Hot cocoa isn't something one should agonize over. Yet, every year around this time, hot cocoa becomes a thorn in my side. Is this brand gluten free? How about that brand? What about that flavor? The artwork on the package has changed - has the formula also changed? Do I have time to call the manufacturer to play a game of 20 questions? (The answer to that last one is NO!)
Hot cocoa should be easy.
So, now I make it myself. Every ingredient in this recipe is a staple in our house. As an added bonus, I can pronounce and identify all the ingredients! Like most scratch versions of convenience products, this tastes miles better than any mix. I will NEVER go back to those little packets.
Hot Cocoa
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup dry milk
splash of extract if desired
hot water
Mix the dry ingredients in your mug. Add a cup or so of hot water. Stir. Add extract. Drink.
You can, of course, leave out the dry milk and substitute hot milk for the water. Hot soy, almond, rice, or any other kind of milk would work here, too.
Showing posts with label GF tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GF tips. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Bachelor Buttons
My grandmother was a master cookie baker.
Every time we visited, she would have a spread of 5 or 6 different cookies from which to choose. As I got older and moved out on my own, she would occasionally send me shoeboxes of cookies. I always shared with my roommates and, later, with Tim, but there was always one type of cookie in the box that I would immediately separate out and hide.
Eventually I got around to asking Grandma for the recipe. She sent it to me handwritten on an index card. In shaky handwriting she had written, "Here is my recipe for Bachelor Buttons. It's so putzy I usually double the recipe."
Bachelor Buttons have been at the top of my list for a gluten free conversion. I have waited, though, because the thought of those cookies failing and running all over the baking pan in a molten, smokey mess was too sad.
Last week I took a chance and tried them. Oh my. They did not run all over the oven. We did not have to call the fire department. They did not fail. In fact, I think its quite possible I achieved cookie nirvana:
Here is the recipe.
Note: I am not using a specific flour mix. I have mixed together gluten free flours (such as sorghum, rice, teff, millet, etc, etc, etc) with gluten free starches (corn, potato, tapioca) at a ratio of 70% flour / 30% starch BY WEIGHT. This is VERY IMPORTANT. When I mix up my flour mix, I use my digital scale. I measure out 700 grams of flour (very haphazardly, just based on what I've got around.) and then 300 grams of starch. Mix it all together until it is a uniform color and consistency, and, voila, you have flour!
Okay. NOW here is the recipe!
Grandma's Bachelor Buttons (gluten free!)
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-5/8 oz (approx 1/2 cup) almond flour
11-1/2 oz flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum (or use 1 tea xanthan and 1 tea guar gum)
Finely chopped nuts
Something to put in the center - frosting, jam, frosting and jam....
Preheat the oven to 325.
Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg YOLKS, vanilla, and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, flour, and xanthan gum. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until it looks like cookie dough.
Chill for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, allow the reserved egg whites to come to room temperature.
Roll the dough into balls. I made mine walnut size, which made GIANT cookies. No one complained (haha), but if you want reasonable sized cookies, a heaping teaspoon full is probably the way to go.
Beat the egg whites with a fork until they are frothy. Dip the dough balls in egg white, then roll in finely chopped nuts. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Stick your finger in the center of each cookie to make an indentation.
Bake for 10 - 15 minutes. This will vary based on how big you make the cookies. Mine took 15 minutes. They are done when they are a pale golden color.
Remove from oven, and, while hot, take a teaspoon and push down the center of each cookie.
Allow to cool, then fill with whatever your heart desires. Grandma used buttercream. I put peach butter that I canned last July on the bottom and covered it with cinnamon buttercream.
Cinnamon Buttercream
1/2 stick butter
2 ish cups powdered sugar
a splash of milk
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Combine everything, adding more milk as needed.
This recipe makes enough that there is no need to hide them. Go ahead and share.
Every time we visited, she would have a spread of 5 or 6 different cookies from which to choose. As I got older and moved out on my own, she would occasionally send me shoeboxes of cookies. I always shared with my roommates and, later, with Tim, but there was always one type of cookie in the box that I would immediately separate out and hide.
Eventually I got around to asking Grandma for the recipe. She sent it to me handwritten on an index card. In shaky handwriting she had written, "Here is my recipe for Bachelor Buttons. It's so putzy I usually double the recipe."
