This weekend marks Canadian Thanksgiving (October 10), and, therefore, a very special Wellness Weekend! I’m looking forward to all your submissions, of course, but am really curious to see what my fellow Canadians are cooking up for the holiday (and if you need some suggestions, see today’s earlier post).
As usual, last week brought a huge array of fabulous recipes and my “to-try” list is near bursting! Some of the highlights from last week’s event were:
Raw Lavender Blueberry Bars from Hunter’s Lyonesse. I may not be a lavender fan, but these bars looked stupendous–and they’re raw, a bonus!
AND. . .Since the top two were so close this week, I decided to mention the runner up as well:
Carrot Cake Pancakes from The Healing Kitchen! Pancakes with cream cheese frosting/topping? My kinda breakfast!
Thank you to every one of you who played along by submitting your recipes! I love seeing what you all make each week.
Please join us this weekend! There are so many options for healthy foods. . . whether or not you’re vegan, remember that many salads, veggie side dishes, pasta dishes, desserts, smoothies, and more are naturally vegan and can all be included!
Here’s How to Participate (PLEASE READ THESE GUIDELINES CAREFULLY BEFORE LINKING UP!):
The event occurs once a week, starting Thursdays at 8:00 PM my time and running until Monday at midnight.
Simply link up a recipe you made (and posted about) within the past week that contains health-supporting ingredients (see list below). Use the Linky Tool at the bottom of the page. Please do not link more than once to the same web page!
Please link the post with your recipe, NOT your blog’s home page.
You may submit more than one recipe, but please follow the guidelines for each one individually.
Please be sure to mention this event and include a link back to this post so that others can find all the recipes posted!
Feel free to use the blog badge, above (or see the left sidebar of this page–if you need the html code, let me know and I’ll send it to you). Many thanks to Adrienne of Whole New Mom for setting up the badge code for me!
As always, I hate to remove links, but will do so if they don’t comply with the guidelines.
What your recipe CAN contain:
Any good-for-you, whole foods, especially those with antioxidant properties or “functional foods” (ie, offering naturally medicinal or health-promoting qualities–such as garlic, coconut oil, all vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc.)–but any fresh, real food is welcome!
Natural sweeteners (coconut sugar, agave, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, stevia, Sucanat, rapadura, coconut nectar, yacon syrup, etc.)
Vegan ingredients (even if you’re not vegan, OF COURSE you can still play along! You’ll be surprised at how many foods are naturally vegan; and if not, there are many subs you can use for eggs, milk or butter–include vegan options and we’re good to go!).
Note that this is NOT AN ACD-ONLY EVENT. Any real food ingredients that are sugar-free and vegan are more than welcome–so use that maple syrup, those mushrooms, that nutritional yeast, miso, etc! I’m just looking for healthy, whole foods recipes.
What your recipe cannot contain:
White flour, white sugar, or any highly refined, highly processed ingredients
Anything almost entirely artificial (ie, most boxed mixes, fast food, faux “cheese,” faux “meat,” or margarine, unnaturally colored cereals or other foods, etc.)
Animal products (meat, chicken, fish or seafood, or their by-products, gelatin, eggs, dairy, butter or honey)
“Hey! Why was my entry removed?”
The most common reason entries are removed is because they don’t adhere to the guidelines:either they contain ingredients that aren’t listed here, they are a re-post of a blog entry that is more than one week old, or they contain neither a recipe nor anything directly related to food preparation. If you render a recipe vegan-friendly by adding a vegan option to your ingredients, your post will be good to go! For older posts, you’re welcome to re-post them during the week of the event, or choose a newer recipe.
Another reason posts are removed is because the link leads to an advertisement or a business blog. Please do NOT link up posts that are merely referrals to a different post or the home page for another blog event.
I hate to have to remove links! PLEASE read the guidelines before posting!
Have you been keeping up with Vegan MoFo? Now that I've backed out of the festivities because I knew I couldn't keep up--well, here I am, posting virtually every day in October thus far! With our Ontario elections today (go out and vote, people!) and our Thanksgiving coming up (stay home and eat, people!), I'm pretty sure this bombarding-you-with-a-blog-post-a-day foolishness will come to an end asap (though don't forget to come back tonight for this week's Wellness Weekend, of course!)
