Got to say over the last couple weeks there were many occasions where I sat at my computer to blog and got completely distracted by what Matt now calls my version of video games, Pinterest! Ladies you know what I’m talking about guys and video games…when your guy picks up that video game controller its like he gets totally wrapped into the video game world. Well, Pinterest has totally wrapped me in. So, forcing myself today to blog first and then Pinterest. Glad I got that confession off my chest now. (And by the way if you haven’t heard of Pinterest you’re completely missing out, so Google it and check it out).

Anyway, my Superbowl party a few weeks ago was a blast! Just me, Matt and the fam, but we really had quite a Super Spread. Check out the photo above. We made our Superbowl Appetizers our dinner. We served everything on a giant, low coffee table in front of the TV. No fru fru cut glass serving ware, as my mom called it. This spread definitely had a masculine touch as seen by the heavy serving ware and the mass amounts of meat. Just thought I’d share the spread with you:

First are the Buttery, Garlic Grilled Shrimp Skewers (recipe shared in last post). Count it type of meat #1.

Next was the miniature hotdogs in BBQ sauce (required by and made by Matt) and the slowcooker chicken breast in Italian Dressing made by my dad (Papa G). Count it types of meat #2 and #3.

Wrapping up the last meat dish: there were the Bacon Wrapped Dates (recipe featured 2 posts ago), but this time I made half Bacon Wrapped Dates and half Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts. This made a great contrast of salt, sweet, and crunchy! Count it type of meat #4. Yep, four varieties of meat…and we all enjoyed it!

And the whole Spread was balanced out with a veggie tray and Artichoke Dip (which I can’t eat, unfortunately, but I did load up on veggies).

Last, but not least were the fried pickles…yep, fried pickles (seen on the edge of the table below). These are allergen free and have a special story so that will be for another post to come. Hope this may give you some ideas for your next party!

So happy to be home with my family for Christmas! And I have to say that Matt and I have been enjoying the Christmas season and festivities to the fullest this year. We took on the challenge of making traditional Classic Christmas Sugar Cookies. Of coarse the usual challenges that we took on are as follows: they cannot include gluten (regular flour), eggs, or dairy (with the exception of butter).

For all of these recipes that you see on Madindy there are many that we try that just don’t quite turn out. The ones that make it here pass the test. And I’m happy to say that these classics passed the test with flying colors! They’re moist, not too crumbly, perfectly crisp on the outside, and taste comparable to your typical sugar cookie.

I hope these little treats will help you to be able to enjoy your Christmas even more this weekend. I hope you’ll have fun baking away with friends and family like we did. Enlist lots of help and make it a fun event…as you can see we go all out and had a blast!

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose gluten free flour
3/4 teaspoon xanthum gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg worth of egg replacer (I use Ener-G brand)
1 tablespoon rice milk
Powder sugar for rolling dough out

Directions:
1. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and xanthum gum. Set aside.
2. Place sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and blend until light n color.

3. Add egg and milk and beat to combine.
4. Put mixer on low speed, gradually adding flour mixture and blend until mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Divide dough in half and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours. (Sounds like a long time, but its crucial to the process)
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

7. Sprinkle area where you’ll roll out dough with powder sugar. Sprinkle rolling pin with powder sugar.
8. Take one of the dough balls and roll out to 1/4 inch thick.

9. Use cookie cutters to cut dough into desired shapes, making sure to keep dough cool while working.

10. Place cookies on prepared (I suggest parchment paper as mine stuck a little on a greased pan) baking pan 1 inch apart.

11. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, turning around half way through. Let cookies sit for 2 minutes after taking them out of the oven. Let cool on wire rack and then ice and decorate as desired. Ice away and enjoy!

*For icing I just combined powder sugar, vanilla extract, and rice milk until its slightly thick and tastes just right!

* Makes 3 dozen cookies
* Store in air tight container for up to 1 week
* Recipe Source: Based on Alton Brown’s recipe for Sugar Cookies http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sugar-cookies-recipe/index.html, Adapted by Madison Sommerfield