Great Gifts, Rise’n Roll Donuts and Gluten Free Flour

Okay this is a hodge podge.

Great Gifts. A few weeks ago I shared my “I’m working even if my door’s closed” post about my somewhat ramshackle post it notes informing my coworkers of what was going on behind my closed door. See below.

Sometimes you wonder if anyone, especially your family, reads what you bother to write. Maybe sometimes what you write is not worth bothering to read. One of my daughters was kind enough to comment saying, “Christmas gift idea, eh?”

Yes, but my sister beat her to it. For my recent birthday what did I get in the mail but a handy dandy office door (or refrigerator) message blaster. Otherwise known as the dry eraser board, miniature size.

Pert said “See, I do read your blog!” And I love her gift, especially the Pert-esque note she often includes in her surprise packages.

Only she added a few of her own original examples which I’ve not been putting on my door!

I must add that my brother-in-law, Richard, also sweetly got one of these handy dandy memo boards when my husband retired, to keep his honey-do lists straight. We keep that on the refrigerator.

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Rise ‘n Roll. Speaking of readers, I opened the stats yesterday a little shocked to see I’d had a ton of new views (for me), coming from Amish365.com to my most visited post ever, about Rise ‘n Roll Donuts (found in various spots across northern Indiana, even Chicago, I hear), in which I tried (and kind of failed) to recreate a recipe for the to-die-for donuts. I was thinking about trying again this fall at a time when some family were around to enjoy the sweet goodness. But one of my grandsons was diagnosed with celiac disease late this summer/early fall. So now I’m on another hunt: yummy recipes he can enjoy too.

Learning Gluten-free. My first attempt at gluten free baked goods were the pumpkin cookies James came to like the weekend of his first birthday—pretty much his first cookie ever. Now he is three, and while sweets are still limited at his house, he (and all of us) were pleasantly surprised how tasty these pumpkin cookies could be with a simple substitution of gluten-free flour.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies (Adapted )

2 ½ cups Pillsbury Gluten free flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon*
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup sugar
½ cup butter
1 cup pumpkin
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bake 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees until edges are firm. Remove from pan and cool.

Makes about 3-4 dozen.

Glaze-type frosting**

2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine and beat together. Drizzle glaze over cookies.

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Pert’s gift for another occasion. She seems to know what’s perfect.

They freeze well so grandma is keeping pretty much a constant supply of these at her house, because that’s what grandmas do, isn’t it? And for this birthday, when time was in very short supply (because: no vacation time left after spending lots of time with two new grandsons born January and July) my daughter found a food truck in our town specializing in gluten free stuff and they made this simple but glorious cake (made fancy with the construction equipment on top, a favorite toy for little James.)

So I was excited to read over at Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog just last week of Julie’s recipe for gluten free donuts. They use a flour blend you make yourself, which they’ve called “Julie’s Flour Blend.” I haven’t decided yet whether to take the plunge and invest in all those ingredients. No doubt I will, in time, but I thought the news was worth sharing in this odds and ends post.

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Are you or someone you love a great gift giver? They always seem to have an angle for picking out just the right gift (it may be small) or greeting card?

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What does it take to be a great gift giver?  

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For the cooks on your list, slip over to the MennoMedia store for all kinds of cookbooks, especially those from “Mennonite Girls.”