In any case, I couldn't let the weekend arrive without offering my picks for Thanksgiving-appropriate recipes for the big weekend. My own feast menu is almost crystallized, but sadly, I won't get the recipes posted until after the holiday--but hey, you can always use those for the next celebration (and believe me, you will want to save that dessert recipe for just that purpose. Swoon.).
For those of you who haven't yet finalized all your dishes, welcome to my world here are some suggestions for what might work at your Thanksgiving table. And don't forget there are more anti-candida friendly recipes in my Anti-Candida Feast ebook (specifically holiday-themed), Desserts without Compromise and Good Morning! Breakfasts.
And to all my Canadian brethren, hope you have a fantastic long weekend. And if you've got a favorite Thanksgiving recipe to share, please leave a link in the comments section!
Happy Thanksgiving, all!
[NOTE: Not all recipes below are anti-candida friendly and/or gluten free. Where I've added "A," it indicates ACD-friendly; "GF" indicates gluten free. Other recipes contain spelt or barley flour, or other natural sweeteners (maple syrup, Sucanat, etc.). You can replace Sucanat with coconut sugar to render many of these ACD-friendly. ]
In other news. . . my Meaty Vegan Lasagna recipe is one of eleven featured today on The Huffington Post Canada–yahoo! Hope you’ll check it out (and click on the “Rate It!” button to the right of the recipe to vote for me!)
“Happy Thanksgiving! To us that just means more time to play with our humans! (And more treat, of course!).”
Before I get to today’s recipe, let me wish a Happy Rosh Hashanah to everyone who’s celebrating the Jewish New Year today! I hope you all have a very sweet and healthy New Year.
Another anniversary date last week, while less lofty, involved an iconic children’s book and its famous author. Did you all know that this past week marked the 20th anniversary of the death of Dr. Seuss?
Have you seen those magazine and website series called “Separated at Birth”? They usually feature two celebs (sometimes, a celeb and an animal or even a celeb and inanimate object) that–in that one particular photo, at least–eerily resemble each other.
The phrase, of course, refers to the phenomenon popularized by certain nature-vs-nurture studies revealing that sometimes, identical twins who were, indeed, separated at birth still remain very much the same and may develop similar features, behaviors, or personality traits over the years, perhaps marrying spouses with the same names or giving their dogs the same name, even though they’ve lived most of their lives unaware of the other’s existence.
Having grown up with identical twins in my family (my Uncle S was an identical twin) and with my two best friends being twins (I’ve known Gemini I and Gemini II since we were all 4 years old), I’ve always been fascinated by twins and how similar they are–or not. Everyone knows (or has heard of) at least one set of twins who, at some point, fooled a teacher/ babysitter/ cousin/ neighbor by switching roles and pretending to be the other. (And remember that creepy novel--which Canadian director David Cronenberg made into an equally creepy movie–about those two twin doctors? Or how about Bette Davis’s Oscar vehicle, Dead Ringer , in which envy prompts her character to appropriate her (richer, happier) sister’s life (and to eradicate her fingerprints, in a scene that still haunts me on occasion)? On a less deadly note, there’s always Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap or Danny DeVito and Ex-Mr.-Governator-cum-Philandering-Maid-Paramour in Twins.).
I’m glad to report that the Geminis were not like those other identical counterparts. Thankfully, their parents treated them like two distinct individuals with their own (different) sets of clothing, hairstyles, interests and friends (well, except for me, I guess). And that’s how they grew up: even though their teachers had trouble differentiating them as kids, there’s no mistaking their unique personalities and looks today. (In fact, when the HH first met Gemini I and Gemini II, he noted that “they kinda looked like sisters” but that he would never have guessed they were twins (even though they share identical DNA!). That’s a true testament to the power of nurture, I’d say.
In the realm of apricot-swirl cheesecakes, think of these lovely, luxuriously creamy bars as the long-lost twin of that earlier raw version I posted a couple of weeks ago. It started with our organic produce delivery, which I love receiving every week (and which has introduced me to a plethora of new fruits and veggies over the years, at times in a David Letterman-at-the-Oscars sort of way: “Ricki, meet Rapini. Rapini–Ricki”). But there are also times when we receive far more than can be consumed by two childless adults in a single week. (“What do you mean, “childless,” Mum? Did you forget about us??”). These bars hail from the same (very large) bag of apricots that arrived on our doorstep that week.
