Our Gingerbread Houses of 2014

We finally got a chance to make our annual Gingerbread Houses on Christmas Eve! We use graham crackers instead of gingerbread to make it easier but use our own vegan frosting to decorate them. This year the frosting turned out the best ever! We had a very limited supply of graham crackers so our houses were a bit smaller than previous years. See if you can spot my son's version of a gingerbread outhouse. 

Dairy Free/Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

½ C     Dairy Free Margarine

¾ C     Dairy free Cream Cheese

1/8      Tsp. Salt                                        

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

2 ½ C Confectioner’s Sugar

In a bowl, cream margarine. Add cream cheese and cream well. Add salt and vanilla and mix together. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar and mix on low. Once sugar is mixed in, increase speed and mix 3-4 minutes on medium, until light and fluffy. Chill or use immediately. Makes 2 cups.

A belated Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Being Thankful

Like most people, I am taking time today to think about what I am thankful for this year. As always, I am thankful for my family, friends and our good health. This year I am also thankful for our Michigan Retreat that my parents bought when I was 16 years old. When they bought this house I had no way of knowing we would still be enjoying it many years later. This retreat has been a place where our family, including cousins, aunts and uncles, gather to celebrate the holidays or sometimes just for a weekend of competitive game playing.

What I love best about our retreat is that it is ever changing. In the summer, we spend most of our day on the beach soaking up the sun or going for a ride in the kayaks and then off to ice cream after a late night dinner. Right now, we are here relaxing as we spend some quiet time celebrating Thanksgiving. I am always amazed at how beautiful it is this time of year, no matter what mother nature throws our way.

This is the view of the lake from our window the first day. It poured rain all day and the wind was so strong that you could hear the constant roar throughout the inside of the house.

 The next day was cloudy but warm enough for a walk on the beach. I love the different shades of November with the sky sometimes a light grey and sometimes a light blue.

Our breakers took a beating this year. They will probably be very little left come this spring.

A few brave boats this time of the year. Mostly fishermen and tug boats.

Thanksgiving Day dawned with snow on the ground and a full day of flurries.

The same beach I walked on yesterday is no longer accessible. Large waves and strong winds keeping us away.

We had time between cooking to enjoy the snow. This is how we like to enjoy our Thanksgiving! Wishing you the best this Thanksgiving!

Chocolate Pumpkin Bread Pudding (Allergy friendly)

I used to be the kind of person who would ask for the dessert menu first so that I could see if I needed to save room for dessert after my meal.  Those years have sadly passed as I have gotten older and cannot eat as much as I used to. Those were the days!

A couple weeks ago, while we were in Michigan, my husband and I got a recommendation to a restaurant in Muskegan, Michigan. This restaurant was fairly new but was amassing a favorable reputation in the restaurant community. As we walked in, I noticed a large blackboard listing the specials of the night. One of those items listed, the maple glazed bread pudding caught my eye and I knew that I would need to save room for dessert on this night. Bread pudding holds a special place in my heart because it is a dessert my Dad and I would make for our late night snack as we watched our nightly Twilight Zone episode. I was not disappointed; it was heaven on a plate. It was so good that before I knew it, I had barely saved any for my husband.

Since it is Fall and pumpkins are everywhere you look, I decided to make a bread pudding with pumpkin in it and added some chocolate for an extra bit of sweetness.  Like all my other recipes, My Allergy Friendly Chocolate Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipe is made without any dairy, eggs or nuts.

Allergy Friendly Chocolate Pumpkin Bread Pudding

6 cups bread cubes (I used day old French bread)

1 cup  rice milk

1 cup organic pumpkin puree

1/2 cup brown sugar plus ¼ cup for later

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. salt                         

1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips (raisins as an alternative)

2 tsp. maple syrup

Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8x8 baking pan.

In a medium mixing bowl combine rice milk, pumpkin puree, ½ cup brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and other spices until mixed well. In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with the pumpkin mixture until the bread is well-coated. Add the chocolate chips. Let sit for 5-10 minutes so the bread can soak up the mixture.

Place in your prepared baking dish and lightly press it down with the back of a spoon. Combine the remaining ¼ brown sugar and the maple sugar and spread on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until top is lightly browned then let the pudding sit for a few minutes before cutting it up. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. It serves 6-8 and is best served warm.

A Retreat Update

In my last post, I talked about the difficulties of my teen going on a two day trip with her friends to a retreat two hours away. While this may seem like it is not a big deal, it was a big step for my daughter who is allergic to so many different foods.

