Dylan's Gluten Freedom

The Birth of Dinner Night

2011-06-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

Hello my fellow bloggers,

I have decided to try something new.

Once a week me and my mom, Lisa, from messybedstudio, are going to work together in a collaboration to create a gluten free meal that everyone can enjoy. My mom, a mixed media artist (and much more), has been selling her art work and writing a blog about her daily adventures. This is our way of combining the world of art and food, which we realized are not very different. We will alternate posts, the first will be here on dylansglutenfreedom and the next will be located on messybedstudio, then back to mine and so on. I will notify you in a post when a new recipe is available.

One of the points of this collaboration is to hopefully make the process of "making dinner" which over time can be cumbersome, a little easier and more fun, for you and us! Some of the recipes we make are going to be totally original and consist of whatever is fresh and in our pantry, while others will be our gluten free adaptions of recipes from cook books. And thanks to the Salvation Army, we have just found a new cook book that looks promising! Every post will consist of original photos by yours truly and my cooking partner, Lisa.

We are calling this segment, Dinner Night. We would like to welcome you to our dinner table.

Toady we are making...

Gluten Free Pasta with Fresh Vegetables and a Mixed Green Salad

First off, I have to say how lucky I am to be part of a farm veggie share/co-op program. Having fresh vegetables right from the fields is an amazing thing, and I would suggest that if there is a farm with a co-op program near you that you check it out. If you are a foodie like me, you will actually taste the difference between the veggies from the farm and those from the supermarket. Unless you have picked a fresh cucumber, you would not know that they are covered in little spikes. This is the epitome of fresh, and its amazing to see how different fresh veggies are from those that make it to the supermarket.

     We made this meal after picking up our veggie share from the farm and were instantly inspired.
This meal consisted of.... (Quantities can be changed, feel free to experiment! There is no wrong way to go with this recipe)
1 Zucchini
2 Yellow Squash
7 Baby Turnips
6 Kalamata Olives
Cherry Tomatoes
Basil
3 Garlic Scapes
Salt
1 Tablespoon Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Bag Tinkyada Brown Rice Penne Pasta
Left over Grilled Chicken
Mixed Salad Greens
Salad toppings... Grapes, Strawberries, whatever you like.

     We started our night by cracking open a bottle of red wine, and playing Fever (Adam Freeland Extended Remix) By Sarah Vaughan from the Adjustment Bureau soundtrack, and began to cook.
     We began by heating up a large frying pan with high sides with the butter and olive oil. We chopped the turnips into small pieces and put them into the pan to begin softening.

We chopped the zucchini and yellow squash, into little triangles, by halving and then quartering the zucchini length wise and then just chopping the "sticks" into small triangles.

We then chopped the olives into a fine chop. They are hard to chop, so if they end up more like a paste that's fine. We also sliced the cherry tomatoes in half and chopped the garlic scapes like you would scallions. Once the turnips have gotten a bit soft and have played around in the hot butter and oil, put in the zucchini, yellow squash and mix.

Depending how soft you like your veggies, or if you still like them to have a little crunch, use a knife or spoon to test the softness of the veggies as they cook. Once they get close to your desired tenderness, add in the olives, cherry tomatoes and garlic scapes. Stir together.

At this point, wash and dry your mixed salad greens and garnish with veggies or fruit. Grapes are always good in a salad, but since its strawberry season that's what we used.

Cut up the basil in a rough chop, just fine enough to spread throughout the veggies. This is a good time to salt to taste. Don't be scared away by the salt, like I am sometimes, the salt really brings out the flavors of these veggies and is a key component. And remember that you will be adding this to pasta, so the flavors can be a little stronger than normal. Because we had some left over grilled chicken, we cut that up into small strips and added it to the veggies. You don't have to add the chicken if you don't want to, or you can substitute it for something else. This recipe works with everything. Let everything mingle together for a few minutes as you prepare the pasta.

Follow the directions on the bag on how to cook the pasta. I like mine more mushy so I let it cook a little longer than it says. Once it is cooked to your liking, strain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the water and add a dab of butter or olive oil to prevent sticking. Then take the veggies and add them to the pasta and stir together. Use reserved 1/2 cup pasta water if you would like it a bit more saucy.

Sometimes simple meals like pasta and veggies can be so rewarding. Great flavors, that can be interchanged and substituted with almost anything. This is just the beginning of Dinner Night, check back for more meals!
Enjoy.

Gluten Free Newcomers!

2011-03-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

I have to say that living gf is only getting easier. All the time I am shocked with new products that are actually ADVERTISED as gluten free! Can you believe it? There are a few new editions to the family I would like to introduce.

For those of you that don't know, King Arthur Flour has joined us from the dark side. Yes, King Arthur Flour now has eight new gluten free mixes. I think someone at King Arthur headquarters decided that Betty Crocker needed a little competition, and that they too, want a share in the gluten free market. And that's always good news for celiacs; more competitors = more gluten free foods.

King Arthur Flour has seven different mixes. A bread, cookie, brownie, muffin, chocolate cake, pizza crust and pancake mix. They also have an multipurpose flour. I have to say that they make one mean brownie mix. The texture and chocolaty flavor is just great! As you can see in the photo, it did not come out of the pan in one whole piece... but since when are brownies supposed to be little indestructible bricks like you see on TV? Naw, brownies should be crunchy/chewy on the outside and awesomely gooey on the inside. Now I want some brownies... *where are those darn eggs...*

All of the King Arthur Flour mixes can be found at any major supermarket.

These items can be found on Amazon.com in a box set of 3 and individual for significantly cheaper. Click the links below. Bread 3pk., cookie 3pk., brownie 3pk., muffin 3pk., chocolate cake 3pk., pizza crust, pancake mix and All Purpose Flour.

Bisquick now also has a gluten free all purpose flour! If you don't like the multi-grain flavor of Pamela's Baking Mix, then this maybe the perfect gluten free mix for you. While I have only used it for making pancakes, which turned out great and had a similar texture and flavor to gluten pancakes, I think it will work well for other recipes. I'm excited to use this as a frying batter!

Gluten Free Bisquick is available at any major supermarket.

You can also order it from amazon here (3 pk.).

Have you been watching TV lately? If you have then you have probably seen the great Gluten Free Chex commercial. If not, you can watch it below.

Personally I found this commercial to really capture the essence and difficulty of being a celiac. Chex now has five gluten free cereal options. Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Chocolate Chex and Cinnamon Chex. My brother eats Chex every morning and whenever he can gets his hands on it. I would even dare to say that he could even be addicted... and I can see why, Chex are good!

Chex can be found at any major supermarket.

You can also order them here from amazon. Rice Chex 7pk, Chocolate Chex 6pk. and Cinnamon Chex 4pk.

Caution: The wheat chex and multi-bran chex are NOT gluten free. Make sure the boxes say "gluten free."

Just a note about amazon.com. Since my family uses a lot of Pamela's, we order from Amazon using their "Subscribe and Save" feature. You can have the products you choose automatically shipped to you every month, week or as often as you specify. You also save a percentage off of the price for pre-ordering. This way you don't always have to order one at a time or enough to last a life time. And you can always change the rate at which they are delivered.

Well my gluten free friends, hopefully this will make your cooking and shopping experiences a little easier with these new gf conveniences.

Sherry Lynn's Gluten Free Resturant, Cafe and Specialty Store

2010-11-12T16:07:00.000-08:00

Ever since my brother was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, we have been on an eternal search for Gluten Free restaurants. The Gluten Free Restaurant Guide by Triumph Dining is a great tool but finding it yourself is just as rewarding. Ever since we found Sherry Lynn's Gluten Free Restaurant, bakery and cafe, our confidence in outsiders making safe and delicious gluten free food has been overwhelmed. We are always looking for excuses to visit Sherry Lynn's!

Sitting at a table, set in a Halloween decor just adding to its charm, I experienced something new. There is some kind of camaraderie here, knowing that every other person there at the restaurant shares the same difficulties when eating out and can now enjoy a perfectly safe and enjoyable meal, because they are all Celiacs!

Now for me, being a deadly gluten eater (insert booing here), I get to enjoy sharing food all the time. At a restaurant I can just slide my plate over for one of my other gluten eater friends to try, without a care in the world. For Celiacs, and others with food allergies, that is a different story. Remember when you were young and could not eat the ice cream cake for your friend's birthday? Remember after that business meeting when all your friends were going out to get a drink and a bite to eat? If you have food allergies, you know what I'm talking about. This whole mentality changes in a gluten free restaurant. You can literally pass your plate to someone else and not have to worry that they are going to use a contaminated fork or spread the gluten cream sauce sauce all over your GF steak. In a gluten free restaurant you can actually have a plate passed to you, and you can try it!! This was something that I could experience first hand and I could tell how much it meant to my brother.

We started out our dining experience with warm fresh mozzarella sticks with red marinara sauce and French Toast Sticks with maple butter syrup. Got to try a bit of everything especially since everything is Gluten Free!! I have to apologize for the poor picture quality, these photos were taken with my phone.

I have to say that I was greatly impressed with both appetizers. The breading on the mozzarella was crispy and flavorful while still retaining its shape, which for something that is gluten free is surprising. And that warm stringy cheese inside mmm...! The French Toast Sticks were fried and crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I have to say that Aunt Jemima's Butter Rich Syrup is just one of my vices, so to have it with the French Toast Sticks, there was no way I wouldn't like them!

For the main course my brother ordered a Phillie Cheese Steak on a gluten free bun. I ordered a Ham and Swiss Cheese Panini with mustard and our mom got the Turkey Panini with American Cheese.

