Amaretti (Almond Cookies)

Kari and I spent some time this week making Amaretti cookies. We had two problems, blanching almonds and using a mortar and pestle to crush them. This is what we learned.

Blanching almonds: I didn't happen to know what blanched almonds were (peeled almonds). So, I looked up "How to blanch almonds" on the internet. It advised me to pour boiling water over almonds, wait for no more than one minute, pour the water off and then remove the almond skins. I assumed it would be easy, but it didn't seem to work. I had to use a knife to skin the almonds and couldn't believe that it should be such a difficult procedure. We then tried adding more hot water, which helped a little but not that much. Kari then remembered that blanching had something to do with plunging food into cold water once you heated it. So we put the almonds in a pan of water and let them boil for a minute and then plunged them into cold water. It worked! The skins practically fell off. Problem one was solved!

Mortar and pestle: The recipe asked us to place almonds with sugar in a mortar and pestle, like anybody has one of those in their kitchen (okay, okay, ya'll probably do but miss non-gourmet here does not). I tried smashing some almonds with the meat cleaver, but thought that would take all day. Kari suggested running them through the colander, which I didn't think would work. I had already spent far too much time on these cookies so we decided to try the blender. My husband came in at about this time and showed us some funny videos on youtube called. "will it blend". A mortar and pestle would cost less than this puppy, but if you ever want to blend a cell-phone I would purchase one. For the sake of Amaretti the cheap blender or a food processor will work fine.

These cookies did turn out quite well. They are hard cookies, naturally gluten free. They were good with ice cream and would be good with hot cocoa because you could dip them. Now that I know they can be made easily I will try them again.

Amaretti Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup blanched almonds (see above for blanching instructions)
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
confectioners sugar - for dusting

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees
2. Combine sugar and blanched almonds in a blender or food processor and mix well.
3. Add egg and mix some more
4. Roll into small balls - walnut sized
5. Place on greased cookie sheet or parchment paper
6. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes, they should be light brown. They come out of the oven soft and then harden a little upon cooling
8. Store in a resealable plastic bag

All That Matters by Jan Goldstein

I have been reading a lot lately trying to put winter behind me. I happened upon a book titled All That Matters by Jan Goldstein. This is a novel about a young woman who attempts suicide and how her grandmother, who survived the Holocaust is able to reach her. I won't give you full details because I don't want to give away the plot, however the book really got me thinking about a couple of things. First of all, life is a great gift. Sometimes we say "life if too hard" or we wonder why our lives don't turn out the way we think they should. Regardless of how difficult they are we get them --WE GET TO LIVE! What a wonderful gift.

The second thing I have been thinking is how much we owe our lives to our ancestors. We are here because of the things that they did and went through. They tried and learned and endured. Also, we inherit many of their characteristics. I once saw a film of my husband when he was a little boy and I was stunned at how much my daughter Anne was like him. She moves her arms and sits on the floor and turns her head the same way. Last week she was in the kitchen whistling and I yelled "Steven, are you home?" My grandma, Inez, met my grandpa when she went to a small rural area to teach school. I am sure that I owe my love of the mountains to this set of grandparents. I have Inez to thank for my love of fabric and also my inability to sit still.

And A Little Child Shall Lead Them

When Chris was nursery age at church, he had a little trouble staying in there without me. He is my last child and is ten years younger than my youngest daughter, so truthfully it is hard to say whether he or I originally had the most difficulty with this separation. Regardless of whose anxiety caused it, I attended nursery for about six months. If it has been awhile since you have been to nursery, it can be a very entertaining place to go on a Sunday afternoon. You can find out all kinds of interesting information about friends and neighbors. Children do not know not to tell on their parents. Things like "my mommy slams doors" or, my favorite, "My daddy pees standing up" are frequently announced without even prying.

