GF Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

 Delicious Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies

What to do. The gluten-free chocolate chip cookies were gone, and I like to have some gluten-free treat in the freezer. So, I decided to make peanut butter cookies this time. I have no idea how many calories they have, but I do know that I needed to eat a high protein dinner, for lunch pretty much consisted of peanut butter cookies. Don't tell anyone.

Next month I'll be making Christmas Stollen and freezing it.  Must get the ingredients soon.

Peanut Butter Cookies - Gluten Free Recipe:

1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. regular Crisco shortening
1 1/4 c. light brown sugar
3/4 c. peanut butter
1 egg
1 T. vanilla

1 c. fine rice flour
1/2 c. potato starch
1/2 c. tapioca flour
1 t. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt

Cream wet ingredients. Add (mixed) dry ingredients and mix well.

Form into walnut-size+ balls. Place 2-3 inches apart on cookie sheet. (I use heavy jelly roll pans and get a dozen cookies on each.)

Bake 350 degrees for 12 minutes. After taking them out of the oven, let them cool on the cookie sheet before removing them. I baked the first batch at 375 for 10 minutes, but they didn't get done enough or dry enough for me.

The first photo includes a few of the cookies that I pressed with a fork before baking.

Of course, you can also use this recipe to make Hershey peanut blossoms. To do so, as soon as the cookies are out of the oven, press a Hershey kiss into the top of each one. Who doesn't like those, right??

This batch made 2 1/2 dozen 2 in. cookies. The full 2 1/2 dozen did not make it to the freezer, however, in spite of my good intentions.

These are very good, and are more like peanut butter shortbread. SO tender!

***

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Not a Baaaaaaad Experience

Trying to Follow Me Home!

It was the cutest thing I'd seen in a long time. I had just been to a 'vintage' school house nearby (actually, the old country school in which I had attended 1st and 2nd grade). I pulled off the side of the road and took a few photos of the school. Then I drove ahead and pulled into the driveway of the schoolhouse, so that I could turn around. As I nosed into the drive, two little black goats came running from behind a nearby barn. Before I could move, they were right against the passenger side of the car. I was wishing I had electric windows, for I could have gotten a closeup shot of those cute little goats.

Trying to leave was nearly impossible, for I didn't want to run over them, and they kept crowding the car. I carefully and slowly backed out of the drive onto the road. The goats followed. I got safely clear of them and accelerated because I wanted to get out of there so the goats wouldn't get hurt or get onto the road.

I looked in my rear view mirror and the goats were running down the road after me! I stepped on the brakes and got out of the car just a second to get the photo you see above. Then I quickly got into the car again and sped off. Not that I wouldn't want those cute little goats to be at my house, but I really didn't want them out on the road where they could get hurt. I was hoping they would give up and go back home.

 'Lady, come baaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!'

I have no idea why they were loose, unless they were just free grazing pets. Fortunately, that road is pretty remote with virtually no traffic. I'm hoping the little goats wandered back to their yard once they lost sight of the car.

I was telling a friend about this incident and it reminded her of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb,' except that I'm not Mary and they were following me away from school, not to school. :-)

***

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Seedsavers, Decorah Iowa

Last month we went with friends to Decorah, Iowa. Since their daughter had attended Luther College in Decorah, they were very familiar with the area and what there is to see and do. Seedsavers was our main destination. I'd heard so much about it.

The trip down and back was beautiful, although at that time we weren't yet at the peak of color. Still, the roads and countryside made it a fun trip, and Seedsavers was spectacular. Because there had been a few frosts, the plants were no longer blooming, but that didn't really seem to matter. I know what they look like. It was still fascinating to walk among the rows and rows of various vegetables and flowers (weed-free, I might add) and to tour the barnyard, seeing the white cows and the chickens.

 White Park Cow - What a beautiful animal!

From Seedsavers.org:

"Ancient White Park Cattle 

These cattle roamed the British Isles before the time of Christ, and are described exactly in ancient Celtic lore. Today only about 800 of these extremely rare, wild cattle survive worldwide, including slightly more than 200 in the U.S. (and about 80 of those reside at Heritage Farm). These distinctive cattle have white coats, lyre-shaped horns with black tips, and black ears, noses, eyes, teats and hooves (and sometimes black is splashed from the hooves up the front shins toward the knees). The cows are intelligent, alert, quite hardy, healthy, and are aggressive grazers that favor brush."