In this case, though, this latter half of the summer stone fruits were nurtured a little differently from those in the Raw Mini Pies. With these, I baked up a bar much more similar to the original one I spied on the Everyday Food site. These Apricot Swirl Cheesecake Bars offer a more classic vegan cheesecake base, one made with silken tofu. With a shortcake crust and a tangy, cooked swirl of apricot preserves, these are bars you can serve with pride to your bridge club, your PTA meeting, your family on Sunday evening, or your kids after school–and they’ll be equally welcomed by all.
While I really enjoyed the bars, the HH was truly besotted (he liked them better than the raw version; I was the opposite. The HH and I had differing opinions? Quel surprise!). The similarities between the two desserts are obvious, and the differences subtle. Which makes sense, of course, since they were, after all, born from the same crop.
Rather than choose one cheesecake twin over the other, why not just make them both?
Apricot Swirl Cheesecake Bars
Suitable for ACD Stage 3 and Beyond
These are a lovely, fruity treat that tastes rich without being cloying. You could easily try other fruit swirl flavors in place of the apricot, such as peach, plum, or even berries.
For the Apricot Compote:
4 medium apricots, washed, pitted and chopped into chunks
2 Tbsp (30 ml) water
pinch fine sea salt
1 Tbsp (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
25-40 drops plain or vanilla stevia liquid, to your taste (I use NuNaturals)
For the Cookie Crust Layer:
1/4 cup (60 ml) coconut sugar
2 Tbsp (30 ml) unsweetened plain or vanilla soy or almond milk
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) pure vanilla extract
25-40 drops plain or vanilla liquid stevia, to your taste
1 pkg (12 ounces or 375 g) aseptically packaged firm or extra-firm silken tofu (I use Mori-Nu)
1/2 cup (120 ml) smooth natural cashew butter
grated zest of one lemon
1/3 cup (80 ml) light agave nectar
25-40 drops plain or vanilla liquid stevia, to your taste
1 Tbsp (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) pure lemon extract
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
pinch fine sea salt
Make the Apricot Compote: Place the apricots, water and salt in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Continue to cook and stir until the apricots begin to soften and darken, about 10 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor and add the lemon juice and stevia. Process until smooth and no lumps remain. (Alternately, blend with a hand blender until smooth). Set aside while you prepare the crust and filling.
Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line a 9-inch (22.5 cm) pan with parchment, or spray with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut sugar, soymilk, vanilla and stevia until the coconut sugar dissolves. Add the oil and mix well. Sift the remaining ingredients into the bowl and then stir with a wooden spoon until you have a soft and slightly sticky dough.
Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake in preheated oven 12-15 minutes, until dry on top and beginning to puff at the edges. Remove from oven.
Meanwhile, make the filling: Blend the tofu and cashew butter in a (cleaned) food processor until you have a smooth paste. Add remaining filling ingredients and continue to process until completely smooth and no traces of tofu are visible.
Pour the cheesecake filling evenly over the crust in the pan. Dollop with apricot preserves, leaving some cheesecake visible here and there. Using a sharp knife, draw lines through the preserves to create a swirled or marbled effect.
Return the pan to the oven and continue to bake for 25-35 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through, until the edges are browned and the filling appears firm when you jiggle the pan. Cool completely, then refrigerate at least 4 hours before cutting into bars and serving. Makes 12 bars. May be frozen (defrost, covered, overnight in the refrigerator).
“Mum, were Elsie and I separated at birth, too? Because we both share lots of the same traits, like being insanely cute, smart, loving the same treats. . . yep, we’re sisters, all right!”
We’re down to the last weekend in August, which here in Toronto means lots of kids getting geared up for school, as many BBQs as you can possibly squeeze in at the last minute, and maybe one more use of that sleeveless white tank top. For our friends in the antipodes, it means looking forward to spring (you lucky ducks!). Despite all this activity, you all served up some amazing recipes for last week’s Wellness Weekend event.
Last week featured 33 incredible entries! Thanks to everyone who participated. It was tough to pick, but here are my favorites from last’s week’s roundup:
Watermelon Cucumber Juice from Recipes to Nourish (this sounds so refreshing–and what a stunning color!)
Chilled Carrot Soup from Wheat Free, Meat Free (a great soup for these end-of-summer nights)
Coconut Lime Scones from Allergy Free Vintage Cookery (these look perfect for a Sunday brunch–or any day, really!)
And the reader favorite (which received the most clicks):
Mini Key Lime Pies from The Healing Kitchen (my hubby is already asking me to make these!)
