Holiday Scheduling and Special Needs

Hap-happiest Time of the Year!

It had been a very long time coming, Christmastime. It was inevitable. The time of year where everything becomes haywire, like the summer, schedules fly out the windows and through your very best intentions nothing goes according to anything close to what you had planned.

This year MacLeod's kiddos would be coming for Christmas for the first time ever to stay with us. Last year when we both talked about it we smiled and thought how amazing it would be to have our family complete, one whole unite. Somewhere along the along the line... I think it was the memorable summer vacation trip we all took together and the various new versions of kiddo's Apsie meltdowns I was party to, the magical feelings wore off.

For me, the holidays are by far my favorite time of the year and it starts with our absolutely bizarre obsession with Halloween and rolls right into Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year it doesn't end ringing in the New Year because we are finally celebrating our actual wedding in February! We are super excited and it gives us the opportunity to extend the, err, magic of the holidays.

Well, except they have been a little less than magical.

 

I also don't want you to think that this was all an issue of MacLeod's kids, because it wasn't, it was EVERYTHING. See, MacLeod, my dear, my love, is not a planner. So he sort of fails to tell me what certain things are going on when it has to do with when things are going on and where people are going to be and when. My family on the other hand... well, my family plans things out very carefully especially since we had family visiting from overseas. I think my favorite (and I use that with ever so much sarcasm) line of the Christmas Eve car ride was "I was pretty sure I told you about it." Umm, no.

So...Kiddo, wow. Well, this blog is about us living with Asperger's... but wait can it still be that since Asperger's no longer exists? What? That is a discussion for another blog entry and I know I am behind the ball on that one, alas... another day. So, kiddo and the holidays. We have had to do hoards of prep work to get him ready for the holidays which is why I could have KILLED MacLeod when he sprung things on me or changed things around at the last minute. Kiddo has a very hard time dealing with MacLeod's kiddo in his living space because of past events. For starters they are simply said, polar opposites, we say that my kiddo is fire and MacLeod's is the fuel. Additionally during previous visits his toys, legos (he peseverates deeply on his legos) and other personal items have been broken or gone missing or damaged. This is a huge problem for him. So in therapy the few weeks leading up to the visit from MacLeod's kids, mind you his therapist was sitting awake at night worried as much as I was, we made plans to deadbolt his bedroom closet and put all his toys in there and anything that was broken or lost or damaged I promised would be replaced. It only made him feel slightly better and some may think that is a ridiculous way to approach it but the amount of anxiety that he had about the coming visit was so high, I just didn't know what else to do. MacLeod said one day in response to the locking of the closet "can't we put it on the top of a shelf where they can't reach?" Umm, hon' they aren't toddlers anymore, that will not work.

We had a few moments with all the kiddos together a particular book light that was broken and the meltdown that followed which I did remind him loudly twice that it would be replaced and it quelled the fury. The next day and a half was filled with "when will we get a new book light?" until the book light was indeed replaced, but it was the only casualty of the actual trip.

The one thing that supremely surprised me and something that I will attribute to work with his amazing therapist was Christmas Day. Leading up to Christmas Day, his interactions, just hours at a time with MacLeod's kids had been at best "ok", at worst of extreme meltdown property. On Christmas morning kiddo walked up to me as I was getting my breakfast casserole put together to get into the oven before MacLeod got back with his kiddos (who were staying up north about 30 minutes from out of state) and before MacLeod's parents arrived. He sat down on the stool by the counter and said "mom, (*big sigh*)remember in therapy we said if I did really good with [MacLeod's kiddo] that I could get Angry Bird's Star War's on the iPad?" I said "yes, I do, but it hasn't been so great, has it?" He said "yeah, I know. But maybe if I am good today, do you think maybe I could still get it?" He looked at me and smiled. Well, geez, who can resist that? Of course I said yes. "If you can work really well with him today and not fight or be really mean or nasty, then yes, I think I can do that, ok?" He nodded and walked off with that little smirk on his face like he just got one over on me.

He sat on the floor for the next 30 minutes starting his new Lego set and I heard him actually say "Maybe [MacLeod's kiddo] can help me with this set when he gets here!" What?! Is this the twilight zone? Nope, when MacLeod arrived, Kiddo actually started to engage with MacLeod's kiddos and was nice! It didn't last the entire day, but he was actually trying very hard. I mean its only so long that Fire and Ice can interact properly, but it went really well. I could not have been prouder of him.

As it turned out in the end, all of our preparations were for not, because complications on the other end of the spectrum (ha! very punny!) meaning MacLeod's ex, made it so that his kiddo's only ever step foot in our home once. We did have lovely beds for them set up and all and made TONS of preparations for them to stay with us, but for kiddo it was a sigh of relief.  

We still have New Years to go... as my friend said the other day it's been a December to remember, to which I replied... or forget  :)

Merry Christmas... and a Happy New Year!!!

A Triumpant Return? Yes!