I have suddenly had a great palate revolution and now I crave foods that have mustard or even better, horseradish! So I was plenty happy with my Panini. The bread seared well on the Panini press but was not like a rock and had good texture. My brother greatly enjoyed his Philly Cheese Steak, especially since it was the first time he had ever had one. In a past visit, I got one and I remember that the onions and steak were cooked perfectly together with two big slabs of American Cheese (my favorite, Craft Singles all the way! Just another of my vices.) all on two fluffy, flavorful GF buns. Yum. My Mom also enjoyed her Turkey Panini which was much like mine, except the mustard.

Conclusion: Sherry Lynn's has good Gluten Free food that everyone enjoyed, including the gluten eaters! For more information about Sherry Lynn's Gluten Free Restaurant, menus, directions and more, visit their website here.

Day Four - At The Kitchen Table with Julie Gale

2010-09-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

This is Day Three of my Practicum
To read the Introduction to my Practicum click here.
To read Day One click here.
To read Day Two click here.
To read Day Three click here.

Today, the last day, we moved to a more Indian style of food. We made Bisteeya with shredded chicken, cinnimon, sugar and phyllo/fillo dough, Tamales with grilled zucchini and Masa Harina Masa, Carrot Pudding or Gajar Halva with carrots, cream and molasses and lastly, Green Beans with coconut and red pepper flakes.

The Bisteeya were fun to make since we used a few ingredients I had never used before. Ghee I learned is butter that has the proteins and other by products taken out so that the mixture does not have to be refrigerated and can stay in room temperature indefinitely. I don’t remember if I have ever worked with phyllo dough before. I was amazed at the paper thin quality and delicacy of the dough. It has to be worked with quickly but gently; if left out for a matter or minutes it will become dry and be unusable. The Bisteeya are made in muffin tins to create their shape, and are filled with a layer of phyllo dough. Then poached chicken, marinated in many spices and herbs, is put into the muffin tin, along with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar. This was one of my favorite meals we made, the combination of the spices, chicken and cinnamon sugar was out of this world.

Tamales are made from a special corn meal flour specifically made for making Masa Harina Masa. The Masa Harina Masa and the grilled zucchini are placed into a dried corn husk that has been re-hydrated in hot water. There are many different folding techniques, some more intricate than others; we opted for a simple one. They are then steamed until the Masa Harina Masa pulls away from the corn husk when unwrapped.

The Carrot Pudding was by far the best thing we made during the whole week. Grated carrots, milk and cream cook for one hour, until soft and the dairy has thickened. Then spices, molasses and brown sugar are added and it is all cooked until it pulls together and becomes thick. The mush like texture, spices and creaminess all blend together for an amazing dessert. Julie and I both agreed that this was the best dish we had made, and was one we would be making again in the future.

   The Green Beans with coconut is a new way to prepare green beans. Green beans and coconut are separately pulsed in the food processor, and then are combine in a frying pan with spices and red pepper flakes for a kick. The green beans had good flavor but I think that they could have used more coconut to complete the dish.

Conclusion:
   The practicum was a great experience. I learned many things about Asian and Indian flavors plus new cooking techniques and ingredients, all things I will use in the future. It was great to work with Julie. She was helpful, knowledgeable and fun to be around. We shared similarities in our palates, enjoying certain flavors more than others. As I have always known, cooking and food is a big part of my life and even if I choose not to follow it as a career, I know I will still cook and bake throughout the rest of my life. Thanks Julie for everything!

Day Three - At The Kitchen Table with Julie Gale

2010-09-28T18:22:00.001-07:00

This is Day Three of my Practicum
To read the Introduction to my Practicum click here.
To read Day One click here.
To read Day Two click here.

Today we began with Polenta stuffed Mushrooms with thyme, Beef Empanadas with pine nut and ginger and lastly, Rødgrød med Fløde (Danish) or Red Fruit pudding with cream, which included raspberries, almonds and heavy cream.

To begin we washed the mushrooms under cold water. It is greatly debated whether to wash mushrooms directly under water or to ‘sponge’ or ‘dab’ them with a damp paper towel. Julie said that she saw a scientific study that showed that while the mushrooms washed under direct water did absorb more water, the overall amount was minuscule compared to ‘dabbing.’ Making the Polenta was fairly easy, we just had to avoid clumps by slowly adding the corn meal, while constantly stirring. Personally I do not care for mushrooms, and once they were stuffed with the polenta they were not that bad. I would eat just the polenta any day though!

The Beef Empanadas were time consuming, because each individual empanada took time to fill, fold and crimp. While I thought that the encasing dough was a little dry, it grew on me, and I realized that this was the way they were meant to be prepared.

The Rødgrød med Fløde was very simple but packed with flavor. We put fresh raspberries in the food processor and pulsed until smooth. We put the mixture through a fine sieve to separate the seeds from the fruit. This mixture was refrigerated and then later topped with heavy cream and sliced almonds. We both loved the intense raspberry flavor but decided that if the cream were to be whipped, it would add a new light texture which would compliment the dense raspberry pure.

Day Two - At The Kitchen Table with Julie Gale

2010-09-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

This is Day Two of my Practicum

To read the Introduction to my Practicum click here.
To read Day One click here.

We began the next day by looking at more Chinese, and Asian flavors, making Pork Potstickers with a Chinese five spice, Shrimp Showmi with bean sprouts and Spring Rolls with jicama, carrot and cucumber.

Pork Postickers get their name because of their unusual cooking method, that if not done correctly will end up sticking to the bottom of the pan, hence their name. First the filling is made with ground pork, leeks, Chinese five spice and assorted vegetables. The Chinese five spice consists of cinnamon, anise seed, cloves, ginger and fennel seeds. Then the filling is placed into a dough like wrap, which is then folded in half enclosing the filling inside. The Postickers are then put into a pan with oil where their bottoms are fried. This is where things get interesting, water is added to the pan, almost submerrging the Potstickers. The lid is put on and they steam. After a few minutes they are uncovered, and the water is allowed to evaporate, and the bottoms fry again. It is during this second frying that they like to stick to the pan so specific timing is important.

The Shrimp Showmi, is made with the same dough like wrap but this time the filling is made with shrimp and bean sprouts. The filling is put into the center of the dough, which is pushed up around the filling to encase it, where it is tied with a chive, to hold it together. They are then steamed in a traditional Chinese steamer.

The Spring rolls were made with jicama, cucumber and carrot tossed in a bath of cherry vinegar. Then this mixture is placed inside a Chinese Spring Roll Skin along with a spoon full of Chinese noodles that look like angel hair pasta. All the ingredients are wrapped and then rolled into logs.

Day One - At The Kitchen Table with Julie Gale

2010-09-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is Day One of my Practicum
To read the Introduction to my Practicum click here.

    I arrived at Julie Gale’s house, after following her by car from school, nervous but intrigued. First of all Julie lives on a beautiful country road, with very little traffic, that is the perfect mix between the convenience of a paved road with the beauty of nature. Her house is a sage green and pastel yellow, and is perfectly situated on the lot, which has been recently tilled and will soon be covered in grass. Lastly she drives two gorgeous cars that some day will be sitting in my driveway.
    As I get out of the car I am greeted by Julie’s small bulldog named Sadie, who comes awkwardly waddling up to me, huffing and puffing. We walk down to the second building next to the house, which I guessed to be her teaching kitchen, followed by Sadie.
    Inside I am slapped with the care put into this kitchen. The walls are a hazelnut brown, while the peaked ceiling is covered by a green metal, that has been pressed with designs. Natural light shines in from the two walls of windows, that overlook the new pond, and sky lights. Baby plants are nestled in the corner under the supervision of a dim light. Antique carts and a black antique shopping cart, are filled with cooking tools and machines. The speckled concrete island sits in the middle of the small but cozy space, with a built in sink. The grand stainless steel, two oven, six burner range sits in the corner. Behind it that wall is covered in tin siding, also imprinted with designs, which protects the wall behind it from splatters. The small freezer and microwave and checkerboard butcher block all sit next to the range. It was perfect.
    We began the morning by making, Fresh Mayo with organic eggs, Pannacotta with strawberries, fresh black pepper and balsamic vinegar and lastly Pain de Mie, a dense French bread.
    The fresh mayo took a lot of time even though it was fairly simple ingredient wise. It took a lot of patience to slowly, I mean slowly, add the olive oil to the eggs and wait for the two to emulsify.
    The Pannacotta was amazing once finished. Pannacotta is made with cream, yogurt and a thickener like gelatin. We let this cool in muffin tins, in the fridge, overnight. The next morning we made the topping which consisted of strawberries, balsamic vinegar and black pepper. We soon realized that the pannacotta did not set up properly and was more of a custard consistency but with the strawberry marinade topping it was just out of this world.
    Lastly the Pain de Mie, which is a French bread that is allowed to rise three times before being put into a pan. Special pans are used when making Pain de Mie, to suppress the dough from rising while baking to make a dense bread. Since we did not have these specialty pans we used a baking sheet over the pan, weighted down with a wok. Once it was finished we both decided that it had a good texture and a somewhat neutral taste for a sandwich but may not be worth the work to make it.

My One Week Internship with Julie Gale

2010-09-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

I know we are trying to stay gluten free here but this was one experience that I just had to share. Even though these recipes are not gluten free, some of the ideas and techniques could be helpful.

