Tori’s Writing Hole

Ok, so I’ve had the opportunity to sample quite a few foods now that I’ve gone on this gluten-less journey. Here are my favorites and not-so-favorites:

• Bob’s Red Mill GF Chocolate Cake Mix - crumbly and dense, this cake reminded me of a regular cake that was missing some of the ingredients. The “garfava” flour (garbanzo bean and fava bean flour) left a distinctly beany aftertaste and Mom, who baked the cake, said the batter was horrid and required several different foods and drinks to get the taste out of her mouth. I can’t recommend this one.
• ‘Cause You’re Special Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins - these were great - smaller than regular muffins due to the use of potato starch and rice flour, they were yummy and consistency-wise, very similar to “normal” muffins. I will be buying these again. They can be made vegan if you use margarine and egg replacer. Biggest drawback was the price - $6 for 12 muffins.
• ‘Cause You’re Special Golden Pound Cake - at first, I loved this. Tasted just like real poundcake. However, you need to eat it within a day or so, because it went bad very quickly (dried out and got a funny taste). I’d recommend this for a family gathering (no one will know it’s GF - gluten free).
• DeBoles Rice Pasta - spirals - Ick. No flavor, bad consistency (I think under cooked, but still). Not going to purchase again - I’m trying the Tinkyada brand next.
• Chebe Pizza Crust - so yummy! Makes a great pizza, some springiness to the dough means it has a good mouthfeel. Just tapioca flour, along with seasonings, means this is great for any allergic person. You can make it with real eggs and olive oil/milk, or substitute for other allergies. The price is right too… at around $3 for the mix.

Well, that’s all I can remember so far. I will be trying to make my own bread (how I miss bread) once I get some xanthan gum. Damn, that stuff’s expensive ($13 for a package of 10 oz!).

Technorati Tags: gluten free, cooking, baking, pizza, pasta

Ok, so I really need to remember I’m living with a small, if a bit distorted, tape recorder. Julia has begun to parrot back things I don’t even remember saying… which can be good in the instance of her knowing words like “raccoon” and putting together verbs with “-ing” (kissing, hugging, etc). Not so good, however, when she lets out a disgusted “Jesus”. I guess when I was trying to get our dog Dakota to drop one of the many things he’s not supposed to have (today was a mostly eaten rubber dinosaur figure) I must have gotten disgruntled and said the lord’s name in vain.

Julia’s been saying “drop it” over and over now, punctuated by an occasional “Jesus”. Eep. Much worse than “crapping” (this is her word for clapping). Thankfully, I’ve been pretty good about hiding my inner sailor, but it’s tough. I am by no means a cultured speaker.

On another note, I made homemade caramels yesterday. Gluten free of course - but not fat free. Evil and tasty… the recipe is here, at AllRecipes.

Technorati Tags: language, toddler, dog, caramel