AGraze’N Delights

12/05/2024

One day…. ❤️‍🔥

03/12/2024

Remember I promised to occasionally post this year so you can all see what I am up to??

I know, I know, I’m still really bad with this social media stuff… i stay off SM as much as I can LOL

I promise, however, I am doing a lot of practice in the background, and I won’t be officially selling anything until I am really happy with my product!!

Point in case:

This cupcake I built around the Easter/Spring release of the Lindt truffle, Neapolitan! Talk about childhood in your mouth - as it melts it takes me back to my favourite ice cream when I was younger.

For the cupcake itself and the icing (frosting) though, I did change it up a little. Instead of the traditional strawberry, I decided on a raspberry flavour to the strawberry colour - I was not disappointed at all!! I also used Dutch processed cocoa for the chocolate, and vanilla bean paste for the vanilla.

The cakes are entirely gluten free and refined sugar free - I need to try remake them dairy free and low carb yet; yes, I am that pedantic LOL

The icing/frosting is refined sugar REDUCED and at this time not dairy free (working on the DF part). I have found no matter which sugar free alternative I have used, it always left my mouth with an unpleasant sensory feeling, so I opt for half and half sugar free/icing or confectioners sugar instead. Again, I’ll keep playing with it as new products and discoveries are found.

I have notebooks to keep records and observations, I have a folder I hand write my recipes into, and a little black book with my personal preferences printed within.

A reminder, please share and like if you desire - we are so close to 100 likes right now! That magickal number allows us to do so much more with our page 😘

Have a wonderful day ahead, and be safe in all that you do; chat soon!!

Lotsa love,

Michelle and Brian ###

01/23/2024

G’day to all of our followers and I hope 2024 is treating you kindly!!

Wow, 2023, what a kick in the pants that was for many of us - me included!! My dream of being able to safely bake with regular and gluten free flours came away to be a total debilitating bust, and really led to six months of my own living heck; not withstanding the blindsiding life tends to give us anyway to stay aware and appreciative of what you do have.

We did manage to find a few GF flour blends online that do work for us, and thank goodness for small mercies - I hope to develop my own one day, but we are early days yet and I am still accumulating flour types to play around with. There is so much conflicting information online that the only way you know for sure is trial and error. Our sister in law asked for a slew of cookie platters again for Christmas, so after throwing out all wheat flours mid year, I sent eight trays of GF cookies away with her, and all recipients were very happy, and had a hard time believing they were in fact gluten free.

My biggest experiment result? Super soft brownie cookies using applesauce - more on that down the track however.

I’ve started the year though fervently searching for suitable bread recipes. So far my stock paleo loaf and nut and seed loaf are still standard, but a sandwich bread is hard to come by that doesn’t become super dense or a hockey puck. Both can be repurposed so it isn’t a total waste of money, but… (please, if you have a tried and true gluten free recipe for bread, I am all ears and please share away 😘)

My goal for this year is to start sourdough, make a pavlova, and attempt macrons - same as last year 🤭

My other goal is again the copycat cookie recipes because nothing grinds my gears more than being excluded from life’s treats and deliciousness. My daughter has come to see she is also gluten intolerant, my husband is low carb, and my son just doesn’t say either way (I can see the swell and the outer arm lumps though as he dives into contraband when we are out shopping that his aunt buys him 😂)

Pictured is last weekend’s discovery - copycat Crumbl pop tart cookies! Delectable!!

As for 2023, I did some major research earlier in the year into cross contamination and why it hit me as hard as it did. Came to find out that all flours can remain airborne for up to a week, so even if you aren’t eating it, or touching it, and your cooking space and utensils are meticulously cleaned, you are still inhaling it into your body. That, on top of three bouts of that virus over two years had my respiratory tract in a real mess. It took six to nine months of rest and recovery to start to feel like my old self again. I have dropped some weight, my pain levels have dropped to half, and I now know when something has entered my system that shouldn’t. For fun, I look to have developed a dairy intolerance as well!! Good times 🤭

Again, that turns into an advantage for our customers because I have to tighten up the allergen belt. I still want our baked goods to taste and feel as close to “normal” as possible, and when I find it, I produce it 😁

My other decision is chocolate chips will eventually be going by the wayside as well, to be replaced solely by block chocolate - if it doesn’t melt in your hand, it isn’t going to end up in your belly. I had a couple of times the passed six months where various chocolate chips were not melting properly (I use double boiler method, I do not own a microwave), and again, research tells me many manufacturers make sure chocolate chips are made to hold their shape and not melt during the cooking process, therefore becoming un-chocolate!

All this stuff becomes important if you are focusing on good health for yourself.

So, some tidbits for you all. Lots of bake time, lots of learning, and one day at a time.

May your 2024 be productive, accomplishing goals, and learning much. Stay healthy in body, mind, pocketbook and environment.