Bachelor Buttons have been at the top of my list for a gluten free conversion. I have waited, though, because the thought of those cookies failing and running all over the baking pan in a molten, smokey mess was too sad.
Last week I took a chance and tried them. Oh my. They did not run all over the oven. We did not have to call the fire department. They did not fail. In fact, I think its quite possible I achieved cookie nirvana:
Here is the recipe.
Note: I am not using a specific flour mix. I have mixed together gluten free flours (such as sorghum, rice, teff, millet, etc, etc, etc) with gluten free starches (corn, potato, tapioca) at a ratio of 70% flour / 30% starch BY WEIGHT. This is VERY IMPORTANT. When I mix up my flour mix, I use my digital scale. I measure out 700 grams of flour (very haphazardly, just based on what I've got around.) and then 300 grams of starch. Mix it all together until it is a uniform color and consistency, and, voila, you have flour!
Okay. NOW here is the recipe!
Grandma's Bachelor Buttons (gluten free!)
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-5/8 oz (approx 1/2 cup) almond flour
11-1/2 oz flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum (or use 1 tea xanthan and 1 tea guar gum)
Finely chopped nuts
Something to put in the center - frosting, jam, frosting and jam....
Preheat the oven to 325.
Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg YOLKS, vanilla, and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, flour, and xanthan gum. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until it looks like cookie dough.
Chill for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, allow the reserved egg whites to come to room temperature.
Roll the dough into balls. I made mine walnut size, which made GIANT cookies. No one complained (haha), but if you want reasonable sized cookies, a heaping teaspoon full is probably the way to go.
Beat the egg whites with a fork until they are frothy. Dip the dough balls in egg white, then roll in finely chopped nuts. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Stick your finger in the center of each cookie to make an indentation.
Bake for 10 - 15 minutes. This will vary based on how big you make the cookies. Mine took 15 minutes. They are done when they are a pale golden color.
Remove from oven, and, while hot, take a teaspoon and push down the center of each cookie.
Allow to cool, then fill with whatever your heart desires. Grandma used buttercream. I put peach butter that I canned last July on the bottom and covered it with cinnamon buttercream.
Cinnamon Buttercream
1/2 stick butter
2 ish cups powdered sugar
a splash of milk
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Combine everything, adding more milk as needed.
This recipe makes enough that there is no need to hide them. Go ahead and share.
Friday, May 29, 2009
The Gluten Free Guest
WG is entering the age of the Birthday Party. Parties are magical and intriguing things to her right now. She has been planning her own party since February. She wants a strawberry cake with green, yellow, and chocolate frosting. Hmmmm...
Parties present a challenge when you must eat gluten free. WG understands that she eats differently than other people and she is okay with that for now (knock on wood!). It is important to us that she be able to take part in social events and we don't want her to feel out of place because of her food. We are used to packing our own food by now. When there is a party I try to find out the menu ahead of time so that I can try to come up with something similar for WG to take. She loves rice cakes with peanut butter but that would not be an acceptable alternative when the other guests are eating pepperoni pizza.
We never expect the host to accommodate her dietary restrictions. It's touching when they do, but we never assume that there will be something safe for her to eat. We always pack our own.
The rule of offering something better definately applies here, too. Party food should be appealing to the child who has to eat it.
It should also be appealing to their friends who don't have to eat it.
Think about it. If you send food that looks and smells weird to the other kids they will tell your child and your child will be more likely to reject what you've sent and try to cheat. If you send something with real appeal, like a cupcake with a ton of swirly frosting and M&M's, suddenly your child has a hot commodity and eating gluten free just got a little bit more desirable.
This rule applies to your own child's birthday party, too. An ice-cream sundae bar with all sorts of toppings or an ice cream "cake" (without the cake) are safer choices than a gluten free cake. Even if everyone you know LOVES your GF cake, it only takes one young guest to declare it weird for things to go downhill fast. Save the cake for the family celebration.
Parties present a challenge when you must eat gluten free. WG understands that she eats differently than other people and she is okay with that for now (knock on wood!). It is important to us that she be able to take part in social events and we don't want her to feel out of place because of her food. We are used to packing our own food by now. When there is a party I try to find out the menu ahead of time so that I can try to come up with something similar for WG to take. She loves rice cakes with peanut butter but that would not be an acceptable alternative when the other guests are eating pepperoni pizza.
We never expect the host to accommodate her dietary restrictions. It's touching when they do, but we never assume that there will be something safe for her to eat. We always pack our own.
The rule of offering something better definately applies here, too. Party food should be appealing to the child who has to eat it.
It should also be appealing to their friends who don't have to eat it.
Think about it. If you send food that looks and smells weird to the other kids they will tell your child and your child will be more likely to reject what you've sent and try to cheat. If you send something with real appeal, like a cupcake with a ton of swirly frosting and M&M's, suddenly your child has a hot commodity and eating gluten free just got a little bit more desirable.
This rule applies to your own child's birthday party, too. An ice-cream sundae bar with all sorts of toppings or an ice cream "cake" (without the cake) are safer choices than a gluten free cake. Even if everyone you know LOVES your GF cake, it only takes one young guest to declare it weird for things to go downhill fast. Save the cake for the family celebration.
DIY Gluten Free Trial
Whoa... This is post #101! And I'm warning you, it's a long one. I've had a few people ask me about doing a gluten free trial. This is an email I have sent to a few friends and I decided to post it here for easy reference.
First off, If you suspect that you or your child have Celiac Disease, it is important to be tested while you are still eating gluten. The blood test used in the first phase of diagnosing Celiac Disease is not effective once you stop eating gluten.
Always remember to check ingredients for yourself because brands change their formulations quite often.
Gluten is in wheat, rye, barley, malt, and some oats. I think the easiest way to do a GF trial without experiencing grocery bloat is to try to eat mostly "normal" food that also happens to be GF. The more you can stick with single ingredient foods, the better.
Some brands say "Gluten Free" right on the label. More and more grocery stores are labeling items on the shelf as gluten free. A few (Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are two) list all their gluten free products on their website. Also, I am not a huge fan of Walmart, but they label their store brand items when they are gluten free.
Random "Okay" foods:
All fruits in their natural state
All veggies in their natural state (be wary of seasoned veggies)
Milk
Most cheese and yogurt (Yoplait is labeled gluten free)
Hormel Pepperoni (also labeled gluten free)
"real" meat like chicken breasts, ground chuck, etc. (Be wary of lunchmeat and hotdogs. Unless you can verify with the manufacturer that they are GF, assume they have gluten.)
Corn tortillas
Rice cakes, including most of the flavored ones (check for "contains wheat")
Rice Chex cereal
Corn Chex cereal (newly gluten free. Check the box because some stores are still selling off their old stock.)
All varieties of plain, unseasoned rice
The main things to look out for on labels are: wheat, rye, oats, barley, malt, modified food starch where the starch isn't clearly identified, "spice", and "flavorings." Manufacturers are required to clearly ID the "big 8" food allergens, so wheat is pretty easy to ID.
Here are some meal ideas that use regular food:
Breakfast: Rice chex, yogurt, cheese, fruit, eggs, plain oatmeal with various additions (WG can tolerate the plain oats in a canister but not the flavored packets. Bob's Red Mill makes certified GF oats.), fruit with peanut butter, cottage cheese, dinner leftovers, crustless pumpkin pie, grits, smoothies.
Lunch: quesadillas on corn tortillas, baked beans (check the label carefully), nachos (corn chips, refried beans, whatever veggies I have to throw on, and cheese), peanut butter on rice cakes, peanut butter on fruit, any of the breakfast options, dinner leftovers, lettuce wraps, stir-fried whatever (watch the soy sauce. Use La Choi or wheat free tamari).
Snacks: rice cakes, fruit, cottage cheese, cut up veggies with ranch dressing (check the label), trail mix with rice chex, raisins, nuts and a few chocolate chips, yogurt, deviled eggs, jello, pudding, hummus and veggies or rice crackers.
Junk food: cool ranch doritos, nacho cheese doritos are newly GF (check the label for barley), cheetos, fritos, plain potato chips, some varieties of flavored potato chips, some varieties of microwave popcorn, McDonald's french fries (they generally have a dedicated FF fryer. Other places fry their chicken nuggets with the fries.), McDonalds cheeseburger without the bun, some ice cream, snickers bars, hershey kisses, skittles, 3 musketeers, M&M's.... There's a lot more. It's scary how much junk you can still eat!
