GF Baking: Holiday Edition

Readers, it was ON. The test of Chris' grandmother's recipe adapted by his mother for Christmas cookies, that is. (Got all that?)

Chris announced that this year, we were going to have a holiday cookie decorating party. I was excited - I'd heard about these parties but Chris never had one in the time I knew him. I assumed that he would do regular cookies and I would just help people decorate and we'd defumigate the kitchen from gluten after the fact - but no, Chris was determined to see if we could make yet another adaptation of the cherished family recipe, this time to make it GF.

Chris emailed his sister and took down the recipe; we set out to get shortening and enough Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Flour for the test. This one, I must say, was all in Chris' court. All I did was eat. And later, decorate.

So, the first batch was made, here are some pics:
Raw are on the right, cooked on the left.

The first batch was quite tasty; Chris decided that it needed a midge more sugar. These cookies are the icebox or refrigerator style - you make the batter the day before, chill it, then roll it out. (I was impressed he has a very fancy blue rolling pin and everything for it!) The Bob's flour turned out to work fine in this case, Chris found the dough to handle quite well. The only tweak that he made for the later batch was to add a little more sugar (we'll list the full recipe at the end).


The cookies were also kept for the decorating party. They were put in a location where I couldn't get to them and eat them all. Which was a real risk. (They are tasty and crunchy!)

Then, it was ON. It was party minus 2 days and Chris made a triple cookie batch.

Party minus one day, Chris did the epic rolling/cutting/baking. I think we ended up with 200 cookies???

Party day. Chris made the icing and broke out the jimmies, sprinkles, decorating sugar and food coloring. The piping bags were filled and made ready. The big tureen full of mulled wine was set to heat.

And then the people came. We made them decorate, and eat, and leave with cookies. We still had a lot left over, which will be dispensed at various occasions until they are gone or eaten.

It was a rousing success - definitely do it again in a future year, YAY!

Chris's Grandmother's Molasses Cookie Recipe Adapted by his Mother to be a Gingerbread Cookie Recipe, and then by Chris to be a GF Gingerbread Cookie Recipe:

Yields approx 2 dozen cookies

3/4 c. shortening
1 1/8 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses
2 1/4 c. Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Cream sugar and shortening. Add beaten egg and molasses. Mix all dry ingredients separately and whisk together; add in batches to wet ingredients. Chill overnight. (This batter will be extremely sticky and hard after chilling.) Chilling overnight is essential.

Heat oven to 350.

Remove a portion from the fridge, warm and knead in floured hands (about 1 cup at a time of batter). Roll to 1/8 " thickness on floured surface. Cut shapes as desired, using a flexible metal spatula to help move the cookies to a baking sheet (Chris had good results with using a parchment covered baking sheet).

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Cool on racks.


Frosting

1 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 egg white
1/4 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients together. Will take food coloring, cocoa, etc., good for piping.

Glaze

2 tsp fruit juice (lemon, orange)
1 c. confectioner's sugar

Mix together.

So long, Java Green

I was in the downtown area recently and decided to eat at Java Green. I ordered a wheat free curry tofu/rice noodle dish, sounds good right?? I was really disappointed. I have not had such a bad meal in a long time. The noodles were not seasoned at all, not even with salt. The tofu was the best thing about the dish, but that is not saying a lot. And the 'curry' sauce was cold and blanketed potatoes and edamame (edamame?) in an undifferentiated mess. Yuck.

I wrote an earlier blog about Java Green that was more favorably inclined...but in thinking about both meals I must say that they were not good and the price charged for the food was far out of keeping with the quality, flavor and presentation. I now advise to skip it entirely.

I won't be eating at Java Green anytime soon again. Too bad, because they bother to offer and post wheat free options...but it's just not good and too expensive!

Gf Baking: Macaroon, come home soon

I have loved almond macaroons (the non-coconut variety, thank you very much) ever since the first one I ate, way way before I had my celiac diagnosis. So this month I was eager to finally try the recipe for Almond Macaroons during the GF baking blitz that seems to be happening around the house. Plus, I finally had some good homemade Almond Paste to work with, which is a main ingredient in the recipe.

The dough is quick to put together; and it is true, a spare 12 cookies are the yield of the batter. I used up the last of my trusty parchment in the attempt. When making this again I would recommend taking the almond paste out of the fridge a few hours before you need it, as mine was a bit hard to work with from the cold.

The verdict was simple and unanimous on this one. I gave Chris a cookie as soon as they had cooled enough to remove. He ate it. He said, "more". There you go. "Best macaroon since Paris" I got. Hoo-ah!

This one's a keeper. (Again, thanks to Martha.)

Almond Macaroons

Lunch at NMAI

I recently had lunch with a friend who works on the Mall. She suggested we meet at the Mitsitam Cafe in the National Museum of the American Indian. I figured the menu to be fairly corn-centric, plus I'd heard that it was good; besides which, I'd never been. I gladly accepted.

Even though it was just before Thanksgiving, Mitsitam was still bustling. After meeting my friend, she showed me the lay of the land: there are a number of food stations, each of which features selections based on a different regional cuisine. I started looking around to get a sense of what I could safely eat. Imagine my surprise when the cafeteria marked clearly not only vegetarian items, but also which were gluten free! No way!!! I was ecstatic - and the South American counter served me up a tasty and varied meal which included yucca fries, quinoa salad, and corn cheese cakes.

Lunch was tasty and the conversation dandy. I determined to come back to this spot, and sometime soon!

Mitsitam Cafe in the National Museum of the American Indian