Over the last several months things have been increasingly hectic and I have meddled with the thought of just shutting down this blog all together. We have had so much going on with the kids and at home that I didn't think that I could possibly give as much to the blog as I really should to keep it going the way it ought to.

A few weeks ago I was at church and my wonderful pastor was doing a sermon about time and managing your time and money. It doesn't sound so much like a sermon, but it was great. See, you only are going to put your time and your money in places that are ever so important to you and you are going to stretch it as far as it needs to go if it is that important to you.

Like the church and making tithes and offerings, you will make a commitment to give to the church because what you have is only what the Lord allows you to have, the time I have is what God gives me and I do feel like this blog is something that I can give back to others. So, with that, we will continue to blog as best as we can and we do love to do it! I hope that wasn't too preachy... if it was, well my friend, find another blog, lol!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Bundt Swirl

October often brings surprises in weather in our area. One week it could be 80 degrees, the next it plummets down to the 30's. This past weekend we got the word that hurricane Sandy was going to be hitting the coast. So the hunkering down began which for us simply meant that we just made sure that we had toilet paper. Other than that, we are usually well stocked. So a favorite pastime for us is to take a trip to the local store to watch the frantic shoppers scour for bottled water and generators. Its mad and a little funny. You'd think there was an impending apocalypse. Its a behavior that can be observed whenever the weatherman predicts a wind gust over 60 miles per hour or a accumulation of snow over 5 inches in our area. So far, only one or two such occasions have actually proved to cause anything remotely close to a panic-like scenario in the last ten years and we pulled through just fine with our stock pile of toilet paper.

 In my area we are also guilty of huge overreactions to the predicted weather. So with the hurricane coming everyone, government, school systems, EVERYTHING was closed prematurely. Better safe than sorry, and I don't wish harm on anyone nor do I tempt fate. I pray that things continue to remain calm (because as we sit it is smooth sailing) and pray that those who are closer to harms way stay safe. So while the kiddos and I are at home it gives us the opportunity to do something that I love to do in the fall- bake!

I have been thinking long and hard about what I want to do with the lovely little pie pumpkins that have been sitting patiently on my bookshelf for the last week. I bought them at the farmers market and sat them there waiting to see what inspiration would come to me. I made apple pies and thought, hmm, maybe pumpkin pie? I kind of wait until November for pumpkin pie, a strange but normal fall behavior for me. So I started poking around on Facebook and saw a picture of a Bundt pan! Yes, that is it!!! I will make a pumpkin Bundt cake! So while I was still on Facebook I posted a status to some friends about baking in prep for this now coined "Frankenstorm" and a friend suggested doing something with chocolate chips or a chocolate swirl. Oh my, yes... did that ever get my mind and my taste buds working. Then it occurred to me that I had a half bowl of unused non-dairy chocolate ganache in the fridge! (you can't let that go to waste!) Oh.. that was it, it was on!

This cake is super moist and delish, kiddo who hates anything pumpkin gobbled it up (I haven't told him it has pumpkin in it yet). Its great for dessert or with some coffee and also perfect for wrapping up for the bake sale or to thank people for giving MacLeod a ride to work last week. Ha! (Yes.. his co-workers love it too)

So, today we will move on to.... homemade Twinkies!  (kiddo has been harassing me for months!!!) So... maybe tomorrow folks... we will see how they come out!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Ganche Bundt Swirl

Cake

2 C Gluten-free Flour Blend

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 ground cinnamon

1 tsp fresh ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

3 Large Eggs

1 1/2 C Coconut Palm Sugar

1/2 Coconut Oil

2 C cooked pumpkin (preferably fresh)

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Swirl

1 C 60% Dark Ghirardelli Baking Chips

3/4 C soy milk (or other non dairy milk)

1. Place chocolate chips in a small glass or other heat proof bowl. In a small sauce pan heat the milk until it is hot but before it reaches a boil. Pour milk over the chocolate chips and stir to blend until the chips completely melt. The mixture will continue to thicken as the chocolate cools and sets. 

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

3. Spray a Bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. 

4. Sift dry ingredients (gluten-free flour blend, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves) and set aside. 

5. In the bowl of a stand mixer add the eggs, with the whisk attachment beat on medium-high until foamy. Using the paddle attachment add the sugar, oil, pumpkin and vanilla and mix on medium for about a minute to a minute and a half until well blended. 

6. Add the dry ingredients about a 1/2 cup at a time until it is completely incorporated. Scraped the sides of the bowl and mix on medium for another 30 seconds to be sure everything is well mixed. 

7. Using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup, scoop the batter into the Bundt pan leaving half the batter remaining. Tap the pan to settle it in the pan leveling it.

8. Grab the bowl of chocolate ganache and stir it, using a spoon, drizzle a heavy layer of chocolate over the pumpkin batter you just put down. Again, tap the Bundt pan to settle it. 

9. Add remaining batter to the pan evenly and again, tap to settle the pan. Lastly, add one last smaller drizzle of chocolate to the top of the pumpkin batter. 

