Sharing ~ August

Taken by my friend Allie Dean

Hi everyone! :) This week's post is a compilation of some of my favorite recipes, blogs, books, and other fun stuff! After all, I can't keep good things to myself :)

So... here we go!

Please note as well, I cannot vouch for the content of any other page on these websites except for the links that I share with you.

Recipes and Food Blogs
I do a lot of experimenting in the kitchen. Our family is 2/3 gluten-free, so most recipes need to meet that requirement, or I will substitute certain ingredients.

Some of my favorite recipes (one for each course, of course!) 

• Breakfast: Pannukakku, a.k.a. Finnish Pancake: recipe here
• Lunch: Salmon Patties: recipe here
• Bread: Clever Cornmeal Buns: recipe here
• Dinner: Sweet Potato Bisque: recipe here
• Dessert: Chai Gingerbread Bars: recipe here

Blogs (not necessarily gluten-free):

• Buttered Side Up, by Erica
• Chocolate Covered Katie, by Katie (best cookie dough dip/dessert hummus EVER. Try it!)
• Gluten Free on a Shoestring, by Nicole

Music:

• The Piano Guys: A pianist/cellist team that creates gorgeous music videos!
• John Kraemer: A friend of mine! He composes beautiful, original piano pieces. Here is a sample of his work.

• Jason Gray: A Christian artist, who writes thought-provoking lyrics to accompany his fun, uplifting music.

Books and/or Authors:

• The Lost Art of True Beauty by Leslie Ludy - a thought provoking, convicting and encouraging read for young ladies. Please read with discretion: I do not fully agree with some of her theological views. (for ages 17 and up)
• The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer (wife of Francis Schaeffer) - need some inspiration for how to make your home a more beautiful and biblical place? This is an excellent read. (for ages 17 and up)
• The Hidden Hand by E.D.E.N. Southworth - a hilarious and wonderful book full of plot twists and adventure! (for ages 14 and up)

That's all for now. I hope to post a collection like this once every other month. That will give me time to collect more fun things to share!

Until next time!

~ Hannah

Recipe: Gluten-Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I tend to bake in spurts. I'll just wake up one day and decide it's time to bake something!

One morning last week, I woke up with the notion that I should make some sort of breakfast treat. With this in mind, I started window-shopping on Pinterest, and decided to try a coffee cake... and the results were delicious!

And of course, no coffee cake is complete without coffee... (iced, in this case!)

Gluten-Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake

For the brown sugar topping:

• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• For the cake:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups gluten-free baking mix (I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum (my flour blend already had xanthan gum in it, so I reduced this to a 1/4 teaspoon)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting
• Directions:
• In a small bowl, combine the pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside. 
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
• Beat in vanilla. 
• Combine the flour mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream. 
• Pour half of the batter into a greased and floured 10" bunt pan. Sprinkle with half of the pecan mixture. 
• Gently top with remaining batter and pecan mixture. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 
• Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Cool completely then dust with confectioner's sugar.

Enjoy! 

Until next time,

~Hannah

Odds & Ends ~ July

Hello, everyone! How is your summer going?

The month of July was full of all kinds of adventures, including:

• a fourth of July gathering, complete with fireworks and patriotic dessert kabobs :)

• enjoying lots of horsey-time, between riding myself and helping with a summer horse camp!

Flash went bobbing for apples!

Sweet Sawyer and his pony, Darla

• my best friend Catrina and I loving on my nephew Isaiah (left) and her niece Bella (right) at a welcome-to-Texas party for a new friend...

Copyright Allie Dean Photography

Aaand just one nephew grin for you to enjoy! What you can't see is that his onesie says, "Wild About Auntie" *hint hint* :)

• a fun photo shoot with friends and their puppies...

Annabelle was a lovely model :)

• cellfies [a highly technical term coined by Steven Sharp Nelson] (noun): a selfie with your cello! 

Actually this cellfie was with my temporary friend Boris. My own cello was at the luthier's for "surgery"...

• and of course no sweltering summer in Texas is complete without yummy frozen custard!

I have been slowly meandering through a couple of books, too, but this list is far too short! 

Do you have any suggestions for me? :)

- Call the Sabbath a Delight by Walter Chantry

- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

In lieu of music, I have currently been enjoying Love Will Have the Final Word by Jason Gray, the score of The King's Speech by Alexandre Desplat, some songs by Peter Hollens, and of course The Piano Guys. What tunes do have you been listening to lately?

Until next time, y'all! :)

~ Hannah