I am happy to say that it went very well. She had a great time with her friends, met some new ones and didn't have any trouble with her food allergies. The food I packed for her remained untouched but it seemed she survived on fruit and a delicious dinner they made especially for her. The most important thing is she felt just like a normal teenager who is now a bit more confident with her allergies than she was two days before. That is priceless!

Retreat

My daughter just took a big step towards independence with her severe allergies. She has decided to go on a two-day church retreat with her friends. This is a very big step for her because she has never been on a retreat or to a camp in her 14 years. She is going to be off on her own for the weekend—in charge and in control of her own allergy problems.

At first, it was just easy to sign up for day camps and not worry about her going away and how we are going to make sure she is safe with all her allergies. This was fine when she was young but as she has gotten older, she has sat back and watched as all her friends have gone off to one camp or another. She has been patient when they talked about the fun activities they did or the cool new friends they have met.

A couple years ago I started talking to her about finding a camp for her to go to. How about going to a special camp for kids with allergies? No! What about going with a good friend to this camp? No! How about we find a camp where I can work while you are there? Absolutely Not! I don’t blame her I wouldn't want my Mom there either! Still, it seemed quite daunting for both of us!

I think part of the reason she didn't want to go was that she was nervous about what she could or could not eat. Can you imagine watching your friends laughing and telling animated stories at the camp table as they are gobble down their food not even caring about what they are eating? Instead, she is wondered if that same food, someone else had made, would give her a reaction. Or more likely, what on the menu besides fruit, could she even eat?

Our daughter’s list of severe allergies is so extensive, (dairy, eggs, peanuts, all nuts and sesame) that we couldn't even imagine what she would be able to eat even if she was to go. As far as I remember, the “Camp” fare usually comprised of eggs, french toast or muffins for breakfast, and pizza, mac-n-cheese or peanut butter sandwiches for lunch or dinner.

So when her friend asked her to go on a Church retreat and she said yes, I was very excited but also a bit concerned. This was a big step for her and for me. I tried to keep the enthusiasm in my voice as I told her that I thought it was a good idea but I would have to look into the food accommodations. That’s when her face fell. For the first time, she had felt like a normal teenager and hadn't even thought about her allergies getting in the way.

I talked to the Church organization and they were very excited to have her come. We talked about the food they would be serving during those two days. As I thought, there wasn't much she would be able to eat but I didn't want that to stop her from going, so we talked about allowing her to bring her own food. I was very pleased when they seemed receptive to the idea, but was disappointed when my daughter who had been full of jubilance about the trip, told me she didn't want to go anymore.

After a few days, we talked about it again. The reality is that she needs to start taking bigger steps towards allergy independence; after all, she will be going away to college in four short years. Another objection she brought to my attention was that people would know she was different and she would be embarrassed, all because of her allergies. At this stage in her life this was very important to her. According to FARE, 1 in 13 children are diagnosed with a food allergy, so there are a lot of kids out there who may also be struggling with the same issues. We found out that two other kids will be bringing their own food for the trip. That seemed to boost her confidence enough that she once again decided the trip would be a lot of fun.

We also talked about how it isn't bad to be different and that as you get older, you realize that having food allergies doesn't make you unusual, it makes you unique. So my advice to her was to embrace what makes her special and to let others know she is okay with being different.

It’s retreat time!

Vegan Peach Streusel Muffins

Peaches! Peaches! Peaches! What am I going to do without fresh peaches? It looks like this is the last week for ripe Michigan peaches so I bought as many as a could possibly fit in my bag and now it is time to bake!

We are very big into baking breakfast and dessert goods in our house so I went looking for a good peach muffin recipe. Danelle at Let’s Dish has a great recipe for Peach Muffins with Almond Streusel which you can view here. I have adapted it a bit so that it is vegan and nut-free. 

I love these muffins because not only are they very light; they also have just the right mix of cinnamon and nutmeg. I find the peaches are not over powering if you chop the peaches a bit on the small size. I did this so that my teen, who hates cooked fruit, would hopefully not notice the peaches as much. I think we have finally converted her because she loves these muffins! If you prefer your muffins less sweet, simply add a cinnamon sugar mix to the top instead of the streusel. 

