Dear Kristen,
This has been so fun to be home in Cracker Land – warm, lovely green, and full of family. Its been SO fun and busy that I actually forgot what day of the week it was and is.
Which isn’t that abnormal.
But that’s an issue for another day.
So today is Saturday – not Friday. Sorry. I thought it was Thursday – which is silly since Thursday was none other than Turkey Day.
And we did it well.
Yummmmm…..
Gluten-filled deliciousness. And everyone enjoyed all those glutens.
Dear Kristen,
Your spring is coming up roses! (Excuse the cliche – you just took pretty rose pictures, so it seemed appropriate.) And spring has finally shown up here, as well.
I mean, it came earlier like it was supposed to – you really can’t fudge the equinox, Virginia – but it stalled out temperature-wise until last week. We were in our native Florida enjoying the 80 degree weather, and back here in the Old Dominion, they were enjoying a chipper 70 degree and sunny span. (The sunny part has now ended, but it is April and I need peonies in May, so I’m okay with it.)
Its AWESOME.
And polleny. Which isn’t a word. But today it is.
To be fair (and more accurate) the pollen is appearing on trees, but isn’t mimicking the Dylan ballad “Blowin’ in the Wind” just yet, for which my head and respiratory tract are thankful.
But you know what isn’t here? At least not HERE here (as in our yard)?
Matt worked magic on the trees in the winter – wrapping them in inch worm defying saran wrap with brown goo that looks like a caramel colored ectoplasm. And we have none of these suckers stormin’ the castle.
I’d say that’s worth celebrating with a cookie or five. (I MIGHT be off the GF wagon. And I MIGHT have gone a little crazy today. How can you pass up raspberry pastries and elephant ears? The answer: You CAN’T! So live it up and eat a donut, too, while you’re at it…)
Dear Kristen,
Little Mister’s birthday looked perfect for a one year old! Way to go! Simple is best, I think. Munchkin’s first birthday was pretty much a yellow and red party – I just called it a Winnie the Pooh party so that I could make a beehive cake.
She doesn’t remember it, so it could have been a cupcake and green beans and she would have LOVED it! (Cake makes everything great, Little Mister. I’m glad you’ve realized this already.) But the other guests probably would have balked at the rest of the menu I served.
Recently I’ve been serving up messes in the GF bread department. But, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I got a cookbook that looked promising – and so far…well, let me tell you.
What I tried:
BISCUITS!
Her’s looks like this:
Mine looked like this:
So not perfectly up-to-snuff (at least to match the picture) but she has the advantage of developing the recipe without a toddler attempting to sabotage her time.
See the blob shaped one? That’s Munchkin’s “triangle.” It doesn’t really hold a rigid shape with that much butter in it.
Taste? Good! Not the best biscuit you’ve ever had (that would have gluten in it, silly) but really pretty good. A decent biscuit.
DINNER ROLLS! (I forgot to take a picture of these…I can insert a picture next time I make them.)
I made these because you can apparently freeze them if you under bake them and finish them up later. The prospect of that was too awesome to pass up. Messy to make, but not too hard, especially when Matt and the kids are watching March Madness napping on the couch and letting me work.
Taste? Good! In fact, Matt actually didn’t qualify the “good.” Just straight up good. (We’ve learned that GF life is about good. Not great. Unless its a steak – that can be great.)
WHITE SANDWICH BREAD!
So I have a story here. You know those moments when you are multi-tasking and basking in your own pride when you realize you messed up a task 2 steps ago without even realizing it? And then, when you do realize it, you think, aw, yes Lord. Thank you for humbling me.
That was Sunday.
After church, I had less than an hour and half to get everyone fed, bread made, birthday card created, dress-up clothes located and Munchkin packed in the car before we needed to leave for a birthday party. Could I do it? Of course! I’m a queen at multi-tasking!
Problem: Little Man didn’t nap so was tired and fussy which was quickly turning into “hangry” which in turn was ramping up my anxiety level. I had Munchkin’s lunch done, bypassed mine thinking I’d get to it after I fed the hangry infant. But I needed to get the bread in the machine before that. After so many past failures, I was DETERMINED. (That’s a kinda nice way of saying, stupidly stubborn.)
So I get all the wet ingredients put together – melted butter, egg whites, warmed milk. And I put all the dry ingredients (minus the yeast) together. And I am proving I am the queen of multi-tasking.
Or not.
Add baking powder. Check. Add baking soda. Add sugar. Check. Add salt. Check. Add sweet potatoes. Wait; what?
Oh.
The page turned in the cookbook. I didn’t notice. The bread doesn’t have baking powder or baking soda – the sweet potato biscuits do. Whoops.
Matt, being completely logical, suggests starting again. Can’t do it! I just used the last of the all-purpose gf flour that I made – so there is none left to try again. And I don’t have time to make more. Certainly not in the 40 minutes left before I need to complete the next 4 steps of the day and leave.
