Strawberry Shortcake Gluten Free Recipe

I told you I was going to make strawberry shortcake, didn't I!  Well, I couldn't wait. I did find a gluten-free recipe online, but I didn't have those ingredients, so I tweaked it a bit a lot and went with what I had in the house and cut down on the sugar. Also, those who had used that recipe complained that the shortcakes spread all over the pan, making them flat. Aha! I'll round up them doggies by baking them in a muffin tin! It worked great.

Strawberry Shortcake Gluten Free Recipe:

Makes 8 shortcakes.

Strawberries fresh, stemmed, washed, and sliced. Mix a tiny bit of sugar in. These berries were so sweet they probably didn't need any, but I did put in a sprinkling.

2/3 c. white rice flour
2/3 c. potato starch
2/3 c. tapioca flour

1/3 c. Crisco shortening 
1 T. baking powder
1/4 baking soda
1/4 xanthan gum
1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. milk 

Stir together the flours, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt.
Cut in the shortening until it's very fine.
Mix in the sugar.
Drizzle in the milk and mix gently.

Pour by globs into muffin tin that's been sprayed with a no-stick cooking spray.

Bake 425 for 12 minutes (longer or shorter, depending upon your oven)
(I put a little water in the muffin tins that were empty)

As soon as they come out of the oven, turn them a bit, just to make sure they won't stick.

Slice in half and top with berries.

Personally, I don't like to ruin it with whipping cream.

Don't disparage my muffin tins.

They're old and discolored, but they work.

Starting out with sweet berries, fresh from the garden

Baked shortcakes

Nice and golden

Oh. And when I sliced them, I did put REAL Wisconsin butter on each half before adding the berries. We're going all out here!

Delicious, gluten-free strawberry shortcake!

***

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Although I usually forget to do it, there is a chance that this post will be linked to one or more of these great linky parties: Inspiration Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday and Treasure Box Tuesday and Rubbish Tuesday and Tuesday with a Twist and  Knick of Time Tuesday (vintage)  and   Tweak it Tuesday and Adorned From Above  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and Good Fences on Thursdays and  Time Travel Thursday and Freedom Fridays and Junkin' Joe and Vintage Inspiration Friday and A Favorite Thing Saturday

The First Endeavour

A full basket on the first picking!

(the ones the robins and mice decided to leave for us)

The berries are from our garden and are much bigger this year,
due to all the rain we're getting.

Strawberry Shortcake coming soon.

The biscuity kind, not the cake kind.
Mmmmm.

AND

via PBS.org

Endeavour (Morse)

You won't want to miss him.

The first episode (of Season Two) of Endeavour  (my spell check is going crazy!) begins tomorrow night (Sunday night) on PBS. Sorry if you've missed Season One, and very sorry if you missed all the Inspector Morse movies (seven series) with John Thaw and Kevin Whately - that depicted the older Chief  Inspector Morse and his Detective Sergeant Lewis. This series, Endeavour, played by Shaun Evans, goes back in time to the young Morse.  Awkward, conflicted, brooding, intelligent. Not much changed as he got older. Roger Allam is his superior officer, Detective Inspector Fred Thursday. It seems that he's in every third British production, but this is my favorite role to date. These are so good!

British TV gives us lots of entertainment when we're trying to compete to see who can remember which show an actor was in previously. The faces are almost always familiar.

'I know, I know, he was in...um...um...ACK, don't tell me! um...um...Oh, I know, it was in a Lynley mystery!' 

As Kevin says, 'It is a small island, after all.' (No offense to my British readers, btw. British TV is the only TV worth watching, in our opinion  - and not all of that, of course.)

Don't miss Endeavour.



P.S. Thanks for all the nice well-wishes regarding my silly disc issue. Sitting is the absolute worst, so I will get up now from the computer. Just wanted you to be aware that Endeavour is coming to town!

***

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Good Fences

Simon & Garfunkel

It always amazes me that those big creatures consent to be contained by a single strand of electric wire. If I'm reading those faces right, they gave up the notion of escape a long time ago.

Obviously built by a committee

Blogging is going to be sporadic for a while, while I try to encourage a disc in my back to get back where it belongs. (Re-reading that sentence, I'm reminded of why people find English a difficult language to learn!)

Roses on Highway 29

***

Mid-morning addition:  As I'm occasionally sitting down to visit your blogs, I'm getting lots of pop up ads for 'laser spine surgery.' LOL  That's my punishment for Googling 'how to heal a slipped disc.' Good grief, our lives are so monitored!  Oh no, I see a drone outside my window!  (just kidding - for now, anyway.)

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Vintage Orchids of Hawaii I-94 Tiki Mug Bowls, Japan, and the Usual Rusty Stuff, etc.