I look forwards to being a little more interactive with you all as the year progresses❣️

Lotsa love 💕

PS gnocchi may or may not be a wonderful replacement for macaroni in Mac’NCheese 😏

01/01/2023

Good morning everyone and a most fabulous 2023 to you all!!

Thank you to everyone for sticking around with us after the really busy start we had offering our goodies and passion to the world - we spent the majority of 2022 determining which way we wanted to go, how to do it, and what the market is searching for… We started planning a stairway to success, and the foundation for it all is knowledge and skills - so the beginning of 2023 is all about collecting knowledge, and if something pops up in the meantime, we’ll gladly see what we can work out with you!

For example, we had an order of nine 24 cookie platters and nine 4 person meat trays from my sister in law for mid December. The previous month I had cooked up a storm for three 24 cookie Thanksgiving trays.

Why a storm?

Because there were dietary restrictions as a part of most orders. Coming up with something everyone wants, that a recipe is online and adaptable, that suits an occasion - the research is the easy part. It’s in the doing you find out the truth, and also how your environment impacts what you create. Having our stove replaced twice didn’t help much either! 😂

I’ve already enrolled in a basic online course, and plan to join another one or two before the end of the week. That’s just to really get a grasp of the fundamentals of everything, to learn the science, and hopefully find ways to make “out of reach” things accessible to those with gluten sensitivities, low carb diets, nut allergies, dairy intolerances - eventually building to total allergen free as much as I possibly can, utilizing whole food as much as possible.

As you can see I have set us some quite lofty goals. I thought I had accomplished my go to GF/LC flour base for most cookies for example, to find out one person I knew had a coconut allergy. So, I need to come up with a secondary and tertiary stand by for the future. My baking and cooking is all about inclusion - as has been most of my life; I watched my Nan with my severely disabled uncle (with basically no support by today’s standards), raising neurodivergent children (all now adults), and my newly accessibility challenged hubby. It’s really disappointing when the hottest new baking treat is not allergen or lifestyle friendly, and there is no interest in development either.

I found our goal.

Yes, we will still offer cookies.
Yes, we will still offer charcuterie trays.
Yes, we will still offer Mac’N Cheese - we are still playing with those flavors, so we are holding off on promotion of those. I can tell you however, we came up with a killer brisket, and a gourmet 5-cheese and truffle Mac’N Cheese! And the home made hamburger helper was quite a hit with my fussy taste testers, both the beef and the chicken!

As for the cookies, I have around twenty-five Crumbl/NYC/Gideon copycats I am happy with so far - I will share those when I am really happy with them. Some of them are going to be quite pricey, especially something like the choc chip cookie copycat you can only buy at Disney (man, sooooo much chocolate, but OMG), but all will be shareable: a really good size!

My dream for the year though is chocolate, and making my own. From the nib. It may not eventuate this year with everything I want to achieve, but it is one of my goals. The other is to make a fail proof Australian pavlova in this Houston humidity! I could do the US alternative, but, that isn’t what I like, taste wise or visually. I have also thought about other Aussie stuff, like lamingtons, our native cookies like ANZAC cookies, Tim Tams, Monte Carlo, Kingstons and wagon wheels! Sourdough is also something I want to learn, and you can see how learning all these things will develop into some interesting grazing boards over the coming year or two.

We are still crawling, but when we get the basics in place, it’s going to be flying before we know it.

We wish you all happy 2023, and happy days, because I think change can happen any moment of any day, not a moment earmarked by a calendar, a payday, or tradition. Take a moment, any moment, and make it yours!

Consistency is what changes average into excellence.

Lotsa love,
Brian and Michelle ###

07/12/2022

Hey everyone, how are you all doing today??

We’ve been a little quiet here, but I promise you we’ve not been idle; we are so grateful for everyone’s custom when we opened our pick up service but things quietened to a stop a month or so ago - and that is okay!

It was so busy those first few weeks, our heads spun! It showed us what our potential was though, and how we could do things better. It also gave me the chance to contemplate and determine if I was happy, and how we could improve on our offerings. We rely on feedback, especially the baking aspect, and it’s been quite positive on all fronts, but I knew there was better within us.

I’ve spent a huge amount of time on Pinterest, but I am also not one to follow instructions to the letter for a lot of things 😂 In my defense, I do have a lot of dietary restrictions, but I want to still eat the “good” stuff! Brian had elevated blood sugars for a short time, but that has been consistently low for a year now, and he doesn’t want to go backwards in his health. So modifying each recipe to be what’s considered regular, to gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, low carb and still tasty and close to the original as possible, that takes some time and patience - and a fair bit of failure!

