Rainbow Cake

Guys. I made a rainbow cake. It was gluten free, and it was glorious.
It was also delicious.
And it was SO. MUCH. FUN.

I was going to make cake batter from scratch, but then realized just how long that would take, so I went with trusty old Betty Crocker Gluten Free yellow cake mix. Definitely glad I did since it took a while. It would take a lot less time if i had more 9-inch matching pans, but alas, I only had two.

So here's my set up. 3 boxes of mix, a lot of butter, vanilla, eggs, milk, my trusty kitchen-aid mixer, lots of bowls, and food coloring.

I went with doing 9 inch round cake - because I had two of those pans. I think a 7 inch size would be perfect... Next time! (oh and I read online about people doing mini cakes, and I'm definitely doing that for my anniversary this summer).

Anyway. It was easy. Make 1 box of mix. Then split into two bowls, and add the food coloring that you want to get the right colors you want. I mixed it up, then poured into my pans, then baked. When those were almost done, I washed everything, and got going with the next batch, mixed, food-colored, re-poured, then baked.

Do that 3 times (with only 2 pans) to get 6 layers like this:

Then stack! After the layers cool a bit....This was fun.... I was going to make buttercream frosting, cause I love it - but was worried it would be TOO sweet, so I just bought a whipped cream-style frosting instead. I also went a little light with frosting, just because thats what I like and stacked in the color order I wanted:


Cover the outside in white frosting, make look pretty, then, the best part is when you cut into the cake! Ooohs & Aaahs all around! It was a HUGE hit. It really didn't take too long (maybe 3.5 hours or so) and it was so yummy and so much fun to eat.

The texture was great, and we ate almost the entire thing.... Can't wait to make my next one!

Contest!

Do you guys read Jordan Ferney's blog "Oh Happy Day"?? You probably all do, but if you don't, check it OUT.

It's a fantastic little blog, so many gorgeous ideas, she has two adorable kids, and her husband is a really talented painter who I purchased a painting from last year.... and she is doing the MOST AMAZING GIVEAWAY OF ALL TIME.... A trip for 2 to Paris!!! Ohh la la!

I have entered as many ways as possible, and you guys should too! Here is the link.

Remember when I went to Paris for a long weekend with my then fiance?? Here's a link to that post -- it would be incredible to go back for our anniversary, and I'd love to spend a little more time there - OR hopefully one of you fab GF reader's will win it!

Food Truck Find: Bon Me

Hey all! It's been a really really long time, I know! Life is bananas. I have barely been cooking (or cleaning for that matter) -- work is stressful, and we were trying to finalize finishing our basement! Which we did! Woo Hoo! It only took us A YEAR. But we did it ourselves (well, with mucho mucho help from my very handy Dad) - and it's D-O-N-E.

I'll have to do a before/after pic later....

So, since very little cooking is happening, and I usually bring leftovers for lunch, I've been eating out a lot lately. My go-to is usually Boloco (bring on a tofu bowl with every veggie & guac - yum) - but some work friends just directed me to a little area in downtown Boston that has 3 food trucks lined up!

I know food trucks are all the rage in NYC, but these are the first ones I've seen here and let me tell you, good stuff.


Bon Me had gluten free options - and they made sure to change gloves, use a clean area to prepare. I got a rice noodle bowl (could have gotten brown or white rice) with their chicken, which is gluten free, veggies - and the Viet-vin sauce, also gluten free. And it was SO GOOD.

GlutenGate 2011

Have you guys been following this crazy (and so infuriating) news about "chef" Damian Cardone??

It's been all over twitter and Zagat's blog even dubbed this Gluten Gate 2011. If you just google this person you'll see a ton of links bashing this guy and the following comment he made on his facebook:

“Gluten free is B***S***!! Flour and bread have been a staple of life for thousands, THOUSANDS of years. People who claim to be gluten intolorent dont realize that its all in there disturbed liitle heads. People ask me for gluten free pasta in my restaurant all the time, I tell em sure, Then I serve serve em our pasta, Which I make from scratch with high gluten flour. And you know what? nothing, NOTHING! ever happens! People leave talking about how good they feel gluten free and guess what, They just had a full dose! Idiots!”

Can you BELIVE those comments? Ugh - disgusting. It's been interesting to observe this though. It blew up on twitter, and every gluten free blogger was tweeting about it - then it was on blogs, then there were news stories about it in Colorado & New Jersey (where he lived, and now lives).

He has since canceled his facebook page - and has made no comments about all of this. I would love to hear what he has to say for himself after all of this.

craving fresh cookies, fast.

Don't those look yummy? Well, they were. And they were ready in about 15 minutes.

This past weekend I had a hankering (pretty sure i've never spoken or typed that word before) for SOFT chocolate chip cookies, as in, freshly baked. But didn't want to do them from scratch, so I went over to the store and picked up these French Meadow Bakery GF Frozen Chocolate Chip cookie dough.

Open the box, place on baking sheet, bake, and DONE.

These are really really really good. Husband loved them too - I had to hide them.

Will definitely buy these again!

Cambridge, MA start-up focuses on Celiac disease

Hey all --- check out this quick little article that is in the Boston Globe today!

ImmusanT Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company, said it has established its operations in Cambridge as it looks to develop an immunotherapeutic vaccine and a companion diagnostic and monitoring tool for celiac disease.

The company, which said in a press release that it has secured seed financing from angel investors, is calling its drug candidate vaccine Nexvax2. Celiac disease is a lifelong autoimmune disorder that is triggered by foods containing gluten, the main protein in wheat, rye, and barley.

"With the formation of ImmusanT in Cambridge, we will have broad access to resources, capital and potential partners required to advance development of Nexvax2 and our companion diagnostics," Leslie J. Williams, founder, president, and chief executive, said in a statement.

Link to article.

oh. em. gee.

it's 11:45 and I'm still in the office - NOT COOL.... AND I worked sat/sun.

hence... the reason I am not posting on here. I am not cooking, I haven't even had time to clean my house!

yikes. thanks for allowing the complaining... I'll stop now. hopefully out of here soon --- have to wait on changes/edits.

that is all... definitely taking a few days off later this week! I want to bake something for Better Batter's Recipe contest, check it out! First prize is $400!


**UPDATE: I left the office just before 2am! longest day/night ever! glad it's in the past....