The Thankful Tree

I can't remember where I first came across the idea, but the Thankful Tree has been a huge hit with everyone around our Thanksgiving table for the last several years. It's the spirit of Thanksgiving in a beautiful centerpiece: each member of the Thanksgiving feast has to contribute at least one leaf with what he or she is thankful for and it becomes a bouquet of gratitude. 

The Thankful Tree is basically a hands-on family craft project that immediately becomes a conversation piece. For the wee ones, of course, parents can contribute. Two years ago, for example, my youngest said she was thankful for "yellow," and that's what we wrote on one of the leaves. On a more serious note, my family has had a couple of stressful years, with one member who had breast cancer and another who had open heart surgery, and the Thankful Tree has been a wonderful channel for us all to express our gratitude for their recovery, their medical care, and our family's ability to get through tough times together. This year we'll be adding some more color to our Thankful Tree with the new Gratitude Tree Notes from Lunchbox Love, a company whose lunchbox cards we love and use regularly. Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday, and this is something I'm looking forward to immensely. See below for instructions on how you can create your own Thankful Tree. 

Here's how to do it: 
1. Gather long thin branches.
2. Cut colored construction paper into leaf shapes and use a hole puncher to make a hole in each.
3. Have each person at your holiday gathering write at least one thing they are thankful for (make pens readily available).
4. Use kitchen twine or any other string to fasten the leaves onto the branches. 
5. Assemble in a vase and place at the center of your table. 

We talked about these all night long last year, and I'm looking forward to gathering branches soon. I can't wait to read the leaves this year!

Halloween Lunches

The stretch up to Halloween is always an exciting one. Lunch is my favorite place to insert some Halloween magic, so today I'm sharing some of our Halloween-themed lunches to show you how you can make it fun in the days leading up to the holiday without making it all about sugar and candy. All you need are some well placed props! Check it out, and be sure to follow us on Instagram where we're posting our lunches daily:

Mini quiche, clementine pumpkins, banana ghost and some mini apples.  

Egg monster, veggies, apples with spider, yogurt with blueberries.  

Eyeball yogurt parfait, banana ghost, clementine pumpkin and baby carrots.  

Raspberry eyeballs! Plus salad, cheese and crackers and carrots.  

Apple monster with sunflower seed teeth and eyeballs affixed with sunflower seed butter.  

My personal fave: pear ghosts with berries, yogurt with a candy finger and dried apple, spider egg, banana ghost.  

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

I made four cakes for my daughter's 4th birthday party. Sounds a little extreme, I realize, but I had fun doing it, and wanted to be sure that everyone had cake. We had 12 kids and 20 adults. There were several allergies to accommodate - my daughter's cow dairy and strawberry allergy and a sweet friend's gluten, cow dairy and chicken egg allergy. Cake can absolutely still be delicious without any of those ingredients! 

I consulted Jenny Rosenstrach's new book How to Celebrate Everything and found her chocolate cake recipe and adapted for our needs. This was a hit! It's a deep, cocoa flavor with the right amount of sweetness. It's a two layer cake and I added blueberry jam in between the layers (hers calls for mint chocolate chip ice cream), plus a dairy free frosting and gluten free gummy bears on top. 

Gluten Free Chocolate Layer Cake with Blueberry Jam
1 1/4 gluten free flour (I used King Arthur brand) 
2 cups of granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs (I used duck eggs to accommodate a chicken egg allergy)
3/4 cup room temperature of brewed, strong black coffee
1 cup of goat milk (original recipe calls for buttermilk, but I avoided cow dairy here)
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used avocado oil) 
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup blueberry jam

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9 inch springform pan with vegetable oil. Pour the goat milk into a bowl and add the lemon juice. Let this sit for about 10 minutes. The milk will look like it's a bit curdled - it's a great way to make your own buttermilk substitute! 
In a separate bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Add eggs, coffee, goat/lemon mixture, oil and vanilla and stir until everything is well combined. 
Pour into the pan and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. 
Allow the cake to cool completely. Using a sharp, long knife, split the cake in half and use a plate to remove the top half from the bottom. Smear the bottom half with blueberry jam and place the top half back on. 

Dairy Free Blueberry Frosting
1 cup coconut yogurt (I used Anita's) 
5 tablespoons confectioners sugar
2/3 cup blueberry jam
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Be sure to keep refrigerated, as this is a thin frosting. Spread evenly on top of the cake. 

Gluten Free Wacky Cake

Wacky Cake has long been a favorite in my house. It's super easy to whip up when friends come over and you want something sweet. It's great for those occasions when you need a cake but don't have enough eggs or milk. Admittedly this has happened to me more often than I am comfortable with, but frankly, with the Wacky Cake recipe practically committed to memory, I don't stress about this anymore. 

It's been the cake of choice at some of our birthday parties too. This year, I've altered the recipe slightly to accommodate some allergies and it's still a no-fail dessert! 

Gluten Free Wacky Cake

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour (I prefer the King Arthur brand, but also tested a recipe with Enjoy Life brand) 
1 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
1 cup of water
6 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used avocado oil)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup dairy free mini chocolate chips (optional. I used Enjoy Life brand)

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix all of the dry ingredients together and sift them to prevent the cocoa from getting clumpy. Add vinegar, water, oil and vanilla extract and stir until thoroughly combined.  Add chocolate chips. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper or grease with more of the vegetable oil. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Roll

When in doubt, call Mom. 

This applies to so many things in my life but especially things having to do with food. I asked my mom for chocolate cake recipes that didn't call for flour or dairy and just like that, she pulled up a recipe. But not just any recipe... this turned out to be the favorite of all the gluten free cakes that I tested in advance of my 4 year old's birthday party. 

The recipe was based on this one, which calls for strawberries, but my daughter is allergic to strawberries so initially I planned to substitute with blueberries. The first test of this chocolate roll proved that the blueberries, in all their succulent glory, were just too big and juicy to include so for the final cake, I eliminated them and went just with the blueberry jam. 

This cake was a huge hit. It's creamy and sweetly satisfying, easy to make and a crowd pleaser. I made two for my daughter's birthday party and they flew off the plates! 

Chocolate Roll with Blueberry Jam

1 cup of dairy free chocolate chips

3 tablespoons cold, strong coffee or orange juice

5 large eggs (I used duck eggs to accommodate a chicken egg allergy and used just 4)

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2/3 cup blueberry jam

confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet (with sides) with parchment paper, leaving several inches hanging over each of the short edges. Lightly grease the portion of the paper that fits inside the pan with vegetable oil. Melt the chocolate and coffee together in the top part of a double boiler (or a bowl that fits into a saucepan) set over barely simmering water. Mix the ingredients well and remove the top part of the pan from the heat. Let cool. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed (or use a hand mixer), beat the egg yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla extract together for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and blend it in thoroughly.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks.

Mix about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold the remaining whites into the chocolate mixture until the mixture has an even color. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it to make it even. Bake for 11 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven. Cover it with a slightly dampened paper towel or kitchen towel. Let cool. 

Spread the jam evenly over the top of the cake.

Roll the cake starting on the long side using the parchment paper to help roll it along and keep the cake intact. I rolled it like sushi. Place on a serving platter, seam side down. Dust (using a strainer) with confectioner’s sugar. Makes 8-10 servings.