Late last year, I took a PHENOMENAL pie-making class with award-winning pie maker and master teacher Kate McDermott from Art Of The Pie and I simply HAD to share the experience with you. I was in incredibly company. Elise Bauer from Simply Recipes graciously hosted; Elise's delightful father, Tom joined us; as well as Amber Stott from Awake At The Whisk and founder of CA Food Literacy; and Jenny Lauck from Three Kid Circus and BlogHer. We laughed our way through the day, as Kate shared all of her best pie-making tips and tricks. We made pear pies with delectable Warren pears from Frog Hollow Farms. Suffice to say, the pie was SENSATIONAL! Kate's gentle, fun approach made everything SO easy, and we all had an absolute BLAST. I had a... Keep Reading
Piggies! It is DAY 6 of Gluten Free Baking With KitchenAid celebrating our 7-QT Stand Mixer Giveaway. It is also Good Friday and the beginning of the Easter holidays, so Happy Easter everyone. Happy Passover too :) I thought it only fitting that I share a really showstopping little dessert that I am making for my Good Friday dinner party. My friend Kat (who is like my second sister) is going to be here from Australia, and we are going to have a FEAST! I don't know about you but if the photo of these gluten free dairy free berry cheesecake tartlets doesn't make you salivate, perhaps you need glasses! Talk about GORGEOUS food photography. It is ALL CLASS at The Pure Pantry, and Elizabeth Kaplan is just the gluten free maven to kick off... Keep Reading
Piggies! It is DAY 21 of "I LOVE Vitamix" month to celebrate our Vitamix 5200 giveaway. There is still 10 days left to get your hands on this amazing blender! To enter, simply create a piggy name, enter your email address, and share on Twitter and Facebook for bonus entries. Good Luck! My "easy peasy" blender pies have been incredibly popular, and they are still some of my most requested recipes. When my honey lemon blender pie was featured by Udi's Gluten Free Foods last year, 11,000 people came to check out that easy peasy pie in 1 day! Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with emails of piggy love after people had sampled it. Many of those people became "blender pie devotees" and hopped into the gluten free blender pecan pie and blender... Keep Reading
Well..my five weeks of bliss with my family has unfortunately come to an end. We had a wonderful time together eating, laughing and shopping our way around L.A, and I am so grateful to have had this special time with them. But in true piggy fashion, I wanted more time. It took all of my father's strength to pry my co-dependent hands from around my mother's neck. So there I was, after my best "desperate monkey routine" bawling like a baby frantically waving good-bye to my parents as they disappeared behind the security area. Talk about ripping my heart out of my chest... After drowning myself in cheesy 80's love songs (my go-to antidote of choice when I find myself in the depths of self-pitying misery) as I drove bleary-eyed all the way... Keep Reading
It seems only fitting that the last of my gluten free Christmas recipes be a homage to my late grandfather, Frank; who could proudly polish off a dozen fruit mince pies in one sitting. We always wondered in amazement, how anyone could stomach that many? We also needed to isolate him to read his newspaper the next day, when all of that fruit mince was making its departure, starting with a series of unending lethal farts that contained enough gas to levitate a hot-air-balloon. Sufficed to say, grandpa spent a great part of Boxing Day on the toilet. But, when teased about it, he smugly claimed that "it was the sweetest way to clean out for the new year"! For those of you who are not familiar with fruit mince pies, they are part of the... Keep Reading
Well, it is that time of year again -- the holiday season has officially begun. These next 5 weeks are my favourite of the whole year, when families get together for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve, to celebrate love. I am not American and did not grow up celebrating Thanksgiving. But after living almost half of my life in the United States, I have come to embrace this tradition with fondness and respect. But you know me, any chance to combine my three favourite things -- food, family and love! I would like to wish every one of my American readers "a very happy Thanksgiving"; and in celebration of this holiday week, offer up my "easy peasy gluten free crustless blender pumpkin pie". Gosh, that's a mouthful! But a delectable... Keep Reading
Mum used to make a “Lemon Impossible Pie” that was popular back in the 80’s. I seem to be revisiting, and modifying this culinary period of my life lately. Thank goodness I am not revisiting my fashion choices! But I am certainly modifying! I don’t care what anyone says, shoulder pads and lace was never a good idea! This lemon blender pie, on the other hand, was absolutely to die for. My motto today -- “when the universe gives you lemons, make this lemon blender pie”! The impossible will seem possible; your taste buds will be dancing for joy; and the sour taste you had in your mouth will be a distant memory. Well at least while you have your snout in the lemon trough. This gluten free lemon pie is from the same family of “easy and... Keep Reading
I just can’t eat enough nuts and berries. They would dominate my desert island food list of “can’t live withouts”. I would go berry nutty, but I would be berry happy. In fact I almost did go berry nutty -- all the way to the bathroom and back a few summers ago by over-indulging in this gluten free vegan mixed berry crumble. If I had to pick a dessert of choice, it would have to be anything berry – berry smoothies, berry pancakes, berry pies, berry strudels, berry cakes, berry muffins. Oh, the list of pleasures is endless. But the list of calories would also be too, if I allowed my mouth to open too berry wide. This gluten free crumble is the Switzerland in my war of heart and mind. It satisfies the need for a berry blast, but doesn’t blow... Keep Reading
It only seems fitting that the first gluten free vegetarian recipe I post in this recipe blog be the quintessential example of the healthy blender recipes premise. That, Yes! You can prepare healthy natural food that is satisfying and tastes incredible with basic skills and knowledge; and that it can be quick and easy. This gluten-free pecan pie is literally child’s play -- homage to the basics: simple, fun, healthy and happy. This crustless pecan pie really is the embodiment of blend and live. Just throw everything in your blender (I like to use a Vitamix) and puree until smooth. It takes less than 5 minutes. How easy is that? More importantly, this gluten-free pecan pie is absolutely delicious; and dare I say it, downright... Keep Reading
