I was especially pleased with the quiche. Making pie crusts has never been a strong point for me. I have always been far to impatient for all of the little details a pie crust requires. This time I followed all of the fussy little details though and it really paid off. The crusts were flaky and delicious and no one could believe they were gluten-free. I’m working on recording the recipe and hope to share it with you tomorrow, today I thought I would share a few photos from my recent cooking adventures.

Ham & Cheddar Gluten Free Quiche & Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Carrots

Grain-Free Lemon Sandwich Cookies

Gluten-Free Salmon Souffle

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner when all things chocolate are whipped, baked, melted, and drizzled, I thought I’d lighten things up with a little bit of lemon.

Lemon Sandwich Cookies to be exact.

Click here for the recipe. (Thank-you, Martha!)

Basically, it goes like this:

Measure and whip a bunch of yummy ingredients together and then bake into cookies.

Make the easiest icing ever using lots of lemon zest.

Spread icing between two of your baked cookies and there ya have it!

Goes very well with freshly brewed espresso. So the hubster says.

I recommend keeping the cookies in the fridge. Especially if you also have some left over vanilla bean infused mascarpone cheese that is screaming for attention.

Because then you might put lemon and vanilla together and create one of the yummiest things ever.

Enough said.

Happy Pre-Valentine’s Week Y’all!

]]> http://allkindsofgoodiesdotcom.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/little-piece-of-heaven/ Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:44:23 +0000 allkindsofgoodies http://allkindsofgoodiesdotcom.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/little-piece-of-heaven/

This is my go-to cookie in the summer. I made it one more time last week.

So fresh…  So rich…  So tender… So tangy.

Thanks, Martha, for this awesome recipe.

Lemon Sandwich Cookie

Ingredients

Lemon Snowballs
(Adapted from Taste of Home)

Cooking Time: 10-12 Minutes
Servings: About 3 Dozen Sandwich Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Lemon Butter Filling

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 4 1/2 teaspoons butter, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon extract and rind.

In a small bowl, combine flour and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture and beat well.

Roll teaspoons of the batter into small balls and place on lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare the Lemon Butter Filling.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the egg, sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind, and butter. Cook until thickened, about 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from heat and refrigerate until fully cooled.

Spread Lemon Butter Filling on half of the cookies, pressing cookies together to create sandwiches. Tip: lay out all of the cookies round side down on a cookie sheet and sort into those that are flat and those that aren’t. Use the flatter ones as the bases for the cookies.

Sift extra powdered sugar on to the sandwich cookies to create the “snow” topping.

S and I decided to attempt to bake a lemon sandwich cookie. Little did we know, it was a lemon shortbread sandwich cookie. The difference in the two is that had we known it was a shortbread, we wouldn’t have baked it. 4 hours later, the cookies were finished and so were we… as in we were exhausted.

thekitchenslave decided to organize an accessories/bag swap. It ended up being a free-for-all grab for what you wanted. I ended up with Smashbox photofinish primer, Bath and Body Works hand lotion, and a new OPI mini nail polish (all from a good friend, V. Thanks!). A great way to get rid of what you don’t need (in my case, a handful of nail polishes I haven’t touched in a while) and get some new things too. Like someone says, one woman’s trash, another woman’s treasure… or something like that.

We had our beach mats and playing cards ready and headed to English Bay for the Celebration of Light. We were highly disappointed by rain and mediocre fireworks. Like my outfit? Is it overly tacky? I bought the t-shirt in Las Vegas and it was airbrushed by an artist on Fremont Street. I thought it was the coolest thing! Catch my name?

Powell Street Festival is an annual celebration of all things Japanese. Filled with amazing local Japanese craft vendors, S and I were amazed at the talent in Vancouver. We were in awe of all the handmade handbags, jewellery, cards, and much more. S also ran the children’s tent the next day with her SFU Origami club volunteers. Check out her re-cap. Many ladies were dressed up in yukatas (summer kimono) and looked so pretty!

I hate it when people use the phrase family obligations. I never think of my family as an obligation. It was my cousin’s birthday last weekend. Can you tell what his name is? My Chinese aunty spelled his name to the bakery like this. :S

It was the first time I’d ever seen the Vancouver Pride Parade and it was amazing! Great weather and great costumes (or lack of… lol!). I totally recommend it. Except for the naked man walking around with a globe. Shame on you. There were children around! I felt underdressed (or overdressed?) but it was a Sunday morning.

One of my favourite things to do? Shop with S. We love going to Winners and trying on the most ridiculous shoes we can find including these $200 L.A.M.B. shoes that were 6 inches tall. T thinks they’re sexy but I don’t think I’d look very sexy falling on my face… :S

And finally, the Joe Fresh Review:

Colour name: Butter

This colour was a little pale for me. If you are looking for a pale yellow, this formula is pretty nice. Pastels tend to be pretty thin so I needed three coats for it to be opaque. One thing that helps pastel colours go on evenly is a smooth nail bed. I, like many people, have vertical ridges in my nails and to get rid of them, I buff them out with my handy $3 nail file from Superstore:

Having a smooth nail bed will help all polishes go on more easily and smoothly and leave fewer streaks in the nail polish. This one is inexpensive and works! Thanks to NoodleKaboodle for the recommendation!

Where’s the rest of the Joe Fresh polishes? Here’s the first one and the next one will be posted tomorrow. And I’ll also be posting the OPI mini I showed in this post in the next few days. Sorry I took so long with the pictures. I had taken pictures but I wasn’t happy with them and redid them with my new studio.

Well, my mini studio and my trusty Canon T2i.