On one particular Sunday Chris was doing very well in nursery. I told him that I needed to go to the bathroom (which I did), and that I would be back. I left, went to the bathroom and returned. I looked through the peephole in the door and Chris was doing fine, so I decided to go to class. About ten minutes later I heard Chris crying in the hall (you can always identify your own child's cry). The nursery leader was bringing him to me. I hurried out to see what was wrong.

"Oh, Chris, what is the matter?" I asked
"I came to find you" He said
"But, Chris" I said "I am okay, you are suppose to be in nursery!"

Chris stopped crying and looked at me very sincerely.

"Mom", he said "You're suppose to be in the bathroom!"

Chex Chicken

I use to make this recipe for my girls when they were little. It is easy, crunchy and mmm mmmm good. It was a family favorite that fell out of favor - until Chex cereal became gluten free. Thank you Chex!

Chex Chicken

Ingredients:
Chicken
Egg
Oil
Chex Cereal, (I've used Rice Chex, Corn Chex and Honey Nut Chex)

Instructions:

1. Cut chicken breasts into two inch chunks (or so).
2. Whip the egg with a fork.
3. Dip chicken into egg and then coat with smashed Chex.
4. Heat an inch of oil in a frying pan.
5. Fry chicken for a few minutes on each side - until done
6. Drain on a papertowel

Sweet & Sour Barbeque Sauce

The thing about sauces is that some are gluten free and some are not, take soy sauce for instance. Soy sauce, despite the name is most frequently made out of wheat. There are brands whose main ingredient actually is soy, so either check your gluten free guide book or read the label carefully. You must have a bottle of gluten free soy sauce to survive this gluten free diet! Worcestershire sauce (however you say that) can also contain gluten. There are some packages that do proclaim to be gluten free. Vinegar is problematic to me, although I have read that most of it is okay, my stomach is not 100% convinced, so I personally try to stay away from "distilled vinegar" when possible. I choose red wine vinegar, cider vinegar and rice vinegar.

Sweet & Sour BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 Cup red wine vinegar
3 Tbs tomato paste
2 Tbs Soy sauce (GF)
2 Tbs Honey
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce (GF)
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Have your children measure and mix all of the ingredients together (j/k, my son was reading over my shoulder)
2. Marinate chicken or other meat in this sauce for one or more hours
3. Cook on grill or broil as desired

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I have seen this particular recipe several places, so I am not sure who to give credit to.

Probably most of you know what a spring-form pan is. I didn't so the first time I tried this recipe I made it in an angel food cake pan and the dough leaked all over my oven. A spring-form pan has sides that can be removed from the cake when it is baked. So, after the dough incident, I purchased one. It is worth the investment. Be forewarned, do not put your hand under the spring-form pan while carrying it to the oven. Just hold the sides! The second time I made this cake I had a nice mess on my floor. Persistence pays off. I made it again and it is very worthwhile. Cocoa powder serves as the flour in this recipe:

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter
8 Ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)
6 Large Eggs

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray a 9 or 10 inch springform pan with baking spray (line with parchment paper if desired)
3. Melt butter over medium heat
4. Add chocolate chips, stirring until melted
5. Set off stove and let cool to room temperature
6. Whisk together eggs and sugar
7. Add butter/chocolate mixture
8. Add cocoa powder, mix only enough to incorporate
9. Pour batter in pan (carefully transporting it to the oven while holding the sides of the pan!)
10. Bake for about 45 minutes, until tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Not low-fat, but worth the calories!

Slow-Cooked Stuffed Peppers

This recipe was in the January 13, 2010 Life section of the Deseret News. Since it didn't have any gluten ingredients I gave it a try. I used green rather than red peppers, because they were less expensive. It was good and I will definitely make it again.

Slow-Cooked Stuffed Peppers

4 large sweet red peppers (or any color you want)
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Jack Cheese (I used colby jack)
3/4 cup salsa (make sure it is a GF brand)
1 small onion chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/3 cup uncooked long grain rice (none of that minute rice stuff!)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Cilantro (optional),  I recommend chopping up 1/4 of a bunch and throwing it in

1. Cut tops of peppers, remove seeds and wash
2. In large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients
3. Fill peppers with ingredients
4. Put in crock pot and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until peppers are tender and filling is heated through

Serve with sour cream.  This made a great meal but would also be good as a side dish (1/2 a pepper a person) with something like grilled chicken or grilled Salmon.

