Gluten-Free Good Morning Pancake

August 23, 2012 Monica La Portaalmond milk cappuccino, gluten-free dairy-free breakfast, gluten-free dairy-free pancake recipe, Paint.NET photomanipulation, picture of gluten-free dairy-free pancakeLeave a comment

Nothing truly groundbreaking today, but I had a good breakfast and here’s my not-so special-recipe to start the day gluten-free and dairy-free. If you’re in a hurry, but you still want to munch on something healthy this pancake recipe could be what you’re looking for.

What I had in the pantry:

Gluten Free Pantry, Old Fashioned Cake&Cookie Mix

Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Trader Joes’ Maple Syrup

How I made the pancake:

I mixed a quarter cup of gluten-free cake flour with enough water and a drop or two of coconut oil to create a thick batter. I oiled a pan with a minimum amount of coconut oil, probably a quarter teaspoon, and turned on the stove on the lowest setting. Then, I poured the pancake batter in the warm pan and let cook each side until golden. Meanwhile , I prepared my first espresso of the day and warmed half cup of almond milk for 20 seconds in the microwave (almond milk tends to overheat easily.) Poured some maple syrup on my pancake and slowly enjoyed my cup of fake cappuccino. Again, nothing earth-shattering, but made me feel better about my breakfast. Photo manipulating the picture with the usual Paint.NET was an added bonus. Buona giornata!

Make Your Own Fairytale #2

August 21, 2012August 21, 2012 Monica La Porta#fairytalehelper, be inspired by words and images, create your own fairytale, food lansdcape fairytale, Paint.NET photomanipulationLeave a comment

Feel free to write your own story or let your kids invent one!

Roses and Teacups

August 19, 2012August 19, 2012 Monica La Portacold porcelain dough, cold porcelain rose pictures tutorial, how to model a rose with cold porcelain, Paint.NET photomanipulationLeave a comment

I discovered that a batch of cold porcelain I made in February is still usable. Hard to work with, but adding small drops of Elmers glue to the dough it makes it malleable again. This is the first time a batch lasts this long. I tried to take a few pictures to illustrate how I model a rose and I apologize for the abysmal quality of the images. Not an excuse, but in a few pics I was holding both cell phone and dough. Needless to say, you get what you shoot for… or something like it.

A Rose

This is more or less what you need to create a rose.

I start with modeling the cone that will support the structure of the finished rose. The petals are made by flattening the small spheres between my fingers.

Then, I wrap the petal around the cone like a tight scarf.

The second petal I add is not as tight as the first one, but more loosely embraces the stem.

I keep adding petals, leaving them more and more open as I go around, while I pinch the base.

Finally, I have a fully formed rose.

I cut the rose from the cone and create the stem by rolling the remaining dough between thumb and index fingers. I repeat the process with a second flower and I add a rosebud.

Close up of the small composition. To create the rosebud I make an incision on one end of an elongated cylinder and then I cover it with a snug petal.

I had to have some fun with the picture as well. Paint.NET oil filter on a resized canvas to accommodate my little piece of wisdom.