It's been a long time

Jason told me once that his favorite dessert was ice cream served in a chocolate chip cookie bowl. I decided to indulge him this Valentine's Day. They didn't turn out quite as beautifully as I hoped, but they were mighty tasty.To make the bowl, I mounded a scoop of cookie dough on a silicone baking cup. I tried it first using a metal ramekin and that turn out disastrously. The bowl is still stuck in that cookie. The flexible silicon didn't stick much to the cookie and since it's piable, I was able to peel it away from the inside.
36-hour Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe is from Gluten-Free Girl, she adapted it from David Leite.

1 c sorghum flour
1 c tapioca starch
1 c potato starch
1 c amaranth flour
1 T xanthan gum
1 1/2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/4 c brown sugar
1 c + 2 T sugar
2 eggs
2 t vanilla extract
16 oz chocolate chips

Sift each flour individually into a large bowl. Add xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat to combine. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Hide the batter in the refrigerator for 36 hours. This helps the dry ingredients absorb all the flavors just makes it yummy. ( I didn't do this on Valentine's day because I didn't make it far enough in advance and they were still good. I did put the unused batter in the fridge to sit for later)

Bread

I made this loaf of bread in my bread machine today. It looked so good when I tore it open I had to dig the package out of the trash and make sure it was really gluten free. Look at all those little nooks and crannies. Yummy little places to hide homemade strawberry jam. (Thanks, Melanie!)

A dark brown, chewy, crunchy crust.

Yes, I did take a big bite of it before I took this picture. If you had been without bread for 4 months you would have too!

Today was a hard day for me. I ate at HuHot last night for my birthday. I did my homework online and when I got there the manager was so helpful. He even cleared off a special part of the grill for my dinner. Despite all this, I ended up getting a terrible stomach ache. The sauces on the line were getting all sloshed together and I ended up getting some gluten somewhere. These days really get me down. I've been holding hope in the back of my mind that eventually I will find out that I don't really have celiac. That it was maybe just a coincidence after all. This stems from the fact that my test came back negative. But then I get a hold of something I shouldn't and the pain comes searing back. My stomach just lights on fire. I'm having to come to terms with the fact that this is how it's going to be from now on. No food I can dream of is worth that kind of torture.

That is why I finally decided to give Pamela's Products bread mix a try today. I was so ready for disappointment. The gluten free breads I've made from scratch have this weird smell and a grainy texture. Agh, there just not worth the work. So imagine my surprise when I pulled this cube of yumminess out 3 hours later. I now have a renewed hope.

I can do this.

New Year, Fresh Start

I made it through my first holiday season gluten free. It was hard. I won't lie. I couldn't get the peppernuts right. I couldn't taste the sugar cookies that my niece and nephew decorated and I missed that. But, I tried to focus on what I did eat and it was wonderful and sweet. And that made this holiday great. I had energy to shop and cook and I was actually there for my family. I wasn't in a fog and I wasn't in pain. The gluten free meals my mom and mom-in-law cooked for me this year were by far my favorite gifts.

I thought I should start the new year with the first meal of the day. That's more of a technicality since I've been eating these at all times of day and even made them for dinner last night. Whoever first put cranberry and orange together is freaking genius. The recipe I based these on is in my baking bible. It's just a generic muffin recipe that works with anything.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1 3/4 cup Pamela's Products baking mix
1/3 cup sugar
1 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 T orange zest
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. Add cranberries and coat them well with the mix. Stir in the orange zest. Combine egg, milk and oil in a separate bowl. Add all at once to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Spoon into greased muffin tins. Bake about 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden.