Thursday, January 31, 2008

Gluten-Free Saints' days: St. Brigid

When we went gluten free last year the hardest thing to give up was oats.
They are the central grain in our diet. We have been so grateful to now have a wonderful source of gf oats through Bob's Red Mill.

They are more pricey that regular i.e. contaminated oats but so worth it to have oats back on our table.
And just in time for Saint Brigid's day!

Our original St. Brigid's bread recipe was more dense -a real "jaw strengthener" but this adaptation is a bit more like a scone but quite close.

Saint Brigid's Oat Cakes (Gluten Free)

Mix 2 cups GF rolled oats and 1 1/2 cups buttermilk and refrigerate overnight.


The next day heat oven to 325 degrees and remove oats from fridge.

In separate bowl blend 2 1/2 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix
with 1/4 tsp each of baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Mix into soaked oats and add 1/4 cup honey, sugar or xylitol if desired.

Mix by hand forming a ball -add more buttermilk or baking mix 1 Tbs at a time as needed.



Place dough ball on well greased parchment paper and with damp hands pat into a 1 inch thick cake.

I usually flip cake onto my hand and loosen the parchment paper to help prevent sticking.

Cut into farls using knife to pat the dough quarters away from each other.


Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes- until golden.

Cool slightly and serve with lots of whipped butter and preserves or berries.


Happy Saint Brigid's day!
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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Simple Christmas Spiral


Advent always renews and refreshes our family prayer time which often begins to get a little "rushed" during the fall.
It gets the kids excited about gathering around the table but when the last purple candle was lit and the joy of Christmas came I didn't want our prayer time to slip back into a rote "get it done so we can eat attitude".
This year we replaced the candles in our hanging wreath with gold ones and underneath set out 12 tea lights and 12 gold stars. Each morning we light another candle and sing the first verse of "We Three Kings".

Just a little for us reminder at the beginning of our day that Christmas is a season. And a busy one for our family- Christmas Eve/Day, 2 name days, a birthday, New Years Eve/Day, Holy Innocents, Holy Family, Mary Mother of God , 2 weeks of Celebration!

We give our family gifts to each other on Epiphany so the children are watching those candle and counting as the Wise Men Travel to Bethlehem.

It has been a lovely addition to our prayer time and we will continue it next year.

The candles will go after Epiphany but we will find a quiet corner to leave up our completed Nativity scene until Presentation.
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