Paula Deen's Flourless Chocolate Cake

Gluten free but not calorie free. Dieters beware.

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 sticks of butter

1 1/4 cups of sugar

6 eggs, separated

DIRECTIONS:

Place some parchment paper on the bottom of a springform pan so it hangs over. Close the latch to hold the paper in place and secure the sides. You'll also want to spray the paper with some non-stick cooking spray just to be safe. After your pan is ready, preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Separate 6 large eggs. Yolks in one bowl and egg whites in another. Set aside.Combine chocolate chips and 2 sticks of butter. Melt in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth. Whisk in 1 1/4 cups sugar until combined. Then add the six egg yolks to the chocolate and sugar mixture, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Now, in a medium bowl, beat the six egg whites on high with an electric mixer. Beat it for several minutes until stiff peaks form. Then, gently fold your egg white mixture into the melted chocolate mixture until combined. Pour it in your pan and bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. It will rise pretty high in the oven, but when you take it out to cool, it will fall. And fall hard. Yay! Let it cool one hour on the counter and then for at least four hours in the refrigerator before you release it from the springform pan.

Butterscotch Bars

More butterscotch! Although, messy and not very pretty, these bars were fabulous!

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup packed brown sugar 5 tablespoons butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 large egg, lightly beaten 2 cups flour 2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda Cooking spray 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk 1 bag butterscotch chips 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 finely chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl. Stir in vanilla and egg. Combine flour, oats, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Add oat mixture to sugar mixture; stir with a fork until combined (mixture will be crumbly). Place 3 cups oat mixture into the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Press into bottom of pan. Set aside. Place sweetened condensed milk, butterscotch chips, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute or until chips melt, stirring every 20 seconds. Stir in walnuts. Scrape mixture into pan, spreading evenly over crust. Sprinkle evenly with remaining oat mixture, gently pressing into butterscotch mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. Place pan on cooling rack; run a knife around outside edge. Cool completely and cover.

The Pioneer Woman's Yellow Cupcakes with Sticky Chocolate Icing

If you haven't heard of The Pioneer Woman, I encourage you to check her out! Even if these cupcakes don't tickle your fancy, I guarantee something on her site will!

INGREDIENTS:
Cupcakes:
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup (plus a tad more) whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.With an electric mixer, mix butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for a few more seconds.Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.Add vanilla. Mix to combine.Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk in three batches, mixing for a few seconds after each addition.Scrape sides of bowl, then mix one final time.

Fill paper-lined muffin tins 3/4 full with batter. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until puffy but not brown. Cool before icing.

Sticky Chocolate Icing:
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter

Mix ingredients together in a small/medium saucepan. Melt ingredients over medium low heat, stirring gently. Icing is ready when all ingredients are melted and combined.

Spoon warm icing over warm cupcakes, stirring icing to smooth after every third cupcake or so.
Allow iced cupcakes to sit at least ten minutes before serving.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Strawberry-Rhubarb is Jer's favorite pie. I'm not the pie lady though. This wonderfully sweet, amazing lady at our church is. Potlucks, holidays, family get-togethers? Grandma Lori brings the pies. End of story. As for me? I make cookies. And I dabble in other baking things. But pie? No way! Too hard! Too scary! To...crust-y. That is until Thanksgiving. Fixed on having a Gluten Free pie for my sister to eat, I dared to make my own. And GASP! It actually turned out! And it was kinda easy! I've figured since then that if I can make a GF pie crust, I can make a regular one. So I spent some time searching for a Strawberry-Rhubarb recipe and came across Smitten Kitchen's. Her recipe, paired with few tips from the Internet, yielded an incredible finished result. But then again it is strawberries and rhubarb. And really how can you go wrong with that?

DIRECTIONS:
For crust: 3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling:
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk (for glaze)

Make crust: Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor (or using pastry cutter). Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Make filling: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend. Allow filling to sit for 3o minutes. Once juices have started to accumulate in bowl transfer to sauce pan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. This will allow for the filling to thicken before baking.

Assemble Pie: Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish [er, I used a metal one and it was just fine]. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. Sprinkle with course sugar. Transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about another 40 minutes.

Grandma Joycie's ALMOST Avocado Grapefruit Salad

For years, Jeremy's Grandma Joyce has been making an avocado grapefruit salad. While I, and half the hemisphere, love her cooking, I have to admit that some of her beloved recipes have seemed a little too strange to me to try. This salad was definitely one of them. I'm not sure if it was the thought of the grapefruit and avocado combo that scared me away or the sweetened mayo dressing. I like to lean more towards the dressing. Mayonnaise. Yuck. However, this week I spent some time cruising the Internet trying to find a recipe for our LPO grapefruits when I came across another avocado and grapefruit salad recipe. By chance, we also had avocados is this box so I decided to give it a try. The results were fabulous!

Trust me, I know it sounds like a strange combination, but if you've ever managed to eat a salad with vinaigrette and some kind of fruit inside of it, this salad is right up your ally. It's fast, easy and it beats the same old tossed salad any night! Oh, and Court? It's gluten free. You're welcome :)

In case you need a little help figuring out how to slice your grapefruit-click here! Getting all the bitter pith off is key!

INGREDIENTS:
1 grapefruit, cut into supremes over a bowl
1 ripe avocado, cubed or sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced paper thin
1/4 c. best quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 t. kosher salt
1 t. prepared Dijon mustard (like Grey Poupon)
black salt and black pepper for finishing

DIRECTIONS:

Squeeze the leftover bits of grapefruit and the juice gathered while cutting the supremes, and measure 1/4 c. of it. Drink the rest, cook's treat. Mix the 1/4 c. of juice with the olive oil, kosher salt, and mustard in a jar and shake intensively to emulsify. Taste and add a little good vinegar if it needs more acidity. Leave it under seasoned so you can finish with the black salt. Arrange the grapefruit, avocado, and onions on a plate, either individually or on a platter. Just before serving, drizzle on the salad and sprinkle with the black salt and black pepper.