Update: Allergen free "pumpkin" bread with sweet potatoes

Well, a while ago I posted the recipe for Pumpkin Bread, gluten free and low sugar.   In that post, I mentioned that you can substitute mashed sweet potatoes for the pumpkin in the recipe, and the bread turns out even better!  However, there's a bit of a caveat to that substitution that I'll share in this post.  The previous pumpkin bread recipe works great for fresh or frozen pumpkin - in other words, kinda watery!  If you use canned pumpkin or mashed sweet potatoes with a liquid content that is considerably less... the recipe needs extra moisture to turn out right.  I'll note that in the other recipe as well as a heads up.  Meanwhile, here's the original link: 
http://tuckaluckyridge.blogspot.com/2010/12/allergen-free-pumpkin-bread.html

and here's the "new and improved" recipe.  Note that I used a mixture of flours...  because I ran out of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour Mixture, which I usually use!

Ingredients:
     4 c. Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour Mix
    3 tsp. cinnamon
    1 tsp. ginger
    1/8 tsp. cloves
    1/8 tsp. nutmeg
    4 tbsp. baking powder
    1 tsp. baking soda
    2 tsp. salt
    1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
    4 eggs
    1 1/2 c. milk or rice milk
    3 c. cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
    2 tbsp. vegetable or grapeseed oil
    1/3 c. honey
    3 tbsp. molasses
    1/2 c. coconut (optional) (thanks, Mo!)
    1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
    1 1/4 c. chocolate chips (optional)

Mix liquid ingredients with pumpkin in large mixing bowl.  Stir together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Then add the dry to the wet ingredients and stir until moistened.  Then add the optional ingredients (chocolate chips, nuts, etc).  Scrape 1/2 of batter into each of 2 greased, glass 9"x13" baking dishes, bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until toothpick comes out almost clean and sides are pulling away from the baking dish.  Don't forget that the glass dish will continue to bake the bread even after you take it out of the oven....  that's a reminder I'm hoping I'll read on my mental sticky note before I make this again!  :-)

Note 1:  The coconut, walnuts, and chocolate chips are all optional....  but yummy additions to this recipe.  The coconut suggestion came from a friend, Mo, and it really adds texture to this scrumptious snack. 

Note 2:  Yep, I freeze at least 1 of these pans of bread.  They'll only keep about 4-5 days without molding unless refrigerated (about 6-10, then) and when refrigerated, they have a tendency to dry out.  So freezing is great for my small household.

Note 3:  I mentioned I ran out of Bob's Red Mill GF flour mix the last time I made this recipe...  so here's my improvisation.  It worked just fine!
Instead of 4 c. of BRM GF flour mix, I used:
   2 1/4 c. Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free flour mix
   1 1/4 c. + 3 tbsp. buckwheat flour
   1/4 c. tapioca starch
   2 tbsp. arrowroot starch

New Year Meandering of Thoughts

There's just something about flowers...  the first blooms in the spring remind me of the color and growth and warmth that is coming -- kind of a reward for waiting through the winter.  The spring, summer and fall blooms in their beauty are treats to soak up while there's time before snow and chilly days take their place. 

But flowers in winter are a special treat.  They go so quickly, but they remind me that there's joy in unexpected places, and to savor every moment because even life itself is so brief. 

Happy New Year!

Allergen Free Pumpkin Bread

The main recipe is gluten and dairy free, and is low sugar.  There's (as always) some variations listed also.  I make this recipe in 2 9x13 glass baking dishes, then freeze some for later. 

Ingredients:
    4 c. Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour Mix
    3 tsp. cinnamon
    1 tsp. ginger
    1/4 tsp. nutmeg
    1/8 tsp. cloves
    4 tsp. baking powder
    1 tsp. baking soda
    2 tsp. salt
    1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
    3 c. cooked, mashed pumpkin
    4 eggs
    1 c. rice milk
    2 tbsp. vegetable oil
    1/3 c. honey
    3 tbsp. molasses

Mix liquid ingredients with pumpkin in large mixing bowl.  Stir together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Then add the dry to the wet ingredients and stir until moistened.  Pour half of batter into each greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350° for 30-55 minutes, until toothpick comes out almost clean.

NOTE:  This recipe is for fresh or frozen (in other words, high liquid content) pumpkin.  For canned pumpkin, increase the milk or rice milk by 1/2 c.  You can substitute cooked, mashed sweet potatoes for the pumpkin in this recipe - it turns out even better! Again, add 1/2 c. liquid to the recipe, with milk or rice milk.  That's the alteration noted in the update....  UPDATE:  It takes a slight alteration of the recipe to make it with sweet potatoes...  here's the post:  http://tuckaluckyridge.blogspot.com/2011/01/update-allergen-free-pumpkin-bread-with.html

Variation:  you can add 1 c. chocolate chips or 1 c. chopped walnuts...  or both, to make this really yummy!

