Is That Really Frosting Part 2

Merry Christmas Eve! Unfortunately Missoula is awash in a sky of dreary grey, but Christmas cheer is still filling the house and I feel blessed to spend it with the people I love.

I thought I would share my photos of my frosted sugar cookies. Be prepared, they aren't the happiest and definitely not the brightest cookies in the world, but they do taste wonderful and don't make me sick, so that is all the matters in my book. They almost taste like a shortbread cookie, very moist and buttery, and I am still so amazed at how well their shapes held up. 

Joyeux Noel! 

Is That Really Frosting?

Experience tells me that vanilla frosting should be white and creamy, silky to the touch and oh so sweet. However, when frosting my Christmas sugar cookies I did not find this to be true, well except the tasting sweet part.

I used a mix of Pamela's Vanilla Frosting Mix. For whatever reason as soon as I added water to the mix, just as the recipe called for, the frosting turned the color of nude pantyhose! It was a disappointment, but it does taste good and the sprinkles I delicately shook atop each cookie help to jazz them up a bit. 

But, a batch of GF/DF Christmas cookies, despite their not so festive appearance, are better than no cookies at all! Or better than Pillsbury which would throw my stomach into convulsions for days. 

Just another lesson learned along my way, I know someday soon I will solve my frosting woes. For now I can wish myself a Merry Christmas with a few scrumptious sugar cookies, however discolored they may be.  

Sugar Cookies Part 1

So I have mixed, baked and cooled my sugar cookies, now I just have to make the icing so I can frost them! The cookies look and smell absolutely perfect and the dough was really easy to work with too. I very generously covered the counter and rolling pin with some GF Sweet Sorghum Flour from a Bob's Red Mill  flour package I had. It worked great and the dough just popped right out of the cookie cutters.

I have to thank my wonderful boyfriend for these cookies, he bought me the mix for a Christmas present and I know they are going to be delicious. I feel like a little kid again, but sometimes I think we all need to feel that way. To just bask in the baking and aroma of cookies that are prepared with love and care. I know I am really looking forward to Christmas and spending it with my loved ones...and a few cookies too.

A Snowy Day of Sugar Cookies

My plan for today? Baking sugar cookies using Gluten Free Mama Sugar Cookie mix. I even bought brand new cookie cutters in oh so cute shapes of trees, snowflakes, snowmen, angels and bells.

With freshly falling snow and a town now frosted in flakes of white, is there anything better to do on a day such as this?

Here is a link to the Gluten Free Mama site:

http://www.glutenfreemama.com/index.htm

My Little Green Muffins

Here they are!

Muffin Accomplished!

Zucchini Muffins with Cranberries? Check. Yesterday I honed in upon my baking skills and whipped up a batch of gluten/dairy free zucchini muffins with dried cranberries. The outcome? Perfectly risen muffins with just a touch of sweetness and a moist interior. Success! I adapted a recipe I found on Simply Recipes here:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_bread/

Here are my substitutes to make it gluten and dairy free.

Zucchini Cranberry Muffins

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup Sugar in the Raw

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups grated fresh zucchini

1 cup applesauce

2 teaspoons baking soda

Pinch salt

3 cups Bob's Red Mill Baking and Biscuit Mix * this contains Xantham Gum so there was no need to add any to the recipe*

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup dried cranberries 

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line 2 muffin pans with cupcake wrappers. I sprayed a bit of olive oil on the wrappers to keep the muffins from sticking.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and applesauce. Next add the baking soda and a pinch of salt. Finally add the flour one cup at a time, making sure all is stirred in. Last sprinkle in the cinnamon, nutmeg and dried cranberries and mix well. * Taste the batter to check for sweetness. If you like your muffins sweeter, you might want to add more sugar*

3. Drop a heaping spoonful into wrapper. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered. If still not done, bake for another 5 to 10 minutes with foil gently resting over the top. This will stop the muffin tops from browning too much.

4. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove and enjoy! Store uneaten muffins in a sealed container. 

