FastStone Capture 7.0 En & Fr

Screen Capture without installation.

Download Portable FSCapture from RapidShare (1.9 MB)

Téléchargez FSCapture Portable sur RapidShare (1.9 Mo)

Extract and run FSCapturePortable.

Settings of installed FSCapture should be preserved.

Happy Birthday to Me! Pumpkin Spice Cake with Coconut Vanilla Icing and Roasted Hazelnuts

I know what you’re thinking, but it’s my birthday. And this year, I just felt like doing something crazy – like making a gigantic, over-the-top, totally indulgent cake…that’s healthy. You know it, I’m wild.

This wouldn’t be My New Roots if I poured a whole whack of sugar in the batter, or iced the cake with margarine. I am happy to report that this spectacular, beauty queen delight is sugar-free, dairy-free, and even made with whole grains. The cake itself is vegan, and the icing could easily follow suit (but I was just gifted with raw honey from a bee-keeping friend and of course had to use it!). Did I mention it’s delicious? I guess that was obvious.

I'll try to make this post short and sweet, unlike this cake, which is anything but vertically challenged, and pleasantly un-saccharine. I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan of those grocery store desserts plastered in thick, white frosting that you can practically feel digging holes into your tooth enamel. This cake is eats more like a guiltless afternoon snack (or breakfast?), despite its indulgent appearance.



A couple notes: Feel free to use canned pumpkin if you are pressed for time, but of course I’m voting for the freshly roasted, homemade variety. Also, searching for canned pumpkin in a country where they don’t even celebrate Thanksgiving, I have discovered, is a very huge waste of time.
I used Hokkaido pumpkins, which seem to be very popular in Denmark (go figure). Hokkaidos are relatively small, very sweet, creamy, and the best part is you can eat the rind, which is where all the good stuff is. If you cannot find this variety, any small pie pumpkin will work. Select one that has a deep colour and is heavy for its size, as the larger they grow the stringier and tough their flesh becomes. And although I am usually up for creative food saving / repurposing, I would not recommend using your post-Halloween jack-o’-lantern pumpkin for the cake, as your neighborhood squirrel potentially used it as a motel room, which is cute but gross.

Roasting a pumpkin is disappointingly easy. Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy bits, place the halves face down on a lined cookie sheet, and bake until soft (30-60 minutes depending on the size of the pumpkin). I used two small Hokkaidos and had a little leftover for soup. If you can’t find pie pumpkins, sweet potatoes would be amazing, as would most winter squashes.

The icing recipe for this cake was adapted from the one I used on the Best Friends Banana Carrot Cake, here. If you are a vegan, use that recipe instead, but triple the amounts. I prefer this new method and combination, as it is a lot lighter tasting and simpler to make.

Okay, one last thing, I promise. The crowning glory of this cake is by far the roasted hazelnuts. Bake them right after the cake has come out of the oven (or during if you have enough space). They really add a delicious flavour and texture to the cake as a whole, and of course are stunning.



Pumpkin Spice Birthday Cake with Coconut Vanilla Icing and Roasted Hazelnuts
Serves 10-12
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups whole spelt flour
1 cup light spelt
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cardamom
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. chia seeds

Wet Ingredients:
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree (homemade, or canned)
1 cup date syrup (or maple syrup, honey)
6 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large, ripe banana
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Directions:
1. Roast pumpkin halves in a 400°F oven until soft (30-60 minutes, depending on size). Let cool and scoop out flesh into a food processor. Blend until smooth and measure out 1½ cups. Set the rest aside. Reduce oven heat to 350°F.
2. Put 1½ cups of pumpkin puree back into food processor and add remaining wet ingredients, except for apple cider vinegar. Blend until well combined.
3. Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry mix and stir to combine. When mixed, add apple cider vinegar and whisk quickly to incorporate.
5. Pour batter into two 8” spring form cake pans. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (keep oven on). Let cool completely before icing.
6. Place 1 cup of shelled hazelnuts on a cookie sheet, place in 350°F oven and bake for 10-20 minutes until the skins are dry and cracking (they will also smell delicious). Let cool slightly and remove skins by rubbing the hazelnuts together.

Coconut Vanilla Icing with Roasted Hazelnuts
Ingredients:
3 cans of coconut milk
1 vanilla bean, scraped
¼ cup creamed honey (not liquid honey)
1 cup roasted hazelnuts

Directions:
1. Place cans of coconut milk in the fridge for at least 4 hours to cool and separate. Open cans and scoop out just the top cream layer, leaving the liquid portion (save for soup or stew!). Place in a bowl and whisk together with the honey.
2. Slice vanilla bean down the center lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Fold into the coconut cream and honey mixture. Place icing in the fridge to set.
3. Chop roasted hazelnuts.