Update: Gluten Free Sweet Potato Pancakes... or Waffles!

Well, I've got some new experience with these yummy pancakes that I thought I'd share.  In the past couple months, I've tried the original recipe with two different brands gluten free pancake mix (besides Pamela's, which I usually use) and made waffles as well as pancakes with one of them.  And had a little fun with it besides!

I've found the original recipe works pretty good for the Arrowhead Mills GF Pancake Mix, although adding 1 Tbsp of honey or agave to the liquid ingredients works well.  Waffles with this pancake mix turn out well, too.  For Bob's Red Mill GF Pancake Mix, I had to use more rice milk by about 1.5 times (3/4 c. for 1 recipe) what I usually use, and could have added another quarter cup - using 1 c. rice milk for 1 recipe batch of pancakes.  The added liquid makes more pancakes from one batch, but I really don't prefer this mix. I'll list the waffle recipe below, as well as the link to the original recipe, which uses Pamela's Gluten Free Baking and Pancake Mix. 

First, the Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free Pancake Mix waffle recipe:
     Ingredients:
         2 c. mix
         1 tsp. cinnamon
         2 eggs
         4 tbsp. vegetable oil
         3 tbsp. honey or agave (or sugar)
         2/3 c. mashed, cooked sweet potato
         3/4 c. + 2 tbsp. milk
         1 tsp. vanilla
     Separate the eggs and whip the whites until peaks form.  Add the other liquid ingredients, including the sweet potato, to the eggs yolks and mix.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.  Fold in the eggs whites and cook in your waffle iron, using the instructions.

Note:  these were yummy, but pretty heavy.  You could try adding baking powder or reducing the mix by 1/4 c. to see if that helps lighten them up a little.

Rainbow

Vermillion Cliffs, Arizona...  one of those moments that makes you appreciate being alive...  or it works that way for me, anyway.  We were 700 miles into a 1200 mile trip, and had started off the morning in chilly, misty rain.  We left town on a two-lane road, headed into a canyon, and started up the side of the mountain...  into 6 inches of that slippery white stuff (SNOW) -- yikes!  30 white-knuckled miles later we descended in elevation back to the rain level.  All morning, it rained off and on, and the clouds stayed as thick as peanut butter.  Finally, it began to clear and as we topped the hill, this was our first view of the cliffs.  We wound down into the valley and got to look at them closer as we drove alongside, but this first view was the most spectacular.  What a great beginning to a Thanksgiving trip to see family -- with a reminder from nature of all that we have to be thankful for.

Sunrise pictures

The "picture of the week" has been delayed for a bit...  haven't had time to take any pictures lately!  Until this morning...  we had a sunrise that makes you smile just to be alive and awake and here to enjoy the colors and the light and the crisp fall air.  And since I've gotten behind on the pictures, here's two for this morning! 

Traditional pink sky

Tree bark art:  In the mornings, the light is just right to show the patterns of time creeping up the tree...  just like they do on all of us!

Beemer Family History: Johann H. Dickhaut (1754 - 1804)

One of my best memories as a teenager is when my grandma handed me a bunch of papers and said, "Well, here's the history of our family.  It's your turn to take care of it and add to it."  From that point, I've been interested, not just in the names and dates, but the stories that make up richness of the history of our families.  I've collected so much information, stories, copies of pictures, and background information that I can bore the poor soul who asks, "What was great-great grandma's name?" to death with 7 hours of commentary.  Posting some of the information and stories seems like a good way to share these things in small bits, and if you're interested, you can ask for the whole story!

So we'll start with a thumbnail sketch of the generation that goes back the furthest on the Beemer family tree that's posted on the Family History page.  This information comes from an article written by Johannes Helmut Merz, a Hessian soldier scholar and author.  The link to the article is below.

Johann H. "Henry" Dickhaut was born in 1754 in Hesse-Hanau, a province in what would become Germany.  He became a Hessian soldier in the Revolutionary War, was wounded, captured, escaped, and became a schoolteacher.  He married Anna Catherina Teigert on August 16, 1778.  After some time in New York and then Phildelphia, he heard about land being granted in Canada to soldiers who had fought for the British a few years before.  He applied for and received a 500 acre grant and moved his family to Ontario in 1797.  His daughter, Elizabeth, was born in Philadelphia in 1783.  Elizabeth's daughter, Esther, eventually married into the Beemer family, marrying Judson Beemer in 1863 in Lee County, Illinois.  Henry died in 1804 at the age of 50, according to a sworn statement from his daughter several years later.

Read the whole article here:
A Hessian Soldier's Odyssey - Henrich Dickhaut from Dudenhofen by Johannes Helmut Merz