Vegan Baking Cheat Sheet


Baking gluten-free and vegan translates to one simple truth that is hard to teach. Because it can only be learned by experience. This one simple truth?

Unlearn everything you think you know- or thought you understood- about baking.

All those mandatory Home Economics classes about kneading bread dough for ten minutes to improve elasticity or leavening a cake with beaten egg whites won't help your inner Betty Crocker to bloom if you're gluten-free and vegan. In fact, clinging to old notions about what works- and what doesn't- might lead you down a rather prickly circuitous path to ruin. Not to mention, your personal Culinary Museum of Failure. But don't let this bare bones truth inhibit you.

In fact, let it free you.

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Soccer Snacks

It was our week to bring snacks to soccer. You'll never guess what we brought...
soccer coach bailey

Let me just say...I HATE DRAWING PENTAGONS!!! Ugh!

soccer cookies team

These cookies were probably the most difficult ones I've made in a while....I am apparently polygon-challenged. They're not my favorite, either, but the kids liked them. I think everyone enjoys seeing their name on something, don't you?
soccer coach carmelinda

Looking for more sports-related cookies? Try these:

Shaped card with flower power Tilda - Three Clovers Designs challenge

Boy am I ever showing my age with that title, huh?? LOL! Isn't she cute? First, before I forget, I've got to give a big shout out to my design team sista Suzy! Suzy has been making these adorable cards with her Nesties. Now I read somewhere a while back that making cards with your nesties was easy. But I had never tried it. But with lots of fabulous inspiration from Suzy, I came home tonight after work and did one. OMG, I love it! Sooooo quick and easy, and I'm a fiend for shaped cards anyway! I will be making lots more of these. I'll tell you that right now! LOL! But for now, this is what I came up with for Three Clovers Thursday Challenge by Kerry over at Three Clover Designs. Her challenge for you this week is to make a shaped card. Any kind of shape as long as it's not a square or rectangle. LOVE that kind of challenge.
I used this adorable Tilda with garland in her hair. I just LOVE her! I know...I know...I love them all...but I really do LOVE her! LOL! I also used the cute butterfly background stamp that is from the Chasing Butterflies collection. So cute! The stamps are colored with my Copic markers (pic below). All of this is available at Magnolia-licious!

Also did a quick faux chipboard word of "hi" with my Sesame Street Font cartridge with my Cricut Expression. Did a very simple decoration for the inside of the card too. This little cutie will be up for sale in my etsy shop if you're interested.


That's it for this one. Very quick and easy! Whatcha think?? Be sure and visit Three Clovers Designs to check out the challenge and the wonderful examples from the awesome Inspiration Team. Thanks lots for stopping by to see me tonight, and I sure hope to see you again soon! Have a fabulous weekend!!!! Big hugs!



"The Boys" & the Best Mom in the World

E and I haven't seen our dogs, Itchy and Moose, since Christmas, and it feels like ages. I've said it before, but they really are like our kids. We are "those" people. We look at their photos and sometimes watch videos of them, but nothing suffices for actually having them with us.

And this week has seemed harder than normal. While the photos and videos usually bring comfort along with a longing to see the "boys," this week they seemed to just bring a bit of heartache.


Melanie Acevedo

But that heartache will be remedied for at least a few days-- enter the "Best Mom in the World." After I expressed how terribly much we've been missing them, my super sweet mom decided to drive "the boys" down to our house over the weekend. The drive is not a short one for her; it can take upwards of 10 hours, especially when traveling with the pups in tow.

I know how very lucky I am to have the mom I do.

I can't tell you how very excited and happy E and I are right now! I can't wait to get on the road. Whatever your weekend holds, I hope, like mine, it will be filled with love and joy.

Gluten-Free Pizza Flatbread with Roasted Vegetables

Gluten free pizza flatbread recipe
An easy gluten-free pizza flatbread topped with roasted veggies.


