There’s something cozy about eating spiced cake and pumpkin everything at this time of year. I love sandwich cookies, but these are more like little cakes that you can eat with your hands…light and fluffy and quite easy to make! Adapted from Dreamy Desserts. Yield: about 18 cookies.

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. gluten free flour blend
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 c. dark brown sugar
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1/2 can of pumpkin puree
• 1 egg (alternately use your favorite egg alternate)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 35...

I love fries of all sorts, but I REALLY like sweet potato fries. These are good by themselves, but my kids couldn’t get enough of the dipping aioli!

Ingredients:

• 2 sweet potatoes, cleaned & julienned
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• flaked sea salt
• 1/4 c. parmesan cheese
• parsley for garnish

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Toss potatoes in a bag with  2 Tbs. olive oil and garlic powder.
3. Lay potatoes on a lined baking sheet and sprinkle with flaked sea salt.
4. Bake potatoes for 15 minutes.
5. Remove pan from oven and flip potatoes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and put back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
7...

I love a good White Russian cocktail once in a while…my husband makes the best ones ever (but maybe that’s because cocktails always taste better when someone else makes it!). We were almost out of Kahlua when I looked in my cabinet, so I decided that I’d try to make my own since I had all of the ingredients. I thought it turned out so well that I entered it into the Alaska State Fair this year and I came away with a 2nd place ribbon! *Note: You need to prepare this in advance–don’t expect to make this one night and drink it the next as you need to allow time for the flavors to mature and develop.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. ground coffee (I used THIS one since I had it in my pantry...

Dilly beans are basically pickled green beans…and oh, so delicious in a bloody Mary or straight out of the jar! This recipe makes 4 pint jars; just enough to have on the pantry shelves for when you have unexpected guests, but not so much that you don’t have room in the pantry for anything else. These are easy to make, so they’re perfect if you’re new to canning…you can do it!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. green beans, cleaned, trimmed & cut into 4″ lengths
• 4 large cloves garlic
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• 4 tsp. mustard seeds
• 2-4 tsp. dried red chili flakes, like the kind you’d sprinkle on pizza
• 2 1/2 c. water
• 2 1/2 c. white vinegar
• 1/4 c. canning salt (I use this brand)

Directions:

1...

Apparently this thing called a Gooey Butter Cake is somewhat of a delicacy in St. Louis. As the story goes, a baker mixed some ingredients together in inaccurate proportions, but he decided to bake his concoction anyway and he ended up with this cake that is a little like a lemon bar in texture, but light in flavor. And, really, it is VERY easy to make. *Disclaimer: this is the first time I’ve made this recipe, so I can’t tell you if it’ll work in a dairy/egg free version, but I suspect that it would be just fine!*

Ingredients:

• 1 gluten free yellow cake mix (I used this one)
• 1 c. butter, melted
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
• 4 ...