 Vintage Tiki Mug Bowls

There were about 20 more where these came from, the ones that got thrown into the dumpster. Mr. Cranberry surprised me with these two Tiki Bowls (whatever that is), and I was about to throw them out when I decided to look them up on Ebay. One was selling for $399 and another for $280. You're kidding??  They're about 8 inches across and sit on that greenish pedestal, hula dancers and palm trees, and they have a volcano in the center. One reads 'Orchids of Hawaii I 94' and 'Japan' on the bottom. The other, newer looking one has China written on the bottom.  It's amazing what is left behind on a demo site, what manages to escape the dumpster, and most of all, what is considered collectible.

 Feed'er in the barnyard.

This is just about the color I want to paint a white ex-hospital wardrobe to put in our youngest (married) son's ex-bedroom. The walls are a very pale hue of the same color, so I think this, along with a brushed on (or brushed over) rust or light brown color might look nice. I'm sure I can find that color in an Annie Sloan chalk paint, right?

 Some Amish machinery. No idea.

I'll have to ask Mr. Cranberry. He will probably know.
(Time has passed)
Okay, this is his guess: the one on the left - some sort of hoisting apparatus
The one on the right, a two-row cultivator

Vintage brick schoolhouse.

Someone's planning on visiting one of Wisconsin's 15,000 lakes.
(and just remember that bit of info next time you see a Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes, license plate)

Up until the mid-1950s, there was a country school house about every two miles. In about 1956, the country schools consolidated with the town schools, ostensibly to save money. We know how that's  worked out. Anyway, some of the buildings have since been turned into living quarters. Some tastefully, some not. Others have disappeared from the landscape altogether. I've always thought it would be great to live in an old schoolhouse and keep it looking like a schoolhouse, with maybe one wall (the one not seen from the road) being mostly glass, looking out onto a garden with bird feeders and a few sheep. In case one becomes available, we're ready with the 30-some chalk boards and a library full of books. (And no, I don't really have any intention of moving.)

 One of the prettier white barns in our neighborhood

Don't you love the chippy white treatment? ;-)

***

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Although I usually forget to do it, there is a chance that this post will be linked to one or more of these great linky parties: Inspiration Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday and Treasure Box Tuesday and Rubbish Tuesday and Tuesday with a Twist and  Knick of Time Tuesday (vintage)  and   Tweak it Tuesday and Adorned From Above  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and Good Fences on Thursdays and  Time Travel Thursday and Freedom Fridays and Junkin' Joe and Vintage Inspiration Friday and A Favorite Thing Saturday

Sudanese Christian Woman Released from Prison

Praise God, friends, she's been released!  Check out this link.

Weekend with the Fam

 Mr. Cranberry & Youngest Grandson

 On the train at Marathon Park

He was saying 'CHEESE' with every muscle he could muster.

We had a great weekend with our daughter and children who have just moved to Wisconsin. Dad was still in Indiana, finishing up a few things before moving up to join the fam in a few days. It is so nice to have them just 2 hours away! And it was wonderful to see the grandkids. We are looking forward to lots of day trips in the future. And I'll post other photos when I get them.



ON THE WAY HOME:

St. Hedwig's Church

(between Thorp and Withee)

This bell tower stands a few feet away from the church ,

which is now empty, having combined with St. Bernard's in Thorp

Also in front of the church, this sign

***

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Mud Puddle Reflection

The mud puddle, a favorite drinking spot

Having secured a house sitter/dog sitter for the weekend, this evening we'll be off to visit the grandkids who just moved to Wisconsin from Indiana.  Can't wait.

See y'all next week!

Kids and Fences

Cute kids, former residents of our neighborhood

Aren't those the cutest kids! I wouldn't mind having a few goats if they would be sweet and stay as cute as these.

I think this type of fence is called 'hog panel.'  I'm planning on using hog panels to give my pole beans something to climb on.  I sure like picking pole beans better than bush beans! I'm looking forward to canning green beans, so it would be great if we'd  keep getting this perfect garden-growing weather.

Feeder and Fence - with a kind thought of the bluebirds

I was sad to awaken to the news that the storm had taken the top and part of the side of our very tall spruce tree in the front yard. The tree had been hit by lightning quite a few years ago, which had split the tree. Only the top part died, but the split was still there, making it weak. Both went over in the storm. An occasional eagle would perch at the dead top and scope out things in the field below. More recently, a catbird has enjoyed the perch from which he can serenade us.

And yet, it was just part of a tree. I know that many people have suffered huge losses in the tornadoes that have been hitting the midwest.

Irises in late afternoon

I was glad to get that photo before the wind and rain rearranged most of my irises at a 30 degree angle.

Another farm down the road

I thought it was about time that I posted a photo which showed an operating farm without rust.