I was planning on posting this months ago but forgot, now here it is!
As the sight of summer vacation became visible over the dark horizon, my high school internship was coming up. As part of this years requirements every student must go and find a profession, job, career, whatever you want to call it, that each individual finds interesting. For one week every student is supposed to work with their "mentor" and learn about their career. Now usually when school projects come up I am less than thrilled to partake in boring events but this was different.

So a few months before the set practicum week, I began to think about what I was interested in. Obviously I love food (in case you could not tell), and besides a new obsession with cars (does every teenager go though a car stage or is this real? :)), I could not think of anything else I wanted to pursue.

I have always been fascinated by wine making and since there is a winery somewhat close to my home, I wanted to check that out and see if I could do my internship there. After contacting the owner of Chatham Hudson Winery and sending multiple emails back and forth, we realized that the practicum week was not the best time to visit because it would be the wineries "down time," and nothing would be happening. The owner Dominique De Vito was very nice and understood that I was there to lean, not get wasted. Dominique invited me to come for the internship in early fall, when school begins (I don't even want to think about school starting again, I'm just trying to get through this year!). So I will post again about that adventure when it comes.

Back to the real story, after contacting many other people and either not hearing back or them not having the time, I was left one week before the practicum without a practicum! When this finally dawned upon me, I almost had a cow... wow that sounds a lot more disturbing in writing than it does out loud... anyway... I went back to the drawing board.

With the help of my mom, yes I turned to my mom for help, we found a woman named Julie Gale in Hillsdale that owned her own teaching kitchen called At The Kitchen Table. In the beginning I was not sure if this was going to work out because Julie was only teaching on specific weeks, and just my luck she was not teaching on my practicum. I though this meant a no go, but I decided to contact her anyway. And to make a long story short, it worked out! After the tenth email everything was worked out and we arraigned to meet every morning at 8:30am at her house to test recipes.

As part of the requirements of the practicum we had to write a journal of our days work. I am going to copy and paste my journal, each day as a different post so you can see some of the amazing things we made! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it. Thanks Julie for everything!

To read Day One click here.
To read Day Two click here.
To read Day Three click here.
To read Day Four click here.

Lemon-Ricotta Fritters with Lemon Curd

2010-02-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

I have been collecting recipes in my own scrap book for years, and its gotten to the point where there are too many recipes to look through every time I want to make something, so recipes tend to get lost. I have been wanting to make this recipe for ever, so I was happy to finally be able to make it.

The funny thing is that I totally screwed up the recipe for the Lemon Curd. It makes a lot and I did not want any of it to go to waste, so I wanted to halve the recipe. But like always when you are halving anything, the chances of getting the measurements wrong, double. So when I made the Lemon Curd, I put the full amount of lemon juice and zest, which made a very strong curd. So to all you readers who are thinking of halving the recipe... write down the halved measurments so as not to mix them up.

This recipe worked out very well using Pamela's Baking Mix, and came out light and fluffy. I have not tried this recipe with any other kind of flour but feel free to experiment, and hopefully sometime soon I will have the recipe converted using another kind of Gluten Free flour.

This recipe is courtesy of Martha Stewart

The fritters taste best when served immediately after frying.

FOR THE CURD:

8 large egg yolks

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 3 lemons)

¼ teaspoon coarse salt

4oz (½ cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

FOR THE FRITTERS:

4 cups vegetable oil, for deep-frying

1 cup flour (I used Pamela’s, and have not tested the recipe with any other kinds of flours yet.)

[If using another Gluten Free flour without any leveners you will need: 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon course salt.]

4 large eggs

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 pound ricotta cheese, drained

2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Confectioners sugar for dusting

TO MAKE THE CURD:

Prepare an ice-water bath. Combine yolks, granulated sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat until mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon, 9 to 10 minutes. This process can be very annoying and time consuming but once it begins to thicken, you will be glad for the wait, just stay patient. Remove from heat, and add butter, stirring until it melts. Immediately strain through a fine sieve into a nonreactive bowl. Set bowl over ice-water bath, and place plastic wrap directly onto the surface of curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour or up to 3 days.

As you can see here, I also messed up the order of ingredients and added the butter when I was not supposed too, but the recipe still came out amazing. I love forgiving recipes.

The curd in an ice bath, now most of the ice cubes melted.

See how it thickened and falls off of the spatula rather than runs off, thats how it should be.

TO MAKE THE FRITTERS:

Heat oil in a medium saucepan to 350°. Since I did not have a thermometer, I just guestamated the temperature and went with it.

Mix together eggs and granulated sugar in a large bowl until just combined. Add ricotta, lemon zest, and vanilla and stir until well combined. Add flour and stir until smooth.

Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, carefully drop a few balls of dough (maybe about 6, depending on the size of the saucepan) into the oil. Cook, turning about 2 times until golden brown on all sides, about 2 minutes total. My experience was that they liked to turn themselves sometimes, so they may just need a little encouragement. Adjust heat as necessary to maintain temperature of the oil. Scoop the fritters out with a spider strainer spoon, and place onto a sheet of paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining dough. Place onto a plate and dust with confectioners sugar. Serve with the lemon curd.

Eggs, granulated sugar, ricotta, lemon zest and vanilla in a bowl to be mixed.

The ingredients mixed together make a creamy, smooth sort of batter.

With Pamela's added it becomes more stiff and like a wet dough.

It should hold more or less into a shape and should not run, as is illustarated with the fork shown above.

The beginning of the frying process.

The finished product, tender, warm Ricotta Fritters dusted with confectioners sugar with a fresh Lemon Curd.

Cheese Tasting

2010-02-20T15:20:00.000-08:00

        For a long time I have been wanting to have a 'Wine and Cheese Tasting.' Me and my mom did some major cheese shopping and came home with a boat load of dairy products. We cut, arranged and placed the cheeses on all of the decorative plates we could find. We all admired our work for a moment, in slight awe, then we began!
        Sadly I don't remember the intimate details of our cheese tasting because it was almost a year ago. But I know that there were some we enjoyed and some we did not. We had a collection of cows, goat, and I think we even had a sheeps milk cheese. We had a French Raclette, a cave aged Swiss Gruyere, Havarti and a Baked Brie with Honey and Walnuts. We also had a goats milk Honey Lavender Formage Blavac and a goat milk Les Pyramids, white pyramid and a cows milk Savory Coeur a la Creme. We also put out GF crackers, toasted bread, cashews, pecans, red and green apple slices and a spicy chunky mango chutney for the Savory Coeur a la Creme.
        Cheese is one of life's mysterious, decadent foods that comes in many shapes, sizes, textures, and flavors. We enjoyed almost all the cheeses except one, Les Pyramids. To tell you the truth this cheese was so unappealing that my mother did not want to taste more than a smidgen, and convinced me that it was not even worth trying. That cheese did not last the night and found its home off of the table.
        I think my two favorite cheeses were the Honey Lavender Formage Blavac and the Savory Coeur a la Creme. The Lavender cheese was smooth and so beautifuly flavored with lavender it reminded me of my childhood (I love lavender, and my mom had a jar of the flowers and I would always open the lid to smell the relaxing aroma.) The Savory Coeur a la Creme is a cheese made of cream cheese, heavy cream with a hint of pepper and lemon. Perfectly delectable.
        Hopefully in the future I will be able to have another cheese tasting and we will be as fortunate as the last time to have the majority of the cheeses be enjoyable. This is something everyone should do. It brings the family together around the table sharing, buffet style.

French Raclette, cave aged Swiss Gruyere and Havarti.

Baked Brie with Honey and Walnuts.

Honey Lavender Formage Blavac, and Les Pyramids white pyramid.

Savory Coeur a la Creme.

The Savory Coeur a la Creme

This cheese is so creamy and perfect that I would recomend it at any cheese tasting. Although this is not one of my own recipes, I feel it would be cruel not to give the dish justice and tell everyone how to make it.

This recipe is courtesy of Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten

Ingredients:

-12oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature
-1 cup Heavy Cream
-1 Lemon, zested
-1 tablespoon freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
-1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
-1 bottle chutney (Mango)
-GF crackers for serving

Directions:

Place the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachement and whip until it is firm like whipped cream. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Beat on high speed until the mixture is very thick.

Next the instructions say to line a 6 inch Coeur a la Creme mold, but I know that that is not an every day kitchen tool, so just use a strainer or better yet a sieve with a few layers of cheesecloth, allowing the excess to drape over the sides. Pour the cream mixture into the cheesecloth and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Fold the excess cheesecloth over the top of the cream. Place the mold or sieve on a plate or suspend the sieve over a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to serve, unmold the creme upside down onto a plate and pour the chutney over the top, allowing it to drip down the sides, or place in a bowl on the side of the plate. Serve chilled with crackers.

The Baked Brie with Honey and Walnuts

Brie is usually very good when warm so this simple dish makes everything better.

This recipe is courtesy of Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten

Ingredients:

-1/4 wheel Brie
-4 tablespoons Honey
-Handful of lightly chopped Walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the over to 350 degreese F.

Place the Brie on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper and drizzle with the honey. Bake for 5 to 7 mintues, or until it starts to ooze but not melt. As you can see from the picture mine oozed quite a bit so be sure to place the cheese in the center of the pan to prevent it from sticking to the sides of the pan.

Serve warm with crackers.

Let's Welcome Betty Crocker to The Gluten Free World!

2009-09-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'm flabergasted. (Is that a word, or did I make that up?) Coming from a family with Celiac and other food allergies I know that finding something easy, and something that tastes good, is not exactly... well easy. But things just got better! I'm thrilled to tell everyone that Betty Crocker is now making Gluten Free Mixes!
.