Thank you to every one of you who’s played along by submitting your recipes! I love seeing what you all make each week.
Please join us this weekend! There are so many options for healthy foods. . . whether or not you’re vegan, remember that many salads, veggie side dishes, pasta dishes, desserts, smoothies, and more are naturally vegan and can all be included!
Here’s How to Participate (PLEASE READ THESE GUIDELINES CAREFULLY BEFORE LINKING UP!):
The event occurs once a week, starting Thursdays at 8:00 PM my time and running until Monday at midnight throughout the summer.
Simply link up a recipe you made (and posted about) within the past week that contains health-supporting ingredients (see list below). Use the Linky Tool at the bottom of the page.
Please link the post with your recipe, NOT your blog’s home page.
You may submit more than one recipe, but please follow the guidelines for each one individually.
Please be sure to mention this event and include a link back to this post so that others can find all the recipes posted!
Feel free to use the blog badge, above (or see the left sidebar of this page–if you need the html code, let me know and I’ll send it to you). Many thanks to Adrienne of Whole New Mom for setting up the badge code for me!
As always, I hate to remove links, but will do so if they don’t comply with the guidelines.
What your recipe CAN contain:
Any good-for-you, whole foods, especially those with antioxidant properties or “functional foods” (ie, offering naturally medicinal or health-promoting qualities–such as garlic, coconut oil, all vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc.)–but any fresh, real food is welcome!
Natural sweeteners (coconut sugar, agave, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, stevia, Sucanat, rapadura, coconut nectar, yacon syrup, etc.)
Vegan ingredients (even if you’re not vegan, OF COURSE you can still play along! You’ll be surprised at how many foods are naturally vegan; and if not, there are many subs you can use for eggs, milk or butter–include vegan options and we’re good to go!).
Note that this is NOT AN ACD-ONLY EVENT. Any real food ingredients that are sugar-free and vegan are more than welcome–so use that maple syrup, those mushrooms, that nutritional yeast, miso, etc! I’m just looking for healthy, whole foods recipes.
What your recipe cannot contain:
White flour, white sugar, or any highly refined, highly processed ingredients
Anything almost entirely artificial (ie, most boxed mixes, fast food, unnaturally colored cereals or other foods, etc.)
Animal products (meat, chicken, fish or seafood, or their by-products, gelatin, eggs, dairy, butter or honey)
“Hey! Why was my entry removed?”
The major reason entries are removed is because they don’t adhere to the guidelines: either they contain ingredients that aren’t listed here, or they are a re-post of a blog entry that is more than one week old. If you render the recipe vegan-friendly by adding a vegan option to your ingredients, your post will be good to go! For older posts, you’re welcome to re-post them during the week of the event, or choose a newer recipe.
Another reason is because the link leads to an advertisement or a business blog. Please read the guidelines before posting!
Hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was filled with about 200 exams to mark. . . luckily, there were also some wonderful eats (see below), including more salad dressing made with my Nutra-Vege entirely animal-free Omega 3 oil. I’m so glad that you all seem as excited about it as I am (even those of you in the US who couldn’t enter the contest–so sorry! But the next one will be worldwide.).
I’ve chosen three winners at random, who will each receive a bottle of the oil. If your name is on this list, please contact me at dietdessertdogsATgmailDOTcom with your full name and mailing address so I can get your oil out to you asap! (If I don’t hear from you within a week, I’ll choose another winner).
And the winners are. . . .
TERRI! Terri said, “Trying to get in lots of omega 3s before we start trying to get preggo!” (Best of luck with it!)
LAUREL ALANNA McBRINE! Laurel wrote, “Went to Ascenta – learned that the conversion ratio is way better than flax and less calories/cost since one bottle of NutraVege equals FOUR bottles of flax oil!” I was really impressed with that fact, too!
JACQUI! Here’s Jacqui’s comment: “I would love to try the Nutra-vege! I am just starting to transition to a vegan diet (slowly) and am needing a vegan option for Omega 3 after my current is gone!” I think you’ll love this option, Jacqui, and it’s 100% vegan.
Congrats to all three of you!
“That’s great for the winners, Mum! And you know that we also like NutraVege, –dogs can eat vegan food, too!”
“Gulp! But we’ll still get our peanut butter treats, right, Elsie?”
(No worries, Chaser. You will still get your favorite PB treats. )
And for everyone else, here’s a little consolation prize I’ll serve up in my next post:
Quite possibly the lightest, fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever made!
