I can't believe it's actually Chocolate Cake!

Gluten Sufferers Unite! This one is for you! I've never seen beans turn into a luscious chocolate cake before, especially one that is moist and lighter than most gluten free cakes. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com, but adjusted it a bit.
( I substituted brown sugar for the white sugar, and will be trying Carob chips in place of the chocolate chips soon)

Incredible Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans (about 1 1/3 cans)
4 eggs
2 tablespoons Vanilla
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray 9 inch round cake pan with gluten free non stick spray or coat lightly with oil.
Place the chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl.
Cook in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds until chocolate is melted and smooth, remember microwaves differ in strength.
Rinse and drain the beans well.
Combine the beans and eggs in the bowl of a food processor.
Process until smooth, or mash beans very well until smooth and then add eggs and mash till smooth again.
Add the sugar and the baking powder and vanilla, and blend till smooth
Pour melted chocolate into bean mixture (you read it right) :)
and blend until smooth, scraping down the corners to make sure chocolate is completely mixed.
Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan.
Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool
Cut a slice and serve topped with whipped cream and toasted hazelnuts.
Sorry no pics, as the cake disappeared to quickly :) Maybe next time.
As always on this site, the recipe is only Gluten Free if you make sure all your ingredients are Gluten Free.

Baking Bread

Sing with me now...

Oh the weather outside is still frightful but the oven heat is sooo delightful.

And scince we need the heat anyway

I'll bake away, bake away, bake away!

Well ok the Northwest is actually warmer than the rest of the conutry this winter, I'll give you that. Perhaps the rest of you would like a hint in the double use of the energy we spend.... Bake!
Stuck in the house with freezing cold temps and snow that hinders travel, it is always a good idea to have a pantry with all the basics so you can use them to make what you might need for the evening meal.
A simple beginning Bread recipe that the whole family will love is Amish White Bread.
If you are blessed enough to have a Ktchen Aid it is a breeze, but if you don't then you can make it like I have for the past 25 years...by hand. I was just blessed enough to receive one for Christmas as a gift from my sister in laws. However it can easliy be made by hand as well.
You can choose from many good whole wheat or other flour recipes, I just have this one in the computer already.

Amish White Bread
2 cups warm water (warm to the wrist but not hot)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour
Directions
Dissolve water in warm water in a large mixing bowl.
Stir in yeast and allow to rise.
Add salt and oil to yeast after the yeast has risen.
(It will look foamy and creamy)

Kneading Direction with Kitchen Aid
Add two cups flour to Kitchen aid bowl
Pour in yeast mixture
Mix gently
Switch to keading attachment
Add rest of flour one cup at a time
Knead for 2 minutes
OR
Kneading Directions by Hand
Add flour one cup at a time mixing after each cup
Place dough on lightly floured surface and knead dough until smooth

Kneading: Put heals of hand into dough firmly pushing, grab dough farthest from you and pull it towards you and fold dough in half, turn dough a quarter turn and begin again. Continue till dough is smooth adding small amounts of flour to surface so dough does not stick. This process will add air to the dough and help it rise, and will take about 5 minutes.

Next
Place oil in bowl and coat
Place dough in oiled bowl and flip to coat both sids of dough
Cover with a damp cloth.
Allow to rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half.
Shape into loaves
Place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans.
Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in warm place until doubled about 30 mins
Bake 30 mins. at 350 F

Enjoy the warm kitchen and the delicious bread and the fruit of your hands!

Frugal Friday tip plus a bonus!

Hello all, it may be late, but it's still Friday and I have a Frugal find to share with you.

Hisbeloved has a wonderful frual tip to share that young moms may find of worthy note as they may have exactly what she is sharing.

And while you are there you might enjoy the bonus recipe Hisbeloved is sharing in her post...

No sugar, yet chocolate!

Making a Puff Quilt

I just loved this tutorial on making a Puff Quilt also known as a Biscuit Quilt. It first caught my eye since it had a nice ruffle on the outside edge. Since I am fairly new to quilting, I had not thought about adding a lace ruffle to the outside edge of a Quilt, but happy to find that it adds a beautiful feminine look to the finished product. The tutorial also has a few helpful hints while making the Puff Quilt. The stated origin of the Puff Quilt was from the recycling days of the 1970's. Old clothing, sheets, pillow cases, thrift store fabric finds can all be used to make the quilt top, and it can be stuffed with polyester fiber fill, or as they stated...recycled pantyhose, although the finished product will be heavier which could be nice for a warm winter quilt. Since the Puff Quilt is made one square at a time it can be fun for the younger quilter to help as she learns to quilt as well.

How to make the Puff Quilt/Biscuit Quilt

Friday Frugal Find!

Today's Friday Frugal Find was found at Lori's Blog
The Frugally Old Fashioned Homemaker

Lori posted a Tutorial on making homemade Liquid hand soap using just a few ingredients and a blender to make a whole gallon of soap. Take a look and get creative with the recipe.
You can add Lavendar or Grapefruit or Rosemary or Almond or Peppermint Oil to add a wonderful scent. Store in a pretty bottle and add a ribbon and make a lovely gift for a friend.
Thanks for the recipe Lori!

Homemade Liquid Soap

When life gives you lemons...

When life gives you lemons....make some lemonade!

That was the plan, however the heat got to the lemons before I did. I bought a large bag of lemons from Costco that looked very lucious and lemony, and wonderful. I brought them home and put them all in a bowl on the kitchen table as I usually do. This makes them available and in sight to remind me to use them. Alas, the heat made them mold and I lost almost half the bowl full.
I separated them and threw out the bads ones and began juicing the rest on the old fashioned glass hand held juicer I found at an antique sale last summer. I saved the juice in the fridge to keep it for future use. Then I remembered that my mom who lives in the desert, who also has a lemon tree, would do juice her lemons and then put the juice in ice cube trays to freeze the juice and then store them for future use in plastic baggies.
It adds just the right zing to iced tea as well as some much needed cooling these days. Possible three digit temps around here in the next week and very few have airconditioning. We need to find cool wherever we can find it.

Enjoy!

Frugal Friday Tip

Marsha at Suficient Grace for Suffering Saints has a wonderful Frugal Friday tip.

If you find yourself with a small bit of time of your hands try her idea for a Stay-Cation.

It's my kind of vacation and if I had time I would try to invite myself! :)

Sewing Lesson #4 Making your own dress form

A seamstress should have her own dress form. However if you have looked into buying one it is not a very frugal purchase. But wait help has arrived. I have seen written directions on how to make a duct tape dress form but they didn't quite help me. This video was a great help in figuring out exactly how to make and store a dress form.

Make your own dress form

Sewing Lesson #3 Fabric Basket Liners

I love to collect baskets at Garage sales, thrift stores and anywhere else I can find them gently used. Sometimes they come with a liner, but often not. Watch the video to learn how to make beautiful liners for your baskets. It's so simple, and a great project to begin with.

Sewing Basket Liners.

Sewing Lesson #2 How to thread a sewing machine

I remember having so much difficulty with step when dad first bought the famles of the home a sewing machine. I am not mechanically minded, and left the threading to dad. After moving out, I had to learn to do it myself. It really is not as intimidating as I thought. I learned how on my own by trial and error. Here is a video to help you get started.

How to thread a sewing machine