Muffin Mixture:

1/2 C vegan margarine, softened

1/4 C packed brown sugar

1/2 C granulated sugar

2 equivalent egg replacer 

1/2 C dairy-free sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

3 T rice or soy milk

1 1/2 cups peeled, chopped peaches (2-3 medium peaches) + 1 T flour

Streusel Mixture:

1/3 C brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1/4 C butter, melted

2/3 C all-purpose flour

Glaze:

1/2 C powdered sugar

1 T milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with paper liners.

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg replacer, dairy-free sour cream and vanilla extracts and beat until well combined. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Slowly mix into the margarine mixture and beat well. Slowly add the rice or soy milk. Toss the peaches with one tablespoon of flour and gently fold into the batter. Divide among the 12 muffin tins.

Next, make the streusel in a medium bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, salt and melted butter. Stir in flour. Top each muffin with streusel topping and press lightly down lightly into the batter.

Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly. While muffins are cooking, make the glaze mixture. Whisk all of the ingredients together and drizzle over warm muffins.

She's 14!

My teen just turned 14!

Her choice of fare for her special day; crab legs, red potatoes, corn on the cob, and her favorite chocolate cake.

I am very proud of my beautiful, creative, confident and super-sweet  daughter.

Every young girl deserves flowers for their birthday!

Remembering 9/11

Seeing the tributes to 9/11 today has brought back those same feelings of helpfulness and sorrow that I felt earlier this summer on our trip to New York City. Seeing the holes in the ground where not one but two towers once stood. The same towers that my soon-to-be husband and I visited on my first trip to New York City over 20 years ago.

On that first trip, we were in awe of the view from the observation deck of the Towers as we were able to seeing the beautiful and ever-changing landscape of this vast city. We proudly took pictures of each other on the outside deck as we were virtually alone up there, it was our little secret haven in the sky. And then onward to the Statue of Liberty for a hearty climb up to the crown of old Liberty.

This summer, many years later, we spent time in New York City with our two children. Our first stop was to see Lady Liberty herself. She seemed so majestic is all her glory on that beautiful, sunny day. As we headed back to Manhattan, we were trying to decide what was next on our one day tour of the Big Apple.

We knew the 9/11 memorial was close by but both my husband and I felt a bit hesitant to go there. We wanted to keep our memories of that day the same, especially after what happened when those two planes flew into the Towers and forever changed history. I know it was naive of us to think that "our" history should stay the same and that we could somehow block what happened. But we both knew that we had a story to tell our children. A story about how beautiful those Twin Towers were to us that day and how that memory will always have a special place in our heart.

We remained mostly silent as we wandered around the two fountains where each of the two Towers once stood. Each one of us lost in our own thoughts, listening to the soothing sounds from the water cascading slowly down to the bottom and back up again, almost like the cycle life; from death a new life begins.

And so as we walked around the memorial, our fingers slowly traced the names of those who died that day as if to better to remember them.

For us, this anniversary has a new and very special meaning. One that will include special prayers for those men and women who lost their lives and a special thanks to those very brave people who tried to help them. Rest in peace.

Vegan Blueberry Peach Strudel

Our family spent the last weekend of summer soaking up the sun and enjoying the waves in Michigan. We spent Saturday morning walking from farm stand to farm stand sampling and buying the many fruits and vegetables grown by the local farmers. We picked up an abundance of corn, red peppers, lettuce, ripe peaches and the last of the seasonal blueberries.

Blueberries and peaches happen to be two of my favorite fruits. I spend most of June wondering when they are going to be ready to be picked and ready for me to eat them all up! With an abundance of both succulent fruits on hand, I went looking for a recipe that combined both blueberries and peaches, and that could be adapted to omit any dairy, eggs or nuts at the same time. I found this recipe for Blueberry Peach Strudel from Donika on Mom What’s 4 Dinner.

Thankfully, Pillsbury Puff Pastry sheets are dairy and egg free so they worked out perfectly for this recipe! Instead of the peach jam mixture Donika used, I opted for fresh peaches and then added more brown sugar to sweeten them up a bit. I don’t like mine too sweet so you may want to add more sugar to the recipe if you like your strudels a bit sweeter. I also used vegan cream cheese instead of ricotta or regular cream cheese and no egg, just vegan margarine in the wash.

I think my strudel turned out pretty well and both of my kids loved them. Even my daughter who normal doesn’t like cooked fruit ate a whole strudel as soon as they were out of the oven!