Sauteed Broccoli - Italian Style

All fresh vegetables are gluten free --- thankfully.  It has been my experience, however that most people overcook broccoli, which makes it disgusting.  This recipe is from an Italian Cookbook, Italian Cookery by Pauline Barrese.

Sauteed Broccoli (Broccoli Saute)

1 large head broccoli
1/2 cup olive oil
1 small minced onion
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Wash broccoli
2. Cut into small spears
3. Soak in cold water with 1 tsp of salt for 15 minutes (I think this was originally to get rid of any bugs - but it also improves the flavor of the vegetable)
4. Rinse under clear water
5. Boil one inch of water in a medium pot - with 1/4 tsp of salt
6. Add broccoli - boil until almost tender (about 10 minutes - No more!)
7. Drain
8. Heat olive oil in a skillet and saute onion for 5 minutes over low heat.
9. Add broccoli and saute until lightly browned and tender
10. Sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately

Roast Turkey - Italian Style

I made this for my husband's birthday. I found the recipe in an Italian Cookbook (Italian Cookery) by Pauline Barrese. The front cover and several front pages are gone. The price on the back, for a rather large cookbook is $4.95 so I suspect the series no longer exists. Anyway, I tried out this recipe May of 2009, it was sooooo good that I prepared our Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys the same way - and will for the rest of my life...

Note: Bacon is not always gluten free and products change throughout production, so if it is GF today it doesn't mean that it still will be next year. An invaluable resource is Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping Guide (get the latest edition) by Matison & Matison.  It is published by Kal-Haven Publishing. The web address listed on the book is www.CeceliasMarketplace.com.  I didn't have the book at the time so I looked at the bacon package and bought one that said "natural" and didn't contain dextrose or additional odd flavorings.

Here's the recipe:

Tacchino Al Forno (Roast Turkey)

4 pound turkey
1 large clove of garlic - crushed
butter (I used about 1/4 cup)
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
4 strips fat bacon (GF)

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Clean the turkey.
3. Mix melted butter, thyme and garlic together and rub it on the turkey.
4. Season the inside with salt and pepper and insert a garlic.  
5. Place in a roasting pan. Arrange bacon strips over breast.
6. Roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes
7. Baste it a couple of times while it is cooking
8. Remove from oven and let sit 20 minutes before carving

Hey, I didn't say it was low fat - only that it was wonderful. The first time I made this, I just used a turkey breast. I used more ingredients for my bigger turkeys and adjusted the time according to the weight of the bird.

It's a Bird

When Sara was four she loved birds. One of her greatest desires was to catch one. To this end, Sara and her friend Kayla spent an afternoon fastening green plastic strawberry containers to the cherry tree. Then they padded the bottoms of the containers to make them warm and comfortable for any bird that claimed a pre-fab nest.

The nest project kept them entertained for hours, so I encouraged them and gladly gave them pieces of stuffing and fabric in exchange for the peace and quiet.

A week or two passed and no birds moved in. All of the containers fell out of the tree except one. Sara faithfully checked on this one, waiting for her bird.  Then one day, when I came home from work, Sara flew out of the door to meet me.

"A bird moved in! A bird moved in!" She yelled, jumping up and down.

She grabbed my hand and I excitedly followed her to the back yard. To think I had doubted! Then she showed me a rather large (chicken size) blue egg sitting in the nest. My excitement faded.

"Oh Sara," I said, "I'm sorry, that looks like a chicken egg. Someone is playing a joke on you."

"No Mom!" She protested, "Kari told me that she saw a bird in my nest and when I came out I found this."

"Did you see the bird?" I asked

"No", she said, getting a worried look on her face. "I better take it in the house and make sure it stays warm, or it won't hatch."

