Mom of the year? My gluten free double layer chocolate cake is not homemade! But it's delicious

So I broke mom and bakers law again... This cake is NOT homemade but it's a crowd-pleaser because it tastes and looks great. I was able to cook it and assemble it in my Aunt's home in Atlanta for Labor Day weekend without getting in her way and the cake received several compliments for how good it looked and how good it tasted. I won't go through all of the instructions here because those are on the boxes for the cake and the icing, but I do have lots of pictures below!

As for where to find the cake and icing, I recommend Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or any regular grocery store. Lots of regular grocery stores are carrying the Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mix now, though the Whole Foods mixes still taste a bit better in my opinion. But can you really go wrong with a bunch of cake and icing and fruit? And then of course you must add some blueberries and raspberries on top for some decorative flair (or whatever you'd like to put on top). Serves 12+.

Step 1:
You're going to need to bake two cakes here because this is a DOUBLE layer cake, so get those baking pans out!

Step 2:
Take one of those cakes that you baked, trim the top of it off with a very large knife so that the top is flat and not arched, and put it on your fancy cake platter or whatever you're going to serve it on.

Step 3:

Spread icing over the top and sides of the first layer of cake.

Note: be sure to wipe off the extra icing from the platter before presenting it!

Step 4:

Place the second cake you baked on top of the first iced cake.

Step 5:

Spread more icing on top of the second cake, being sure to cover the top and sides. Clean off any excess icing on the platter again.

Step 6:

Now comes the fun part! Put berries on the top of the cake in a pattern. Below is a suggestion.

Enjoy!

~Ellenor

Goodbye-to-Summer Gluten Free & Casual Hot Dog & Veggie Dinner

Well, it's getting cooler down here in the South, so it's time to say goodbye to summer... But I'm not quite ready yet, so here's a delicious -- and quick! -- recipe for an end-of-summer vegetable "stir fry" and hot dog meal.

Vegetable "stir fry":

Ingredients:

~1 pkg Trader Joes Healthy 8 Chopped Veggie Mix
~balsamic vinegar, to taste
~lemon pepper seasoning, to taste
~1.5 TBSP butter

Instructions:

~Put saucepan on medium heat, and melt butter in the saucepan
~Put all of the other ingredients in the pan; cover; stir occasionally while the hot dogs are cooking; taste and add seasoning to your liking (this one's an easy one to change up each time as it suits you)

Hot dogs:

Ingredients:

~hot dogs of your choice
~gluten free hot dog buns (Kinnikinnicks is a good choice, available at Whole Foods, or Udi's, as always)
~your favorite toppings - we like relish, ketchup and mustard

Instructions:

~hot dogs are always better on the grill, but you can microwave if you must to save time
~for the hot dog buns, heat for 20 seconds in the microwave to make it so you can slice them before putting them in the toaster
~toast the hot dog buns just a few minutes before the hot dogs are finished cooking

Enjoy!

~Ellenor