Vegan Blueberry Peach Strudel (no dairy, eggs, nuts) 

2 sheets of thawed puff pastry sheets

1 cup frozen organic blueberries or fresh

2 T brown sugar

1 1/2 T cornstarch

2 ripe peaches, peeled and diced

10 tbsp of Vegan cream cheese (5 tsbp for each sheet of pastry); soften

1 T vegan butter or margarine; melted

Peel and dice the peaches and place in a small bowl. Add the blueberries, cornstarch, and brown sugar to the peaches and mix well.  Roll out dough; spread on the softened cream cheese about 5 tablespoons on each sheet of dough, and spread half the fruit mixture over the cream cheese. Repeat with other sheet of dough and ingredients.

Roll and cut each puff pastry dough in half. Seal both sides and cut a couple slats on the top.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, brush with melted vegan butter and bake at 400 degrees until golden (about 20-25 minutes). For a more golden crust, place under broiler for a minute. Dust with icing sugar. Perfect for breakfast or a snack. Enjoy!

Teachers Notice on Allergies

A couple years ago, right before my daughter was to start middle school in a brand new environment, I started feeling a bit panicked. How do I keep her safe when there will be so many more students and teachers to worry about?

The first thing I did was to have an open dialogue with the school nurse, my daughter's adviser, and her teachers. Medical forms had to be filled out and signed by the doctor and then sent to the school nurse. All medicine had to be ordered and labelled properly before dropping them off at school and 504 Action Plans needed to be created and signed by the parents and teachers.

Even with all the paperwork and all the details, I still felt there was something else I could do to help ensure the safety of my allergic daughter. That first year and every year since, I have sent her teachers a separate e-mail explaining her allergies and asking for their help. You see, on the first day of school, when they call on my daughter's name, I want them to look at her face and know that she is the one with severe food allergies. That way if they notice anything out of the ordinary, they will hopefully send her to the Nurse's office to be checked out. Another reason is that I know students often spend their lunch time getting extra help from teachers in their classroom. That means that they may have eaten their lunch (possibly a yummy peanut butter sandwich) on your child's desk. For some allergic kids, this could be a very sticky situation! For this reason, I kindly ask them if the teacher or the student could please wipe these desks right after lunch. This keeps the learning environment clean and allergy-safe. It's a win-win situation for all!

Here is a sample of the e-mail I sent out this year:

Hi! I usually send out an e-mail at the beginning of the school year to all my daughter's teachers. She is going to be in your class this year and I just wanted to let you know that she has severe food allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, all other nuts and sesame. 

My daughter is very good at managing her allergies so if you are going to have a party that involves food or any experiment or class activity that involves food, please let her know so she will be aware and can plan accordingly. Also, I know students frequently come to classrooms during their lunch to make up work. I little wipe of the desk would help us out greatly.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for all your help.

While this has worked out very well for us these past three Middle School years, I think our daughter will need to come up with a different plan during her High School years. So we will stick with our plan for the time being and next year will be a new year.

Allergy School Forms

I know I have been gone for a while but we have had a very busy summer. I will try to let you know what we have been up to and post some cool pics real soon. In the meantime, the new school season is upon us. How can it be that this summer has flown by so fast and I wasn't even aware of the impending 1st day until it was a week away?

Like most people, I am now in full "new school year" mode with shopping for new clothes, school supplies and boxes of Kleenex. Do they really need that much Kleenex? As a Mom of a teenager with food allergies, I also need to make sure her school health forms are in order. These forms are for any medicine she may need during the school year. We have a form for Benedryl, Auvi-Q Inhaler and asthma medicine. These forms need to be signed by her doctor or allergist and included with her medicine. I have been doing this for so long that I actually forgot about them this year. I quickly filled out the forms and drove them to her allergist. I have a feeling I may be a bit late with her medical forms but I will still be there the first day of school to drop off her meds to the School Nurse.

So people, think of this as a friendly reminder to get your medical forms filled out, signed by your doctor and delivered to your school! Let the new school year begin!

Red Velvet Cupcakes (no dairy, eggs, nuts)

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

(Based on a recipe from Veggieful.com)

I've always thought there was something magical about a red velvet cupcake. Maybe its because I never even tasted a red velvet cupcake until I was a teenager. The name itself holds a more elegant feel on your tongue both in speech and the way it melts on your tongue. It is not your average chocolate or vanilla cupcake. A step up on the ladder in my opinion.  Seriously cool color. Seriously cool flavor. Makes for one seriously cool cupcake. Being able to make something other than chocolate or vanilla for the batter makes for a much more exciting and a unique experience for your vegan cupcakes. After finishing the red velvet batter, adding a delicious cream cheese frosting on top completes a wonderful and exquisite treat for you to enjoy with your friends and family.