They now offer:

-Devil's Food Cake

-Yellow Cake (not photographed)

-Chocolate Chip Cookies

-Chocolate Brownies
.

Well I am a little picky when it comes to Gluten Free Brownies, and I have found that they tend to be a little gritty. But Betty Crockers Brownies are one of the few brands that are dramatically less textural and gritty than other brands.

One of the best things about this is, they can be found in any supermarket that sells Betty Crocker cake mixes. You no longer have to hunt down health food or specialty stores. The mixes are made in a Gluten Free processing facility, so you don't have to worry about cross contamination!

For more information click on Betty Crocker Gluten Free - Home, they have information about the products, comments, news letters and more.
This makes last minute desserts, family gatherings and parties just that much easier for everyone with Celiac Disease!

My Biography

2009-09-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Name: Dylan

Gender: Male

Location: USA, New York

About me you say?

Well, where to begin. I'm like every other teenager on the planet, going through an identity crisis, living life through all its dramas. So you ask me, who am I, well I'm not even sure myself. But I know that I have always possessed a love for food, especially baking. Even through the ups and downs of life, foods grasp on me, waxing and waning, is still a part of me.

I have been cooking and baking since middle school and, over time, have gone through a lot of diets and ways of cooking, now resting at Gluten Free. My brother was diagnosed with Celiac Disease around 2001 and from then on my family has been eating Gluten Free. My sister and I don't have Celiac, but like many Auto-Immune Diseases, we both have the gene and could develop Celiac over time or with large amounts of stress. As any Celiac knows, its always easier when everyone eats Gluten Free, avoiding cross-contamination. We, like most others live that same way, with the exception of bread, cereal and cookies, which are for the "Gluten Eaters," contained in its own space.

I love to decorate cakes. Every cake to me, is a blank canvas, a white wall, a platform for a masterpiece. I find joy in creating something new, feeding my creative needs, and cake seems to be one of the ways for me to express it.

I am quiet and somewhat of a perfectionist. I love movies, music and generally all "the arts," but what teenager doesn’t?

Because of my creative needs I created this blog, to show everyone what I love to do.

My mission: To show people that being a Celiac or eating Gluten Free is not the end of the world, but the beginning to a new way of living, that hundreds of people are joining every month.

Please Email me with questions, comments or suggestions, I would love to hear from you.
Email me at: emaildylansglutenfreedom@gmail.com

Visit: c r u m b for more pictures of cakes and information on my business.

I'm Back!

2009-08-13T17:38:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, I visited my blog a few days ago, the first time in a long time (as you guys know, from my lack of posts), and I was inspired to change my blog around. I don't want it to look like a "fixer-upper" when I bring in new content and recipes. So I am giving my blog a much needed face-lift and hopefully bringing a new design and content to it. I have SO much to catch up on since I was away! I'm happy to be back and hopefully its to stay this time! I should thank the few stragglers that have been visiting my somewhat vacant blog over the past few months, for their persistence! I can't wait to hear from you guys, and to add Gluten Free stuff and new recipes to nurture your Gluten Free cravings! I'll be writing soon. Your Fellow Blogger, -Dylan

Burtons Grill

2008-10-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

I have been so excited to blog about my family's trip to Boston, Massachusetts! This is the second time I have really ever been to Boston and I am so happy that I got to go with my whole family. We were there for two days and one night, but that was enough time to check out Burtons Bar and Grill. Since I have not been to the city many times, walking to a restaurant or even taking to the "T" was pretty new to me. So when we decided to walk to Burtons, I was excited to be able to walk to somewhere in general, unlike at home where nothing is in walking distance. (I'm still very into not driving if possible, save gas and pollution). Ohho and did I mention that they have a gluten free menu?... must have slipped my mind!

Interior Design of Burtons Grill

I did not photograph all the gluten free dishes but the burger above is gluten free with a new bun that they just got in that day and my brother was the first one to try them! It was an amazing feeling being out in a new city, eating at a restaurant I had never been to before, knowing that my brother could get a meal that we would not have to worry about contamination with gluten, and enjoy ourselves! Check out their website for more information at: Burtons Grill

My Dream of Remodeling Our Kitchen

2008-09-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

For a long time I have been wanting to go visit a Kitchen Appliance Showroom! New shiny stoves and refrigerators make me want to cook up a storm right there in the store. Everything is brand new, its like a new beginning for your kitchen.

Even though I would love to remodel our kitchen, most of the appliances are out of my family's budget. (beauty and shinyness is really expensive). But you can dream right?

I took pictures of some of my favorite stoves and refrigerator and even though I got strange looks from other people in the store, I wanted to show you some of the fancy appliances I would love to have!

My favorite brands (even though I have never used either of them) are Sub-Zero and Wolf. These two companies are actually the same (Maybe that's why I like them so much!). At the bottom of this page I will list some of the brands shown in the pictures and some websites about them to check out.

~Wolf~

I love this stove because of the six burners and large oven. I love the large chunky red knobs and the push out information screen that sticks out with the nobs. I think it is such a genius idea to have it retract into the stove so it will not get splattered with food and grime.

~Wolf~

Here is another wolf that does not have the information screen but has a slide out "shelf" right above the oven door. I don't know if I would use it but wouldn't it be fun to say, "yeah my stove has a shelf built right in."

~Viking~

I love this stove for its two ovens. It is difficult to make dessert when my mom is making dinner since the chance of the oven needing to be at the same temperature is unlikely. This way you can use both if necessary and if you are only heating something small up, you can use the smaller over saving gas and the world. The built in griddle does not do anything special for me, since we have an electric griddle and a large grill pan. But that's not enough to make me not want to buy it!!

~Viking~

I love the tube shaped handles on this fridge and freezer. Its tall design gives it an elegant feel to your home. I like that the motor is at the top so you don't have to feel the hot air on your feet when you stand in front of it. I like the double doors but it is inconvenient for my house. One side of my fridge is up against a wall not allowing one of the doors to open fully, limiting what you can fit in and easily take out.

~umm...~

Sorry but I don't remember what kind of fridge this is but I can tell you that I love the handles! They reach all the way to the floor! I also like that it is built into the cabinetry.

~Sub-Zero~

I love this large, glass doored, sophisticated refrigerator and freezer. The right side of the unit is devoted to refrigerating (including the two drawers underneath) and the other side is for freezing (along with the drawers). I love some of the simple things about this unit, from the stainless steel, to the lighting and to the organization. The glass door gives it a deli/commercial look that me and my mom love!

~Sub-Zero~

This unit is only a refrigerator but has a beautiful, full glass door! And once again there are my long round handles I love so much!

~TurboChef~

I love this oven for many reasons. The top oven is specially made to cook 15x faster than a normal oven cutting cooking times by a lot! It has a built in computer so you can tell it what you are making and it will cook it at the temperature and time it requires. I love the rounded top oven door and the bright color. You can choose from a few different colors to fit your kitchen. I love the mix between technology and fashion, with the computer screen and the analog clock and timer. To learn more visit the link at the bottom of the page (it's an awesome website)!

~umm...~

I don't know what kind of oven this is but I took the picture for the handles. I love them for some reason!

~Aga~

I love the ranch house, old feeling of this oven. The cream color and the black top are really nice together. The handles are like springs or coiled wire. The outside of the main oven compartment has a built in thermometer. The only down side is that it does not have a glass door so you can't see what is happening inside. But that's nothing new to me because my oven is so dirty that you can't even see inside. The sucky thing is that it can't be cleaned off and has been there since we bought the house!!

~umm...~

I like this one since it has been covered with wood paneling so it looks like it is part of the cabinetry. I don't know if it is really my style but its cool anyway.

Websites to visit: (I will add more websites to this list as I find them.)

Gluten Free Dining Card Giveaway to Promote Celiac Awareness

2008-08-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry This Event Already Ended

A few days ago Triumph Dining contacted me telling me about a Challenge they are having this August. Triumph Dining is giving away FREE American Dining Cards until the end of August. There’s absolutely no purchase necessary. http://www.triumphdining.com/freediningcard.aspx to participate and get a free dining card (or click Here). The purpose of this give-away is to raise money for Celiac Disease Awareness. If 15,000 people sign up for free dining cards, Triumph Dining will make a $10,000 donation in support of a national celiac disease awareness campaign. When they hit their goal, they'll ask you and the gluten free community to help us decide which non-profit(s) receives the donation. They're trying to build awareness on two fronts: With 15,000 more dining cards on the street, they'll be educating more restaurants about the gluten free diet faster. And, with $10,000 funding behind a national campaign, they can diagnose and educate more Celiacs. The FREE dining card offer is available at http://www.triumphdining.com/freediningcard.aspx and they'll be posting regular progress reports on their blog at http://blog.triumphdining.com. This is a great opportunity for the Gluten Free world so don't pass it up! Click on the link (or copy and paste the address into your address or URL bar) and get your FREE Gluten Free Dining Card! Send this link to all your Gluten Free Friends and get them to help buy requesting a Dining Card, bringing Triumph Dining one card closer to completing their challenge! Your Fellow Blogger, Dylan

Tilting Three Flavored Cake

2008-07-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

For a long long time I have been wanting to make a huge cake, one that my family would not be able to eat in anything less than 4 days. I wanted to make a wedding cake without the wedding! I designed a basic plan and got the layout together, but for some reason I lost interest and was not enthusiastic about creating this monster cake. Just a few days ago I decided that it would be good for me to do some baking. I started that day! I did not even have all the ingredients I needed, thankfully it was "food shopping Monday" so I was in luck! This cake did not turn out as huge as I had anticipated but I am proud of the way it turned out!
This was the first time I have made three different flavors of cake for the one cake. I have not even tested one of these cake recipes before hand.
The cake consisted of (from bottom to top) two layers of yellow vanilla cake with a layer of chocolate frosting between. Then two layers of chocolate cake with a layer of vanilla butter cream frosting between. Last but not least two small strawberry layers of cake with the chocolate frosting between.

