Willet Way Wonderland 2015 or Christmas Lights of Americus

It's that time of year - time for the lights of Willet Way Wonderland to be ignited.  About a mile from our home, this winter wonderland is an annual tradition here in Americus.  Although Santa wasn't around in person when we drove through, his schedule was posted for those seeking a photo op with Santa.  Please click on the first photo and just enjoy the slide show.  No further comments from me are necessary.  Hope this brings a smile to your day.

Love,

Susan

Wishing all a safe and happy holiday season. 

Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas.

Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Muffins for one (or two)

Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Muffins

I am always on the lookout for new recipes, especially those for people with special dietary needs.  On the King Arthur Flour website, I found a recipe for Chocolate Coconut Cake made with coconut flour that sounded promising.   In one of the reviews for the recipe, someone shared that the recipe made 10 muffins.  So, I decided to cut the recipe down to make just 2 muffins, one for me and one for Kim.  Here is the pictorial instructions to make 2 muffins, if you want to try it, too.  The only substitution I made to the original recipe was I used brown sugar in place of regular sugar.  These are not sweet and the cocoa coconut combination is really nice.  However, next time I make them, I'm going to add some chocolate chips.

Here are the ingredients you will need:  coconut flour, cocoa, baking powder, vanilla, sugar, 1 egg, butter, and salt.

Sift 4 teaspoons, or 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of coconut flour

with 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder.  Set aside.

Place 4 teaspoons or 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of cocoa

into a microwave-safe container with 1 Tablespoon of butter

Microwave for about 30 seconds, or until the butter is melted.  Stir.

Add 1/8 cup or 2 Tablespoons of sugar (I used brown sugar)

and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla

along with one egg to the butter cocoa mixture.  Add a pinch of salt, if you like.

Whisk to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixture

and whisk to combine.

Evenly scoop into 2 paper lined muffin cups - place water in empty cups to prevent hot spots.

Bake at 350 degrees

for about 20 minutes (check at 17 - 18 minutes)

Check with a toothpick for doneness - should come out clean.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Cake (recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour)

• 4 teaspoons coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 teaspoons sugar or brown sugar
• pinch salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 muffin cups with paper liners
2.  Sift together the coconut flour and baking powder, mixing to combine; set aside.
3.  In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter with the cocoa, stirring until well blended.
4.  Whisk the sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg into the butter-cocoa mixture. Add the coconut flour and baking powder, whisking until smooth.
5. Divide the batter into the muffin cups. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
6. Bake the muffins until set, about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 
7. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Thanks for visiting the Americus Garden Inn blog.  Come back and see us again, soon.

Love,

Susan

Upcoming Sumter County Georgia Events

THINGS TO DO THIS FALL IN SUMTER COUNTY GEORGIA

As the temperatures drop to a more comfortable level and the gnats disappear, it is time to enjoy a trip to Americus, Andersonville, and Plains.  There are a quite a few upcoming events that may inspire you to come visit us.

Former President Jimmy Carter has been all over the news due to his recent cancer diagnosis and treatment.  As you may or may not be aware, Mr. Carter has been, and plans to continue, teaching an adult Bible Lesson at his church on the Sunday mornings he is in town.  The service is open to the public and all are welcome to attend.   His schedule is posted on the Maranatha Baptist Church website.

In September:

Sunday, Sept 6 Jimmy Carter is scheduled to teach Sunday School at 10 am.

Sumter Players will be performing "The Andersonville Trial" Thursday, Sept. 10 through Sunday, Sept. 13 at the Rylander Theatre.  Tickets are $10 - $15. 

Sunday, Sept 13 Jimmy Carter is scheduled to teach Sunday School at 10 am.

‘The Ride Home’ which pays tribute to former U.S. POWs and the families of MIAs will be Sept. 16-20.  See the Americus Times Recorder for more information.

The Manhattan Dolls will be performing  music USO style from boogie-woogie to the blues

Friday, Sept. 18 at the Rylander Theatre.  Tickets are $14.  

The Funeral for the 13,000 will be held at Andersonville National Historic Site on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 1:00pm. 