Makes: 16; prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 20 minutes

Cupcake Batter

   2 C all-purpose flour, sifted
   4 tsp. baking powder
   pinch salt
   1/2 C cocoa powder
   1 C  sugar
   1/2 C canola oil
   1-1/2  C soy or rice milk
   2 tsp.  vanilla
   1 T  apple cider vinegar
   4 tsp.  natural vegan red coloring

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

   ½ C Dairy free margarine

¾ C Dairy-free cream cheese

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

2-1/2 C confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 370 °F and line 16 cupcake pans with liners. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. Stir until combined. Add in the oil, soy milk, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and red food coloring. Mix well until the batter is smooth and without lumps. Divide the mixture between the cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes or so until risen and the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when touched.

In a mixer, cream the margarine, cream cheese, salt and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar and mix on low for a few minutes. Increase to medium speed until light and fluffy. Chill for 30 minutes before frosting cupcakes.

Chocolate Chip Scones (no dairy, eggs, nuts)

My kids love this recipe for Chocolate Chip Scones and last weekend my son wanted me to make them for breakfast. For some reason I could not find my recipe even though I searched in all the usual places. Total panic mode! We really love this recipe!

I spent the next couple days trying to figure out where I may have misplaced it. Finally, I remembered that I had gotten it from a book in our local library, but then the problem was that I couldn't remember which one. After looking through about 20 Christmas books I finally found it! This recipe is adapted from a Gooseberry Patch, Christmas Book 13.

Chocolate Chip Scones (no dairy, eggs, nuts)

2 ½ C   all purpose flour (GF flour mix)

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp.   baking soda

¾ C      non-dairy margarine (sliced)

1 C       non-dairy chocolate chips (substitute chopped cranberries)

¾ C      buttermilk (3/4 C rice milk + 3 tsp. vinegar)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make buttermilk by combining ¾ rice milk and 3 tsp vinegar and set aside. Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Cut non-dairy margarine into flour mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in non-dairy chocolate chips and sugar. Slowly add the buttermilk until it is just blended.

I usually just spoon the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet but you can use a scone pan or roll the dough into two 8 inch circles and cut each portion into 8 wedges. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Drizzle glaze over the top and let stand until it hardens.

Glaze:

2/3 C  powdered sugar

1 T     warm water

¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Add additional water if needed.

Life's Challenging Moments

I know my posts have been few and far between this past month. After Spring Break, which was wonderful, we hit one bump after another.

- Abbey (our dog) had a very large growth removed from her mouth and two other smaller growths removed from around her head. Thankfully, they were all benign.

- Our teen spent two full weeks in bed with a fever, severe headache and a sinus infection. She missed school for two weeks and had to make up all her school work for what she missed.

- Then, I got the same flu but my symptoms were not as bad so I was only out of commission for one and a half weeks.

- Our teen hurt her leg the first day back to track practice. We thought it might be a stress fracture but it turned out to be tendinitis in her knee.

- Then, I got the stomach flu. Well, what I thought was the flu, was really my Appendix which was removed. I spent even more time recovering, again. 

Sigh.

So now you know why we have been neglecting our blog but I promise we will be posting more in the future. We will be concentrating on some delicious recipes for you to try! To help us get out of our negative "funk" and because we finally had good weather, I've been working in our garden. Here are some of the beautiful colors and shapes emerging this spring to our backyard.

National Restaurant Association Show Focuses on Food Allergies

This week is the National Restaurant Association’s Annual Trade Show in Chicago and the vendors are starting to take notice! The big trend seems to be the number of vendors who are now offering gluten-free and allergy-free foods.

There are 75 booths in this year’s show that featured gluten-free products, with Enjoy Life Foods displaying a booth at the show for the first time. They are promoting their new Plentils, packaged lentil chips, which seem to be a big hit with schools and universities country-wide. They want to offer a gluten-free alternative without the cross-contamination worry.

I am also excited to hear that Chicago-based Eli’s Cheesecake is now making a vegan cheesecake option made with Tofu and dairy-free cream cheese. They currently offer two varieties—Belgium chocolate and carrot cake. Yes, finally! Manufacturers are starting to notice that not only is there an increasing number of people with dairy allergies, but that the number of people who are adopting a Vegan lifestyle is also on the rise.

Now if I could only get them to get rid of the nuts in the carrot cake cheesecake. One step at a time….