I’m fairly sure I have found a low carb gf cup for cup flour replacement that I make myself, but I still need to play with it; I could very well end up with four or five different flour blends specifically for different bakery items. And that isn’t including regular baking: I’m sure that will be another four or five as well. That is my commitment to this business, because it is the same commitment I have to my family.

I don’t believe in halves when it comes to commitment, especially when there are challenges involved.

I want us all to enjoy life to the fullest.

I watched Brian make his MacN Cheese, and he was taken aback when I said to him it was okay as a basis to build from. He had received many compliments for many years for it, but I wanted better. I took his base recipe and scoured online for many different types of macaroni and cheese recipes from around the world (our cheeses are global after all), then I made my idea - he conceded I may have stumbled upon better than what we were offering. Very rarely do the four of us agree upon anything, especially food - this was a bit of a first!

I mentioned not so long ago about the Crumbl cookies, and I’ve made about eight different types so far, and none have been a flop - okay, the altered ones had an issue once or twice, but there is no such thing as a mistake or failure in the kitchen unless it results in an incredible mess! 😂

Cakes, well I know how to bake, and bake well - but I decided it could be something offered, but not my main focus. I’m yet to delve into breads, pies, cake pops and the like.

Chocolate, however, is something I want to learn a whole lot more with!!! My daughter wants to learn with me. I even found a course showing me how to make my own chocolate, so stay tuned!

So, that’s us at the moment - we are still happy to take orders at this time at the original prices, and just remember us as we get closer to all the holidays!

Be safe in all you do!

Lotsa love,
Brian and Michelle ###

06/21/2022

For my sister in law, I decided upon the Crumbl copycat Waffle cookies with butter cream and maple syrup - the comment was “I am yet to be disappointed by anything Michelle cooks or bakes, so I don’t have a favorite where she is concerned!”

She’s a foodie, and is my BIL, so, you know, no pressure!

They were actually fun to create, super soft, and I would make them again (must make them Michelle friendly however 😂). The only one who gave me a “Meh!”, was NotSo #1 😂😂😂😂

UPDATE 2: My SIL was so excited, she loved them! And so did everyone she shared them with. After you work passed the idea of maple syrup on a cookie, you found the wonder within the treat.

Yes, you can even see inside my little freezer, and yes, it says snickerdoodles; I’ll be remaking for a photo op soon. I forgot to when I made them - another busy day on the hamster wheel!!

Lotsa love,
Brian & Michelle ###

06/20/2022

Today was a day of new challenges again, but so far this was the only cookie I have totally finished; which means photos again tomorrow of others 🤩

My obsession with Crumbl is growing… Today was all about German Chocolate Cake Cookies, and I had never tasted it before, let alone baked it! Brian got so excited when I showed him the pecan and coconut icing mix - I was concerned because it wasn’t like many images I had seen online, not even like the recipe I acquired; he got very excited - “That’s perfect hunni, that’s how it is supposed to look!”

Well alrighty then 😂

I will report back later after I have braved a small sample of this birthday gift - yes, I don’t shop for gifts, I cook and bake instead. Today was for my brother in law and my sister in law who both have had birthdays in the past ten days and we see tomorrow.

Details will be shared shortly with you all about if they are going to come on board our repertoire or not - they look pretty anyway 😂

VERDICT: Brian LOVED it, said it tasted just like a German Chocolate cake… Me, I’m not really a fan of coconut or nuts in general which is really difficult when you have gluten intolerance, but it wasn’t too bad to be honest, I didn’t mind it at all!
NotSo #1 loved it
NotSo #2 didn’t like it at all - and that’s the way the four of us roll 😂😂😂

UPDATE 2: My BIL got very emotional when he ate them. He said they tasted just like the German Chocolate Cake their Grandmother used to bake when he was a child; he said, in fact, he felt it was better! My BIL is a bit of a harsh critic, so that was high praise indeed! I was so very relieved he was happy ❤️

*NotSo refers to our two adult offspring that really shouldn’t be referred to as kids, so NotSo Littles they are 😉

Lotsa love,

Brian & Michelle xx

06/16/2022

I like a challenge - Brian loves his cheese and meats; together, we make magical things happen.

My youngest of five - yes, I have had five beautiful bouncing babies - recently turned 18 in May. Since May, I have been trying absolutely every recipe I can find with Nutella in it as that is her preferred flavor right now to celebrate her adulthood. She was the recipient of the mirror glazed Nutella mousse cake I shared a month ago, and also a Nutella cream cheese cake which spawned me the best ever chocolate cake recipe, but the Nutella icing was a bit meh.

Today was a challenge. The heat wasn’t allowing anything to meld together, so I decided to be a bit mischievous and use the freezer to hold cookie dough and Nutella lava center together before baking; even freezing the baking tray before joining the dough and Nutella center together!! It added an extra hour to the process, however, Miss 18 decided this is award winning and should be shared far and wide! She can be gracious at times 😄😉

Also attempted another Crumbl cookie recipe, but the tide is still out on this due to the heat issue - it’s all a learning experience!!