I love this picture because you can see all the layers of cake and icing!

Pictures through the days as the cake gets smaller and smaller!

Recent Cakes

2008-07-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

Since I have not blogged in so long, I am going to do a recap of the cakes and crumb orders I have gotten over the past few months.

I got a surprise order for someone for Mother's day. Since it was spring/early summer all the flowers were blooming in our garden giving me the chance to do some heavy decorating. My mom made the funky card from the client wishing her daughter a happy mother's day. This cake turned out really beautiful with the flower decorations and once it was boxed and wrapped with ribbon I attached a bundle of assorted flowers.
This cake was a simple moist vanilla cake with an amazing chocolate frosting!

This cake was not an order but a birthday gift to one of my favorite teachers. I decorated it with spirals in bright pastel colors.
This cake consists of a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, which by the way pipes really well!

Every year my school has a Maypole*/Grandparent's day which the grandparents of the community and of the school are invited to a celebratory meal. I was asked to make a cake for the event! That night before I boxed up the cake and got it ready for the trip to the school the next morning. The trip worked out fine without any problem and I got the cake to the Kitchen and was not late for class!
The cake is a lemon sheet cake with cream cheese frosting. (I like my cream cheese frosting!)

*Click on the link for a picture of what a Maypole looks like. Its a kind of dance you do while holding onto a string attached to a pole. And no that's not a picture of our school's Maypole.

The Environment

2008-05-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

In the past few months people have been constantly talking about the Environment (as in Global warming) and gas prices. Every day you hear about how gas prices are rising like the sun, and how people are starting to use buses and trains instead of their cars since gas is too expensive. Since Global warming is such a problem for the world today I think I can spare at least one post on my blog devoted to The Environment.

People are starting to realize that we need to do something about the way we live if we want to survive as a species on this planet much longer. I have gotten together a list of simple things you can do to help lower your consumption of Gas and Electricity, shrinking your "Carbon Footprint".

- Turn off the lights in your house when you are not using them
- Replace old light bulbs with new fluorescent lights
- Turn off Electronics when you are not using them. Computers use a LOT of electricity so turning them off will help you and the environment
- Unplug ANYTHING electric that you are not using at the moment. Electronics will still use electricity even if they are not turned on!
- Carpool if possible. I carpool everyday to school with another family that lives nearby.
- Drive as little as possible.
- Buy Local. This will help local business and will minimize your driving and the amount of gas it took to ship certain items.
- Avoid buying items shipped from across the world. Items shipped from Asia, Europe and other far away places leave large Carbon Footprints
- Do Not Buy plastics that can not be recycled. Most places recycle numbers: 1 and 2. If its not a 1 or 2 don't buy it, and hopefully the company will realize that changing to a recyclable plastic will raise their sales.
- Reuse or avoid plastic bags. I reuse plastic bags for my lunch at school every day. Wash them out if they are not too damaged or gross.
- When at a supermarket asks you what you would rather, choose PAPER BAGS and NOT PLASTIC!
- Recycle all paper that is not wet. Including paper plates and food boxes!
- Use a clothes line if possible instead of using a dryer.
- Don't leave the water running.
- Buy Energy Star Appliances.
- Recycle containers and metal cans

There are many movies and books about Global warming and how to save the Environment, like An Inconvenient Truth (movie) and The 11th Hour (movie). I would advise you to see these movies (unless you have already) even though there estimates are drastically off because of the constantly changing status of the world. Even these movies are no longer accurate, they still give you a view of what the world could turn into, and possibly worse.

I am amazed that people think that they can just put this off, like it will fix itself or we will wait till the last minute to come up with a solution. People are still so unaware and even if they see a commercial on TV they still take little notice. We need to spread our knowledge to the people who are not fully aware of the situation! Hopefully this post will encourage people to change their ways (even if it is small) and to spread the word that we need to start acting NOW!

There is a new kind of car from companies like Chevrolet and Honda that does not use any gas and only emits WATER VAPOR! Chevrolet is hoping to put it on the market in 2010 (I don't know if that's the year 2010 or the car model 2010). I think its an amazing feat to make a car that emits nothing but water, the only problem is we need it NOW not in two years. You can drive something like 150 miles before having to fill up again, on Hydrogen (A.K.A Water). Check out more info by checking out these links:
- http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/
- http://www.chevrolet.com/fuelcell/

Subaru is the FIRST company that makes vehicles that leaves ZERO waist! This is exactly what we need! Check out Subaru and their commitment to The Environment.

There are many many websites about Global Warming, how to save the Environment and alternative energy, here are just a few to check out:
- http://www.seql.org/100ways.cfm
- http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment/article/0,28804,1602354_1603074_1603076,00.html
- http://www.wikihow.com/Save-the-Environment-at-Home
- http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_change_the_world/text/0,,HGTV_30676_65472,00.html
- http://www.usa.siemens.com/answers/en/environment.htm

Check this link out for more websites. If you find a good website email me, or leave a comment with the URL Address and I will add it to the list!
- Google Search for How To Save The Environment
- Google Search for Movies and Books about Globalwarming

UPDATES:

Tuesday July 8, 2008 - Just today I got an email about the use of plastic bags and the problems it causes around the world, after viewing this slide show of pictures and facts it will change the way you think about shopping and using plastic bags! Please watch this slide show and send it (and this post) to everyone you know, together we can stop using plastic bags and change the way we live! PoconoRecord.com

Also check out http://www.freecycle.org/

Saturday August 23, 2008 - Every Friday at 9pm (ET) on the Discovery Channel they have a show called "Project Earth". It is all about peoples ideas of how to save the world with technology. Things from creating more clouds in the sky to reflect the sun, to covering the glaciers with reflective fabric to help prevent the melting. I have only seen one episode but I am excited for the new episode next week! Check it out maybe you will like it just as much as I do!
Click on the link for more info about the show: Discovery Channel's Project Earth

I will be REGULARLY updating this list of websites and things to help save the world, just keep visiting this post. It will be located on my side bar under "Posts of Note", or click on the "Reuse, Reduce, Recycle" picture. It will keep popping up in your conscious and will bother your soul till you decide to join the thousands of other people who have decided to help change the world even if it is in small ways. The little things count!

Spring Pictures

The Essential Gluten Free Restaurant Guide

2008-03-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

The Essential Gluten Free Restaurant Guide By Triumph Dining is a must for everyone Gluten Free!

The book is filled with thousands of restaurants that have dealt with gluten free customers, have menus, or are good at making accommodations to your gluten free needs. The book is organized by state, so finding a gluten free restaurant is easy. Each restaurant is given one to three $ signs, telling you the price of typical meals. The book is neatly symbol coded so if it says "100% GF" it means the restaurant is a 100% Gluten Free establishment, along with many others. Each restaurant in the book has a phone number and or website for you to visit if you have questions or concerns.

In the beginning of the book it gives you great advice on picking a restaurant, explaining your needs and ordering. It talks about how if you do not feel comfortable at a particular restaurant, leave.

This book will make you want to take a road trip around the US visiting all the great Gluten Free restaurants. Even if you are not traveling a lot, The Essential Gluten Free Restaurant Guide will help you build confidence in yourself, about living gluten free and explaining your needs to other people.

Triumph Dining has done an amazing job of putting together a book that will help millions of Gluten Free people! I would recommend this book to everyone!

Click Triumph Dining, then click 'Resturant Guide' to get your copy of The Essential Gluten Free Restaurant Guide or look at the many other Gluten Free tools Triumph Dining offers!

UPDATE [May 30, 2009]

Triumph Dining has released the fourth edition of The Essential Gluten Free Restaurant Guide and it is on sale now on their website. Click on the "Triumph Dining" link for more info and ordering options.

Lemon and Lime Citrus Cake

2008-03-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

For months this idea of a citrus cake has been floating around in my head. I had ideas but never put it on paper till recently. For this cake I knew I did not want to use Pamela's Baking Mix. I wanted something different and new. So I made my own flour mixture for this cake using coconut flour, white rice flour and tapioca flour! The combination of these flours gives this cake a sweet, moist, dense texture to it but the sour fruit fights back making the cake taste light at the same time. And that's how I came up with this sweet and sour cake.

If you like sour foods you will love this cake!

Pre-heat your oven to: 350

You will need:

1/2 cup Coconut Flour

1/2 cup White Rice Flour

1/3 cup Tapioca Flour

1 cup Sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder

2 medium sized Lemons

2 medium sized Limes

2 Eggs

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 cup Milk

Butter a 9 inch round spring pan (you can use an 8 inch round spring pan if that's all you have).

In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients (Coconut Flour, Rice Flour, Tapioca Flour, Baking Powder and Sugar) together with a fork or whisk.

Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl together

Now take the lemons and limes and cut them into circles (you will get about 4 or 5 circles per lemon or lime). Try to get all the seeds out without killing the fruit. SAVE THE ENDS where there is not enough to get another circle from. You will need to squeeze the juice out of them later.

Cut the rind and white part off of the circles leaving as much of the flesh of the fruit as possible.

Cut each circle into 1/4 or smaller if the rounds are big.

If the center has a lot of white where the small individual pieces connect, cut it off.

Its is fine if the chunks are not even or one piece. They will be going inside the cake so you will not see them.

Take the ends of the lemons and limes and squeeze the juices out of them into a small bowl.

Now you get to mix the dry and wet ingredients together (EXCLUDING the lemon and lime juice). Its normal for the batter to be thick.

Once it is well combined, add the lemon and lime juice mixing well until there are no clumps. By now the batter should be a bit thinner.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the lemon and lime pieces on top of the batter.

Pour the rest of the batter on top of the fruit. You may need to use a spatula to move the batter so it covers at least the majority of the fruit.

Cook for 50 minutes until it starts to brown around the edges, is pulling away from the edges and is firm in the center.

Let cool till its at room temperature and enjoy!

Gluten Free Chocolate Bread Pudding

2008-03-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I found a chocolate bread pudding recipe, made with cinnamon bread.* I did not want to make some yummy gluten dessert with my brother and father around so I edited it and made it 100% Gluten Free!

Pre-Heat your oven to: 350

What you will need:

11 Slices of gluten free bread (I used Glutino's Corn Bread)

4 Cups of Milk

2 Tablespoons of Butter (and some more for buttering the pan)

6 oz Semisweet chocolate

4 Eggs

1 Cup of sugar

1 Teaspoon vanilla

Approx. 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Powdered Sugar for garnish if you wish :)

First Butter a 8 x 12 inch pan (the pan size can be changed but keep it as close as possible or run the risk of all the yummy filling not fitting in the pan.).

Cut the bread, so you should end up with about 9 squares per slice.

Since the bread I am using is not perfectly shaped it will depend on the size of each slice the amount of cubes you get. As you can see the bread that I used is about 4 x 4 inches.

Once you have cut all the bread and buttered the pan place the bread into the pan.

In a large sauce pan heat up the milk, butter and chocolate. Stir the liquid frequently making sure the chocolate does not burn on the bottom of the pot.

This is what the chocolate mixture should look like when fully combined.

While the chocolate and milk mixture is heating up, in a bowl beat/mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, until well combined.

When the chocolate and milk solution is combined, temper the eggs by adding a small amount of the hot milk into the eggs and mix for a few seconds bring the eggs up to (or close to) the same temperature as the milk. Repeat this step a few times till you have used about half the liquid.

When I made this the first time I did not temper the eggs enough and poured too much of the hot milk in at once. I ended up cooking some of the eggs in the bowl. If you see small bits or clumps of yellow in the mixture, that means you added too much of the hot milk in the beginning, like me!

Tempering the eggs

This is what it should look like when the egg and milk mixtures are combined (the foam depends on how fast you stir).

Pour the liquid over the bread trying to coat every piece while you go.

Carefully carry the mixture to the oven and place on the middle rack. Cook for 40 - 45 minutes. Keep an eye on it, because the top of the bread will burn if you are not careful!

When finished the liquid should have set and firmed but should still have a little movement to it. If you are not sure, its better to take it out sooner than later because it will keep cooking in the pan, and egg does not usually talk that long to cook.

Cool for at least 10 minutes and sprinkle with powdered sugar!

Serve warm or at room temperature and,

ENJOY!!

* This recipe is based on a Martha Stewart recipe, and has been changed to be Gluten Free.

My Birthday!

2008-02-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures from my birthday (November 2007)!!

It was so funny when my mom asked me what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday! That's usually the question I ask everyone else!
This pie was so yummy! It was a peanut-butter custard sort of filling, in a gluten free crust with a chocolate whipped cream on top! Got to find the recipe so I can post it for all you readers!

Hey Karina recognize this?
I got a hoodie for my birthday made by Karina! Help a fellow blogger and get a great jacket, it's a win win situation!
Look at all of Karina's clothing creations here, or visit her food blog at Gluten Free Goddess or her art blog at A Painter's Kitchen

Ginger's Dog House 2007

2008-02-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

Every year my school has a gingerbread house contest, and people from all over the area come and submit these amazing gingerbread house creations. I have never made gluten gingerbread in my life (at least that I remember) and thought that it would be a fun challenge! So in an extra room in my house far far away from the kitchen I mixed up myself a batch of gluten gingerbread dough. *Gluten Free readers will only be able to enjoy the photos. If you have any Gluten Free gingerbread recipes I would love to try them!*
It took me forever to decide what to make out of the gingerbread but finally liked the idea of a dog house. The house is supposed to resemble an imaginary dog house for our puppy Ginger. I was trying to make it like Grommet's dog house from Wallace and Grommet.
I worked on the house till the very last minute before I had to bring it to school.
The scoring worked in categories. There were categories for houses by kids with adult help and without, high-schoolers without help, and one for just adults.
I won THIRD PLACE in the high-schoolers without help category!
This was a huge accomplishment for me since I had never even made gluten gingerbread let alone entered a house in a contest.
I can not wait for next year's competition. Maybe next time I will come in first!

^Ginger's Dog House^

^The inside is decorated with presents, wreaths and striped and polka-dotted walls^

^The House is surrounded by frosting trees and coconut snow^

Happy (Very Late) Holidays!!! :)

Thanks Giving 2007

2008-01-23T17:29:00.000-08:00

This year we moved away from our normal tradition of only pumpkin and apple pie. Even though Thanksgiving only comes once a year, it can get a little boring if everything is the same each time. This year we wanted something new, different, fun.

^
This is one of the lightest desserts I have ever had (which is nice after a heavy Thanksgiving meal) A shaped meringue filled with whipped cream and topped with a sweet and tart cranberry sauce.
The cranberry desserts come from Martha Stewart's Living magazine.

^
What's Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? I needed at least one dessert that I could use this awesome GF crust recipe I found!

^
A sweet lemon ricotta blended till smooth and layered with another amazing cranberry sauce!When it is served in wine glasses it shows off the cool layers of ricotta and cranberries.

^
Every year my sister makes her out-of-this-world pumpkin roll! It's made of a pumpkin sheet cake slathered with cream cheese icing and rolled into a log! YUMM!!

I realize my blog is at a loss for recipes...

2008-01-22T17:04:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I was asked to print some recipes off my blog, and realized that I don't have very many. I have lots of stories and stuff. I realized that all the recipes that I thought were on my blog were in fact in my notebook. So what I am going to do is test them and then post them so all you, my readers, can indulge in some NEW food ideas!! I will test the recipes as soon as possible and then post them for you! In the mean time feel free to email me your questions, comments, advice or requests! Your fellow blogger and friend, Dylan

My Miserable Crepe Failure

2007-11-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

Just a few days ago, I decided "I feel like making dessert!" Now this is not a strange or new thing for me to say, its actually rather common. So I started going through my virtual list of recipes and ideas in my head. I came up with crepes. Now I don't think I have ever made crepes before but I was determined to try. I got the Gluten Free batter all ready (I used one of Pamela's crepe recipe recipes. click here to go to Pamela's home page) and started heating up my pan. What happened next, I'm very embarrassed about. The crepes did not flip and became large, layered pancakes (as the pictures show). They were not worthy of being called crepes. When I think of them I imagine a thin pancake with fresh juicy strawberries, whipped cream and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. All served up on a white plate at some fancy French restaurant. My crepes were... let's just say that they were the begining of a new creation called "the fat crepe" (in other words, a pancake). I had a few toppings in mind before I started making the crepes. I thought "wouldn't either, yogurt, or fruit, or even ice-cream taste good on these?!" So I kept my good attitude (or what was left of it) and finished making my fat clumpy crepes.
As you can see I topped them with maple syrup flavored yogurt and canned peaches. It was soooo good. I'm not usually the one to go for yogurt but with the crepe and peaches it was just so yummy.

Next time you make something that doesn't come out perfectly, improvise. I bet you could find a way to make it awesome like I did!

crumb is moving

2007-11-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

People are starting to learn about my business so I have created another blog! It will be 95% about crumb with the occasional story about me. Check it out if you are interested!

crumb

I will be posting soon!!

Your fellow blogger,

Dylan

Who is your favorite chef and/or cooking show?

2007-10-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

Please join in the "Who's your favorite chef and/or cooking show" survey! After, I will post the results of the most popular chef and/or show!

You can email me your choice or comment it. $40 a Day 30 Minute Meals 2 Dudes Catering Ace of Cakes All American Festivals BBQ with Bobby Flay Barefoot Contessa Behind the Bash Boy Meets Grill Dave Does Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Dinner: Impossible Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello Everyday Italian Food 911 Feasting on Asphalt Food Finds FoodNation with Bobby Flay Food Network Awards Food Network Specials The Food Network Challenge Good Deal with Dave Lieberman Giadas Weekend Getaways Emeril Live The Essence of Emeril Glutton for Punishment with Bob Blumer The Gourmet Nest Door Good Eats Good Food Fast with Family Circle Guy's Big Bite Ham on The Street Have Fork Will Travel Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger How to Boil Water The Hungry Detective Inside Dish with Rachael Ray Into the Fire Iron Chef Iron Chef America

Julia Child

kitchen Accomplished Mark Bittman Molto Mario Martha Stewart Living The Next Food Network Star (any season) The Next Iron Chef Nigella Bites Nigella Express Nigella Feasts Party Line With the Hearty Boys Paulas Home Cooking Paulas Party Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller Tasty Travels Recipe for Success Restaurant Makeover Road Tasted Roker on the Road Saras Secrets The Secret Life of... Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee Simply Delicioso Sugar Rush Sweet Dreams Throwdown with Bobby Flay Top 5 Tyler's Ultimate Unwrapped Wolfgang Puck's Cooking Class The Results so far: (The number indicates the amount of votes for that show! If you regurly watch the show it = 1 vote. If you occasionaly watch it, it recieves 1/2 of a vote. I know, its complicated.) Number of voters: 1 Good Eats - 1 Iron Chef - 1 Dinner: Impossible - 1 Throwdown with Bobby Flay - 1 Ming Tasi - 1 Resturant Makeover - 1 Food Network Challengers - 1/2 Diners Drive-ins and Dives - 1/2 Ham on the street - 1/2 Next Food Network Star - 1/2 Next Iron Chef - 1/2 Feasting on Asphalt - 1/2 If there is a chef or show I forgot to list here please tell me by email or comment. Thanks, your fellow blogger, Dylan

October Sadness

2007-10-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, I am sorry that I have been so busy with school that I have not been able to post. This is really discouraging for me since I love talking and posting to my beloved readers. I have been added to Gluten a go go's "Zoom around" list. Since this I have been getting many more people looking at my work/blog. I am sad that I don't have anything for you to read (which will be hopefully changing soon). So I have not disappeared from the front of the earth, I have been working my ass off with all the homework. Keep visiting, I promos there will be new stuff coming soon!! your fellow blogger, Dylan

Cooking for my brother's class Camping trip

2007-10-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

After I was asked to cook for my brother's class camping trip, I started brain storming (check out my previous post "An Update of My Life"). What do kids like to eat? How big is the fire pit? When will the trip be? These were just a few of the many questions that were going through my mind. My parents and I talked about all the questions I had. I knew I did not want to make hamburgers and hot dogs, they are so boring and standard for a fire/grill cooked meal. So after looking and thinking about all the ideas and possibilities I came up with an elegantly simple meal that ever one would love! (I hoped!)

Dinner:

Warm chili on top of a fire baked potato with roasted corn on the cob.

Dessert:

My sister, my brother and I love to toast our marshmallows and then put a piece of chocolate inside (like a chocolate kiss). The warmth of the marshmallow would melt the chocolate leaving you with a s'more -like dessert without the cracker.

So they had marshmallows with chocolate kisses

Breakfast:

Maple yogurt with strawberries and sweet ginger crumbs (to be posted soon!), with apple crisp, and yummy corn bread.

I arrived at the camp site and started setting up all my equipment (table, knife, cutting board, and so on) I stoked up the fire and started cooking. Before, I opened the corn up leaving on the husks and took off the silks. I closed the husks back up and soaked them in some water. Then I took them out and wrapped them in tinfoil (but do not squeeze all the water off or out, or else they will not steam!!!) Then I roasted them on the fire! I added the potatoes (which were also wrapped in tinfoil and pre-cooked for approx. 45 minutes). I heated up the chili and served it on top of the potato.

It was a great experience, and now I can say I have cooked on a fire!

More updates will be coming soon,

your fellow blogger,

Dylan

An Update of My Life

2007-09-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago my friend set me up with a baker who makes all sorts of cakes and pies. So after thinking about it for like 20 seconds I decided that "yes I want to do this, and anyway I need some more practice making pies!" After calling her and arranging a date, I am now an apprentice!! This was one of the last things I thought would happen to me. I was looking for an apprenticeship for a long time until I gave up because everyone who I went to either did not have time or I needed to be older. Now a few months later my friend found me a teacher!! My school requires every student to join an after school activity, so I joined a writing club hoping to be able to write recipes. To make a long story short, a bunch of teachers saw/visited my blog. A few days later my brother's teacher came to me and asked me if I would like to cook for their camping trip! I was overwhelmed with joy!!! I get to cook Gluten Free for my brother's whole class, so they can see that gluten free food is not gross but scrumptious!!! I am in the process of finding/making recipes for the trip! I am so excited!! My name is getting out there and I am so happy that it is!! I owe a lot of it to Karina, who has been helping me and mentioning me on her blog! Thank you to everyone else who have been supporting me. Thanks mom and dad! Thank you fellow bloggers for commenting and leaving me your thoughts! keep reading and I will keep writing, Talk to you soon, Your fellow blogger, Dylan

Interview with my brother about being Gluten Free

2007-09-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

(Don't ask about the picture, I just thought it was cool....even though it has nothing to do with the subject!)

Celiac Disease:
When food enters the small intestine, tiny fingerlike projections called villi absorb the nutrients and take them away to the blood stream. When people with celiac disease eat gluten, it attacks the villi and makes them inflamed and eventually they shrivel up, flatten out or totally disappear. Without properly functioning villi, the body can not absorb the nutrients it needs. After time, if no gluten is eaten, the villi grow back but not as quickly as they are killed. If you have celiac disease it is very important to not eat gluten. If too much gluten is absorbed, it can lead to serious injury and could result in the body not getting the nutrients it needs. Approximately 3 million Americans have celiac disease.

(Resources: Newsweek, September 17 2007 edition, page 61 "Waiter, Please Hold the Wheat")

A few days ago I interviewed my brother Evan about having celiac disease and living gluten free! Here is some Q and A with Evan,

How do you deal with not eating gluten in school and life in general?

It almost feels right now; I do not feel much different. My friends share food and I can not do that so it becomes annoying. Class trips are difficult to work out. I can not eat what everyone else is eating, so there has to be a totally different meal for me.

Do you miss gluten foods?

When I was diagnosed with celiac I was very young and I did not taste all the different kinds of foods other normal people have everyday. There is no food/dish that I really miss. Pizza I kinda miss, but I do not totally remember what it tastes like. It’s hard to say. I have it easy, my dad was diagnosed with celiac when he was an adult, so he really remembers and misses gluten foods. I try to think of it differently, the positive side, that it is healthier. It's not that I miss gluten as much but the difference between textures and tastes, I wish I could have something new.

Do you wish you could eat gluten?

Usually it's the smell, not the look that does it for me. It's not remembering something that makes me miss it but that I never got to try it, that’s what bothers me. I do wish that I did not have celiac. I am not per se happy to be a celiac. If I wasn’t, there would be more different and yummy kinds of foods but not as healthy kinds of foods. Altogether I do not mind being a celiac. It’s not a terrible thing for me because I do not remember gluten foods, and that makes it easy.

Are there any advantages or good things about being Gluten Free?

You eat healthier; and you get to have something different than what other people are eating. People can buy cake in the grocery store all the time but when I get to have a store-bought gf cake it's new, different and exciting. Biscotti, I probably only had that because it said it was gluten free and we were like oh cool, let's try it. I do not ever remember having biscotti with gluten. So for me some of this stuff is new and different. I do not think biscotti is a very regular thing and I got to eat it! For me it's a real treat to find something gf in a regular grocery store where gluten eaters get their foods too.

How did it feel / what was it like when you ate gluten?

I felt, from what I can remember, nauseous, sleepy, grouchy, drowsy, headache, hot and sweaty and a horrible stomach ache. "...one of the main things is that it is going to be one of the worst nights of your life!" You are up all night and you feel horrible.

What do you eat for breakfast and dessert?

I have a variety of different things I eat in the morning from, bagels, toast to cereal (envirokidz, naturespath). Last year I had a bagel with butter almost every day! As you can tell I love these bagels! The annoying thing is that you have to toast the bread, if you don't it does not taste as good. I miss having soft bread, that most people have every day.

Do you have any advice for people with celiac disease?

Find a place you can order large amounts of gluten free products, like co-op orders. Health food stores have a lot of gluten free products. The Outback Steakhouse has a great Gluten Free menu, that ranges from desserts to full meals, including fresh, soft, Gluten Free bread!!!!

What do you take for lunch at school?

When packing your lunch having veggies is a good idea, because they are a good for you and make a good filling substitute for sandwiches and other main foods. I take some chips, a cookie and some veggies and some other stuff like last night’s dinner or something like that. "...when you are gluten free you are going to have to surrender to veggies..." In my school we do not have a cafeteria so everyone brings their own lunches so I do not feel so strange and left out. A lot of teachers and students in my school know a bit about celiac, so this is really helpful on class trips and stuff like that. In our cooking class our teacher knows almost all the basics about celiac disease so it’s nice to cook and bake something gluten free at school!

Sharing food with other people:

Do not take any food from other people even if you know that the product is gluten free. What happens a lot is that someone will be eating a sandwich and then they reach for some chips. Most likely they do/did not wash their hands before grabbing the chips. The only time that you can be totally sure that the product is gluten free is when you open the bag for the first time and take your chips first. This does not work if the chips are in a zip-lock bag or a container that has been opened and placed into another storage container. The chance of the person who transferred the food into another container using their hands, results in possibly "glutenized" food.

Do you have any tips when shopping for food?

If you find something that you want but are not sure that it's gluten free the first place to start is by looking at the ingredients. Then look to see if it may contain traces of wheat or gluten during processing or packaging. NOTICE: IF IT SAYS WHEAT FREE IT DOES NOT MEAN IT'S GLUTEN FREE!!!!!! If you think it’s ok but not totally sure, go to their web site or email them and ask if this product is Gluten Free. With some items that there is a chance of it being not gluten free, I would advise you not to take this chance. Some people will not give you a direct answer if it's gluten free or not, if so I would advise you not to take the chance.

Veggie Salad

2007-09-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago I realized that my mom had some Chinese spoons. Now I love these things, I have seen them on all of those cooking shows (Top Chef, Iron Chef America and so on....) but have never used them. So last night I started using my noodle and thinking of a way to use these awesome spoons!

