Product Page: http://www.schar.com/us/gluten-free-products/chocolate-hazelnut-bars/

These little beauties are my favorite travel snack. They’re Italian (of course) and taste like flakey heaven. I can’t have some of the other GF wafers out there because they use soy oil, but these make up for the lack.

It all comes down to the chocolate. The smallest flake is ambrosia.

They come in packs of three, each individually wrapped. We order them in bulk.

And then ration the precious, precious chocolate…

I just about went into shock. Very, very happy shock.

It’s been a while since these launched, but I was on goodbloghiatus, so here’s what I have to say about them.

The yellow cake is awesome. It bakes up perfectly. When the box says beat for X time, do it. The cake will come out fluffy and lovely. Same for the devils food cake. The chocolate chip cookies are good, too. Slightly cakey, rather than chewy. I can’t speak for the brownies because I’ve got some really weird mental block surrounding brownies (the last 3 batches I made were ruined by my own ineptitude).

They are priced similarly to other GF goods, and come in the same quantities. Can someone explain to me how double the flour mix makes half the finished cake product? (One box of standard cake mix makes 2 cake layers. One box of GF mix makes one layer.) And why I have to pay double for half?

Betty Crocker means GF is going mainstream. It means smaller, less adventurous supermarkets may be more willing to buy these, as they already know and contract with the brand. Hope springs eternal.

New York Times: The Expense of Eating With Celiac Disease by Lesley Alderman
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/health/15patient.html

It turns out that the money you spend on gluten free foods and ingredients is tax deductible! Health insurance may not give a damn, but the government recognizes that you can’t eat certain ’staple’ foods like bread without paying more for it.

Finally, if you itemize your tax return and your total medical expenses for the year exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income, you can write off certain expenses associated with celiac disease. You can deduct the excess cost of a gluten-free product over a comparable gluten-containing product.

Let’s say you spend $6.50 on a loaf of gluten-free bread, and a regular loaf costs $4; you can deduct $2.50. In addition, you can deduct the cost of products necessary to maintain a gluten-free diet, like xanthan gum for baking. If you mail order gluten-free products, the shipping costs may be deductible, too. If you have to travel extra miles to buy gluten-free goods, the mileage is also deductible. You’ll need a doctor’s letter to confirm your diagnosis and your need for a gluten-free diet, and you should save receipts in case of a tax audit.

Eat well and prosper!

Why Current Thinking About Autism is Completely Wrong by Mark Hyman MD
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/why-current-thinking-abou_b_275753.html

If you hadn’t heard, a gluten free diet can significantly help people with autism to regain functionality. Hyman took this as a sign that he should approach autism differently. Here, he walks through the treatment of one little boy. He ran a slew of tests and discovered that young Sam had a LOT of things wrong with him… a “leaky gut” (which is apparently common among autistic patients), bad flora growing in his gut instead of the good stuff, vitamin deficiencies, and on and on. Hyman treated those problems, and lo and behold Sam’s autism receded.

What struck me is how similar the descriptions are–autism sounds like celiac. Our bodies can’t handle certain substances. If you insist on putting them in, the body begins to react. It may even shut down. My father becomes incredibly irritable, I become depressed, and some people become autistic. Take those things away, and the body picks itself up (assuming the damage hasn’t gone too far).

Hyman’s methods deserve serious research. It just might help a lot of people–like Sam.

I think we could run a restaurant–or at least write the menu for one. So that’s where the conceit of the new title comes from.

Now hosted on my own TheWordofGit.com, I’m going to try to be more faithful about writing up what I eat and how it worked out.

To recap, I myself am unable to eat gluten, soy, egg, birch fruits (apple, pear, etc), or kiwi. (Of all the random things…)

My father is gluten free.

My aunt cannot eat large amounts of wheat or dairy, and is very allergic to nightshades (tomato, peppers, etc).

Two of my best friends are vegetarian.

You can expect notations related to all of the above, and more. (Worst horror story I’ve ever heard: someone allergic to rice.)

About the only dietary concern I don’t have time for is veganism. I have an irrational resentment toward vegans, made worse by attending school with them for three and a half years. Plus, your desserts tend to suck ass. So, sorry, vegans. Here there be meat and cheese.

Having offended, lets get going!

I was reminded of how useful these can be when I stumbled upon a new Celiac in an unlikely place: The Retro Housewife. She was diagnosed only a month or three ago, is still feeling the frustrations. So I wrote to her.

You ARE lucky to have such obvious symptoms. Mine were subtle–weight gain and clinical depression. My fantastic doctor made the connection, but all my tests were negative or inconclusive until a DNA test was done. My father has it, so it was something we were aware of; his gut also makes LOUD protestations. Do be careful with you daughter, she might have ‘hidden’ symptoms. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 18, and 4 years later I still feel like I’m ‘detoxing.’

Having two Celiacs in a house of 3 people has improved our lives. We all eat better–more home cooked meals, less garbage. We regularly enjoy stews, chili (with different combos of beans and meats), lentil soup, cottage pie (beef and mashed potato), corned beef hash, and others. Remember, there are a lot of foods out there that only need small modifications! We now use corn starch in place of flour as a thickener, and it works like a charm.

Tinkyada is the best rice pasta, bar none. Better than some of the cheaper wheat pastas. Amy’s Meals are very tasty, organic, and they have a frozen pizza that works like a charm (we add more cheese).

Baking is tricky, even worse so for me because I’m also allergic to soy and egg. (Soy is a GREAT substitute, use it if you can!) For ease, we get baking mixes from the Gluten Free Pantry, Whole Foods 365, and Pamela’s (their brownies are to die for). A lot of people swear by the books by Bette Hagman, who died recently. Her GF flours are legend. I’ve found that cupcakes last quite well, and I make them ever 1-2 weeks, often experimenting with nuts, chocolate, flavors, etc.