So just throw it out? NO. I figured, it didn’t hurt to throw it all in the machine and give it a try anyways. I can’t reuse the warmed milk, egg whites or butter…so might as well continue down the path of mistakes. Make the bread and if its horrible, then throw it out. (I should mention that the salt and sugar levels were exactly the same in both recipes, so it was really only the baking powder and soda added in.)
So I baked it. Or the machine did.
And it tasted good! Not just slightly edible. Down right good – better tasting than all the other attempts! Specially slathered in butter – which honestly makes almost anything good. This makes me hopeful that if I actually follow the recipe to a T, it could be even better.
I didn’t take pictures of this either. Let’s face it. My pride was crushed and I wasn’t very optimistic.
Dear Little Mister,
STOP GROWING UP SO FAST!
Dear Kristen,
Enjoy the sunshine. It’s trying to come out here – but I told Matt, three warm days does not mean spring is ACTUALLY here. So I am not putting up spring decorations or packing up the heavy winter coats and blankets just yet.
I am, however, trying to find some good gluten free recipes and have attempted making gluten free bread…with limited success. We went gluten free in August – focusing just on Matt originally. But it seems Little Man may have inherited his daddy’s allergy (plus an intolerance to dairy and nuts) so gluten free is on the menu for everyone.
Though we aren’t trendy people, its good that the trend exists as it gives us more options. Barilla and Fritos – thank you. But still, its a little rough. While my nose is wooed by the smell of fresh bread, my taste buds are accosted by the taste of…something else. I am dying for a donut – and the end is in sight for me. My heart hurts for Matt. No donuts. At least no “no consequences donuts.”
Unless the recipes from this site actually work.
I’ve tried four different recipes for GF bread in our bread machine, all subpar in taste and/or texture. But there’s a number of people who have suggested Gluten Free on a Shoestring for help with baked goods. She doesn’t have a bread machine recipe on-line, but I don’t mind. I’m going to try it ANYWAYS. And donuts and biscuits and pie and who knows what else. And I’ve ordered one of her cookbooks, so hopefully I won’t feel stuck in the rut of tacos and shepherd’s pie.
If gluten free is the permanent reality for 50% of our family, its worth the trial and error. Because what if the claim of her Gluten-Free Classic Snacks cookbook is true???
I’m not into the whole copy the Little Debbie treats, but Pepperidge Farm Milanos? Or Girl Scout Thin Mints? What would Little Man’s childhood be like with NO GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. Bleak. Bland. Altogether pretty shabby, I’d say.
To go this route, the most cost effective method of getting ingredients that I’ve found is through an on-line vendor. And to avoid the extra cost of shipping, I place a big order that lasts about 2.5 months. Like this one:
Except this round I mistakingly ordered these – Nine-Zero-Zero strikes again. Let’s add ordering things on-line to the list of things I can’t accomplish successfully after 9:00.
I have NO idea what to do with them. Apparently you can pop the sorghum as if its popcorn. I’m skeptical, but can’t think of (haven’t found) anything else appetizing to do with it, so I’m gonna give it shot.
Dear Kristen,
Your grown-up party looked and sounded cool! Definitely a step outside the box of a normal weekend for either of us. A normal weekend here consists of…football on Friday night, football on Saturday, and football on Sunday with a smattering of home projects, kids’ songs and dirty diapers thrown in. It must have been an exciting (if temporary) moment to swap yours out for an LA celebrity gala. By the way, did that drink have some sort of potion-y name?
Today, I have a confession to make. I almost killed my family, gastrointestinal-ly speaking. Apparently there are some ingredients that you can’t substitute with others…
Being a picky eater, the move to gluten-free has forced me to step outside my comfort box of chicken fingers and mac’ and cheese and be adventurous. This can be a tall order for someone who for 30+ years has settled on eating mainly white foods – popcorn, chicken, potatoes, pasta, bread, repeat….
We’ve been trying various recipes – some with success and some with mixed reception. But there was one that was a disaster.
Matt likes Mexican food and spice. So when there was a recipe in our new cookbook for a tamale pie, I figured it was worth a try.
I bought a jalapeño – the first I’ve ever purchased – and put it all together. The glitch happened when I didn’t have any chili powder. I thought I did, so didn’t buy it at the store. I looked in my cupboard and found a viable substitute – cayenne powder. Those of you reading this probably know these are NOT substitutes, but I know very little about spicy spices, so I didn’t. And I put 1 1/2 Tbsp in the pie.
It didn’t make it past my lips! I only had to get it close to my mouth to know the heat coming off the fork was more than just the temperature. I ripped it away from Munchkin, and dinner became a bowl of cereal. Matt wasn’t able to eat it either. Chex cereal all around! (Its gluten free.)
Substitutes – there’s some things that just can’t be replaced! I’m sticking to the recipe (in terms of spices) from now on!
crackersisters 