Feeling a bit Thirsty

Inside the Shop

From Seedsavers.org:

"Seed Savers Exchange has been promoting the preservation and utilization of heirloom varieties for 37 years. Working with our members--farmers and gardeners--to ensure that these unique varieties are not lost forever, SSE encourages "participatory preservation" through membership in the Seed Savers Exchange. Each year thousands of seed varieties are exchanged among backyard preservationists through the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook for diverse reasons such as connecting to our garden heritage, finding varieties suited to a particular region, enjoying the diversity of heirloom varieties, and sourcing material to use in localized breeding projects.

These preservation methods keep many open-pollinated and heirloom varieties circulating in the hands of gardeners and farmers, making them available to everyone."

Seedsavers was a fabulous place, and I'd love to visit again in August of 2013.

I could hardly come away empty handed, could I.

Among the seeds I purchased were calendula (for my Sweet Baby! Calendula soap) and Stevia. My daughter-in-law just sent me an interesting video about Stevia. One Stevia fan has discovered a way to eliminate the aftertaste that is a common complaint about Stevia. 

It will be nice to have some of the beautiful seed packets from Seedsavers to look at during the long winter ahead. In this climate, there's plenty of time to plan a garden.

***

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***

Joining BARN CHARM 

Reassuring Thoughts?

Foggy October Day

'Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

If I settle on the far side of the sea,

Even there your hand will guide me,

Your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

And the light become night around me,"

Even the darkness will not be dark to you;

The night will shine like the day,

For darkness is as light to you.'

- Psalm 139:7-12 NIV

 

The Scripture passage above can be reassuring or terrifying, depending upon whether one is running to God or running away from Him.

Oh may we, as children of God, we whose sins have been forgiven, who live with hope and joy because of what Jesus did for us, be comforted by this passage of Scripture.

 

Have a blessed Lord's Day!

Anglophile Friday - Making Your Own Coracle

Picture of a coracle

From R.J. Unstead's 'Looking at History'

I had to phone my daughter last night and ask her if she remembered which book we have that has a picture of a coracle in it. I had already narrowed it down to about five, and she suggested three, so we managed to find the picture I had remembered seeing.

From Wikipedia: 

"Designed for use in the swiftly flowing streams of Wales and parts of the rest of Britain and Ireland, the coracle has been in use for centuries, having been noted by Julius Caesar in his invasion of Britain in the mid first century BC, and used in his campaigns in Spain. Remains interpreted as a possible coracle were found in a Bronze Age grave from near Dalgety Bay, and two others have been described, from Corbridge and from near Ferriby.

According to Ian Harries, coracle fisherman, coracles are so light and portable that they can easily be carried on the fisherman's shoulders when proceeding to and from his work."

So the story behind this post is that I was looking up something on YouTube and came across this video of a man who makes coracles. I thought it was fascinating. Maybe you will too.

I was showing this video clip to my husband. He got a puzzled look on his face and said, 'Hadn't they ever seen a fish??'

Photo from TorontoMuseumProject.ca

***

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Catnip

Right now the house looks like Santa's workshop (with the maid obviously off on holiday). There are boxes, soaps, baskets, etc. lying everywhere, it seems. So as I walked in and out of the house (several times) this morning,  I was oblivious to the branch that was hanging in plain sight on the cookstove.

What??!

Oh yes.

Hmmm. Yep, that was Kevin's doing.

Catnip.

And what would we need catnip for, you might ask? Making tea?

Nope.

Tuppence loves that little ball filled with catnip!

So while she was taking a morning nap, I stuffed some catnip into the ball, then threw it onto the bed where she was sleeping.

...'And they're OFF!!!'

'Mmmmmm. Smells wonderful!.'

She spent the next several minutes holding that ball, batting the ball, cuddling the ball, licking the ball, and tossing the ball into the air.

'Mine! And you're NOT taking it away from me!'

I tried taking it away for a second because it was about to roll off the bed.
That was NOT a good idea. Those little claws are sharp!