I've been offering up picnic food recipes this week because we're eating easy picnic style here in the final countdown phase of leaving for our summer adventure in Los Angeles. Only four remaining stacks of books to box, a tilting fence of wet paintings to frame, and the all important decision of which t-shirts, pots and kitchen power tools to pack stand in the way of our coffee fueled departure early next week.

I am reminded of the opening scene of A Walk on the Moon where Pearl and Lilian Kantrowitz are cramming the family car with colanders and tablecloths and onions and potato peelers. Kitchen stuff for their summer cabin in the Catskills. Such a production this is. Planning ahead for gluten-free snacks on the road (chocolate cupcakes are a must, and popcorn) and an easy microwavable supper for the hotel in Arizona (I'm thinking I'll freeze some of my favorite Mac and Cheese). We still don't have a rental lined up. And the storms knocked out our Internet this week. I'm lucky to be on at all tonight.

So yours truly has been running out of steam by cocktail hour, whipped not only by the attention-to-detail process of organizing two lives and shedding old stuff, but by the monsoon season thunderstorms growling across the Chama River in the afternoons, sending wind and rain and howling coyotes up the mesa. And knocking out our web access.

So forgive me if I have not responded to a comment or a question. I haven't been on-line much. Or participated on Twitter. I've been a total social network slacker stranded out here in the wilds. Cooking up flatbreads and Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies between rinsing out empty shampoo bottles. Thinking of you.

Hoping you're having a wonderful week!

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Edible Image Cookies

terri 40 5
I realized when posting Terri's birthday cookies that I've never posted about her 40th birthday cookies.

Now, I hope Terri won't mind me stating her age, since she looks younger every time I see her.
{In a few years, I'll be making "29" cookies for her. I know, you'll want to hate her, but she's really nice, so you can't.}

So, I had this idea to use a drawing of Terri and have it printed on icing sheets for her cookies.
terri 40 art
First, you need a really talented relative that you can guilt into making the drawing. (Thank you, Maura.)

Then, format the picture to the size you want it to be on the cookies. If you're lucky enough to own an icing printer (oh, how I would LOVE an icing printer!), print them off. If not, do what I did and take the file to your local bakery supply store for printing.

When you are ready to make the cookies, trim the pictures to the right size. Outline and fill the cookies as normal.

While the icing is still wet, peel off the backing of the picture and place onto the icing.
terris 40 drying
Now, here's what I learned the HARD WAY...add a day to the drying time. The icing sheet traps the moisture in the royal icing. It really needs 2 days to dry totally.

I made them the night before, started to bag them up and hop in the car to drive to the party, and OH, NO! The cookies were still wet. I cranked down the AC, turned the fans on high and prayed for the best.
terri 40 1
Well, by the end of the evening, some of the cookie icing was stuck to the interior of the cookie bags. It's the thought that counts, right? :)


If you like these cookies, check out more cookies I made using my cousin Maura's fabulous artwork!!!
Cookies from Art

Graduation word book

This was made for a friend and cohort that I work with. It's for her daughter that is graduating from High School this year. I've been working on this for a while, so I'm very relieved to finally have it finished. WHEW!!! I cut the word book with my Pazzle and word book cd which I purchased from Hallmark Scrapbook. All the DP is the FABULOUS Basic Grey Lime Rickey line. I fell in love with it and felt it would be perfect for this. I hope they agree. :) It's all put together with my Bind-it-all.

I used several Martha Stewart border punches throughout. The backgrounder stamp is from Cornish Heritage Farms. I also used my Nestabilities almost all the way through it.

B was cut with my Cricut Expression. the 4 and the swirl are BG Lime Rickey chipboard.

These stamps are by Kim Hughes, colored with copics.

The ladybug and bee friends is a stamp from Stampendous colored with my Copic markers.

skull and crossbones is from Life is a Beach cartridge, rose is from Indie Art.



Stamp is a downloadable freebie from Dustin Pike colored with copics. The rain clouds are from a Magnolia stamp. Sentiment for this cute bee was computer generated.



camera and flash is from Locker Talk cartridge, the label for the little album is from Fabulous Finds, and the word fun was cut with the Sesame Street Font cartridge.