While Sara gathered up the egg, I went in search of her sister, Kari. Sara would not believe that the egg was a joke. Even when Kari confessed to her she refused to believe it. She wrapped the egg in fabric scraps (Kari assured me that it was hard-boiled), and kept it in a dresser drawer until it came up missing.

Kari told her the bird hatched and flew away. Sara cried.

Incidentally, Sara did catch a bird a couple years later...but that is a different story.

Phenomenal Gluten Free Flat Bread

Phenomenal Gluten Free Flat Bread

1 1/2 cups Gluten Free 9 grain flour (or substitute any GF flour)
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (1 packet)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon cider or rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons oil
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix the ingredients together.
3. Put parchment paper, grease, spray, (or whatever you like to do to make things not stick) on a large cookie sheet.
4. Spread the dough onto the cookie sheet. I coat my hands in GF flour and then use my hands to push the dough flat.
5. Bake - 11-15 minutes until it is brown

This is a nice soft bread.  When it cools you can cut it in squares, put it in sandwich bags and store it in the refrigerator. It actually works for taking sandwiches for lunch. I take the bread separate from the sandwich insides and then put it all together when I am ready to eat.

Gluten Free Flour

One of the first things about cooking gluten free is to find a decent flour substitute.  If you read the ingredients of most gluten free flour from the store it is either mostly rice flour or it contains fava beans.  While both flours have their place,  rice is gritty and bean flour has a definite "taste".  The best gluten free flour recipe I have found is in Nearly Normal Cooking for Gluten-Free Eating by Jules E.D. Shepard.  She also has many really good and practical recipes in her cookbook.

All Purpose Nearly Normal Gluten-Free Flour Mix TM

1 cup white rice flour
1 cup potato starch
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
4 tsp. xanthan gum

I've modified this recipe by adding buckwheat flour (which is naturally gluten free), adding a tablespoon or two of potato flour (I'm not sure why they sell it or who uses it for what), substituting brown rice flour for the white and leaving out the potato starch (when I couldn't find any) and putting in extra corn and rice flour instead.  All have turned out fine.

Pamela's brand makes an excellent pancake mix, which I have used in place of flour for GF baking and that has worked well.

Recently I found a 9 Grain Gluten Free Pancake Mix, by Tree Street Grains.  They have an e-mail address of treestreetgrains[at]gmail[dot]com.  I made some flat bread out of it that was phenomenal. It actually tasted similar to a whole wheat bread. It is made in Provo Utah. I bought it from Harmon's but I don't see it routinely. It contains corn, millet, rice, sorghum, teff, amaranth, buck wheat, quinoa, wild rice, flax, sugar, baking powder & salt.

To Be (clean) or Not To Be

When my daughter, Anne, was 8 years old, she quit showering or bathing. I would tell her to get cleaned up for bed and she would maybe wash her hands before putting on her pajamas. Sometimes I would hear the water running, but she would come out of the bathroom with the same layer of dirt that she went in with. Our conversations would go like this:

"Anne, Did I hear the shower?"

"Yes Mom, I turned on the shower."

"Anne, Did you get in the shower?"

"Yes Mother, you can't turn on the shower with out sticking your arm in. (Duh!)"

"Anne, Did your legs get wet?" (using the tell-me-the-truth look).

"Kind-of"

"Did you use soap?"

"I didn't see any"

"Did you wash your hair?"

"Mother, you can't wash dry hair! (Duh)"

"Get back in the bathroom right now, young lady and really take a shower - and wash your hair"

"Why?"

"Because I told you so... or else"

The last line varied according to the day:
Nurse Mom: "Because germs get on your body and can make you sick"
Mom with a sense of humor: "Because you smell like a wet cat!"
Philosophical Mom: "The universe decries it to be so."
But, most of the time it came down to: "It's just TIME to take a shower! Either get in or get thrown in!!!"