Anyhoo, these cookies are the bomb, are labor intensive but are worth every single second of it… We will be selling them at $2 each, or $10 for six cookies!

Message us if you would like to order!

06/14/2022

Not all gatherings are joyous celebrations - yesterday’s trays and cookies were for a life celebration of a beloved sister, aunt, and great aunt to our beloved friends.

We hope the day was manageable and filled with beauty, emotions, and laughter as you all reflect upon the impact she had upon you all during her beautiful lifetime, positive and notso. May peace be with you all xx

Lotsa love and gentle strength,
Brian and Michelle ###

06/10/2022

Today was all about chocolate chip cookies and trialing new recipes to see if my tried and true cookie recipe needed a permanent vacation…

The middle cookie is the standard. I have used this recipe consistently for the last seven years, it has rarely let me down no matter what chips I put in the dough mix - operator error has been the only mishap for me. But, Crumbl entered my life, and my palate.. I needed to see if I was still happy with it.

So far I have made the Crumbl banana bread cookies with cream cheese glaze, and mint brownie cookies - both gluten free. They were outstanding, so I figured I needed to go back to basics, and for me, nothing really beats a choc chip cookie.

So, I made the Crumbl choc chip cookie copycat recipe - the largest cookie is how large Crumbl sells them for! No messing around with this one, except I used chocolate chunks instead of chip - the messing around was reserved for the lifestyle challenged home-elders 😂 For those I used coconut oil for butter, sugar substitutes, 63% dark choc Guittard chips and a GF low carb flour mix recipe I found online - all in, right??!

We all still love my original cookie, but Crumbl was a little better - I’m thinking that it basically came down to stand mixer vs hand mixer since everything else was the same ingredients. The totally throw everything together and see how it goes cookie?? We were all happy with it too. Granted, flour is different texturally and almond/coconut blends are grittier, but it really wasn’t as terrible as I was expecting - it was quite delicious actually, and that coming from someone who really isn’t a fan of coconut.

Oh, how big is the Crumbl cookie?? That my darlings is 1/2 cup measure of cookie dough, and I really just wanted a visual compared to my cookie scoop - it’s really an ice cream scoop, but why split hairs, we are all still scooping stuff 😂

Now I have some hard choices to make - after I remind myself of the Levian choc chip cookies I made last Christmas 😂😂😂😂

My philosophy - if I love something, so do most others…

Have a fabulous weekend, we plan to be chocolate wasted!!! 😂😂

Brian and Michelle xx ❤️

06/09/2022

We’ve been a little quiet and we apologize! Been a busy few days with real life stuff, and Pinterest really is a rabbit hole for me. It’s my favourite avenue of social media.

Last Christmas I discovered Levian cookies, and also stuffed cookies - I gift food for parties and things simply because I know I bake well, and very rarely does anyone say anything negative about my treats. My in-laws are foodies and have travelled around a lot, and the are nothing but complimentary, so I take that as a very big golden buzzer! They love my discoveries - the year before it was lots of European breads and cookies.

I have started on the Crumbl cookies now, and wow, I love them!! Obviously, they are monstrous (each cookie is 1/4 cup of cookie dough for the base - my cookies are half that size but still huge to me), and not only do I make the cookies as they are written as a comparative, I then modify them to allow me to actually share in them. I have a very restrictive diet (GF, DF most of the time, refined sugar free) and my husband has become similar since he lost one of his legs in April 2021.

I love creating desserts, I love baking treats from around the globe as well as cooking meals (heck, can’t afford to travel, my tastebuds can visit instead 😆). I love making breads, and I’m getting the courage to try fancier and more intricate work. Some of the Asian bakers - wow! I watched Chocolate School on Netflix recently, double wow!! I have my goals I want to reach before the end of the year.

We want to create different, we believe food is a bridge between cultures and religions and people as a whole. I also want to include our pets eventually too, nothing terribly fancy, just to fill my need to include them.

So, if you are sitting on the fence about reaching out to us, please don’t. We are still determining our pricing, but we also want to be accessible for everyone! We use organic food where we can, high end cheese, nuts, fruits and meats, and also we figure in ethically sourced items for your consumption. We have high standards, because we believe a good diet is the basis of good health.

What do you prefer; baking or cooking? What do you like to create? Are you brave in the kitchen or stay to tried and true recipes? I’d love to know.

And please, refer your friends. The more the merrier I say 🥰

Have a fabulous day! Be kind, and be safe!

Brian and Michelle xx

06/08/2022

😉😘

❤️ GREAT REMINDER FROM THE ONE AND ONLY "Anthony Bourdain"
"Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a Negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride." - Anthony Bourdain