Spiced Apple Cider

What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been - I have a feeling it's not going to slow down anytime soon.  We had a fabulous Thanksgiving - woke up to the Macy's Parade and enjoyed it with coffee, gfree pumpkin bread and pj's.  Then we headed to hubby's parent's home and ate lots of turkey and yummy gfree goodies, took the pup for a walk to let the food settle & played lots of wii and ping pong.  It was a very pleasant holiday weekend.

{A few of Hubby's Fam}

{Our tree in all it's glory}

It's tradition to put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving in our home, so we carried out tradition and went to select the perfect little tree and brought it home for decorating.  It wasn't exactly chilly, tree decorating weather, so to make things more festive I made homemade Spiced Apple Cider - boy does it make your home smell delicious!!!  I was inspired by my sister-in-law's version of yummy spiced cider the day before, it was so good, I had to make my own (and share with you of course ;).

Spiced Apple Cider

- 1/2 Gallon Apple Cider

- 3-4 Small Apples, rinsed well & skin kept on

- 1 Orange Peel, rinsed well

- 1/2 Lemon Peel, rinsed well

- 2 Spoonfuls of Maple Syrup

- 2-3 Cinnamon Sticks

- 4 Whole Cloves

- 1 t Ground All Spice

1. Toss all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Let simmer 20-30 minutes.  Enjoy!

(May also be tossed into a slow cooker for several hours.  Makes your home smell divine!)

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Check back this week for a yummy recipe for Homemade Orange Marsala Penne Pasta. (Gluten Free of course)

Apple Cobbler

Hallelujah - we have ac again!  In Florida, you can NEVER take your working ac unit for granted.  Sure, it racks up the power bill, but oh my goodness, it keeps this girl in a good mood.

What a crazy week it's been.  Hubby and I are preparing to head to Monterey, California (yay!) Sat to lead worship for a church on Sun.  We're so looking forward to being on the West Coast, taking in "mountains" & ocean (anything larger than a sand dune is a mountain to me :), breathing in the fresh air and scoping out the fun local places.  Any suggestions as to what we should do/see while we're there?

As I mentioned a few posts ago, my sister was recently in town and as usual, her visit was far too short.  For her last night home we made a big g-free dinner - it was delish!  We made one of my new favorite meals from a recent Martha Stewart magazine, Braised Chicken with Potatoes, Olives & Lemon, and it's naturally g-free (& oh so beautiful)! (The only substitution I make is swapping out the cornstarch for arrowroot pwdr.)  It was a hit.  To wash down the chicken, we had Apple Cobbler & topped it with vanilla ice cream - can you say yummy??  You can bet this Apple Cobbler will be making a Thanksgiving appearance.  It was so fantastic, I decided to share.  Would love to hear your thoughts, if you give it a try.

Gluten Free Apple Cobbler

Filling
5-6 Green Apples, peeled & sliced
3/4 Cup White Sugar
2 T Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Almond Flour
1 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Nutmeg
1 t Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Hot Water
2 T Butter, Softened

Topping
1/2 Cup Almond Flour
1/2 Cup Arrowroot Powder
1/4 Cup White Sugar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 t Salt
2 T Butter, Softened
1 Egg

Directions
Serves 6

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients, leaving out the butter.  Toss gently and pour into a lightly greased square baking dish.
3. With a teaspoon, spoon softened butter in several rows on top of filling.
4. Combine topping ingredients and mix until batter is smooth.  Drop batter on top of filling in spoonfulls, evenly (I like to use an ice cream scoop).
5. Bake for 35 minutes or until top is golden and filling is bubbly.
6. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping.

{Prepared and ready to bake}

{Baked to crispy, flakey, gooey-apple perfection!}

{I'm pretty sure it's safe to say we licked the dish clean}

Okay, I'm off to do some packing & sneak in a few bites of the sushi my hubby just walked in with!  Lots of love...