It has been fun to do a little bit of "Christmas'ing" this past week. By that I mean getting together with a few friends to celebrate the season. It seems like it's been awhile since there was much of that.
The Quails went to dinner down at Union Station which was dressed in all its finery. The atmosphere was warm and festive, the conversation was easy and nice, we laughed a lot, the food was wonderful, and a friendly passerby snapped this photo for us in front of the very pretty trees. Starting your meal with a small cocktail is recommended. The old fashioned was excellent.
The prairie makers came to Tall Tales Headquarters last week for a visit where there was guaranteed seating, comfortable chairs in front of a fireplace, free parking, and a nice selection of Christmas music playing overhead. It was fun to have people over when the house is decorated. It was also an opportunity for me to stretch my gluten free baking muscles.
If you need a gluten free breakfast treat let me recommend the King Arthur flour muffin mix - which I turned into a cranberry orange coffee cake with the addition of dried cranberries, orange zest, toasted pecans - and on the top a sprinkle of more pecans and sugar in the raw. I also whipped up a glaze for the top but it really wasn't needed. It had a wonderful moist crumb that tasted exactly like a regular coffee cake.
In the event that the coffee cake was a flop, I also made some energy bites that were advertised to taste just like snickers. Which they did not, they were better. More like a breakfast treat and NOT a candy bar. Recipe below.
In the comments there was mention of things not turning out quite like they should, but for me the recipe was spot on. I followed it exactly and had no trouble at all. I elected for the drizzle of chocolate instead of the dip. I also added a little bit of sea salt. Because I like sweet salty combo. I will make these again for sure - they will be a perfect workday breakfast accompaniment to the morning coffee at my desk.
Why I did not get any photos of the makers I do not know. Unforgivable, and it means I will have to have them over again soon.
Helpful links: The Minimalist Baker - energy bites