Cake Assembly
1. When the cake is completely cool, remove from pans. Slice the rounded top edge off of one of the cakes (this will ensure that the subsequent layer will sit flat). Then slice both cakes in half so you have four layers.
2. Place one of the four layers on a cake stand or plate and cover with about ¼ of the icing, followed by a generous helping of the roasted hazelnuts. Add the next layers, repeating the icing and hazelnut procedure until you’ve used all four layers. Top the cake with hazelnuts. Serve. Devour. I love you too.

Karina's Gluten-Free Apple Crisp

The best gluten-free apple crisp I've made. In this lifetime anyway.

I've been pondering identity lately. As in, am I the I writing this as Gluten-Free Goddess, or am I a word-free, less defined kind of I that isn't actually I at all but merely a spark in the collective energy source that is the great Mystery? Or Universe. Or Divine. Or whatever conceptual nomenclature you prefer. Am I my thinking mind- or am I more of an essence, what we call soul, a truth beyond the assumed collection of thought patterns and personal history framed by a set of beliefs and separation known as the ego?

I do know I am not my disease.

One of the reasons I chose not to use the word celiac in my blog title was for just this very reason. I do not define myself as celiac. In an identity sense. Yes, it says so on my medical records somewhere (in full disclosure, I think it actually says "possible sprue, resolved by the patient going gluten-free"). But I do not identify with my disease. That would be identifying with my limitations.

Hello, my name is Karina. And I have screwed up villi.

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Sysinternals Utilities

Manage, troubleshoot and diagnose your Windows systems and applications without installation.

Download Portable Sysinternals Utilities Online from RapidShare (0.8 MB)

Installer will download latest version of selected utilities:
AccessEnum,
ADExplorer,
ADInsight,
Autoruns,
BgInfo,
CacheSet,
DebugView,
Disk2vhd,
DiskMon,
DiskView,
LoadOrder,
PageDefrag,
PortMon,
ProcessExplorer,
ProcessMonitor,
RAMMap,
ShareEnum,
TCPView,
VMMap,
WinObj,
ZoomIt.


Installer run as update: Utilities found in PortableApps folder are checked by default.

Extract and run *Portable.

Settings of installed Sysinternals Utilities should be preserved.

Dark Chocolate Brownies- The Best Gluten-Free Recipe Updated!

A pan of rich, dark chocolate brownies- gluten-free and dairy-free.

Yes, I've been tinkering. But first I have a question. Why bake a gluten-free brownie from scratch and not a mix?

While baking mixes are perfectly acceptable in a pinch, and no doubt a boon to busy cooks (well, honestly, who isn't busy these days, I ask you?), your taste buds will tell you why. In a heart beat, Darling. A dark chocolate brownie made from scratch is deeply delicious and decadent. Even impressive. Company worthy. Dare I say, date night worthy. I'm not kidding. This brownie recipe is swoon inducing.

You know what they say about chocolate.

But here's the best part. Throwing this recipe together takes only a few minutes longer than opening up a box. You can whip up these luscious gooey babies in a mere ten minutes. In less time than it takes you to scan your Pinterest feed. Or catch up on Twitter and Facebook.

Seriously.

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Gluten-Free Rice Crispy Treats

Gluten-free brown rice crispy treats, GFG style.

Sunday seems to stir up all kinds of sneaky devils and hungry ghosts in the guise of food nostalgia. I dreamed up my last post about Zucchini Gratin on a Sunday, stirring up a bread crumbed casserole of desire fraught with secret emotions and sticky attachments. Food as familial. Food evoking a warm embrace. Food as a way to connect our twenty-one grams of soul to this earth. The ground of being.

I think I know why I'm tip toeing in the garden of nostalgia lately.

My tribe is expanding.

The family my husband and I created when we held hands and promised I do through a veil of mutual tears is now plus one. I have a new daughter-in-law I regard with deep affection. She brings a fresh focus to our four-squared history. And I see us in a slightly altered light, looking at our shared quirks and wrinkles and dreams with renewed optimism. Our clan now feels stronger. Our humble, wacky tribe feels enriched.

And more than a tad sweeter.


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Ginger-Roasted Carrots with Mellow Miso Dressing

I used to be the girl with candy in her bag. Always. Skittles, Snickers, Nibs, Nerds, Twix, Jube Jubes, you name it. In fact, if sugar wasn’t within arms reach at all times, I would get a bit panicky. Candy kept me awake during art history lectures and it was my reward for finishing my math homework. It kept me company during the bus ride home from school. And you know that sickatating fluoride rinse you get at the dentist? Well I knew I’d hit rock bottom after a bi-annual check-up, literally counting down the thirty minutes you’re supposed to wait to eat again, to open up my trap for a Pixie Stick.

