Bluebirds and Birch trees

 There are fewer things more enjoyable than biting into a homemade cookie. Made to the right amount of crispy chewiness. The chocolate chips scattered throughout it. The richness of the butter making it wonderfully smooth. Paired with a good cup of tea, I can think of few things more that to me, bring joy to my morning touch of breakfast treat. Christmas's Savory Sweet  Where do they come from?  Where did they go?  The cookies are made,  The doughs are rolled.  Made of every type and call,  The brilliant delights.  A kind for all.  So many treats and so many sweets,  To all of us this kindly thrall.  So sweet and enamoring.  This tasty treats delight.  They bring a smile,  And a light,  To all who eat,  A Christmas's chocolate savory delight. ©Mae Fort

 So despite the fact that I am supposed  to be going gluten-free in my diet, over the past short while my family and I have been trying to get down to the actual root of what it is that messes me up. At the moment, the contenders are;  white and other highly processed flours, corn and most corn products, and milk.  Now, while I could go on a long talk about the differences between gluten intolerance and wheat intolerance, lactose intolerance versus lactose sensitivities, I won't, because this is a recipe.  Now, because I've already had to explore options out in the gluten-free and dairy-free range, I can tell you right now––many things in those two categories taste awful. But, when you look at alternative foods to eat, then you're talking!  I made granola (with a good amount of help, because I'm not very kitchen savvy yet) to try to have as an alternative to regular cereals or toast for breakfast. (Rice cereals are still on the menu however) And so far, ...

 I'm cooking again! And this could either be a good, or a bad thing. But I'm inclined to think it'll be the former rather than the latter, because I'm at least cooking something I have made before. (Albeit, only once. But at least I am sort of knowledgable about what I am supposed to be doing.)  Crepes are on the menu today! I just made the batter a little while ago. Now, it's sitting in the fridge so the entire thing can settle and fully absorb all that it needs to before I try to make something out of it.  I'm using the only recipe I have, which is also very simple. (From the cookbook 'Joy of Cooking')  Prepping: At about a quarter to 10 this morning. 1/2 cup of Flour 1/2 cup of Milk 1/4 cup Lukewarm Water 2 large Eggs 2 Tbsp. Unsalted butter, melted 1 1/2 Tbsp. Sugar Pinch of Salt  Combine all in a blender or a food processor until smooth, then put into a pitcher, or a bowl with a pouring lip (I'm doing neither because I have a lit...

... I mean gluten. Regarding gluten. Hey! It's August, which means that starting technically yesterday (though stuff happened and it didn't work out) I am attempting to go gluten free in my diet to see how that clears up my health.  I didn't have a problem with going gluten free at first, (but I said earlier stuff happened) but while in the store the person I was with decided to spend about half of our grocery shopping trip in the baked goods section... yeah. I wasn't very happy for a little while.  But anyway! Most people apparently struggle to change breakfast routines the most when they change their diets. For me, that isn't really going to be a struggle changing it. Mainly because I don't actually eat any food until about 10. I start with coffee or tea, but rarely to I eat anything right after waking up.  As it is, I'll be eating a lot of rice in the future, and later today most likely. But one thing that does have me excited is that I've been...

 Or at least I will be in a little under a year now! Till then I'm not going to really push it!  :D That being said. I did something very childlike today, mainly because it's snowing, and it's super perfect for making snowballs--I was also the only one wearing gloves. So like any mature sibling would, I pelted my brother with as many as I could make till he started making snowballs without gloves. I still managed to nail him a couple times! :) And promptly ran back inside because it was cold and proceeded to make hot chocolate like any intelligent human being in my family would.  (Though I did add cinnamon to my cup, my siblings are gonna just have to deal unless they find the cinnamon... it took me a little bit and I'm the one that helped rearrange all the spices O.o)  As it is currently, I told them about ten minutes ago the cocoa was ready and they still haven't gotten any -_- can't blame me if it gets cold. Can only heat up milk so many times before it ge...

I have made a bowl of mush. It's a tasty mush. This mush is called oatmeal. A bowl of oatmeal with fruit. It's a tasty bowl of mush and fruit. Fruit. Cranberries and banana. A tasty bowl of sweetened fruity mush. So that's my thoughts on today.

So. While still half stalking the NaNoWriMo twitter feed, I have managed to eat a chocolate covered banana, but before that I pranced around the house listening to Mission Impossible cover by Lindsey Stirling and the Piano Guys while using the banana as a weapon.  Now I'm watching Dark Matter, still stalking the twitter feed... .. and looking for more lunch.

 .. Maybe!  Today (Now it would be three days ago as I just now got to finishing this post and putting the pictures in it!) I was given a shortbread recipe to make for my mom. And even though I only have three photos (four because black and white looks fancy), the middle stages of making the dough were not meant for photo taking. For a multitude of reasons.  1. Even though I cut up the butter, I probably put it in too soon, so it took a little while to mash it and the sugar/vanilla together. 1b. I ground up granulated sugar by hand because I didn't have any powdered. Left: Un-ground. Middle: Mid-grind. Right: Ground 2. After I did mix them I had a buttery sugary mess all over my hands which didn't make it easy to answer the phone when it started making noises. 3. That's what brothers are for. 7. Despite possibly over mixing it all, it turned out scrumptious. And just slightly chewy with a crispy shell. Mmm. Dough. 5. I got busy with cleanup afterwo...

 So today I am snow and ice bound once again. But one way to ride out the slowly but ever thawing cold is to make a cup of tea!  The one thing that I did differently this time, was add chocolate. Putting a number of large chocolate chips into my cup with the teabag while the water boiled. True, it will not be a sweet cup of tea without something else to sweeten it, but all I needed was a half spoon of honey, and a dash of milk. Now I used black tea, and I do not know how it would taste  otherwise, but for myself, I rather enjoyed it!  -Mae