And now, after a good amount of exercise, she will probably get back to her nap.


Okay, that's enough of this monkeying around. Santa's workshop needs tidying up!


Hope you have a great day!

***

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Making a Rusty Barbed Wire Wreath!

 If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

So when you live on a farm, things accumulate. There's bound to be stuff lying around - stuff you get tired of seeing!  Right? Can you identify with this??

Lately I've come to a new appreciation of the treasure trove of junk items that could be useful to me in a new way. I think that would called 'recycling.' I think my husband would call it, 'You gotta be kidding.'  Well, this is my attempt at embracing the junk around our place. SO, with some inspiration from other bloggers, I went in search of rusty barbed wire. Did I find it? Of course - along with lots of other rusty junk.

Hanging by a spring

What you see before you is a newly-wound roll of old, rusty barbed wire, an old spring with which to hang this 'wreath,' and a 'rose' clipped from an old bed spring. Oh yeah, doesn't everyone have this junk lying around???

The background is made from a couple sheets of a sort of tongue-in-groove metal that was leftover from building the grain bin (probably built about 60 years ago - yes, that was before we bought this farm).

The main corn stalks were ones discarded from the garden, and the ears sitting on the rusty stool are actually popcorn, so I'll have to make sure to keep an eye on them so the mice don't move in and eat them before we do.

The pumpkin spice candle was given to me by our daughter-in-law. She knows I love pumpkin spice!♥♥

So listen up, ladies, don't waste your time wishing your husband didn't accumulate junk. Embrace it! It could give you an whole new hobby! :-)

 ***

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  You'll find me at These Linky Parties:
Mop it Up Monday   and Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and The Chicken Chick and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Make it Great Monday and Made By You Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous  and  Get Your Craft On and Tip Me Tuesday  and  Inspiration Board and You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Two Maids a Baking and What's Cookin' Wednesday and DJs Sugar Shack and  Cast Party Wednesday and The Shady Porch and   We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Mom on TimeOut and  Link it Up Thursday and It's Fall Y'all and Crafty Friday (Thursday) and Mandatory Mooch and  Petals to Picots and  Threading Your Way and Lisa's Gluten-Free Blog  and I'm Lovin' it Friday and Maiden d'Shade and It's a Hodgepodge Friday  and Foodie Friends Friday and Creative Bloggers and  Serenity Saturday and Overflowing With Creativity and  Home and Family Friday and Sunny Simple Sunday and  Saturday Nite Special

 

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The Sun Comes Up, It's a New Day Dawning

Sunrise, October 17 2012

'The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me

Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name'

'You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger

Your name is great, and Your heart is kind

For all Your goodness I will keep on singing

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name'

Early Morning, October 16, 2012

'And on that day when my strength is failing

The end draws near and my time has come

Still my soul will sing Your praise unending

Ten thousand years and then forevermore

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name'

From Nehemiah 8

'On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak til noon ... And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law...Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded, 'Amen! Amen!' Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground...

'Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, 'This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep' For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

Nehemiah said, 'go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.'

***

So I was thinking about that this morning, and what an amazing thing it is that, in spite of our sin, we can have total forgiveness, be totally cleansed and free and GUILTLESS before God because Jesus willingly took the punishment for our sin and gave us His perfect righteousness in return.

But for some who've never known that forgiveness, guilt is something that clings to us, burdens us, stifles us, binds us. When the children of Israel were read the Law, they realized their sinfulness and the sinfulness of their fathers. They mourned. They wept. But they were told to grieve no longer, go out and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks...for 'the joy of the Lord is your strength.'

There is nothing like having one's sins forgiven, to have a clean slate, no lingering guilt, because Jesus paid for it all at the Cross. And 'there is no other name under Heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.' It's only Jesus. 

There is freedom in Christ. And when I'm tempted to fall into a pit of guilt, I remember that Jesus paid for that guilt. Then he took his cloak of righteousness and wrapped me up in it.

Romans 8:31

'If God be for us, who can be against us?'

Mine is to cling to Him and rejoice and celebrate, for the joy of the Lord is my strength!