Showering/bathing became a bigger power struggle every day. Then one day I was reading a book about parenting (I had a big stack). It suggested putting the child in control. It said some things are a choice and some things are not. When possible give them a choice. Well, obviously, I felt showering was not negotiable, but on the other hand, when to shower could be. After some thought I worked out a plan. I went out and bought a calendar and some cute stickers. That evening I sat down with Anne and explained that showers/baths were not an option but which days to shower/bath could be.  The rules were that she needed to clean her body in the shower or bath 3 times a week. She needed to actually get wet and use soap. Hair washing must take place once a week.  She could do it more, but these were the minimum requirements. In exchange I would quit nagging, yelling and threatening.  I thought she took it pretty well. She hung up the calendar and admired the stickers.  Then I waited.

Sunday night I heard the shower go on. I saw a clean child emerge. She had washed her hair! I was triumphant. I went in my room and did a celebration dance.

Monday night I heard the shower go on. I saw a clean child emerge. Wow! This was over-the-top good. She must really like those stickers!

Tuesday night I heard the shower go on. I saw a clean child emerge. Was I dreaming?

Wednesday, no shower, but hey, she was already practically sparkling clean.

Thursday, no shower. I was mildly annoyed, but it was still better than she had been doing.

Friday, no shower. Hmmmm, Oh well, she wasn't really going anywhere tomorrow anyway.

Saturday, no shower.   I remembered that I promised she was in control...

Sunday no shower.

"Anne, remember our agreement?"

"Sure Mom"

"Remember it was about showering/taking a bath"

"Yeah Mom - I got it"

"But you haven't taken a shower in four days?"

"You said, three times a week right?"

"Yeah..."

"And I took one, three times last week. I took one on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  See, I put on the stickers. Aren't they cute?"

"They are adorable...   Aren't you going to take a shower tonight? Do you remember it was three times every week?"

"I know, three times every week, just like you said right Mom?"

"I did say three times a week, yes..."

"And I can choose when, right Mom?"

"Yes, but it has been four days now and...."

"And, this week I am going to choose Thursday, Friday and Saturday!"

BIG Black

Years ago when my husband, Rudy, went on a business trip to Italy a BIG black cockroach following him home. I'm convinced it stowed away in his suitcase. Rudy claimed this was an unreasonable accusation and that the roach could have come from anywhere, but the Utah cockroaches I had seen were smaller and paler in color, so I was convinced it was an Italian cockroach (with ties to the Mafia). Anyway, it was a BIG black cockroach and when I saw it I screamed (swore) and threw a shoe. Of course by the time the shoe hit Rudy, BIG black was long gone.

I went into a cleaning frenzy. I scrubbed, scoured, polished, recycled, threw away, bleached and sprayed   until there wasn't a crumb left in the entire apartment. When a couple of weeks had passed without a sign of BIG black, I started to breath again.

One evening, about a month after the cockroach event, I was relaxing in a hot shower. My girls knocked on the door and said something that I couldn't understand. They sounded pretty excited, so I stuck my head out of the shower and there he was, BIG black! I screamed (swore), threw a boar of soap, a bottle of shampoo, cream rinse and the bath poof, and there he sat, not moving one plastic muscle. My girls were in hysterics (of laughter) outside the bathroom door. They managed to clear out of the apartment pretty quick when I opened the door.

Apparently they had found a plastic fly. When they ripped the wings off it looked like BIG black, so they decided to slide it under the door and see how Mom would react.

It was pretty funny, once my adrenalin leveled off.

D.C. did it

D.C. was our cat. She went missing last summer and although we searched for her for a few days, we couldn't find her. She had never left us before in 15 years so we thought she must have died. A couple weeks after she disappeared we found her body in the garage. My son, Chris and I took care of her and had funeral services. He missed D.C. and cried himself to sleep a few times.

Yesterday we were cleaning the basement and opened the door to the garage. We noticed that the drain cover was missing and my husband wondered aloud what had happened to it.