Bon appetit and happy baking!

Pictures will be coming soon!

Wake Up Missoula!

I have to wonder why Missoula has not joined the gluten/dairy free bandwagon. Bozeman has restaurants with gluten/dairy free menus and while I was living there I went out to restaurants more than I had in the past 4 years! And now that I am back in Missoula, I am really missing my favorite restaurants and stores.

Montana Ale Works ( amazing gluten free penne with chevre, tomato, basil, pine nuts, & chicken)
Sola Cafe ( breads, salads, soups)
Bozeman Community Co-Op
Colombo's Pizza
Chickpea Cafe
Nova Cafe

These are just a few of the restaurants and grocery stores that sustained me and filled me with the pleasure and joy of enjoying a meal prepared by a skilled chef instead of my tired hands.

So I just have to say, "Wake up Missoula!" We could use some gluten/dairy free menus in our restaurants. And incorporating local and/or sustainably grown food wouldn't hurt either. Now if anyone knows of restaurants in Missoula that provide for people with food intolerances, please let me know! I have noticed that some big chain restaurants have gluten free menus, but I don't consider this any big deal, for it is more important that the local restaurants are tuned into the needs and wants of their customers. The problem I always face is that sauces and dressings usually have hidden wheat/gluten and/or dairy. Or they will tell you to order a sandwich without the bread. Umm...how is that a sandwich then? That is like eating macaroni and cheese without noodles! You are left with one soggy mess and a longing for bread that never gets fulfilled. And believe me it gets really old having to order a salad minus the croutons or asking for everything to be cooked naked and bare. But even then, I have to wonder, is there residue or trace amounts that make their way into my supposedly safe food? So usually I end up not eating at all ( just some water please), or stuffing my purse with some random item, like dates or Odwalla bars or if I am really brave my own sandwich! And no matter how many times I do this, I never get used to it. I mean, it's a restaurant, with a waiter and a chef who are trained in preparing and serving food, and all they can do is pour me a glass of water and wonder who this strange girl is who never opens the menu and tries to melt away into the shadows so no one will notice her. Not fun, not fun at all.

So while living in Missoula I find it less worrisome to cook at home. Which gets really boring somedays, but at least I don't walk away from the dinner table with a stomach writhing in pain and the thought that I never want to eat again. Thankfully we have the Good Food Store! I can always find something there to nourish me naturally and tantalize my taste buds.

But really, Missoula needs to take a tip from Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley and start providing safe and joyful dining experiences for the rest of us out here in gluten and dairy free land. Because who wouldn't want to linger over a warming, welcoming meal with good company, real ingredients and the knowledge that what you are eating will sustain not sicken you? Sounds like a delightful experience to me.

So after months and months of searching the internet for recipes, restaurants and grocery stores that match my gluten and diary free diet, I have finally decided to embark upon my first journey into the world of blogging. I hope this will become a place to share ideas and experiences, and maybe encourage Missoula to become a bit more friendly to all us with food intolerances and, or allergies.

The past 5 years of my life have been challenging, what with trying to determine why I was so sick all the time. And then after learning what I was intolerant to, I had to wander down the aisles of The Good Food Store and Huckleberry's grabbing everything off the shelf deemed safe for me to eat.

My diet has expanded since those first hair raising days of "What do I eat now?!" I have discovered that I can tolerate yogurt, frozen yogurt, some cheese and even sprouted grain breads. But never again will  I dip into a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, or slather a freshly baked baguette with creamy, silky butter or devour a plate of pasta with that oh so delicious alfredo sauce bursting with milk and cheese.  Julia Child would be so ashamed of me!

What I do know is that even though this diet is challenging, I am healthier than ever and it even changed my out look on food and farming in general. I am now a frequent customer at the Good Food Store and the Farmer's Markets and I dream of one day digging my hands into the dirt of my own garden, releasing sweet, crunchy carrots from their mother and uprooting the red and golden spuds from their burrow.

So welcome, one and all, to the adventures of a Fairy Foodie in Missoula, MT.