I hope everyone is taking full advantage of summer weather here in the northern hemisphere–it’s been amazing here in Toronto! And it sure seems as if you are all making good use of the summer produce before it’s all gone. There were loads of fabulous fresh recipes in last week’s roundup. And I was pleased to see a great mix of raw and cooked.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed or stopped by! :D
Please join us this weekend! There are so many options for healthy foods. . . whether or not you’re vegan, remember that many salads, veggie side dishes, pasta dishes, desserts, smoothies, and more are naturally vegan and can all be included!
Here’s How to Participate (PLEASE READ THESE GUIDELINES CAREFULLY BEFORE LINKING UP!):
The event occurs once a week, starting Thursdays at 8:00 PM my time and running until Monday at midnight throughout the summer.
Simply link up a recipe you made (and posted about) within the past week that contains health-supporting ingredients (see list below). Use the Linky Tool at the bottom of the page.
Please link the post with your recipe, NOT your blog’s home page.
You may submit more than one recipe, but please follow the guidelines for each one individually.
Please be sure to mention this event and include a link back to this post so that others can find all the recipes posted!
Feel free to use the blog badge, above (or see the left sidebar of this page–if you need the html code, let me know and I’ll send it to you). Many thanks to Adrienne of Whole New Mom for setting up the badge code for me!
As always, I hate to remove links, but will do so if they don’t comply with the guidelines.
What your recipe CAN contain:
Any good-for-you, whole foods, especially those with antioxidant properties or “functional foods” (ie, offering naturally medicinal or health-promoting qualities–such as garlic, coconut oil, all vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc.)–but any fresh, real food is welcome!
Natural sweeteners (coconut sugar, agave, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, stevia, Sucanat, rapadura, coconut nectar, yacon syrup, etc.)
Vegan ingredients (even if you’re not vegan, OF COURSE you can still play along! You’ll be surprised at how many foods are naturally vegan; and if not, there are many subs you can use for eggs, milk or butter–include vegan options and we’re good to go!).
Note that this is NOT AN ACD-ONLY EVENT. Any real food ingredients that are sugar-free and vegan are more than welcome–so use that maple syrup, those mushrooms, that nutritional yeast, miso, etc! I’m just looking for healthy, whole foods recipes.
What your recipe cannot contain:
White flour, white sugar, or any highly refined, highly processed ingredients
Anything almost entirely artificial (ie, most boxed mixes, fast food, unnaturally colored cereals or other foods, etc.)
Animal products (meat, chicken, fish or seafood, or their by-products, gelatin, eggs, dairy, butter or honey)
“Hey! Why was my entry removed?”
The major reason entries are removed is because they don’t adhere to the guidelines: either they contain ingredients that aren’t listed here, or they are a re-post of a blog entry that is more than one week old. If you render the recipe vegan-friendly by adding a vegan option to your ingredients, your post will be good to go! For older posts, you’re welcome to re-post them during the week of the event, or choose a newer recipe. Another reason is because the link leads to an advertisement or a business blog. Please read the guidelines before posting!
[Our Canada Day Dinner. . . get a load of that patriotic Maple Leaf!]
Hope everyone who celebrated this past weekend had a great one! Now, I know that Canada Day/Independence Day weekend means one thing–and one thing only–to many of you: camping. Me, not so much. I was reminded of my singular camping experience (back in my 20s, when I was dating my first true love) by a twitter exchange with Shirley of Gluten Free Easily. Here’s what went down:
Shirley tweeted this: And I replied with this:
To which she replied, with this:
At that point, I felt I needed to clarify. It wasn’t a lack of hotel amenitites, or the lack of alcoholic imbibements on a camping trip to which I objected–no, no–it was the actual act of camping itself.
Never mind that, at my age, sleeping on the ground results in an immediate reversal to pre-Australopithecus ancestry and I can no longer walk upright the following day; never mind that my multiple candida symptoms require a medical bag of tricks more suited to Mary Poppins than a middle aged, middle class gal on vacation; never mind that my dietary restrictions would convert my meal in the great outdoors to an episode of Survivorman, with me chomping on what looks like a handful of scorched blades of grass while everyone else around the campfire chows down on S’mores, vodka-infused watermelon and burgers in (wheat) buns. Never mind all of that; that’s not why I don’t enjoy camping.
No, the main reason I don’t enjoy camping is. . . . . . the wildlife.
