Gluten-Free Goddess Recipes

Baking Without Xanthan Gum, I Am. When I first set foot on this lonely gluten-free road (it was 2001, remember, pre-gluten-free boon; there was nary a gluten-free bagel or wheat-free blueberry muffin in sight), I wrestled with converting my beloved tried and true wheat flour recipes, gamely baking and tossing too many gluten-free hockey pucks and brick loaves to count. Until I discovered xanthan gum- the weirdo secret ingredient that gave gluten-free batter and dough a hint of that elusive stretchy tenderness that gluten once gifted. Xanthan gum was a find. And it has been a nifty little problem solver for many years. Until it wasn't. After a decade or so of cooking, baking, and eating strictly gluten-free I began to feel- shall we say- less than wonderful after eating something with xanthan gum (or guar gum, or locust bean gum, or carrageenan). Ingredients my grandmother never heard of. Ingredients I never used to eat. Or bake with. I had a gluten-free shakabuk

A Summer Classic: Blueberry Crisp We had a sudden hankering. You know how it is. A craving hits that will not be denied. Insistent. Growling. Desire with an uppercase D. So I'm digging into the archives. June is here. And you start imagining fresh, juicy blueberries, nestled beneath a perfectly golden crumble of a crust, warm, the deepest purple, bubbling as you slide it- ever so gently- out of the oven and onto a cooling rack to rest and settle until you can't stand it a minute longer, breathing in the cinnamon laced aroma of a summer dessert classic. The forever glorious blueberry crisp. And this one's gluten-free. And dairy-free. No xanthan gum either- a bonus. So darling. Don't wait. Blueberry season is short and sweet. Peace + Love + Justice, Karina xox

Let. Us. Eat. Cake. M husband's latest birthday marked another spin around the wheel of time. And yes, I baked a cake. And as I stirred the batter and scooped it into cake pans, I thought about the other cakes I have baked for him. The chocolate cake in our first year of marriage. Children beneath our roof. Blue balloons and candles. The newness of each others' dreams. The shine of our ideas. The belief in what was possible. We've shared twenty-eight of his birthdays now. And the single constant through these twenty-eight years is change. Change has woven its intricate design deep inside our marriage, our thirteen different living spaces in seven different states, our evolving work as artists and writers, our sons' own ever-changing lives. There isn't a piece of our life together that has not been burnished by change. I asked my husband what he felt about this birthday, if anything. He said at first he didn't feel anything about it. That is was just a

Parfait this! Easy fancy for a long hot summer- so bookmark this one... a simple, creamy coconut ice cream recipe served parfait style with blueberries and strawberries. And it's naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. And because you make it yourself, gum-free and carrageenan-free. So many yays. It was sunny and hot yesterday, and today is a repeat. So during a heat wave, even a modest two-day hot fest, yours truly is unable to muster any enthusiasm for cooking. Typically, I live on gluten-free granola. And ice cream. Yes, I know. I am a poor, sad, sad role model. What kind of food blogger doesn't rise to the challenge and cheer-lead you to whip up baby kale and avocado salads and raw maca peach turmeric and oat milk smoothies? What kind of food blogger would simply give in to her sticky, prickly fatigue and general overall crankiness and not create some virtuous, nutrition packed bunny food miracle slurry for you? This one. She who is about to share a no-cook reci

A blast from the past. And a quickie fun recipe for May from our time in Santa Fe, where we spent many a high desert evening beneath a dome of rosy violet skies, indulging in freshly mashed guacamole laced with lots of lime and local sweet cherry tomatoes. Not to mention,  rustling up platters of green chile enchiladas and calabasitas. Tonight I am sipping a lime-laced iced green tea as I write, and contemplating why I love that high desert country, its deep and penetrating miles of skies, and air that sparkles with the hair-raising urge toward flight into unknown territory. New Mexico is a magical place. It will- forever- be in my heart. So perhaps I'll make this easy guacamole tonight, snug as I am, back in a cozy cottage in the woods of Connecticut... where a different kind of magic awaits, and claims my heart. Peace and love, Karina xox

Bake this beautiful strawberry rhubarb crisp. During these dark and saber rattling times tinged with Covid creep, we need all the beauty we can get. And Spring herself is cooperating here in ole New England, serving up all the natural beauty you could ask for. There are crabapple, lilacs and apple blossoms snowing purple, pink and white. House finches, bluebirds, robins and cardinals are singing in the thicket. Magnolias are unfolding their velvet petals, and canopies of trees are budding pale lacy greens and soft sun-yellows to filter ever higher sunlight.  And love. There is a lot of that going around, too. If you seek it out- it's literally all around us. Everywhere you look. In kind gestures of appreciation, faith, creativity, Spirit, and camaraderie. So in spite of the awful, horrible, no good, very bad troubles that challenge us, the human spirit remains strong. And Spring has launched her magic to remind us that the world still holds such beauty. In light of our share

Recipes for a Gluten-Free Mom. We wouldn't be here without her. Or all the other nurturing, supportive, maternal figures in our lives- be they sisters (by blood or in spirit), aunties, teachers, mentors, grandmothers, or mothers-in-law. All those who nudge us and inspire us and believe in us. But especially She Who Knows Us- with all our quirks and wrinkles, all our stumbles and scrapes and broken hearted misery- and loves us anyway. So if you happen to love such a Person, and they're gluten-free? Have I got some recipes for you. Note: Above: A favorite recipe for guests (and popular with B and B hosts)... Whip up these easy baked eggs with roasted green chiles topped with a golden, toasty circle of gluten-free bread, and fresh herbs . Totally Mother's Day worthy, baked in individual ramekins (fancy!). Mama Kisses, Karina xo

Three words. Fudgy. Brownie. Cupcakes. Lately we've been experimenting with baking brownies in a cupcake tin. Just for a change-up. We felt like tweaking again. We're using Baker's chocolate now (semi-sweet and unsweetened). And we're favoring hazelnut flour. We boosted the baking soda a tad. When they bake they rise and fall and crack like little flourless chocolate cakes. What's not to love? Now go bake up a batch for the weekend. Be safe, take care of one another. Karina xo

Strawberry Rhubarb Love, Luv. Can't get enough of the classic spring pairing of strawberries and rhubarb? Me neither. So I baked a batch of muffins, dressed up to party with cinnamon streusel topping. These easy to toss together treats are tender pull-apart bites of grainy buckwheat sweetness studded with bits of tart rhubarb.  A recipe perfect for breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea.  Peace + Love, Karina xo

Today was a day I felt like baking. More than that, I felt like experimenting. Don't get me wrong, darling. I love ALL of my blueberry muffin recipes equally, yet... I just could not bring myself to repeat myself, to simply go to a recipe and follow it. The urge to tweak and adjust was too insistent to ignore.  I started thinking about sugar (I'm trying to eat less of it) and fiber (I'm trying to eat more of it). And of course, these days, I have shunned xanthan gum for good, so. There is THAT.  Here's what I came up with. A super tasty new muffin with big blueberry flavor, less sugar, and a lovely crumb thanks to the gluten-free oat bran, and touch of rice bran... Simple! And really, really good. From my kitchen to yours, a new gluten-free goddess recipe. Sent with love and prayers for peace, Karina xo