i just asked my dad to take part in a gluten free test kitchen day during his christmas break, at my place which is mostly gluten free (taking into consideration the almost-gluten free granola bars the girls eat, that's about all we have left: to find before going totally gf: affordable, tasty, gf granola bars. not easy to find...).
i've had a lot of baking & cooking failures since going gf. a lot. too many...it's annoying & stressful & makes me very pissy in general. nevermind expensive. but i forced myself to bake something pumpkin today (drum roll!) pumpkin roll! with cream cheese frosting.
the thing is, all the gf recipes i could find had nearly 4, sometimes 5, different types of flour or flour mixes. so i planned to use the jules gf flour mix & a recipe my mom has used since i was little, just substituting gf flour & adding another egg (as my gf friend, kara, has told me: if in doubt, add an egg--in regards to whether the baked good will rise or stick together). so i added an egg & then also a 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum, lowered the oven temperature, extended the baking time a bit & VOILA!
this is me taking a picture & wringing my hands. will it roll? will it roll? WILL IT ROLL?! (gf breads/cookies/cakes have a tendency to crumble, fall apart).
do you see that? air pockets? fluffiness?
IT ROLLED!
so i'm taking this one to our small group tonight. i baked another that i'll take to a gf family with a new baby. & now i think i'm a bit more confident about gf holiday baking...
***
a few days ago, adeline asked when she would get a brother. i told her she most likely wasn't getting a brother from mommy & daddy. (we are still keeping the thought of adoption open--but not until i'm feeling better! & the girls are out of car & booster seats). so then she asked very intensly, "why? WHY?! why can i not have a brother?!" she was near tears...
i gave her a hug & said that some people have sisters & some have brothers & some have both. for right now, she has a sister--one she loves to play with--so isn't that good for now?
she said "yea, mommy." then she got her pointer finger our & said "i'm gonna remember that i still want a brother!" & laughed as she's wagging her finger at me.
i told her that the nannied-baby-boy should be good enough for her & that totally made her think about other things, leading to playing, leading to forgetting the slightly frustrating painful conversation.
i had a few other things to write about...buuuttt, there is this world war 2 documentary on pbs & i'm very distracted. so maybe more later.
***
consider this gf test kitchen #1
if anyone else would like to come over sometime & help with gf test kitchens, please! do!
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