Dinner: This is the easiest meal for me because it doesn't traditionally center around wheat. Watch out for "cream of" soups and soy sauce (La Choy is GF). Also, full fat dairy is a safer bet than reduced fat or fat free dairy. Potatoes are a good stand-in for a lot of things. You can make pizza potatoes with baked potatoes, pepperoni, sauce, and cheese. Things that normally go on noodles can usually go on rice, too. Cornbread made from scratch with only cornmeal is also good, and makes a good breakfast / lunch food, too. I use Pamela's Baking Mix for most of my flour needs. It's $$$ but worth it.
Here are a few GF blogs. The first is that crockpot lady I've posted about on the board. Her daughter has celiac, so even though it's not specifically a GF blog all the recipes are GF. The second I just found, but it seems like she is also cooking for someone who cannot eat gluten. The third is where I go when I want a great baking recipe. I'm not a huge fan of Better Batter Flour, but I'm slowly warming up to it.
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
http://www.5dollardinners.com/
http://www.glutenfreeonashoestring.com
We saw results with WG in about a week. Her behavior started to improve almost immediately. She still tantrumed, but it was more reasonable. On gluten she would melt down several times within the course of an hour and off gluten she was able to hold herself together much easier. Our first clue now that she's been glutened is that she starts going nuts. The physical symptoms come a day or so later.
If you decide to do a GF trial, I'd make a special place in the cabinet / fridge for all the GF food, "regular" or not. Mark it somehow, a big red GF or something, so that you know no one will make a mistake. It's up to you if the whole family goes GF or not. If Tim and I could eat gluten, I think I'd probably make sure our dinners were GF and not worry too much about breakfast and lunch.
If you decide to just take one child off gluten, make sure you have some junk / treats around that are GF. Think of how sad you would be to see all your siblings having a cookie while you ate an apple. Having something better is key to compliance. I think we were so successful transitioning WG to the GF diet because I made sure to buy junk food every time I went to the store for the first few months. Giving up goldfish crackers and cookies is not so bad when you get to have cheetos and snickers mini's! My strategy was to substitute something better and then gradually cut the junk out altogether.
Udi's GF bread is the only GF bread worth buying IMO. It holds together for a sandwich, smells, looks, and tastes normal. You can find it at Trader Joe's and also at some regular grocery stores in the frozen section. You can also make sandwiches on rice cakes.
I hope this is helpful. Going GF is tough, but you get the hang of it. It's not a cure-all for everyone or every ailment, but you don't have anything to lose by trying.
First off, If you suspect that you or your child have Celiac Disease, it is important to be tested while you are still eating gluten. The blood test used in the first phase of diagnosing Celiac Disease is not effective once you stop eating gluten.
Always remember to check ingredients for yourself because brands change their formulations quite often.
Gluten is in wheat, rye, barley, malt, and some oats. I think the easiest way to do a GF trial without experiencing grocery bloat is to try to eat mostly "normal" food that also happens to be GF. The more you can stick with single ingredient foods, the better.
Some brands say "Gluten Free" right on the label. More and more grocery stores are labeling items on the shelf as gluten free. A few (Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are two) list all their gluten free products on their website. Also, I am not a huge fan of Walmart, but they label their store brand items when they are gluten free.
Random "Okay" foods:
All fruits in their natural state
All veggies in their natural state (be wary of seasoned veggies)
Milk
Most cheese and yogurt (Yoplait is labeled gluten free)
Hormel Pepperoni (also labeled gluten free)
"real" meat like chicken breasts, ground chuck, etc. (Be wary of lunchmeat and hotdogs. Unless you can verify with the manufacturer that they are GF, assume they have gluten.)
Corn tortillas
Rice cakes, including most of the flavored ones (check for "contains wheat")
Rice Chex cereal
Corn Chex cereal (newly gluten free. Check the box because some stores are still selling off their old stock.)
All varieties of plain, unseasoned rice
The main things to look out for on labels are: wheat, rye, oats, barley, malt, modified food starch where the starch isn't clearly identified, "spice", and "flavorings." Manufacturers are required to clearly ID the "big 8" food allergens, so wheat is pretty easy to ID.