In our neighborhood

***

Have you ever raised goats or sheep? What are your thoughts on that. Easy? Difficult? One of your biggest regrets? (either way)

***

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at

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Dandelions, Flowers, and Hodgepodge Wednesday

Dandelions, After

I love those cute little Roundheads when the late afternoon light hits them and makes them glow.

***

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1. Since you weren't Hodgepodging last Wednesday, how did you pass the time?

You're expecting me to remember what I did a week ago? It might have involved texting one or both of my daughters, trying to figure out what to make for dinner, planting something, picking asparagus, or sorting through stacks of books.

 Dandelions Before

2. What's the first word that comes to mind when I say marriage? Yes, one word.

Good.

Dandelions in early evening

3. Summer officially arrives in the Northern hemisphere later this week. Does it feel like summer where you live? Describe your idea of the perfect summer day.

We've had a very cool, very late spring. Last night we had storms and a power outage. Today it's hot and muggy. Eighty degrees F., no breeze, very humid.

The perfect summer day is 73 degrees, sunny, with a nice breeze. Farmers are cutting alfalfa in the fields and I can smell the alfalfa and sweet clover. I can sit on the front porch and read something on my Kindle while enjoying the breeze and hearing my wind chime (if it hadn't got completely tangled during the storm.)

4. "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability."(Sam Keen) Is laziness ever respectable? Do you have a lazy summer planned, or something semi-ambitious?

I have a hard time thinking that laziness is respectable, but I'm feeling lazier these days, so I'm happy to hear it. Summer is Mr. Cranberry's crazy-busy, 12 hours a day, often 7 days a week work schedule, so it's not a time when I plan get-togethers. And yet I don't want to wish summer away because our winters are so incredibly long. Visiting grandkids (and their parents) is at the top of my list. If I can get this slipped disc under control, I might feel like tackling something semi-ambitious. Many of the projects I want to do involve painting, like on a ladder.

My crazy roses, beautiful for a few days in June

Horrid and ugly for the rest of the year

5. Past or present, who's your favorite television dad? Why is he a favorite? Is he anything like your own dad?

I have always liked the dad on Father Knows Best. I don't know why that old show gets mocked as it does. I hadn't seen it in years, but the other night I saw a couple back to back episodes. Unlike what we think of when we think of the show 'Father Knows Best,' the father is not a male chauvinist, the wife is not a doormat, and the only criticism I can see is that the kids behave normally - getting into trouble now and then, being lazy and stupid, but not rude, crude, and disrespectful.  

In the 1950s moms were usually seen wearing dresses (thank goodness that trend is over), but other than that, I can't see why the show gets mocked. I liked the show and liked the dad. It was cute, fun, and entertaining. And yes, I think he was a lot like my dad - Smart, Normal, Nice, Thoughtful, Reliable, Reasonable, Good Sense of Humor - all traits that are often missing in today's TV shows. Other than PBS and the occasional old TV show, I don't watch network TV because I'm tired of TV trying to 'reflect society.'

Doggone Thirsty

6. June 18th is International Picnic Day...share a favorite picnic memory.

My mom was a great lover of swimming, so we would take a picnic to the lake and swim (I think we had to wait an hour after eating before swimming.)  Shell Lake was a nice place to take a picnic. It was so shallow that one could get exhausted just walking out to where it was deep enough to swim. And of course there was a canteen where we could get ice cream cones, Popsicles, or Cheetos (crisp fried to a crackly crunch).

Beautiful Wisconsin.  Lake.

7. The travel site Trip Advisor lists the top five islands in the world for 2014 as- Ambergris Caye in Belize Cayes, Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, Bora Bora in French Polynesia, Marco Island Florida, and Lewis and Harris in The Outer Hebrides (Scotland). Have you been to any of these? Of those listed (and if price were not a factor) which would you most like to book for a holiday?

Okay, I guess Providenciales in Turks and Caicos. I bet a visit there in February would help break up our ridiculous winter. Unless there are stingrays in the water.  I was going to say The Outer Hebrides, but wow, they really are 'outer' and I would want to make sure the weather was 73 degrees and sunny, with a nice breeze. I don't know if they can accommodate that.  And no, I've been to none of the above-listed places.


8.  Insert your own random thought here

Today is both my mom's birthday AND my mom and dad's wedding anniversary. I miss them.

Do you suppose that my mom was responsible for creating International Picnic Day?

***

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'Strawberry Mango'

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

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and at

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Although I usually forget to do it, there is a chance that this post will be linked to one or more of these great linky parties: Inspiration Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday and Treasure Box Tuesday and Rubbish Tuesday and Tuesday with a Twist and  Knick of Time Tuesday (vintage)  and   Tweak it Tuesday and Adorned From Above  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and Good Fences on Thursdays and  Time Travel Thursday and Freedom Fridays and Junkin' Joe and Vintage Inspiration Friday and A Favorite Thing Saturday