And by “wildlife,” I mean any animal, insect, body of water or vegetation.
Suffice it to say that the one camping experience back in my 20s was enough to turn me off camping for the rest of this lifetime (and maybe into two or three of the next). All I can tell you is that a bear, a thunderstorm, and a leaky pup tent were involved.
This past weekend, however, the HH and I did spend some time outdoors (albeit not camping), soaking up the sun on the patio or romping with The Girls, naturally increasing our stores of Vitamin D. All that, plus some truly great eats.
This morning, for instance, my cousin and her family dropped in for brunch. We recently got back in touch after many years–in the interim, she had three children! Rather than play musical chairs (here in the DDD household, we’re not quite used to seating 7 people at once), I decided on a buffet instead. Here’s the spread that awaited them:
[Clockwise from upper left: industrial-sized mixed fruit salad, plate of strawberry scones and Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake; more Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake; Raw Kale and Avocado Salad; sweet potato and black bean salad; strawberry "cream cheese" spread.]
Since their family are all what I’d call “conventional” eaters (not quite the Standard American Diet, but they do consume meat, eggs, gluten, sugar, etc.), I aimed for some yummy baked goods and even offered up a basket of (glutenous) bread and English muffins (which, I was told, are the kids’ favorites). The HH also cooked up omelets for those who so chose. Which meant. . . everyone except my cousin and me.
Still, the two older kids tried some sweet potato-black bean salad (based on this one–simply sub black beans for chickpeas and sweet potato for squash) and everyone tried the scones and coffee cake. My cousin’s oldest daughter really enjoyed the strawberry “cream cheese” spread, too. I was a bit sad that the children didn’t try the kale and avocado salad, though, which remains a huge favorite for the HH and me.
Apart from their eating habits, I was truly amazed at how polite and well-behaved the children were (ages 4, 9, and 13), considering that ours is not exactly what I’d call a Fisher-Price playground (no toys, no crayons, no candy, no swimming pool–basically, just two food-obsessed dogs who will perform tricks ad nauseum if it means they get a treat). And really, I didn’t expect to change their established eating habits in one brunch!
So, it looks like the HH and I will be consuming a fair bit of leftovers over the next few days, and that’s just fine by me. I’d say it’s a good thing I didn’t try to serve up what we ate for yesterday’s dinner (see photo at the top of this post)–about which I’ll tell you next time.
In other news: I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve been working with Holistic Health Counselor Andrea Nakayama developing Sweet Victory, a two-week sugar detox course which we’ll be offering online toward the end of July! Andrea has established herself as the foremost nutritional counselor in the Portland area, and I have great respect for her knowledge and approach as a holistic professional (I also think she’s pretty cool, in general!). Now, I’m also proud to call her a colleague as well. Stay tuned for more details!
“Mum, I resemble that remark. I mean, what’s wrong with tricks for treats? Humans do it all the time at Halloween.”
[Chaser enjoying her own form of celebration on Canada Day.]
It’s another long July weekend for us here in Canada and all our American cousins in the US–yay!
Happy “I Love My Country” Day to both of us!
For those of you looking for summer/ buffet/ BBQ/ patriotic/ festive recipes for your long weekend, here are some of my favorites that would be appropriate for either July 1st OR July 4th. (And hope you caught a glimpse of my Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake for Our Panera’s Gluten Free Dream Day yesterday, too!).
Have a great long weekend, everyone–and celebrate!
[Note: Recipes marked with an asterisk * are gluten-free; others use spelt or or barley flour]
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for a copy of Amy’s book, Simply Sugar and Gluten Free! I was thrilled that so many of you are interested in cooking without gluten or sugar. . . and having this book full of delicious and easy recipes!
Thanks to random.org, we have a winner!
Congratulations to Caroline, Number 103! Here’s Caroline’s comment:
Wow, these all sound amazing and incredibly healthy! I’m sure her cookbook has even more great recipes to look at and try!
Well, Caroline, now you’ll be able to try them! Please email me at dietdessertdogsATgmailDOTcom with your full name and mailing address so I can be sure your book gets out to you asap.
And be sure to come back tomorrow when I post my savory submission to this month’s SOS Kitchen Challenge featuring blueberries!
“Yeah, congrats to Caroline, Mum! And I do hope you know that dogs like blueberries, too, right?”
“Mum, we don’t care if they’re green or blue. 
And I replied with this:
