Gluten Free Baking Insanity

Summer of 2009 will go down in my own personal history as the Summer of Gluten Free Baking.

There was the first inspiration, the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich filled with Chocolate Ganache.


Then there came the Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookie filled with Vanilla Cream.


A sweeping runway of Oatmeal Cookies.


And the Lucy-approved Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Wouldn't it be cool if you could taste these treats yourself? That's the plan, friends, that's the plan.

Child Denied Coverage: Celiac Considered Pre-Existing Condition

http://www.celiac.com/articles/21906/1/Celiac-Disease-Pre-Existing-Firm-Cancels-Health-Insurance-for-Girl-17/Page1.html

For your edification only...

It is not my intention to enter into the fray of the quite heated health care debate, but I found this article resonated strongly with me since I experienced a denial of health care coverage a few years back due to the Celiac diagnosis.

I guess this officially means that awareness for Celiac is on the rise if the insurance companies are denying people coverage for it.

Thanks Celiac.com for the above article.

Me No Likey

I'm upset. I spent $9 at Hows on a GF product called Gluten Free & Fabulous Sweet Savory Bites that looked so good in the package, I couldn't NOT blow the nine bucks to have it. It has the word "FABULOUS" in the title! How enticing!! When I got home, these Sweet Savory Bites tasted awful. They were the opposite of fabulous, and I was pissed. I took a risk calculated on impulse spending, and it most certainly did not pay off. This is not the first time I've blown lots of money on a tempting-looking gluten free product, and it sure won't be the last.

There were the god-awful frozen dinners from Glutino. Glutino is a company whose products are usually great, but I bought all four varieties of the chicken dinners stocked at my local Whole Foods and had to throw each one in the garbage after a few bites. Each one was more inedible than the next. Don't bait and switch me like that, Glutino! I'm a already fan, but then you break the trust you've worked so hard to establish with me.

How is it that it's acceptable for bad tasting gluten free foods to hit the market? Don't these food companies employ taste testers to tell them, "Sorry, but this product tastes like ass. And if I had to spend money on this product once and be as disappointed as I am right now, I might not ever want to buy your company's products. Ever again."

I know, I know, I should be thrilled that I can even get Gluten Free foods at a chain store. Even 7 years ago when I was diagnosed with Celiac, the choices were a mere fraction of what we have today. But this is a call to action. We GF types like to eat your delicious processed foods, and we're willing to spend our hard earned money on them. But can you food manufacturers promise from this point forward to put only the best products possible out there in the marketplace?

I promise I will buy them if you promise you will make them.

What Would Julia Do?

Bought this card yesterday from Sur La Table. You can also order them directly from Cara Scissoria. I love it so much, I may frame it instead of sending it.

Those flaming, fiery roasts in the pic look very similar to the Red Velvet Disaster I had two days ago. Will post the Red Velvet Redux success story subsequently...

Oh, and do yourself a favor and go see Julie and Julia, why don't you?

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For the peeps who've been asking...

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Now that Whole Foods has a cute l'il freezer chock full of gluten free products, I drop alotta cash. One purchase recently were their individual pizza crusts. They were a little dry, but for someone who rarely has pizza, it was a delicious treat.

I caramelized an onion, threw on some BBQ sauce and pieces of rotisserie chicken, and sprinkled some cheese. Then I save that rotisserie carcass for some stock-makin'.

Eat some pizza, peoples.

Rotisserie-Chicken Chicken-Stock

In the interest of using everything in the kitchen possible to maximize grocery purchases, I've been experimenting with making my own homemade chicken stock. Using the carcass of a delicious Whole Foods rotisserie chicken plus whatever veggies and herbs I have on hand, this homemade chicken stock tastes so fantastic, I don't think I can go back to the canned or boxed store-bought stocks. Make your stock on a Sunday morning. It takes about 3 hours. Let it cool, and keep in the freezer in whatever portions you want to use during the week. So crafty!

Homemade Rotisserie-Chicken Chicken-Stock

1 rotisserie chicken carcass
8 baby carrots
2 celery stalks
1 medium onion quartered (you can leave the skin on if you'd like-experiment!)
1 bay leaf
1 bouquet garni of whatever herbs are on hand, I use oregano, thyme, and sage
2 tsps of salt
1 tsp fresh pepper
Enough water to cover the entire chicken in a large stock pot

You can put in any herb or veggie you like: mushrooms, fennel, leeks, parsnips, garlic, shallots, or whatever you have on hand that you'd like to try.

Place all ingredients in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, then turn down and let simmer 2-3 hours. Drain through a colander, and let cool for a 1/2 hour. Pour stock through a strainer to remove remaining debris into tupperware to freeze.

DONE!