10. To create the swirl through the pumpkin Bundt, take a knife and run it through only twice around the pan in the batter. It will swirl the chocolate and pumpkin but not muddle it. 

Free and Simple Apple Pie (Dairy-free and Gluten-free)

New Adventures in Baking... the Fall!

This season marks almost one full year since we have gone completely gluten-free in our household and while we will do a little celebrating and such in later postings and talking about our journey so far, we do want to write about seasonal baking. Baking is a huge part of my life, having been a professional baker in my previous life, so going gluten-free this year felt somewhat like starting over in the baking world. I have learned a great deal about new ingredients and how they work or in many cases, do not work together. Fall however brings forth a number of many new recipes that I have yet to attempt and am excited to try.

I have mentioned before, I know, that Fall is my hands down, bar none, favorite time of the year. I am a North Eastern chick, Virginia to be exact- born and raised. I love everything that Virginia has to offer (I am overstating there, I despise the 100% humidity of the summer, yuck... aside of that, everything) but the fall, is the best. On the best years the fall foliage is something that people from across the country travel to this area to see. The Shenandoah Mountains and ranges, all part of the Appalachian, transform into such an amazing palette of majestic colors. Just sitting outside on my deck, I can close my eyes and listen to the breeze blow through the drying leaves and smell the crisp air for hours in absolute peace... of course if there was time for that, ha! I do make some time to enjoy this time of year, because it truly is where I think I store my Zen for the rest of the year and it is also my absolutely favorite time for activities and baking!

Years ago when my kiddos were just wee little ankle-biters, one of my best friends invited me with her parents to go apple picking, something I had never done before. The kids and I had the times of our lives and the pictures were gorgeous. I also never knew how amazing an apple was freshly pick from an apple tree! The following years, we continued the tradition, through good times and bad no matter what, I took the kiddos apple picking. Each year we came home with a bushel of apples to make special treats that filled not only our stomachs but also our hearts and eased our minds. The smells of the wonderful fall spices that filled the house just set my mind at ease even at the most challenging times. It couldn't make me happier to see the kiddos faces when they came home from school to spy a fresh apple pie sitting on the kitchen counter for them for dessert.

This year we discovered that MacLeod had never been apple picking. We aren't sure what happened last year, but we were certain that this year he would definitely be climbing trees, grabbing fruit and buying freshly caramel dipped apples and possibly be getting stung by a bee or two. And so we embarked on our apple picking and had a wonderful time, this time as a whole family, finally.

I have read a TON regarding variations on crusts and there are SO many ways you can go. There are very few options on dairy free crusts though and dairy unfortunately has become an increasing problem in my unruly gut. So I have spent the last (post-less!) few weeks experimenting with some oils without having to try to rely on the pastry standby of lard or fat. I love coconut oil and really wanted to try to see how I could use it so tried it on the first attempt and it worked well. I tried a few other variations, but came back to the coconut oil, it just gave a super nice crisp and flaky crust. I ended up springing off of a Joy of Baking basic recipe for tart crust that used confectioners for the sweetness in the crust and it really balanced well with the coconut. It comes together very easy, if it crumbles you just squish it back together again and re-roll it or even just press it into your pan to the edges. No gluten so you cannot possibly over work it. It comes together fast and it truly is easy. My family LOVES it, I hope you do too.

Free and Simple Apple Pie (Gluten-free and Dairy-free)

Filling:
8 C Granny Smith Apples (or other variety tart apple) cut into wedges
1 C Coconut palm sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbs corn starch (potato starch works as well)
1 1/4 c flour
1/3 c conf sugar
1/2 c coconut oil
plus 1/2 C tapioca starch for dusting
Filling:
1. Over medium heat add apples and spices to a sauce pan. Cook apple wedges for about 5 minutes over medium heat until the apples are just tender enough to pierce then reduce to a simmer.
2. Remove about 1/4 cup of liquid from the pan and whisk in the corn starch. Add the corn starch mixture to the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the filling has thickened.
3. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

Crust:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Chill the coconut oil in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, just until its firm but not too solid.
3. In a mixing bowl, sift the flour and powdered sugar and whisk together.
4. Remove the coconut oil from the refrigerator and cut it into pieces. Add the pieces to the flour and sugar mixture. With a fork or pastry blender, cut the oil into the flour mixture and continue to blend until the mixture comes together. When there is no more flour left, you can start to press the mixture together with your hands.
5. With a piece of parchment paper on your rolling surface, generously sprinkle enough tapioca flour to begin to roll the dough. Coat the rolling pin with flour before you roll. Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness.
6. Gently flip over the parchment paper onto the pie plate and then peel back the parchment paper. If it cracks or tears at all, simply press it back together and smooth it back out again.
7. With a fork, poke at least 6 holes in the bottom of the pie plate and around the edges.
8. Bake the pie shell for 10 minutes, unfilled and remove from the oven.

Complete:

While the pie shell is still HOT, fill the shell and return it back to the oven and continue to bake the pie for an additional 40 minutes. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 30 minutes before cutting to let the filling set.

Enjoy!