After seeing your frustration in this thread, I wanted to pass along the tips I’ve learned since my diagnosis. I have more energy, feel lighter, and know that I never want to go back. Call it a blessing in disguise. I had my diet limited even further by actual allergies, and I just might scream if they ever find another to add to the list. But I’ve reached a point where I’m happy, well fed, and do enjoy cooking. Eating out is often dull (Burger, no bun.) but I’m used to it now. Never write off a whole dish for one sauce–ask if they can hold it. Some places will make, say, a flourless butter sauce for shrimp scampi if you ask.

And, when all seems bleak, enjoy the Celiac’s piece de resistance: Flourless chocolate cake!

And there you have it.

There isn’t one. While most people can agree on what a glaze is, frosting and icing are essentially interchangeable even within the profession. But, since this is my blog and I like to make these things official, I’m going to give general definitions for all of these.

Glaze: A very thin topper. Can be either sweet, or savory–such as egg white used on breads and rolls to add gloss and crunch. As I’m allergic to egg that probably won’t come up much. However, sweet glazes almost certainly well. They’re typically somewhat syrupy in consistency. Consider the white, sugary glaze on some donuts and twisty pastries.
Icing: Midway between the two, not as thick as frosting. Will thicken and became somewhat hard. Like the chocolate used on donuts.

Frosting: Thick and creamy. The classic frosting. Remains fluffy. Prevalent on cakes and cupcakes.

There are, of course, umpteen more uses for, and styles of, frostings. These are just to give you a general idea of what sort of confection we’re dealing with here. They will be used in the title, if nowhere else.

Possible Allergens: Potato (mix), milk.

Modifications: Egg replacer, almond extract.

Batter Type: Wet enough not to hold a peak, sticky enough to hold swirls from a spoon or mixer.

I had one wish as I started this cake: That it not be grainy and dry. Success! It came out moist and of a good consistency–not too heavy and not too light. I considered adding a bit of lemon juice to make it a yellow cake, one of my favorites, but my mother suggested almond. Divine.

I hadn't planned the icing ahead of time. After choosing chocolate I had a wealth of recipes to choose from, and ultimately went with one that was in our recipe drawer. This icing involves melting & boiling on a stove, but it isn't very work intensive. Throw in all the ingredients and heat.

Definately a winner.

Ideal: For tea time! Would also be a great birthday cake with classic frosting. The icing is a great presentation tool as it drips and swirls nicely.

White Cake
(These directions are all on the back of the packet under "For Cake you'll need…")

Preheat oven to 350F and grease pan. The packet calls for an 8-inch or 9-inch round pan. Just one. Ours are fairly shallow (Inch and a half max) so I cooked this in our springform pan, which is much deeper, and it came out fine. Not sure if it makes enough batter to work in two pans, but it might. I would definately check on it sooner than the recommended time if you do that.

Soften butter and beat with mixer until smooth. I'm a bit of an idiot when it comes to softening butter in the microwave, but it turned out well regardless. The butter was mostly melted, but after adding the mix it did was butter and sugar is supposed to do: it formed balls. So, add the mix and use beater to mix thoroughly until all powderyness is gone.
Add egg (replacer) and vanilla. The egg replacer works really well–it turned to batter almost immediately!

Add milk or water and beat for smoothness. I then made the decision to add about 3/4 tsp of almond extract. Entirely optional, but I loved it.
Place in pan and bake. Test for done-ness with the classic "stick a knife/point in and see if it comes out clean" method. I always set my timer some 5-10 minutes early but this was done around when they said it would be.

Allow to cool, and enjoy!

When removing it from the springform the ring came off smoothly but the bottom was still very moist. It did tip out alright but I was slow getting it onto the plate and it began to split. As I've used the same methods with umpteen other cakes that have been more lenient, I feel it bears mentioning. Be swift, be prepared. And remember that icing covers a multitude of sins…

Icing

I chose this for its relative simplicity. Other recipes at this site call for flour (?!) and a bunch of other things you shouldn't need. The url is http://www.justchocolaterecipes.com/cho-0045467.html

Just in case the site is down:

Combine ingredients and cook over low heat and stir. Ie, allow chocolate, butter, and sugar to melt.

Bring to a full rolling boil and time 1 minute. This was harder than it sounded. I didn't want to burn my sugar but I was using the smallest ring on our stove. Use your own judgment.

Place in pan of cold water to cool. …I hadn't prepared this ahead of time and I am a great fool. I put it into a bowl and but that in the freezer for maybe 20 minutes, rotating it once. Reduced the overall temperature marginally.

Beat with a mixer until gloss is lost. I couldn't get it to do this. Instead it was sort of syrupy. Not such a bad thing, actually.

I used a large serving spoon to drizzle the icing artfully across the top of the cake. It looked magnificent, but it was too drippy to use extensively or to frost the sides with. That left me with half a bowl of this stuff now sitting in the fridge. If this had been a 2-tier cake it probably wouldn't be a problem, but keep that in mind.

This icing definately stiffens as it cools, so I poked some holes in the top, put big blobs over the holes in hopes that they would sink in, and then used a knife to smooth the icing across the top. That worked very well.

When cooled, it stops being syrupy and is almost grainy. It still tastes wonderful and is like a dry frosting.

So, the cake I will repeat again. The icing will be for certain occasions where presentation is an issue. It would be nice at a tea party, perhaps with nuts sprinkled across the top. Mmmm…

Then again, I can't carve a chicken or bake our GF bread even though he's shown me both some 3 times each.