consistency

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! The longer I am a mother, the more I realize the great gifts my mother gave me as I grew up. It hit me one day when Rachel asked me to help put clothes on her Barbie doll. It wasn’t terribly convenient for me to help at that moment, but I suddenly remembered asking my mom for the same assistance – many, many times! I do not ever remember her telling me “no” for a task such as Barbie clothes. Even further, I remember many, many tiny clothes created by my mom for my Barbies, many of which Rachel still plays with today. Those are treasures to me now. I was prompted again to remember a similar subject last week when Jonathan asked to have – what our family affectionately calls a “tea party” – while I was making dinner one night last week. My initial response was “no”. After all, it was almost dinner time, it was a school night, I didn’t want the mess, it’s a waste of the ingredients, and I suppose I could go on. But…my mom would have let us. She would have gone upstairs and got out the little hexagon shaped table. I would put on my little yellow gingham apron with hand stitched flowers, which she made. We would pull out the cardboard box with my “tea party dishes” inside and burners and dials drawn on the top with which to “cook”. Then each of my little bowls would hold flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, cocoa, etc. and I was free to cook. But it doesn’t end there! After I had made my special creations, mom never hesitated to taste the ones I deemed “good”. This perhaps now impresses me most of all! :-) So with these recent events in mind, and as Mother’s Day approached this year, my little brainstorming mind kept thinking of the other great things about my mom. Like the way we made “houses” in her lilac bushes. Instead of nicely shaped shrubs, she had little “rooms” throughout the shrubs which I’m sure Drew and I cut out with the garden loppers. ~ Or the seemingly hours and hours we had to spend every February (usually the night before the party) making homemade Valentines for our classmates. She would cut out little pictures from magazines for weeks. Then there were the doilies, construction paper, and glitter! ~ And the Mud Pies! Piles of mud and water and sticks and rocks on the side of the horse-tank and the side walk in front of the house. Oh for the patience of remembering: Piles of mud on the sidewalk are NO BIG DEAL, Laura! ~ After the Mud Pies we probably took a Bubble Bath. With *a lot* of bubbles. Complete with multiple kitchen utensils and measuring cups, so we could, once again, “cook” in the bath tub. (I’m seeing a trend here! :-) ~ Speaking of baths….Drew and I grew up in a big house that is more than 100 years old. It is primarily heated with a wood stove. It was rare (mostly first thing in the morning) to hear the furnace click on. And the only bathroom is a long way from the stove, so I remember many baths in clothesbaskets filled with warm water next to the stove. She even put a bit of bubble bath in those baths too. (The woman is nuts, I tell ya!) ~ My mom made great birthday cakes, gift I love passing along to my own kids these days! She also helped me make many cakes for the 4-H Fair. One summer I remember slaving away over a white cake with little pink flowers, I also remember reaching across the stove and my arm touching the icing on the cake. It ruined one side of my 8 year-old version of perfection. I was devastated. Dad was heartbroken because he couldn’t help. But mom to the rescue! She helped me fix it. I don’t remember what color of ribbon the cake won, but deeply ingrained in my mind is the comfort that mom can fix anything. ~ In 1991 when Dad was deployed in Desert Storm mom took a job at the Friendship House. I don’t know if it was from necessity, or a mere distraction from the worry of deployment, but I do know it was a great example. 10 years working at the bakery, more specifically “Baking”, involved starting work at 4 am, or perhaps earlier. That in turn involved going to bed much earlier than most other people. I listened to my mom get teased by friends for her early bed time. I saw her give up sleep to attend our school events. I saw her go to work early yet never give up church commitments, family events, etc. ~ And, on a more serious note, I watched, often from the outside, as my mom took care of her mother-in-law for many nights before Granny entered the nursing home. I watched as Mom care for her own mom at the end of her life, despite the harsh words Grandma had often written to her. I hope when that stage of my life comes I can go through it with the same care and grace. ~ Finally, what a joy it has been to watch my mom do many of these great things with her four fabulous grandchildren. Surely they will each have the same rich memories of their grandma! Thank you mom for a wonderful childhood! Thank you for the priceless memories! Thank you for reminding me of the precious years of childhood which I need to treasure with my own two little dears! When I grow up I want to me just like you! Happy Mother’s Day! I love you!

Returning to Croatia!

Our family will return to Croatia for the fourth time this summer. We're very excited to see the people who have become so dear to us and to meet those who have become our new Siblings in Christ since last summer. This time the kids will return with us for their third trip. They are really looking forward to it! We are excited to be travelling with Ron Brown this year as well. He is going to be a great addition to our team and we are thrilled to have the chance to share the wonderful work in Croatia with him.

As with the last three summers, you can follow our family on the A Heart for Croatia blog. It's always a great encouragement to see your comments and know there are people praying for our work. Our days are already quite full and planned and we're excited to be offering VBS to the children of the village of Brezje, Baseball, another evening of a Couples Class, kid's classes for the church members and lots of time with the church members. Since we will only be gone 11 days this time, we will try and pack in as many wonderful things as we can.

So many of you have wonderfully supported us over the past several years. We are so, so thankful for you. We ask for your prayers again as we plan our upcoming trip. It's getting closer and there are many things to do! There are only about six weeks to go and the time will surely fly by!