Thankfully, one day I realized that the sugar just wasn’t doing me any favors. And you know what helped me kick the addiction? Carrots. Perhaps my habit was merely an oral fixation, but whatever the problem, carrots were the solution. I kept a small bag of them in my purse, washed and cut into sticks, so whenever that urge to munch came on, I was prepared. Now I regard carrots as more than just a vegetable, but a true savior.

It will come as no surprise then, that I have prepared carrots in just about every way imaginable. Steamed, broiled, baked, juiced, pureed, and of course cut up into all shapes and sizes for raw nibbling. After years of dedication to this humble root vegetable, I think my favorite way to eat ‘em, is roasted. And this way of roasting, with fresh ginger and orange, is a one-way ticket to total carrot ecstasy.

Beta-carotene Ka-pow!
Forget diamonds, carrots are a girls’ best friend (well, make that everyone). First and foremost carrots are one of the best dietary sources of beta-carotene. An antioxidant nutrient, beta-carotene boosts the immune system, protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals, helps you reproductive system function properly, and provides a source of vitamin A.
Carrots stimulate the production of immune cells that protect the body from all types of infection; guard against cardiovascular disease; reduce inflammation, and slow the aging process. They are especially important in building healthy skin, tissue and even teeth! And the rumors are true: carrots improve eyesight. Research has also established that eating a beta-carotene-rich food at least once a day significantly reduces the risk of macular degeneration.  [1]

Factors the effect Beta-Carotene
Cooking has an effect on beta-carotene, but it’s not always negative! Lightly steaming carrots improves your body's ability to absorb carotenoids, but prolonged cooking can lower its bioavailability. It’s important to just cook them until tender-crisp – not limp. Eew.
It’s also valuable to note that eating beat-carotene-rich foods with a little fat will help your body absorb this antioxidant. Why? Carotenoids are fat-soluble substances, so those who are watching their weight on a low-fat diet, may have impaired carotenoid status. [2] Another reason to pour on the olive oil? Yes, please! 



I was very inspired by the carrots in the market the other day – any veggie with its tops still attached spells F-R-E-S-H! So I bought some, despite their teeny-tiny size and decided the best way to cook them, was of course, my favorite way. Now, I’m a huge lover of garlic-roasting, but in the mood for change, I used fresh ginger and orange – a fabulous combo with carrots. The other cool thing about this technique and recipe is that it combines both roasting and steaming techniques. This cuts the cooking time down, meaning that we won’t destroy all of that precious beta-carotene.

And if those carrots weren’t delicious enough, I whisked up a crazy-yummy Mellow Miso Dressing to drizzle on top. Served over black rice with a side of greens – I do believe the husband’s comment was: “I feel like I’m at a fancy restaurant”.



The carrots I bought were really small and I think the bunch contained about 40 all together. If you can’t find fresh young carrots, try purchasing 10 large ones and cut them into quarters, lengthwise. Buy ones with lively, bushy tops if you can find them, as this means that the carrots are newly pulled-from-the-earth, and full of nutrients.

Ginger-Roasted Carrots with Mellow Miso Dressing

Ginger Orange Marinade
Serves 3-4
zest of 2 oranges
juice of 1 orange
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. coconut oil or ghee, melted
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
pinch sea salt
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk all marinade ingredients together.

Mellow Miso Dressing
Makes ½ cup dressing
Ingredients:
¼ cup light miso (organic + non-GMO if possible)
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp. brown rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp. maple syrup
2 Tbsp. water
½ tsp. tamari (or high-quality soy sauce)
Directions:
1. Whisk all ingredients together. Store leftovers in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a week.

Ginger-Roasted CarrotsDirections:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Prep carrots by removing the tops (if they have them), and giving them a good scrub to remove any dirt. Do not peel (that’s where the good stuff is!). Cut into quarters lengthwise if the carrots are large.
3. Place carrots in the bowl with the marinade and toss to coat.
4. Pour carrots and marinade out onto a baking sheet, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and place into preheated oven. Roast for 15 minutes or so, just until the raw edge is taken off – they will steam quickly in the orange juice. Keep a close eye on them – do not overcook.
5. While the carrots are roasting, make the Mellow Miso Dressing.
5. Remove carrots from oven, dish them up, and drizzle with dressing.

I’ll admit it: these carrots are so good, they taste like candy. Maybe not Pop-Rocks or Starbursts, but my taste buds are slightly more discerning now, and my body a lot more in tune with what it really needs.
If your kid (or the kid in you) still likes to indulge in the odd gummy bear, try this recipe out because I have a feeling you’ll be hooked too.

[1] Balch, Phyllis A. Prescription for Dietary Wellness. New York, NY: Penguin, 2003.
[2] whfoods.com