A Taste of Fall Weather

I'm on a Virginia Willis kick, and tonight was no exception. I made her Meme's Vegetable Soup and Cornbread. Both recipes are gluten-free. However, with the cornbread, be sure to use a cornmeal like Bob's Red Mill that is labelled "gluten-free." My only cast-iron skillet is slightly gross, so I used a 12-muffin tin. I poured the leftover cornbread batter into a loaf pan sprayed with cooking oil. This worked great, baked at the same temperature and time as the muffins. 


For dessert, I whipped up a Coconut Cake from Annalise Roberts' Gluten-Free Baking Classics. Every cake in that book is fool-proof, and even more moist than cakes with gluten. Coconut milk is used in both the cake and the frosting. It's spectacular! However, be sure to refrigerate this beauty for optimum taste. A side note: I have a convection oven, and it shaves 8 to 13 minutes off the cook time listed in the book. With gluten-free cakes, it's KEY that you don't overcook the cake. Dry cake = fail.


Wine with dinner was Chateau Montelena, a Chardonnay from Napa, 2007 (my favorite vintage for all wines!). I picked it up on sale at King's, so it was an even sweeter deal. My husband had a gin and tonic with his (pictured below), which works just as well.