Sharing our Thanksgiving with a Gluten Free Butterfinger Cake

We were blessed to be able to spend time with some of our children, grand-children and other family during Thanksgiving.

We ate some wonderful food and a lot of it I forgot to take photos of but I am posting one of my favorites below, so keep reading.

Here are photos of my GRAND-children.

A family tradition with the grandchildren...

My two babies cheering for the Bulldogs. I don't think
Josh really knew what he was doing but he liked the noise.

Emma rocking Punkin to sleep she was out in five minutes.

Gluten Free Butterfinger Cake 

1 box Betty Crocker German Chocolate GF cake mix, plus ingredients to make the cake
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 jar Smucker's caramel ice cream topping
1 (8oz) tub Cool-Whip
4 regular sized Butterfinger candy bars, crushed

Bake cake according to direction on the package.

While cake is baking, mix milk and caramel topping until well blended. When the cake is done and while it's still hot, poke holes in it with a fork or straw. Pour milk mixture over the cake. Allow cake to cool completely.

Sprinkle two candy bars over cake. Spread Cool Whip over the top, then sprinkle the remaining candy bars on tip. Chill.

Thanks for stopping by y'all please come again soon!

A Big Thanks!

It is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for!

I am thankful for you for being my sweet blogging friends, for visiting me at Gracefully Gluten Free, and for your kind comments. No matter how boring my posts may sometimes be, I'm sure they are, you always come up with something sweet and thoughtful to say about them.

Even though some of us have never met, I have come to know and admire each of you ... not only for your accomplishments as bloggers, homemakers, teachers, nutritionist, chefs, or writers ... but also for the compassion, grace, sincerity, and kindness reflected through your words and comments, not only to me, but to others.

You always inspire me by your wisdom entertain me with your wit and humor, and encourage and comfort me by your grace and steadfast faith in the face of adversity.

Your sweet spirits, compassion for others, and devotion to your families and God always inspire me to be a better person ... and my days are brighter for having met you.

Thank you for being my friend!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

"Swat" did it and I was there.

I know, I was there, I saw it with my own eyes.

Jarvis Varnado owns the national record for blocked shots. Block No. 8 came with 4:26 to play in a game against Alabama Crimson Tide which makes it 536 blocks so far in his career. He now owns the title over Wojciech Myrda (Louisiana-Monroe 1998-02)  who had 535 blocks in his career. Go HERE to read all about it! He is the first player ever to make 1000 pts, 1000 rebounds and 500 blocks.


Also, Barry Stewart has overtaken Darryl Wilson atop MSU's career 3-pointers list.

One of the neatest things about this career breaking night is Jarvis and Barry have roomed together for four years now as they have played for MSU. They are both seniors and both broke these records on the same night. What about them Dawgs?

I wish I could thank the Refs for the job they did to contribute to this great night! Good job Refs!!!

Here are a few photos from the night!

 

Jarvis making his free throws!

look at the score board

Bully leads a cheer while we wait.

Greg Burns addresses the crowd

Barry Stewart accepting his reward

Jarvis accepting his reward and hugging his family

An emotional moment.

The morning after the game I woke up with one of my bad sinus headaches, Steve was gone so I got up and ate a little and took an Excedrin. I was resting and trying to get it to ease off when Ashia called wanting me to come help with Austin for a little while, it seems they had a really rough night. So here I am loving on my Punkin and looking forward to loving on my baby boy soon!

 

After a quick nap she played a while.

This is what Grand-mothers are for! :)

Have a Happy Gluten-Free Thanksgiving!!!

To God Alone by Aaron Shust

Old Fashioned Egg Custard

Servings: 8

Category: Dessert

Cooking Time: 50 minutes

Cuisine: American

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 ½ cup sugar
1 ¼ cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

Mix well and pour in 9-in. uncooked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until set.

Gluten-Free Life as a Grandmother,

Steve's been out of town the last few days, he's trying to wrap up his work in the Delta. Thursday night we used Steve's ticket for Austin and went to the basketball game. Can you believe that she has to have a ticket? I mean really all she does is lay in our lap and sleep! Everyone gets a kick out of her being able to sleep through my screaming over her head. I try to hold it back and not scream too loud I mean I don't want her to have hearing problems! We are excited about this year and our adventure with basketball! GO DAWGS

Does life ever slow down? I guess only when you are dead! We have been in the road everyday for weeks now. I honestly can't remember a day when I have had no where to go. Since Steve has been gone I've been spending the night with Ben and Ashia. I feel like such an intruder but last night Ashia bribed me to stay so I guess I'm a wanted intruder. I help with Austin in the mornings but they take care of her all night. She is becoming such a big girl and is sleeping much better at night although she has not been wanting to sleep during the day!