Here are some meal ideas that use regular food:
Breakfast: Rice chex, yogurt, cheese, fruit, eggs, plain oatmeal with various additions (WG can tolerate the plain oats in a canister but not the flavored packets. Bob's Red Mill makes certified GF oats.), fruit with peanut butter, cottage cheese, dinner leftovers, crustless pumpkin pie, grits, smoothies.
Lunch: quesadillas on corn tortillas, baked beans (check the label carefully), nachos (corn chips, refried beans, whatever veggies I have to throw on, and cheese), peanut butter on rice cakes, peanut butter on fruit, any of the breakfast options, dinner leftovers, lettuce wraps, stir-fried whatever (watch the soy sauce. Use La Choi or wheat free tamari).
Snacks: rice cakes, fruit, cottage cheese, cut up veggies with ranch dressing (check the label), trail mix with rice chex, raisins, nuts and a few chocolate chips, yogurt, deviled eggs, jello, pudding, hummus and veggies or rice crackers.
Junk food: cool ranch doritos, nacho cheese doritos are newly GF (check the label for barley), cheetos, fritos, plain potato chips, some varieties of flavored potato chips, some varieties of microwave popcorn, McDonald's french fries (they generally have a dedicated FF fryer. Other places fry their chicken nuggets with the fries.), McDonalds cheeseburger without the bun, some ice cream, snickers bars, hershey kisses, skittles, 3 musketeers, M&M's.... There's a lot more. It's scary how much junk you can still eat!
Dinner: This is the easiest meal for me because it doesn't traditionally center around wheat. Watch out for "cream of" soups and soy sauce (La Choy is GF). Also, full fat dairy is a safer bet than reduced fat or fat free dairy. Potatoes are a good stand-in for a lot of things. You can make pizza potatoes with baked potatoes, pepperoni, sauce, and cheese. Things that normally go on noodles can usually go on rice, too. Cornbread made from scratch with only cornmeal is also good, and makes a good breakfast / lunch food, too. I use Pamela's Baking Mix for most of my flour needs. It's $$$ but worth it.
Here are a few GF blogs. The first is that crockpot lady I've posted about on the board. Her daughter has celiac, so even though it's not specifically a GF blog all the recipes are GF. The second I just found, but it seems like she is also cooking for someone who cannot eat gluten. The third is where I go when I want a great baking recipe. I'm not a huge fan of Better Batter Flour, but I'm slowly warming up to it.
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
http://www.5dollardinners.com/
http://www.glutenfreeonashoestring.com
We saw results with WG in about a week. Her behavior started to improve almost immediately. She still tantrumed, but it was more reasonable. On gluten she would melt down several times within the course of an hour and off gluten she was able to hold herself together much easier. Our first clue now that she's been glutened is that she starts going nuts. The physical symptoms come a day or so later.
If you decide to do a GF trial, I'd make a special place in the cabinet / fridge for all the GF food, "regular" or not. Mark it somehow, a big red GF or something, so that you know no one will make a mistake. It's up to you if the whole family goes GF or not. If Tim and I could eat gluten, I think I'd probably make sure our dinners were GF and not worry too much about breakfast and lunch.
If you decide to just take one child off gluten, make sure you have some junk / treats around that are GF. Think of how sad you would be to see all your siblings having a cookie while you ate an apple. Having something better is key to compliance. I think we were so successful transitioning WG to the GF diet because I made sure to buy junk food every time I went to the store for the first few months. Giving up goldfish crackers and cookies is not so bad when you get to have cheetos and snickers mini's! My strategy was to substitute something better and then gradually cut the junk out altogether.
Udi's GF bread is the only GF bread worth buying IMO. It holds together for a sandwich, smells, looks, and tastes normal. You can find it at Trader Joe's and also at some regular grocery stores in the frozen section. You can also make sandwiches on rice cakes.
I hope this is helpful. Going GF is tough, but you get the hang of it. It's not a cure-all for everyone or every ailment, but you don't have anything to lose by trying.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
GF news
I'll post a WG update and some pics later today. I promise!
I wanted to pop on quickly to let you all know of some GF news.
The Good:
If you don't know already, Chex has reformulated Rice Chex to be GF! (YIPPEE!!!) Some stores are stocking the old formula until they run out, so check the label for malt.
