Gateway Lodge - Heading home

It snowed overnight!  There was a fresh 4 inches of the white stuff on the ground and everything looked awesome outside.  We had breakfast before finally packing up and checking out to head home.   Casey and I ended up getting home around 1:30pm, the kids were so happy to see us.

Thanks Wendy and Dustin for making the long drive to join Casey and I for a nice get away.  It was so nice seeing you two again.

Thanks Gateway lodge for a great visit.

Gateway Lodge - Full Day

Today was a full day at Gateway Lodge.  We finally got out of bed at 9 am and had breakfast at 10am.  We heard about the Cook's Forest Snowman in the Forest Day so we headed down to check it out. They had a chili cookoff, reindeer rides, ice skating, sled riding, and hot drinks.  There was a pretty good turnout.

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We returned to the lodge to warm up and relax.  We ended up having lunch in the great room and enjoying some wine.

Later that after noon, Wendy and Casey both had massages at the on-site spa.  Dustin took a nap and I read up on various fly fishing casting techniques (like the double haul cast).

We had reservations for dinner that evening at 7pm. It was delicious!  Dustin, Wendy, and I had the 8oz Filet.   Casey had the Salmon.  Dustin ordered a wonderful wine (Earthquake Petite Sirah '05) to pair up with our steak dinners.  After dinner, we all retreated to the great room, where I served some Gluten-Free Peanut Butter pie I brought for the occasion.

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Gateway Lodge - First Night

Casey and I arrived at Gateway Lodge around 4pm.  Dustin and Wendy were already there and greeted us when we got to our room.

We enjoyed each-other's company that evening; sharing wine, food, and stories.  We also got a game or two of pool in.  Check out the photos below:

 

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Cooks Forest with friends

Tomorrow, Casey and I are treating ourselves to a weekend at the wonderful Gateway Lodge B & B in Cooksburg, PA.  The Gateway Lodge is a truly amazing jewel in the middle of the Cooks Forest State Forest.  They have everything you could want for a relaxing getaway from it all:  indoor pool, full day spa services, fine dining restaurant, full bar including a huge wine selection, luxurious rooms, and much more.  

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This will be our third year in a row visiting this special place.  We enjoyed it so much that we asked our good friends Wendy and Dustin to join us last year.  

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I don't need to say how they felt about the Gateway Lodge, they are also going to be joining us there tomorrow.  I will post some photos of the trip when we return Sunday.

P.S. - Thank you Bonnie and Don for watching the kids and letting Casey and I get away, we owe you!

Gluten-Free Chicken Cheese Steaks

One of my favorite meals to make for Casey is GF Chicken Cheese Steaks.



I used the recipe from my favorite gluten-free cookbook (“Gluten-Free Baking Classic”) to make the roll.  I thought I would post the photo for now just so people could see what the recipe from this book actually looks like when baked.  Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

I have noticed that most gluten-free bloggers have wonderful photos and recipes for their visitors to Oooo and Ahh over... well the other night I was searching for a GF peanut butter pie and stumbled upon Simply Gluten Free the personal blog of Carol Kicinski. Carol's blog most definitely fits into the Ooo and Ahh category. Carol's Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie looked amazing and so I decided to give it a try.

It was really easy to make and tasted great. The only thing I would like to try is adding more peanut butter in the recipe. Below are some photos of the finished product.

Gluten-Free Breakfast

A favorite in our house are belgian waffles made using Pamela's Products Baking and Pancake Mix.  I have been using this mix ever since Casey first got diagnosed with Celiac disease.  It makes wonderful waffles as you can see in the image below.  

 

Gluten-Free Belgian Waffle

Casey asked me for blueberry pancakes yesterday and I figured I would give Pamela's mix a try and see how the pancakes would turn out.  The batter was just like real pancake batter, the batter baked up just like real pancake batter, and most importantly, they sure tasted like real pancakes!  Enjoy the photos and be sure to try out this mix for your gluten-free loved ones.