I just talked to Mary, her last appointment the Doctor said that we would have a baby around the second week of December. She is becoming increasingly more uncomfortable and is thinking a baby sooner than that would be ok. We'll see what the Doctor says next week. If nothing changes the  baby will be named, drum roll please, Joshua William!!!!!

I've been taking request from the family on what they want to eat for Thanksgiving. Here is the latest request.....

Chocolate Pie
Servings: 8 Category: Dessert
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Cuisine: American
Preparation Time: 20 minutes Rating:

Ingredients:
2 eggs; separated and save the whites
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 cups cream or milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp butter

Instructions:
In a sauce pan, combine egg yolks, sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and cream. Stir well. Cook over low heat until it thickens. Add vanilla and butter. Stir until butter is melted and mixed well. Pour into baked pie crust.
Meringue:
2 egg whites, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla. Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add sugar and vanilla, beat until well blended. Pour on top of pie and brown under oven broiler.

To make gluten-free I always use Gluten-Free Pantry's "Perfect Pie Crust Mix". This mix can be bought in your local Kroger!

Gluten-Free Chicken and Dressing Recipe

On Sunday afternoon sitting and talking with family and friends how was I to know what was happening in the world around me? My daughter Ashia received a phone call and all I heard was, "oh, no, you are kidding. How did you hear? Are you sure?"

Of course I was sitting there, "what Ashia, what" to now avail. After she hung up the phone she said, "Momma, Isaac Taylor killed himself".

Wow, how could that happen, what happened, some of the questions that may never be answered.

Immediately I called my Dad who lives next door to this precious family, "Dad have you heard, it's not true is it?" Well, Dad didn't know anything about it but told me he'd check and call me later. Deep down I knew that it was true so I began to make preparations to go to Harrisville, my home town and be with the family during this awful time.

Isaac's mom and I grew up together we had one of those relationships where we practically lived together. We joined the church together, attended ALL movies together, went to the state fair together, went to each other's famlies for all holidays together, in other words anything one of us did we did together. Kandi's parents were my parents, Kandi's uncles were my uncles, Kandi's aunts were my aunts and so on. Then I moved away in 1997 to Guatemala, Isaac was 8 years old then. I returned to H'ville in 2001 and after this time was privileged to teach Isaac in Sunday school and attend various activities with him. I'll never forget the smile on his face and the kindness he portrayed.

His passing away was a very sad and hard time for many people. I saw people during this time that I had not seen for 20 or 30 years. I was able to reconnect with Kandi and our friend Leslie and we are planning a girls weekend soon; I look forward to that! Thank you Lord for bringing good in a bad situation and for the years that you blessed us with Isaac.
I'll Praise You In This Storm
In Memory of Isaac Taylor 1989-2009


After getting on the road to H'ville I thought about I really had nothing to eat with me. I stopped by the local Kroger and picked up a few gluten-free items just to make it a couple of days. One of the things that I decide to try were "Enjoy Life Foods" Soft Bake Snickerdoodle Cookies. They are really good, they still have the gluten-free texture that most bought foods do but they taste great. These are allergen friendly cookies meaning that they are free from all of the most common allergies caused by foods.

Now it's time to change gears and think about Thanksgiving! What will I cook? What recipes do I want to share with you?

Here's one of my all time favorites! I can make it anytime but choose to save it for the holidays, it just makes them even more special.

Chicken and Dressing
Servings: 15
Cooking Time: 45 minutes Cuisine: Gluten-Free
Preparation Time: 1 hour Rating:

Ingredients :
2 or 3 chicken breast, cooked and deboned
1 ½ sticks butter
2 makings of favorite cornbread (I use "My Favorite Cornbread" Recipe that I featured in an earlier blog "101 Questions and Hot Buttered Cornbread")
chicken broth
1 bunch green onions
2 or 3 eggs
2 pkgs. Lipton Cup a Soup cream of chicken

Instructions :
Cover chicken breast in water and boil until done. Remove chicken from Broth (save broth) and set aside to cool. While cooling, sauté onions In 1/2, stick butter and set aside to cool. Remove chicken from bone. In a bowl beat the eggs and milk together. Add 1 stick of melted butter and Soup to chicken broth. Mix corn bread, meat and vegetables together. Add broth and egg mixture. Make sure it is juicy if not add more milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown on top.
ENJOY!!!!