New Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars Recipe

Freshly frosted gluten-free pumpkin bars with a secret ingredient.

Tuning in to the particular (and fleeting) pleasures of each changing season as we ride the wheel of the year may be my favorite spiritual practice. A practice that requires one simple thing. Attention. Which turns out to be not so simple, inevitably. Because life is anything but simple, with its whitewater rush of mind numbing distractions that demand less and less of our soul and more and more of our mental focus on exterior minutia. Micro decisions. Cleaning out our email in-box. Catching up with Facebook feeds and Twitter streams and Google+. Texting about grocery lists. Scanning streaming video options for one decent romantic comedy (I have- on too many occasions to count- spent a full hour gaping, borderline comatose, at an LCD screen, scrolling title after title, only to arrive at the sane conclusion that you know what? I'd rather read a book). Thousands (millions?) of choices may glitter and ooze their high definition glow but I find I am not feeling the abundance. I am less and less enamored with more.

I know. It's showing. My age.

My childhood brain was wired for mud and bird calls, blackberry thickets and butterscotch pine. Hours spent reading in a grove of birch trees dug their neural groove. The wild luxuries of inner connection, rather than social networking. And TIME. That plastic, misunderstood, precious commodity that shape-shifts experience from an endless afternoon of liquid daylight into a heart clutching warp speed tumble of confusion. Decades become tiny sandwiches of memory you can barely taste anymore.

Weeks blink by with alarming velocity.

And here we are again.

In pumpkin season.


Continue reading

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Bread

Tender, delicious tea bread that tastes like pumpkin pie.

I'm feeling a tad, shall we say, under the weather, lately. Nothing serious. Just an autumnal cold that has knocked the stuffing out of me. I feel like a rag doll. An achy, cranky, ratty old rag doll with matted squirrelly hair and baggy sweatpants. It ain't pretty is all I'm sayin'. So forgive my delay in sharing the promised new pumpkin bars recipe. Soon, Babycakes. Soon.

In the meantime, here's an easy gluten-free pumpkin bread recipe from the archives- a moist, gluten-free pumpkin bread you can bake in a bread machine.

Or in your oven, if you prefer.

***

From 2009: This is a big week. Huge. Never mind The Canyon premiere. Forget the post screening parties at Cafe Was, and the Palihouse (where the valet parked the only Honda Fit of the night- I'm guessing). Forget hanging out in Hollywood with Yvonne Strahovski. We're talking major excitement. Glamour with a u. Dreams come true. That's right.

We're unpacking our relocation cube.

But wait. There is more to the story, truth be told. There is a subplot with a third act twist. There is, um. Titillation. Desire. Longing. By your intrepid Goddess. No, Babycakes. Not longing for fame. Or glitz. Or girly-girl anything. I'm not that kind of Goddess (Botox and bling isn't on my radar). Nope.

So what is this obscure object of desire?

Continue reading

Pumpkin Quinoa Cookies

Pumpkin cookies with quinoa flakes. Like oatmeal- but better.

Dear Reader (yes, Babycakes, I'm talking to you)- you know how I feel about you, right? I'm crazy about you. I read your kind and thoughtful comments. I smile at your Twitters (or is the correct nomenclature tweets?). I'm thrilled you follow the blog on Facebook. I am humbled by your generous,  warm and giving e-mails (I save them). 

Your feedback and support keeps me going and inspires me.

Continue reading

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

A new gluten-free dairy-free pumpkin cupcake recipe for Fall.

Before I get to my new cupcake recipe, I need to wander off a bit. Just briefly. Because it's who I am. A person who wanders. Ponders. Finds solace in books. I've been like this since girlhood. Curious. Serious. No good at catching balls. Or dressing dolls. I am beyond inept with hair. And eyeliner.

I get anxious and non-verbal if I have to wear anything that isn't a pair of jeans.

It might be because I'm a child of The Sixties, that starstruck Age of Aquarius, when kindred souls united for peace, beauty, and rock and roll. As Hunter S. Thompson wrote, "You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right," and there was that "...sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave."

I've been remembering the beautiful wave lately. The idealism. The hope. The belief that there is more to life than collapsing in front of the television and microwaving hot dogs.

The belief that beauty- as Steve Jobs believed- is important, has value. That we are deeply interconnected. That life on Earth is precious- from the house sparrow to the living sea. That we are part of a vast and mysterious collective- not merely of our absurd egos (who natter inside our heads and squander our attention on drama, conflict, acquisition and the need to control)- but of a newly unfolding awareness of astonishing inner space and outer space. Infinity in every direction. The Universe is far more capacious than we ever dreamed. Perhaps even multi-dimensional. A Multiverse.

Which begs the question.

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie with Praline and Coconut-Pecan Crust

A slice of vegan pumpkin pie heaven. Chill overnight for best texture.

Happy October! Good Goddess, I've been busy. Making a delicious mess in my tiny kitchen. Developing new gluten-free dairy-free dessert recipes for the Winter Food Issue of Allergic Living magazine. So I thought I'd dust the cocoa powder off my hands and take a quick break to share two inspirational things today. The first relates to Fall- my updated Favorite Gluten-Free Autumn Recipes index. Peruse at your leisure, ideally with a big mug of spiced hot cider close by.

The second offering had to be something pumpkin. I mean, it's October. And around here October baking means a certain voluptuous curcurbit is queen. So I did what any gluten-free goddess would do. I dug into the GFG recipe archives. And found a luxurious, creamy vegan pumpkin pie with sweet praline topping and a coconut-pecan crust. Just to keep you occupied until I return with a new gluten-free vegan muffin recipe you're going to love.

Let the pumpkin recipe frenzy begin!

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin pancakes with apricot jam and pepitas.

