Random, Snow-y Thoughts and a Couple of Recipes

Yesterday it was -31 degrees an hour north of us.  Yeh, thatsa minus you are reading there. And I do NOT live north of the Arctic Circle. Today it is 36 degrees. On the plus side. Next week will bring balmy 70 degree temperatures and sunny skies.

Additionally, there is about 8 inches of snow on the ground, in various, unmelted places. Here's a few shots of Collies in the snow...BEfore the full-blown mass came down.

Mostly, I've stayed inside managing to thaw out until noon.  My fingernails have never looked prettier. My knitting yarn stash is diminishing. My computer skills are surpassing Bikeman's. I've watched all the Bonanza re-runs. The Collies are groomed. So are the cats. I've sewed several costumes for the upcoming Freestyle competition. I'm taking an online Dog Training course, and doing all my homework. I've watched several movies that were stashed away and drunk gallons of coffee and (weird ) hot teas.

And baking.  Why is it that whenever the weather turns cold, the baking mood hits in full force?

Here's a couple of Wonderful gluten-free recipes.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

7 oz really good (45-75% cocoa) semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated.
1) Preheat oven to 300deg. Melt chocolate and butter (double boiler or 50% power in the micro)
    Stir together half of the sugar and 4 egg yolks. Now mix that w/the chocolate mixture.
2) Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer, slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar until stiff peaks form.
    Fold that mixture into the chocolate. Pour into a Pam-d 9-inch cake pan.
3) Bake 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out w/just a few crumbs on it. Cool 30 min.
    Dust w/powdered sugar.

Okay, now....HERE's MY edited, snowbound, caint git to th grocery version:

I used plain ol COCOA!  Yep!  Just the powdered stuff from Hershey's. A CUP of it.....And still only used the 3/4 cup butter.  I also sprinkled  a few walnuts into the batter and on the top. We Like walnuts here on Patti Circle.

This is a GOOD Cake! Really. I had No Idea that it would be so wonderful. I would serve it to company, if anyone chose to mush by....

Here's another good one. BTW, I found these in the Sunday newpaper magazines.

TOFFEE KISSES

3 egg whites (give the yolks, raw, plus crunch up the shells, to the dawgs)
1/4 t. cream of tartar
1/4 t. salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (if you don't have any brown sugar, use about a Tablespoon of molasses, stir into the granulated white stuff...it's the SAME thang!)
1/2 cup milk chocolate toffee bits (I had Heath chips--leftover from Christmas baking I Didn't do, and added some chocolate chips)

1)  Preheat oven to 350 deg. Line a baking sheet w/parchment paper (side note:  Parchment paper is a     Necessity for many reasons....You don't use it that often, but it IS necessary for various reasons). 
2)  Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt with a mixer at high speed until SOFT peaks form. Add the sugars, a little at a time, beating until stiff peaks form (note: you CAN overbeat this....so don't get over-zealous when you see those whites getting stiff).
3) Gently stir in the toffee/chocolate bits
4)  Drop batter by tablespoonsful onto the parchment-lined pan (you can do that fancy piping thang if you have the inclination or the equipment---can even use a ziplock bag w/the corner cut off).
5) Bake 40 minutes, or until crisp. Makes 40. I didn't get that many, but I tend to wield a heavy spoon....
35 calories per kiss. 1 g fat

There's also a Chocolate-Mocha version of this, but I haven't tried it. Instead of the toffee chocolate bits, you add 3 T of chocolate chips (is that ALL???) and 1 Tablespoon of instant espresso powder (do they even MAKE that??).

And, regarding feeding the dawgs RAW eggs, well, that's the Way We Do It around here. All my boyz eat a RAW diet, human grade food, really quite easy to do.  I add an egg every once in a while....especially when I have farm eggs to share. Perhaps I will blog about this in the future. They are all thriving and doing Quite Well on this diet. Even my 14-year-old Collie. 

So....the World Outside is beginning to Melt......I think I will brush my teeth and get dressed and go practice dance with my dogs.

Junior sez he's stayin inside.....