***

You may not be familiar with the song I've been quoting.  We've been singing it in church lately, and I love the message. If you have a minute, be sure to play the YouTube clip to hear it. It just might make it to your 'favorites' list.

***

'Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name

Lord, I'll worship Your holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name

I'll worship Your holy name.'

Anglophile Friday - English Roads, Drystone Walls, Hedgerows

Pitt Road, Dorstone, Herefordshire

One of the things that I found most charming about England was the roads. Narrow or winding or sunken - or all three, they led us through the most beautiful countryside. The photo above is one of my favorites. After walking a few steps further, a flock of sheep appeared just beyond the fence and came out to greet us. I've posted about that before, but since this post is about roads and not sheep, it gave me an excuse to post this photo again.

Pitt Road, looking toward Dorstone,

Herefordshire

This is in The Golden Valley. How beautiful and peaceful it is there! We were there in March, and in many places the daffodils were in full bloom. It would be fun to be there a little later in the season to see the other flowers in bloom and to see what that amazing hedge looks like in May or June.

Narrow ribbon of road between Richmond and Low Row, 

North Yorkshire

All of the 'B' roads we saw are very narrow. This one is, oddly enough, a straighter stretch of road in  a military exercise range. Glad we didn't get run over by any tanks. I hope they don't use the sheep for target practice. Do you think the sheep appreciate the amazing view from their grazing spot?

Askrigg Common, North Yorkshire

Taken on a rainy day, with one lone foraging sheep in the picture. This was beautiful country, between Askrigg and Low Row. If anyone thinks England is too crowded, they just need to spend some time in North Yorkshire. There are a lot of places where we rarely ran into another soul.

 Cardington Road, Shropshire

After leaving Cardington, we were headed to an 'A' road (wider, with two lanes) which would lead to Shrewsbury, home of the fictional monk, Brother Cadfael. We hoped we wouldn't meet another car when we were on roads such as the one pictured above, but when we did, we always deferred to the natives. It seemed the prudent thing to do. After all, we didn't know for sure if they were friendly. We've watched a lot of British murder mysteries! :-)

Road near Church Stretton, Shropshire

Because they don't have the big accumulation of snow in the winter, like we do in Wisconsin, there are no ditches, even on the 'A' roads. Therefore, there are many roads that are just a ribbon of asphalt laid down. Then again, there are also old Roman roads, built over 2,000 years ago!

Road South of Kettlewell, North Yorkshire

I cannot look at the photos of drystone walls and piled stones on the side of roads without thinking of the manual labor involved!

From Britainexpress.com -

'Drystone walls are, with hedgerows, one of the most commonly used field boundaries in England, and help create what we now regard as the traditional pattern of field and lanes so evocative of rural England.

While hedgerows are most common in the Lowland Zone, drystone walling is most often found in the Highland, or Upland, Zone (roughly the south-west, the Pennines, the Lake District, the Northeast). In addition, most of Wales and Scotland can be included in the Highland Zone...
As individual landowners abandoned farming in favour of raising sheep and cattle, they enclosed land which had been owned or used "in common", by all the inhabitants of a village. The right to use the common land was lost as landowners enclosed fields and, in some cases, evicted villagers to make room for sheep.

Most of the drystone walls we see today are products of the post-medieval move toward enclosure. In the lower slopes of the Highland Zone the walls are rough and irregular in shape, enclosing small farms dating to the late medieval period and the 16th century.

Higher up the slopes the walls enclose larger fields dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. At the highest elevations are the great sheep grazing areas bounded under Acts of Parliament during the great Enclosure Movement of the 18th and 19th centuries. These walls are the most regular and may run for many miles across otherwise forbidding landscape.'

Pitt Road, Dorstone, Herefordshire

Proving a point.

So, as I said before, the English countryside is beautiful, and the country roads and little villages were charming. But I'll have to admit that toward the end of the 16 days, I realized that I wasn't really ready to transplant to the UK permanently. I would miss the straight, wide roads (with shoulders) of Wisconsin. In England, you can get everywhere...but very slowly. But in Wisconsin, you can get nowhere...FAST.

***

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Deeeeeelicious  fragrance!

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***


 This post is linked to:
Photo Friday 
and
Saturday Nite Special