Candied Macadamia Nuts

Here's another recipe for delicious gluten free candied nuts.  I love making candied nuts for the holidays.  They're the perfect gluten free dessert, appetizer or snack.  And they make a great gift too.  The homemade version is much cheaper than store bought, tastes fresher and you know exactly what's in 'em!

If you love macadamia nuts, you might like to take a look at the recipe for Ginger Macadamia Brownies in my gluten free cookbook, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.  Meanwhile, here's a yummy DIY recipe for candying your own macas.  Enjoy!

Almonds are an amazing super food and they are showing up in the media on a more frequent basis these days.  Here's an article on yahoo via Self Magazine that describes more of the benefits of almonds.  Almonds are full of alpha linolenic acid which aids in the metabolism of fats.

Almond flour is one of my favorite topics and there's been some good debate lately on my website about its cost and benefits.

With all of this discussion I was inspired to launch a new page on my site called "Why Almond Flour?"  My intention is that this tab at the top of my site will serve as a permanent resource and answer the many questions I am asked daily regarding almond flour and its price, nutritional value, accessibility, etc. So go ahead and take a look if you like.   And be sure to leave me a comment here with your feedback!

The winner of last weeks Friday Freebie for the 5lb bag of almond flour from Honeyville is Sarah Yao!

This weeks Friday Freebie is, ahem, a Kroeger Herb Digestive Enzyme --it's vegan and might come in handy during the holiday season.

Candied Pecans

I love making candied nuts during the holiday season.  There's something very festive about them and they are satisfyingly sweet and filling at the same time.  Lately I've been on a candied pecans kick.  They're super easy to make and my husband loves them.

You could jazz up this recipe with some spices like cinnamon and cayenne (I think both together would be delicious), however I've been enjoying the simplicity of merely sweetening the nuts lately.  This is one delicious gluten free snack --and there is nothing like it in my gluten free cookbook, so enjoy it here for the taking!

Thanks so much to Alisa over at godairyfree.com for recently doing a giveaway of my gluten free cookbook, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook on her personal blog, onefrugalfoodie.com.

For those of you interested in the Go Ahead Honey It's Gluten Free (Grain Free Cakes) round-up, remember there are only 7 days left until the submission date, November 25th.  So far I have received many wonderful entries for this blog carnival.

Surprise! What’s in the Mail Today?

I receive quite a few emails each day.  In fact, one of my biggest internal debates is how to read everything (I've given up on responding) and still maintain life outside computerland.

You see, I don't think computers are necessarily the best thing for my health.  And yet.  They are so much fun.  And so very efficient.  It is an ambivalent love affair that I have with the lovely little laptop that sits upon my desk.  So, I make it a priority to live real (in 3-D) and not invest any more energy than necessary in life online.  Still, I spend an inordinate amount of time in the virtual world and have practically made my peace with it.

Along those lines, in order to give you a teeny tiny glimpse into my wild cyber world, I would like to share a couple of messages from readers.  And keep in mind, the only constant in messages from readers is that nothing is constant; this online life is full of the unexpected --one of the many things I love about it.

Here is one message that was sent to me via email by way of my contact form:

Please contact me at 303-555-5555.

I would like to know where you are buying your almond flour?  After checking into it myself I have found that the price of the flour is off the charts!!!!! The most expensive flour I have ever heard of.  Whole foods does not carry it in bulk and neither does the Vitamin Cottage aka, Natural Grocers.  You can buy it pre-packed in either store for a whopping $7.00 per cup which is 16 oz.  Not very cost effective.
-Linda

When I receive something such as the above, I wonder what I am doing wrong and how I could better help.  Although I do have a list of several vendors that sell more cost effective brands of almond flour on my site (see the ingredients page), I question what I need to do differently to get information to people.  If you have any ideas, feel free to leave them in a comment below!

Then there are ones such as this:

I'm interested in using coconut flour, but if the taste is very coconutty I'm worried I wouldn't like it, your thoughts?
-Elizabeth

I'm at a bit of a loss when I receive this type of question because I think taste is such a subjective thing.  I don't think that the items I make with coconut flour taste like coconut, however, I could be wrong.  Again, I would love to hear from readers what your thoughts are on the taste of coconut flour.

Then there is this one that I received yesterday in the form of a comment from a reader about my vegan eggnog post:

...I think it should be called "vegnog" :-)
-ML

Now that's fabulous!  I read the above and the only thing that comes to mind is  --why didn't I think of that!

And finally, there is this totally outrageous card that I received from another reader:

This is one of the nicest things I have ever received. Some absolutely amazing person (Cindi!), took photos of her child eating one of my recipes at his birthday and went out of her way to send me a card.  In the mail!

This made my day, no make that month.

Thank you Cindi, you are incredible and I totally appreciate your hunting down my snail mail address and sending me this gorgeous card with your adorable child.  What could be better?!

So there you have it.  An ever so small glimpse into the missives I receive on a daily basis.

Never a dull moment; loving every minute of it,

Elana

Vegan Eggnog

I can't count the number of times I've been asked for a vegan eggnog recipe.  This gluten free, dairy free (egg free) eggnog is not too challenging to make and full of filling rich yumminess.

Unlike other eggnogs, it's not too sweet and has a nice delicate nutmeg flavor.  If you want to decrease the sweetness further, go with only 1 tablespoon of agave in the recipe below, or eliminate it entirely.  You'll still have the natural sweetness of the almonds and the rich round sweetness of yacón.

As you all know, I love almonds.  I wrote an entire gluten free cookbook on them called The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.  So it was a lot of fun when I found this very positive article on almonds over at Men's Health Magazine.  Men's Health is on the almond bandwagon!

It's Friday again and the winner of last weeks Friday Freebie is Lauren!  She won the Virgin Coconut Oil book from Tropical Traditions.

For this weeks Friday Freebie I've received a 5lb bag of almond flour from Honeyville to give away (again).  Go ahead and leave a comment below to be entered. On top of that, Honeyville currently has special on almond flour --a 15% discount that continues until November 17th, 2009.  To receive your discount, enter the coupon code VETERANS into your order.

Salmon Kabayaki

There was a shortage of Fish Kabayaki the other night when I made this amazing dish from Jaden's Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.  I used salmon to make this sweet and tangy fish dish and it was phenomenal.

The boys were unhappy that I did not make more, so tonight I'm making it again and doubling the recipe to 2 pounds of salmon so all can eat to their fill and still have some for leftovers the next night.  I'm making it right now as I type this with my computer in the kitchen.  While it's a simple, though not entirely easy recipe, it is well worth the effort.

The first time I made this I burned the Kabayaki sauce and had to toss it, it was way too charred.  I left it on too long at too high of heat.  The next time I made it I hewed closer to Jaden's directions and had perfect success.  Whatever you do, keep a close eye on the Kabayaki sauce.  It is a fragile specimen.  Also, when frying the fish, be careful and keep children out of the kitchen.

Again, my romance with Jaden's Steamy Kitchen Cookbook has supplanted my own affair with my gluten free cookbook, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.  Go figure.  I guess it's a lot more fun to play with someone else's food.

Next up from Jaden's cookbook... I'm thinking Broccoli Pickles.