Taste of Sumter will be held on Thursday, Sept 24 in our beautiful historic downtown.

Plains Peanut Festival, honoring Plains, Peanuts and a President will be Saturday, Sept 26 in downtown Plains.  Events include a parade, book signing, train ride and a street dance.  Visit the Plains Georgia website for more information.

Sunday, Sept 27 Jimmy Carter is scheduled to teach Sunday School at 10 am.

In October:

Andersonville Historic Fair will be Sat & Sun, Oct 3 - 4,in the Andersonville Civil War Village.

Sunday, Oct 4 Jimmy Carter is scheduled to teach Sunday School at 10 am.

Plains Chautauqua will be held Friday, Oct 9 through Sun, Oct 11.

The Broadway Boys, a group of 6 Broadway performers, will be performing the music of Broadway on Friday Oct 16, 2015 at the Rylander Theatre.  Tickets are $29.

Sunday, Oct 18 Jimmy Carter is scheduled to teach Sunday School at 10 am.

Sunday, Oct 25 Jimmy Carter is scheduled to teach Sunday School at 10 am.

Although some of these events are subject to change, maybe you should just come to Americus to enjoy some peace and quiet, along with some Southern hospitality.  We'd love to see you.

Gluten Free Oatmeal Banana Muffins (wheat free, flour free) Recipe

Today, there are so many people on gluten free diets.  For those who can enjoy oats, here is a recipe that uses exclusively oats.  No wheat, corn, rice or other flour is used.  The recipe makes 8 muffins and can be doubled.  Here are the ingredients you'll need (the chocolate chips are optional).  I did not have "gluten free" oats, but, no one had Celiac disease when I experimented and regular oats were okay to use. 

You could simply put all the ingredients into the food processor and blend at one time.  But, I chose to use my immersion blender and the chopping attachment for this small batch recipe.  I measured the oats into the chopping cup.

Added the sugar.

Baking powder was next.

Baking soda.

Cinnamon was last.

All the dry ingredients are in the chopping container. 

I blended until it looked about right.

This looked perfect, to me.

Now for the wet ingredients.  I broke a banana into pieces into the immersion blender cup along with one egg.

Added Greek yogurt

and some vanilla extract.

Everything is ready to be blended.

Immersion blender was perfect for this task.

Looks perfectly blended.

The oven was preheated to 400 degrees.

Combine the dry ingredients with the wet.

Blend with the immersion blender.

Here is the volume of batter once everything is mixed together.

This recipe makes 8 muffins.  I've made it twice.  You can either use foil liners or you can spray the muffin tins with non-stick spray.  However, if you use the chocolate chips for garnish, as I did, if you do not use the foil liners, the chips sink into the batter.  They stayed on top using the liners.

1/4 cup of batter per muffin.

I carefully placed 6 chocolate chips on top of each muffin and filled the empty muffin cups 1/4 full of water.

The timer was set for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, they were not quite done.  I gave them another 3 minutes,

Looks like 8 beautiful muffins to me.

A closer look

I allowed them to cool for about 10 minutes before serving them.  Everyone liked them!

Gluten Free Oatmeal Banana Muffins (wheat free, flour free)

1 ¼ cups old fashioned oats (gluten free, if needed)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 large egg

1 large ripe banana

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

48 chocolate chips (optional)

1.      Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.      Line 8 muffin cups with foil liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

3.      Measure dry ingredients into food processor or chopping bowl of food processor.  Blend or chop until oats are finely ground.

4.      Blend egg, banana, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract together with immersion blender.

5.      Add dry ingredients to banana mixture and blend until smooth.  

6.      Divide batter into prepared muffin cups.  Garnish with chocolate chips, if using.

7.      Bake at 400°F for 15 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

NOTE:  You can simply put all ingredients (not the chocolate chips) into a food processor to blend.  I was experimenting and wanted to how the ingredients looked at each step.

Thanks for visiting the Americus Garden Inn blog.  Let me know if you what you think of this recipe.  Hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do.  

Love,

Susan