All of these cuts were from the LIfe is a Beach cartridge. The umbrella was made into faux chipboard by cutting six of them and gluing together.

The clear envies and file folders are by Rob and Bob Studio, and the family stamps are some that have nothing with them to tell me who made them. Sorry about that!

That's it! That's what I've been working on for weeks in my free time from work. I hope they enjoy it! Whatcha think?? Thanks for stopping by to visit me today, and I sure hope you come back to see me again soon! HUGS!
OH! Today is the day for a new challenge by Kerry over at Three Clovers Designs. I wasn't able to participate this week, even though I really wanted to. But please be sure and pop over there to find out what the new challenge is for this week! It's a fun one. I promise you'll love it!

Real Wedding {Andi & Joe}

I am so excited to share this wedding with you for the first "Real Wedding" here on Under A Paper Moon. Andi and Joe's wedding, as you will see, is classic and elegant with a perfect touch of New Orleans thrown in the mix.


The Couple: Andi and Joe
The City: New Orleans, LA
The Location: French Quarter-- St. Louis Cathedral & Omni Royal Orleans
The Day: December 13, 2008
The Photographer: Chris Williams of Zoeica Images

Getting Ready






A carriage ride through the French Quarter on route to the church.





The breathtaking St. Louis Cathedral



The Ceremony Begins










Off to the reception with a perfect New Orleans tradition- a "Second Line."





The exterior of the Omni Royal Orleans decorated beautifully for the holiday season.






With a New Orleans wedding, surely you were expecting a party... looks like this one did not disappoint!







And, finally, some action on Bourbon Street.





How did you decide where to hold your wedding?

Andi: I always knew that we would get married in New Orleans. It is my hometown, and my favorite city in the world. It also helped that Joe really likes New Orleans as well. It's just the general "feel" of the city... there is such a vibe of happiness and love... and the people are what make the city. It's something hard to explain unless you have visited before.

That being said, I knew that I specifically wanted to get married in the French Quarter. I love the architecture, and we wanted everyone from out-of-town to be able to come to the hotel and walk to everything from there. So, we chose St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square as the church and the reception was at the Omni Royal Orleans, which is about 2 blocks away.

What special touches did you incorporate into your wedding day?

Andi: We incorporated some New Orleans touches. We did a traditional Second Line with a brass band from the church to the reception. Everyone in the bridal party had umbrellas, and the wedding guests were given handkerchiefs with our logo for the Second Line.

And, this would only happen in New Orleans, the police blocked off an area outside of the church where a bar had set up tables to hand out drinks, which were "something old" (old-fashioned,) "something new" (mojito,) "something borrowed" (cosmopolitan,) and "something blue" (blue hawaiian.) This started the party off right!

Also, for Joe's groom's cake we did Baked Alaska brought in from Antoine's, which is a traditional New Orleans dessert and Antoine's is the oldest-family run restaurant in the country. Joe loves ice cream cake, so it was a surprise for him. The waiters brought them out with the band and paraded around the ballroom. It was a hit.

Lastly, my "something old" was my Nana's holy medal of the Blessed Mother. We wrapped it around the base of my flowers.

Do you have a favorite memory of the day?

So many! I would have to say it was our vows. I started to cry and TOTALLY had not thought that I would. I remember Joe's smile when my voice broke, and it was priceless. Also, as a while, the recption was a blast! I danced with my Dad to "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and everyone was clapping along. We had a "routine" :) We also had an after-party at the Bourbon Street Blues Club, and it was great... 8 hours of open bars, so it was naturally New Orleans!
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A big "thank you" to Andi and Joe, as well as Zoeica Images, for allowing me to share this gorgeous wedding. There were so many beautiful images, it was difficult to chose which ones to show, but you can see all the images here.

Also, if you missed Andi's bridals portraits earlier today, be sure to take a look at the stunning photos, taken in New York City on a blustery November day.

*Update: Chris wanted to make sure that he credited his second shooter Amy Brassette for her work on this wedding too.