Creative Living features gluten-free cooking

Information on gluten-free cooking and parenting techniques will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” at noon Tuesday and at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Bette Hagman, celiac and cookbook author, explains how difficult the holiday time is for people who are gluten-intolerant. She’ll demonstrate some wonderful, delicious and nutritious dishes that everyone will enjoy — regardless of the time of year — and they’re all gluten-free. Hagman is now deceased but previously lived in Seattle, Wash.

Motivational speaker Sandy Queen of LifeWorks will talk about parenting techniques and explain how to build self-esteem in your children and still maintain your rights as a parent. She’s from Columbia, Md.

Information on planting perennials, making beaded lampshades and making pillows will be the featured topics at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and at noon Thursday.

Gardening expert Curt Jaynes says that planting perennials is an excellent way to add value and interest to any garden. The job also requires little time and effort, and the results are spectacular. Jaynes’ company is GardenSource Nursery and Landscaping in Portales.

Mary Maxwell is an artist, designer and owner of Heart Enterprise in Roseville, Calif. She demonstrates how to make a beautiful all beaded lampshade and will show multiple examples of finished lampshades that feature the triple ring shade.

Designer Lise Horvath will demonstrate how to turn a standard 18-inch square pillow into a holiday masterpiece. She’ll show kits that come with the fabric and trims measured and pre-cut, and the embellishments are ready to be attached. Her company is Accent Your Interior, and she’s from Scottsdale, Ariz.

Mother’s Plum Pudding

3/4 cup rice flour

3/4 cup soy flour

1 rounded tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. each cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup raisins

1 1/2 cups chopped raw cranberries

1 cup ground suet*

1 cup ground raw carrots

1 cup ground raw potatoes

In large mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt and spices. Blend in brown sugar. Stir in fruit, suet, carrots and potatoes.Grease a 2-quart pudding mold. Spoon pudding mixture into mold (it will be about 2/3 full.) Seal with the lid or with wax paper or aluminum foil.Place mold in a deep cooking pot with enough water to maintain steam around it for 3 hours of simmering on top of the stove. Cover pot and no peeking (except to check water level.) Store pudding in mold in the refrigerator after cooling. (May freeze if it is to be kept more than one week.) To serve, reheat and slice into serving pieces. Top with whipped cream or nondairy whipped topping.

*Note: Suet can be found by asking at the meat counter.

“Creative Living" is produced and hosted by Sheryl Borden. The show is carried by more than 118 PBS stations including KENW-TV in Portales. E-mail her at: [email protected]