My Vintage Tea Party
Ramblings and Reviews From a Lover of Tea and All Things Vintage
Unfortunately I was unable to do a June update due to my 4-week summer class (it was abhorrent), but here I am with another baking adventure! As many of you already know, I switched to a completely gluten-free diet around March of this year, so pretty much all of my baking from here on out will be free of gluten. Go ahead, roll your eyes, scoff, say what you want, but all I know is that since cutting gluten, I have been able to eat actual meals without being completely miserable. For a few months at a time, the nausea would get so bad that it was all I could do to choke down a scrambled egg or chicken noodle soup and a protein drink. At one point I lost about 5 pounds and started to look and feel starved. I never believed in non-celiac gluten sensitivity myself until now, even after 4-5 different doctors pushing me to try a gluten-free diet. So think what you will, but for the moment I have more good days than bad, and that in and of itself is really something.
Anyways. Since I have a month and a half semi-free until school starts up again, I have decided to try out some new recipes. Today, I decided on paleo carob chip muffins using a recipe I found on Pinterest. The ingredients are almond flour, maple syrup, coconut oil, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt, and carob chips (the recipe calls for chocolate chips, but I used carob chips that were left over from making cookies). They took about 5 minutes to whisk together, and 18 minutes to bake. I used my silicone muffin pan, and they still stuck a little bit on the bottom so I had to use a knife to loosen them before I took them out. A couple of them came out in two parts, but they still tasted the same. Let me tell you, these are hands down the best muffins I have ever baked in my life! They are delicious, fluffy, and not overly sweet. It was all I could do to not put away three or four at one time. They were a hit with my dad too, so it's not just me who thinks they're so good. The only downside is that they didn't really poof up like regular muffins so they look a little flat, but honestly I don't think that's a problem. Expect more almond flour-based baking adventures in the future! It is my favorite gluten-free flour to bake with because of its higher protein, lower carb content and I really have to watch my carb intake due to my dysautonomia. I have provided a link to where I found the recipe on Pinterest, so anyone who wants to can make them too! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/74731675050556722/
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Hello everyone! It has been over a month since I've updated, but I was very busy with the end of the semester of my class and unable to find time to make any posts. But here I am, and I am on my holiday break until mid-January. So now that I have the time, one hobby that I am planning to focus on is baking. It's a very appropriate hobby for someone who is as interested in the vintage lifestyle as I am, so I figured a post about my first baking adventure of the season would fit in just fine here on my blog! Christmas cookies are a holiday staple, so I couldn't let the month slip by without making some of my own. This baking session took place last week, and I ended up taking the cookies to work where they were enjoyed by my co-workers. Now, I am very prideful when it comes to baking. I don't use boxed mix, and more times than not I prefer to make my own frosting/icing. This time I used a sugar cookie recipe I found on Pinterest-- I settled on this particular one because it claimed that the dough would come out perfect every time without the need to chill in the refrigerator before rolling it out. I must confess, I am a little impatient so I avoid having to let anything "sit" before I bake it. I have always had trouble with sugar cookie recipes because somehow the dough always turned out sticky and hard to roll out (even after adding extra flour to try and fix this). However, to my surpise this recipe worked pretty much exactly how it was supposed to! The dough was the perfect consistency and was not too sticky or too dry so rolling it out and using my cookie cutters did not cause me any frustration. Here is a picture of what they looked like when they came out of the oven: They aren't bakery worthy but I was more than satisfied with how they turned out, and they tasted good so that's all could really ask for. And just as a side note, if you like baking cookies I would highly suggest investing in a silicone baking sheet. They are invaluable and cookies slide right off once they're cool. After making sure they were completely cool, I started on the icing. I used a recipe that had a corn syrup base so that it would harden and I could pack them up without worrying about a mess. The icing turned out well-- not too sweet and it hardened like it was supposed to. However, the colors didn't come out quite as vibrant as I had hoped but I'm sure I could do better next time. Here they are when they were finished: Again, not bakery worthy but I was proud of them and everyone seemed to really like them (I'm always paranoid that no one actually likes what I make and are just trying to be polite. But I only had one left over so they must have been edible at least!). If anyone wants the recipes, just leave a comment and I will post a link.
Expect another post soon, as today I am planning on trying a shortbread recipe for tea time! Whenever I go to a tea room that offers finger sandwiches, I'm always pleased when they have smoked salmon. Sushi and fish that's prepared in a similar manner is my weakness and if someone put a tray of it in front of me, I could eat myself into a coma. So, I decided one day recently that I would go on a quest to find some reasonably priced smoked salmon and make my own open faced sandwiches for tea time. My search took me to world market, where I found some for only $3.99 (you can see what kind it is in the picture). Now, the image of smoked salmon I had in my head was this (image courtesy of Pinterest): I was expecting nice little slices of brightly colored salmon that could be easily placed on bread. But that's not what I got. I opened the packet and a small, canned tuna-colored salmon steak plopped out. I also failed to realize how much fish juice would be in the packed, because I stupidly tipped it toward me to look inside and poured juice all over the kitchen counter and floor. My cat must have smelled it from the bedroom, because she came moseying in soon after. I have to admit though, I've never actually bought smoked salmon before so my expectations may have been incredibly misguided.
Expectations aside, I tried a small piece before I attempted to slice some to put on my bread and I must say that it was very, very tasty. It had a mild smoky flavor and was not dry in the least-- which is something I can't stand when it comes to fish. Dry fish is useless in my opinion. It was also the perfect portion for four small open faced sandwiches made with my favorite millet chia bread (and just a tad of mayonnaise if you're curious as to what else I added to it). If you don't like a noticeable "fishy" taste or smell, though, I don't believe this salmon is for you. Me, I love it. My boyfriend calls me a cat all the time. I'm still partial to the thinly sliced smoked salmon they usually serve at tea rooms, but the good taste made up for that this time. I will probably try World Market's brand next time even though it is slightly more expensive, but I'm holding out hope that I can find some somewhere that's exactly what I'm looking for. |
About Me
Greetings, readers! My name is Jordie, and I am a tea obsessed, history loving young lady who just happened to be born about 60 years too late. Archives
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