The Comfort of Memories

Comfort can come in many forms. It can be a touch from a loved one, a special word of wisdom from a friend or sometimes, even a card from someone you might not even know. This year, for me, comfort has come in the delicate form of a beautiful purple and white orchid or the sound of cascading water from a nearby waterfall.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my father-in-law’s passing and it is still hard for me to believe that it has been a year since his heart failed him during his usual Sunday brunch. My father-in-law spent most of his life as a lawyer who also ran the local VFW. After his retirement, my in-laws moved to Florida and my father-in-law spent most of his time with a camera in one hand and a shovel in the other. He started growing native plants and quickly moved up to growing orchids. He would grow them in pots and attach them to the various trees in his yard. It always amazed me that these ugly, gangling bulbs in pots just hanging off the palm trees would grow to the beautiful orchids that often filled his home.

There is a lovely lady who helped my father-in-law when he was sick and who now comes in to work on the house. She has become the nurturer now and has been taking care of these orchids for us. On our visit last month, after a very long drive down, we were greeted by one lovely purple orchids and one very delicate white orchid. It really felt like we were coming home to the same home we have always loved visiting and will continue to love as long as we can.

Five months later we lost my mother-in-law to cancer. Is was yet another tough blow to an already turbulent year. She had been battling lung cancer with such courage and grace that we didn't even know it was that bad until it was too late. She passed away on my son’s 17^th birthday but this time we had the opportunity to say our goodbyes to her.

One of my fond memories of my mother-in-law was her love of waterfalls. Whenever someone new came to the house, my mother-in-law would take them around the inside of the house and then lead them outside to the front porch. This is what she really wanted them to see; the beautiful view of the waterfall and oak trees from her front porch. This is the true reason she fell in love with her house. On most late afternoons you could find her reading or sleeping on her front porch; the sounds of the cascading water in the background and the waning sun filtering through the leaves.

On the morning she died, that same waterfall stopped working within a few minutes of her passing. Our caretaker, who had become friends with the maintenance man, asked if anyone had shut off the waterfall that morning to work on it. He found it odd that for some reason, the waterfall that morning had just stopped working for a couple hours and then had come back on later. I feel as though my mother-in-law’s beloved waterfall was somehow telling us how important she was and that it too would truly miss her.

We keep that memory close to our hearts and every time we visit, the sounds of that same waterfall now give my husband and I some comfort knowing that we will love her little sanctuary just as much as she did. That is why whenever we are visiting, we will take the time to sit out front and think about what a wonderful person she was.

We will continue to visit their house as long as we can and when we do, we will bask in the sight of my father-in-law’s elegant orchids and listen to the beautiful sounds of mother-in-law’s waterfall and we will find comfort.

Vegan Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole

If you are in the United States, you cannot travel by car without seeing signs for the Cracker Barrel Restaurant off most major highways. In our many travels, we have passed too many to count and yet each time we pass one we are amazed that they are always packed. For our family, all Cracker Barrel restaurants, like most other breakfast places, are places we don’t even dare to go in to. The prospect of bringing a severely allergic person, like our teen, into a restaurant that serves mostly egg and egg containing items is enough to give me nightmares.

That doesn't mean we cannot enjoy one of their dishes in our own home! One of the recipes they are famous for is their Hash Brown Casserole. There are a lot of recipes for this dish on the internet but I adapted mine from CDKitchen which has over 2300 copycat recipes on its website. This one does not contain sugar or condensed soup (a dairy allergy no-no) that most other recipes have. I first made this casserole two years ago to rave reviews and have made it for our Easter brunches ever since.

Vegan-style Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole

26 Oz Bag of Frozen Country-style Hash Browns

2 C Shredded non-Dairy Cheddar Cheese (or Colby if no dairy allergy)

¼ C Minced Onions

1 C Non-Dairy Milk (soy, rice)

½ C Beef Stock or Canned Broth

2 T non-Dairy Butter, Melted

¼ tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Salt

¼ tsp. Ground Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the hash browns, vegan cheese and onion in a large bowl. Next, combine the milk, beef stock, half the melted butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper in another bowl. Once your wet mixture is well blended, pour over the hash browns and mix well. Place the remaining 1T butter in a large, ovenproof skillet and melt over high heat.

Once the skillet is hot, spoon in the hash brown mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cheese has melted (around 7 minutes). Put the skillet in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the surface is golden brown and slightly crispy.

You can make this the night before by cooking it most of the way, let it cool, cover and place in the refrigerator. The next day, take it out and let it come to room temperature before putting back in the oven. Reheat to warm it and then broil to finish it up.

This is a great casserole for Christmas or Easter brunch.