"D.C." took it off Dad" Chris said

"But, it was screwed on" Dad said

"She must have used the screwdriver and bzzzz'd rrrpp" Chris said, making screwdriver motions.

Yup, There is no other explanation for it.

Tamales

Gluten free food can be expensive.  I mean, Amy's meals are okay but they cost four or five dollars for one serving.  I discovered early on that I couldn't afford to feed my whole family gluten free, especially since it was just me that needed the special diet. I do try to make mostly gluten free meals when I'm cooking, because - hey - I'm cooking - but when I need something quick I usually go for regular pizza for my family. Sometimes I spring for a $10.00 pizza for myself - it's a little pricey though so sometimes I just eat scrambled eggs.  Then one day while wandering down the frozen dinner aisle, I discovered Lynn Wilson Tamales. This is their ingredient list: Water, beef, cornmeal, salt, soybean or canola oil, tomato paste, chili powder (spices including chili pepper and paprika, salt, garlic powder), cumin, paprika.  It looked pretty safe from a gluten free standpoint so I tried them.  After warming them up in the microwave, I garnished them with cheese, lettuce and sour cream. They were easy to make and tasted like real food because they are real - and gluten free anyway. They cost around $5.50 for 10 - so about fifty-five cents a piece. I give them three and one-half stars.

According to the package Lynn Wilson is located in Salt Lake City, UT. I don't know how available they are in most of the U.S.  I would think you may only be able to find them out here in the West. It's probably worth looking for some brand of tamales if you can't find this particular one in your area.

Roast Chicken

When I first went on the gluten free diet, four years ago, my husband and children were a little overwhelmed by some of my newfound recipes. We ate a lot of rice. Don’t get me wrong, I like rice, I’m thankful for rice, but when you are use to what my American raised family would call “real” food (pizza, macaroni, spaghetti, sandwiches), rice is…. well, it is rice. A world staple, a grain of great significance, but rice non-the-less and eaten mostly less by Americans where wheat is the mostly more grain.

Incidentally, when I tell people that I can’t eat wheat sometimes they say things like “but, you can eat rice!”, as if this fact alone makes up for not eating spaghetti noodles and Kaiser Rolls.  But, back to my original point, one day in the middle of rice medley with egg plant crusted chicken tofu (if you’re a GF survivor, I know you’ve tasted plenty of similar yukki stuff), one of my children told me that she had been commiserating with a friend at school. He had also been put on the rice casserole diet and he was tired of it too.  He told my daughter “I don’t get it, I mean, steak is gluten free!”  Hmmmm, steak is gluten free!

So, what else is already gluten free? Roast, chicken, eggs, milk, butter, bananas, oranges, apples, peas, carrots, broccoli, peanut butter, watermelon, whipping cream, rice… I decided to start looking around for recipes that were gluten free anyway (and/or could be with a small adjustment.)  It’s my Gluten Free Anyway Cookbook project.

I found today’s recipe in the food section of the Deseret News, years ago. It’s good, doesn’t contain wheat and as an added benefit is also rice free.

Roast Chicken

Ingredients:
1 Whole Chicken
1/2 Stick butter, softened
Salt and Freshly ground pepper
1 Lemon
Fresh Thyme or Rosemary
1 Garlic clove peeled and crushed

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Smear butter all over the chicken. Place chicken in a roasting pan, season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over it. Fill the cavity of the chicken with several sprigs of herbs, the garlic and the lemon halves.

Roast chicken for 15 minutes and then baste and reduce temperature to 375. Roast 30-45 more minutes, basting occasionally. The chicken should be golden brown all over, with crisp skin. Turn off the oven and let it sit with the door ajar for 15 minutes before carving to retain the juices in the meat and make it easier to carve.

Notes about this recipe: I’ve made it a dozen times and it’s good. No complaints from the family about the chicken.  Depending on the size of the chicken it can take longer to cook.  You want to make sure that the juices run clear but you don’t want to overcook it or it will be dry.  To baste I usually just open the door and squirt some more lemon juice over it.

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