I haven't made gluten-free pancakes in a long time. I am- typically- not a big breakfast person. A solo slice of warm gluten-free toast glistening with melting peanut butter and a hot coconut milk chai usually does it for me. So what possessed me to change my routine? Why did I suddenly have a deep growling desire for pancakes?

In a word: pumpkin. My favorite cucurbit.


Continue reading

Pumpkin Polenta Recipe with Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa

My inspiration this week- pumpkin polenta with salsa fresca.

It's been a gloomy, rainy week here in West Hollywood. Weather-wise, that is. The kind of fallish, comfort food craving weather that has WeHo citizens ditching their flipflops and plucking pumpkin colored sweaters off hangers, while tucking umbrellas into faux leather satchels. If you can find the dang umbrella, that is. It's got to be around here somewhere, right? You used it last year.

Maybe.


Continue reading

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies- Gluten-Free Recipe

Gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with a secret ingredient.

Autumn usually stirs my culinary imagination to conjure seasonal soup recipes and Crock Pot comfort food. The key word here is usually. Historically. As in, what I've done before, come September. This time around, however, my restless spirit has been wandering far and wide and away from dreams of butternut chili and baked rice casseroles toward the tempting, sweeter things in life.

As in cookies.

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins

These pumpkin muffins feature coconut flour and almond flour.

We found our favorite canned organic pumpkin back on the store shelves this week. So be prepared for pumpkin recipes. I, for one, Darling, can't get enough. Pumpkin is my favorite fall ingredient. Maybe because it cozies up to gluten-free flours so well. It adds moisture and depth to g-free baked goods. It flirts with cinnamon and ginger like the sexiest, inscrutable movie star. You know what I'm talking about. It's not overt. Or blatant. It's not over the top. It is subtle. Secure. Pumpkin doesn't demand to be admired.

Because it doesn't have to prove itself.

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones with Maple Nutmeg Icing

Gluten-free pumpkin scones with maple nutmeg icing.

Take a deep breath. Stop. Sit. I understand. I get it. And I know what you're craving. Because I'm craving it, too. After all the pre-Thanksgiving hubbub, after scouring the Internet for gluten-free recipes, after all the planning, the lists, the shopping at six different markets because one store never has everything you need (that would be too simple), the label reading, the patience (dug from somewhere deep and zen and maybe even vaguely transpersonal) to explain (again) why scraping the pumpkin filling off a wheat pie crust does not a gluten-free dessert make, what you crave (besides alone time with a freshly cracked book and your favorite mug filled to the brim with your beverage of choice) is something indulgent.

But not overly indulgent.

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Waffles and The Canyon

Gluten-free pumpkin waffles with maple syrup.

I haven't been baking much in our dorm-sized sublet. The Barbie scaled toy that pretends it's an oven (my lasagna pan- never mind my cookie sheets- won't fit) is totally, weirdly cattywampus. Pie plates slide to the rear and flip backwards like pancakes. And trying to fetch potatoes that have rolled off the back of the rack is often a futile act proving hazardous to your fingertips. I'm a slow learner. I burned myself twice. But I'm still smiling. For two reasons.

1. We found an apartment we love. I can walk to the beach. And the Santa Monica Farmers Market. And the Third Street theaters and shops and bookstore and cafes. Walk! As in, no car necessary. There isn't room to set up a painting studio (space is but a luxury so close to the beach) but. There is a brand new kitchen. With a shiny spankin' new stove. Virgin territory. Untouched by heinous proteins. This will be my first gluten-free kitchen, ever. We move in November first.

2. Then there is Tuesday. The premiere of The Canyon at Grauman's Chinese Theater. The first time we will see Steve's script on the silver screen. Larger than life. Edited to the director's vision. Am I excited? Of course. Am I nervous? Affirmative. Will it be the movie we dreamed of? Maybe it will and maybe it won't. The one thing I know for sure about movies is that film making is a magical, unpredictable process.

Continue reading

Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk

Here's a recipe for a quick and easy pantry soup
that just so happens to be gluten-free.

Cleaning out the pantry always makes hungry. Come to think of it, so does packing. And lugging laundry. But the truth is, this time of year- anything can make me hungry. I could blame it on shorter daylight. Or the jarring touch of the cold tile floor when I tumble out of bed barefoot and sleepy and weave through boxes of books and movies to locate my tea mug, gone missing since three PM yesterday when I set it down- goddess knows where- to help my husband wrap one of my forty-inch square abstracts.

All of it makes me hungry. But here's my top ten.

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake with Maple Icing

Tender and moist pumpkin cake with maple icing. 
For nut-free, skip the chopped nut topping.

Today I'm digging into the recipe archives to share an old favorite. My pumpkin cake recipe. We're so busy sorting, bagging clothes and boxing up books for donation, getting ready for the big move to Los Angeles (next Thursday!) that yours truly has not had time to bake.

But if I did? I'd whip up this moist and tender beauty of a cake.

Continue reading

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Bars

Gluten-free pumpkin spice bars- yummalicious.

Pumpkin bars aren't as sexy as say, a fresh raspberry tart or a chocolate mousse. In fact, they're rather bake-sale pragmatic. They don't exactly inspire passionate prose. But at the end of October, as daylight dwindles and afternoon shadows creep like spiders across the burnished rustle of windswept streets (yes, Darling Babycakes, this is my ode to Hallow's Eve), nothing warms the cockles of a pilgrim soul like the autumnal flavors of cinnamon, brown sugar and pumpkin.

And so, I offer you a new recipe for this deliciously spooky time of year. Bake a batch of these spicy fallish treats, pour yourself a mug of hot apple cider, and watch Tim Burton's classic Halloween movie, Sleepy Hollow, snuggled beneath a cozy throw with someone you love.

Continue reading