recipes from mom

chocolate chip cookies
21/4 cups gluten free general purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
blend and set aside.
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tsp ener-g egg replacer plus 4 tablespoons warm water
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
cream butter, sugars, and vanilla. add eggs ( or egg recplacer) one at a time beating well after each addition.
gradually add dry ingredients. stir in chocolate chips.
chill the dough before baking the cookies.
bake at 3500 for 10- 12 minutes. when cool remove from pan.

chocolate chip banana bread
1 ¾ cups all purpose gluten free flour.
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum
combine all ingredients and set aside.
11/2 cups sugar
½ cup applesauce
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
3 tsp ener-g egg replacer plus 4 tablespoons warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ripe bananas
beat oil and sugar. add milk, eggs (egg replacer), and vanilla; beating well after each addition.
add mashed bananas and stir. add dry ingredients and chocolate chips. stir gently.
spoon into a greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch pan.
bake at 3250 for 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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home-style cooking

since few do it better than mom, i made a trip home recently to enjoy the cooking and company of home. and my mom rose to the challenge. i was greeted with freshly-baked cookies and banana bread, spoiled with homemade belgian waffles for breakfast, and pleasantly surprised by a pizza dinner, of course with a side of vegetables (she is my mom after all). and she outdid herself this time. what a temptation—my parents live among nature, nestled away in the valley of the white mountains of nh, surrounded by lush landscape and friendly neighbors. i spent my time with friends and family on lake winnepisake, and walking around the white mountain valley, along the saco river, a welcome retreat from the city. going home never seemed so inviting… and then she brought out the food. yum!

admittedly, i called home on a whim while i was walking down the washington street in hoboken after work one day, which was crowded by the rush hour madness. since it is summer, restaurants are packed with outside diners, trying to soak in the last of the sun and warmth of the season, and markets flaunt their produce outside on displays, so both your sense of smell and site are equally as stimulated. it was during one of these walks home that influenced the phone call home to put in a request for chocolate chip banana bread. i just had that craving. and wouldn’t you know it, i just cant seem to stroll into a store and find gf-banana bread in the baked section. my mother of course obliged.

after she presented the banana bread, moist and sweet, stuffed with semi-sweet chocolate chips, she entered the room again with a tin, decorated with a country theme, filled with soft-baked chocolate chip cookies. “try one”, she said, beaming with pride from the more-than receptive audience she had. “but, only one… they’re for later.” my cousin, who came with me for this weekend get-away, dove in also. and she was as complimentary as i was. these cookies were amazing, mrs. fields quality… they did not taste “special” as my sister’s refer to gluten-free foods. they were so sweet, buttery and soft. my mother informed me that she was going to start selling these gf treats locally—she was receiving that great of a reception. so, if anyone is interested in an online order email: glutenfreemom@gmail.com. she loves to get email.

for dinner that night we had fresh-baked pizza; this time she made pesto pizza with red peppers and broccoli. as a side we enjoyed freshly sautéed ginger vegetables. ginger is her latest ingredient. great for me because i am a huge fan of it. years of going to sushi (and forgoing the gluten-filled restaurant-style soy sauce) has made me a ginger lover.

the weekend was truly a vacation … good food, good memories and a beautiful landscape.

we left the next morning, but not before having beligum waffles with homemade blueberry and peach syrup.
i’m back in hoboken now, with my dried cereal and tea in the morning. it works. (thanks mom!)

in the news...

friends, family, and bloggers have all been so thoughtful and diligent as of late, keeping me abreast of all the gluten-free news out there. gf living is really on the rise, and has been getting nods in the media. Just wanted to post some recent articles/recipes, etc that people having been sending me. Please keep sending things my way, so that I can share it with others! Thanks everyone! (special thanks to maile and susanne ).

See below for info.

• Runner’s World Magazine posted a short response about wheat-free snacks.

• New York Times ran an excellent feature about gluten-free eating.

DINING & WINE | July 25, 2007
For the Gluten-Averse, a Menu That Works
By JENNIFER ROMOLINI

• Mothering Magazine included a great new gf recipe for crackers in their last edition.

http://www.mothering.com/sections/recipes/gluten-free-crackers.html

it’s too hot in the kitchen, so go read a book!

that’s exactly what I did. well, actually we did. jac (devourthis.com) invited me to go to a book reading in the city the other evening. so, in actuality we didn’t even read. we listened. i forget what a luxury it is to have someone read to you, especially this particular author, kimberlee auerbach, who shared excerpts from her newly-released memoir the devil, the lovers, and me: my life in tarot. as she was sharing snippets of her life, i was laughing out loud at some of her pre-teen experiences and adolescent naiveté. her book evoked as much laughter as sympathy, and beyond that a sense of understanding. i felt like many her words were actually being spoken to me, which at the time seemed like blatant messages directed at me. have you ever been in a room, or part of a conversation obviously meant to address a crowd, but for some reason truly believed that the speaker was addressing you? as if, by some freak chance, this total stranger picked up on your inner-most thoughts, arranged a public speaking engagement, invited a myriad of audience members as a sort of diversion, to “reach” you. well, for some reason, i was stuck at one of those moments again, while sitting in a crowded manhattan borders, surrounded by this first-time authors closest friends and family. i was actually one of the few who had never met this woman. but regardless i was touched by her stories, and related to her experiences, despite that she spoke of being raised by an abused mother, and shared her childhood jealousy of an ailing sibling. none of these experiences i have shared. but of course, and the end of the reading, i was somehow convinced this was about me. i am sick. how egocentric can one individual be? check out the book. she is a storyteller through and through. you might be as touched as i was.

and (to tie this so nicely back into my glutenfreeworld) i ended the night with a scrumptious, oversized gf treat. jac introduced me to an all-natural market in the village called life thyme market (lifethymemarket.com), where i was so pleased to find a bakery section of fresh-baked gf treats. giant, moist and sweet gf cookies—at least that is what i chose this fine evening. the store is in tuned to the allergy-ridden too, as my particular cookie was gluten, nut and dairy free. does it get any better than that? i started my evening by having a book read to me, and I ended it with a fresh-baked cookie. what could be more comforting than mom herself?
check out these finds!
www.kimmiland.com
lifethymemarket.com

photo: kimmiland.com