The Bad:
Campbells has changed some formulas so that things that were GF are no longer GF. (Boo hiss!!!) NO Pace or Prego products are GF. (This would explain the sore in WG's mouth. I have a bottle of Pace sitting in my fridge right now. Grrr.) Also now on the forbidden list are Swanson's Lower sodium Beef broth, Ready to serve beef broth, and all organic broths.
It's a reminder that being vigilent and reading labels is still important even when the GF diet has become easy.
I wanted to pop on quickly to let you all know of some GF news.
The Good:
If you don't know already, Chex has reformulated Rice Chex to be GF! (YIPPEE!!!) Some stores are stocking the old formula until they run out, so check the label for malt.
The Bad:
Campbells has changed some formulas so that things that were GF are no longer GF. (Boo hiss!!!) NO Pace or Prego products are GF. (This would explain the sore in WG's mouth. I have a bottle of Pace sitting in my fridge right now. Grrr.) Also now on the forbidden list are Swanson's Lower sodium Beef broth, Ready to serve beef broth, and all organic broths.
It's a reminder that being vigilent and reading labels is still important even when the GF diet has become easy.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Baking day
I'm baking today because WG is sick of corn tortillas and turkey wrapped around cheese. She wants bread, cookies and muffins. I have recently learned a couple handy things regarding GF baking, so I thought I'd pass my secrets on.
* When you are developing your own GF recipes or converting "regular" recipes, ALWAYS bake a single test cookie / muffin / cupcake / whatever before you bake a whole panful. This is important even if you are using a pre-made mix that claims to replace wheat flour cup for cup. This allows you to do some tweaking of the batter if things go wrong without having to throw away a whole panful.
* Sometimes allowing your batter to rest is a good idea because it lets the xanthan gum start to tighten things up. The flip side of this is that if you are using flour to make gravy or a white sauce, it is best to use a plain mix without xanthan gum. The xanthan gum makes gummy gravy that just gets thicker and thicker. Ick.
* It's well-known that you can freeze unbaked cookie dough balls. This works for GF, too. You can also freeze unbaked muffin and cupcake batter. Put the batter in the muffin papers and freeze. When you are ready to bake, use the same oven temperature but they might need an extra 3-7 minutes. I know you could just bake them all and then freeze them. I like fresh-from-the-oven much better than defrosted / reheated.
* Nut flour / meal is the key to really really good GF baked goods that are very close in taste and texture to their wheaty counterparts. I haven't tried extra finely ground rice flour yet but I've heard that helps, too.
The November '08 issue of Cooking Light has a recipe for pecan pie that uses oats to make the crust instead of flour. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks promising. Oat pie crust
I'm deciding on our Thanksgiving menu. I'll post it when I have it all figured out. It *is* possible to have a mostly traditional, absolutely delicious GF Thanksgiving!
* When you are developing your own GF recipes or converting "regular" recipes, ALWAYS bake a single test cookie / muffin / cupcake / whatever before you bake a whole panful. This is important even if you are using a pre-made mix that claims to replace wheat flour cup for cup. This allows you to do some tweaking of the batter if things go wrong without having to throw away a whole panful.
* Sometimes allowing your batter to rest is a good idea because it lets the xanthan gum start to tighten things up. The flip side of this is that if you are using flour to make gravy or a white sauce, it is best to use a plain mix without xanthan gum. The xanthan gum makes gummy gravy that just gets thicker and thicker. Ick.
* It's well-known that you can freeze unbaked cookie dough balls. This works for GF, too. You can also freeze unbaked muffin and cupcake batter. Put the batter in the muffin papers and freeze. When you are ready to bake, use the same oven temperature but they might need an extra 3-7 minutes. I know you could just bake them all and then freeze them. I like fresh-from-the-oven much better than defrosted / reheated.
* Nut flour / meal is the key to really really good GF baked goods that are very close in taste and texture to their wheaty counterparts. I haven't tried extra finely ground rice flour yet but I've heard that helps, too.
The November '08 issue of Cooking Light has a recipe for pecan pie that uses oats to make the crust instead of flour. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks promising. Oat pie crust
I'm deciding on our Thanksgiving menu. I'll post it when I have it all figured out. It *is* possible to have a mostly traditional, absolutely delicious GF Thanksgiving!
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