To make this you will need:

1 cucumber
1 red bell pepper (so you can use 1/2 red and 1/2 green but I like the color contrast with the red!)
1 red tomato
pinch of salt
1 garlic (finly sliced than smashed with salt using the side of knife)

Take your cucumber and cut it in half. Scoop out all the seeds so you are left with just the flesh (if you will). Finely chop all the ingredients and place into a blow. Add the salt and mix (I use my hands its easier *don't tell anyone*)
When you are ready to serve pull out your Chinese spoons and scoop some of the veggies into it. Sprinkle with a little more salt on the spoon to taste. Garnish with some parsley, cilantro or nothing, whatever you like!

serve cool
Enjoy!

The Veggies

Explaining...

2007-09-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

I have to start by saying that, I was crazy when I was writing my previous post called September. Now I just finished my 2nd week of school and I have realized that it is almost impossible to cook/bake and do my homework. The past few days I have been up to mid-night and still have not finished all of my work, and this is supposed to be an easy block! I am going to start to bake on the weekends, so maybe I can get some cookin' done! I am going to keep pushing forward and try to wait for the weekend to cook. But I will make sure that when I get some orders from my new job c r u m b I will be all desserts and treats! Thank you for your understanding and support. Your fellow blogger, Dylan

Summer Plants

2007-09-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

This year my mom decided to grow cucumbers in the garden. I had never grown cucumbers so I had no idea that the plant looked almost like a long vine that stretched across path-ways and into the next flower bed. They started out as small yellow flowers that sprung out from the prickly vines. As time passed small little swells in the vines appeared underneath the flower. The swells grew bigger and bigger soon the flower died and fell off leaving a whole ripe yummy cucumber for someone to pick! The plant is so big that it is still flowering and making cucumbers! I love walking in the almost nonexistent paths to the Vinny mess and feeling my way through the leaves looking for a cucumber the right size.

We also have a wild grape vine that is hanging from a tree across the drive way. We have watched them go from green to blue to purple. Its almost time to pick them and they look so good! This is going to be the first year picking them and hopefully it will be worth pulling out the tallest ladder to reach them :)

Summer is coming to a close. The weather has gotten cooler and the leaves are just starting to get gold, orange and red. Enjoy the rest of the summer while it lasts, all the smells and fresh air, the veggies and fruit, the warmth, the grass between your toes and the beautiful walks in the woods. Take it in while its still here!

scarlet runner beans

prickly cucumber that is almost at its picking point

wild grapes about to turn purple.

Happy Fall :)
Dylan

September

2007-09-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

September, it means two things my birthday is coming soon, and school is starting. I have not been blogging for very long, but long enough to tell you that its hard to do school work and create recipes and blog them. Blogging, (which includes, creating recipes, eating, posting, commenting and so on) is a way to escape the nagging feeling that tomorrow you will be going to school again for the next 8 months (give or take). Sadly school starts for me tomorrow. But I am going to try brake my record and blog ever day, so I can keep myself happy and satisfy my readers with new GF recipes! Cooking has become my life and there is no reason to abandon it now! hmm school work then cooking, I think I can do that :)

Now Dylan's Gluten Freedom is open during the school year! :)

Enjoy, your fellow blogger, Dylan

Purple Potatoes

2007-09-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

This week when I saw the potatoes from out farm pick up (read my post on Roxbury Farm) I was not surprised. They looked like normal potatoes with dark skins and small dimples where the roots came out from. Their dirty exterior told you that these are defiantly fresh! That night as my mom was making diner, as she started to peal the skin off of the potatoes to make baked fries, she calls me over and says "Do you have your camera?" As I look over my moms shoulder into the shiny sink I see a pile of PURPLE potatoes! I was astonished, they were so beautiful, the purple color bleeding into the white. The more you peeled off the outside flesh the more purple they became. After my mom baked them and put them onto the diner table, we all tried them. They were just like potatoes maybe a little better (with a my dollop of ketchup I could not tell) but I devoured them. Its amazing what many amazing kinds of foods and ingredients there are out there. Nature has its way of making our ordinary ingredients like potatoes totally different and amazing.

Work

2007-09-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my blog, so if something is missing (recipe, posts, pictures) that you would like to see again, please, feel free to comment on this or any post reminding me of what i am missing! Work is still in progress, if something is not working, please check in again soon.

your fellow blogger, Dylan

My 8 random facts about myself

2007-09-01T16:21:00.002-07:00

See the Beginning of this Meme at Karina's blog

I was tagged by Karina The Gluten Free Goddess

Here are my 8 random facts about myself!!

1. Besides being a Gluten Free Chef I also love doing art, photography, wood working, writing and anything that includes a computer!

2. I go to a waldorf school, where we have a class that is the joy of my life called eurythmy (I actually hate this class!!!)

3. I have not had a coke in almost 2 years

4. I have never broken any bones in my life. (I have only fractured my finger playing football)

5. I do not think I know 8 other bloggers!

6. I sleep with a pillow on top of my head to keep my ears warm. I do not have big ears but I always want to keep them warm. I wear a hat in school even though I'm not supposed to!

7. When I was little, you know how you crawl before you walk. Let's just say I was different. I rolled, then crawled (only for a very little time) then I learned to walk. And even stranger now is that i can not even go on a swing set because i get so dizzy so easily!

8. When I was little and i was suposed to be napping, i would climb out of my crib, open the door and go downstairs to my mom and dad. I would always get out.

Now that I have spilled the most embarrassing memories of my past I am going to tag...

Pastry Girl at Dessert First
Shauna at Gluten Free Girl

I am only Tagging two people because I am relatively new to this blogging thing and do not know many people/other bloggers.

The fine print:
The rules for this meme are:
1. Let others know who tagged you.
2. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
3. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged. (Unlike me :)
5. Email the link of your meme to Karina

c r u m b update No. 1

2007-09-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my mom and dad's anniversary cake. It is not the best cake I have made (even though I wish it was), but was planning it for weeks. This cake symbolizes two people coming and meeting in the center and living a long and happy life together. The idea is that the two solid chocolate kisses are my parents and they are crossing the chocolate bridge to get to one another. Very touching, I know, they are my parents and this is their anniversary and I wanted it to be as meaningful as possible!

c r u m b update No. 1

I am going to give you a little look at my new business and how things are going so far.

Last week I baked a few of my favorite cakes and brought them into my favorite local stores/cafe's and asked if they would like to sell my cakes. Before I get to how it went, I am going to tell you what I made for them to sample/test. I made a Chocolate Cake with an amazing chocolate frosting (I know, its very simple but...This cake with the icing is out-of-this-world. I wanted to have some classics and what's more classic than a chocolate cake?!) I made a carrot cake with the best cream cheese icing i could find (I do not think that there is a better cream cheese icing out there!) And last but not least a yummy cheese cake (It is a recipe that my mom got from one of her friends. and trust me when I say IT'S GOOD!)
Now I am just waiting, hoping, praying (OK, I'm not praying but I'm close to it :) for one of them to call.

I am still working on new recipes and ideas so I can have a large variety of different desserts and treats.

I am so happy to have a supportive family... I would not have even made it here if my parents were not constantly helping me. And thank you fellow bloggers for your support (It is a part of what is keeping me moving forward!)

Please let me know what you think of my new business and tell me if you have any advice (I think I need it)

Your Humble blogger and friend,
Dylan

GF Waffles

2007-09-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

This recipe have many different variations, you can add chocolate chips and make them even better!

You will need a 6 ½ inch waffle iron
Makes 8, 6 ½ inch waffles

If Using Pamelas…

2 – cups Pamelas Baking mix
1 ¾ - cups milk
6 – tablespoons vegetable oil (I found that olive oil works just as well)
2 – large eggs
½ cup chocolate chip morsels (optional)

If Not Using Pamerlas…

2 – cups flour (you can use your favorite Gluten Free flour or baking mix)
2 – tablespoons sugar (if you are using a mix of different flours and in the ingredients it has sugar already, the extra sugar mentioned here may not be needed!)**
1 – tablespoon baking powder*
½ - teaspoon salt*
1 ¾ - cups milk
6 – tablespoons vegetable oil (like I said above, I found that olive oil works just as well)
2 – large eggs
½ cup chocolate chip morsels (optional)

**With the sugar you may have to test and see if it needs it (it depends how sweet you like them)
*With the baking powder and salt you probably don’t need it if your four mix already had salt and baking powder in it. You may have to test a little and some up with your own version that works with your flour mix.

The Procedure

Mix all the ingredients together by hand or with a mixer (I mix it by hand because the hard labor stimulates the appetite J ) until combine. Let better sit a few minutes before cooking/baking (does the waffle iron cook or bake?) Spray the top and bottom grills of the waffle iron (spray is more convenient than butter because its harder to coat the grills with a stick of butter. It does not always get into the crevices) pour ½ cup of batter onto the bottom grill towards the center. Most waffle irons have timers or settings like your toaster, like how brown do you want them to be. But if yours does not have one you need to cook of approx. 3 minutes, resulting in a crispy, golden brown outside and a soft inside. Keep an eye on your waffles during cooking, every brand of waffle iron had different cooking times.

Serve with: ice cream – fresh fruit – Nutella heated up with a little milk or cream – maple syrup – Jam and/or jelly!
Enjoy

My Previous Job of Chocolates

2007-09-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....
No that's not right... but anyway I used to make chocolates and sell them to my grandparents who run and own their own store.
after realizing that i was much more into baking i decided to stop, but i sometimes still have this urge to make chocolates. I have posted some of the many different kinds of creations i made. maybe some day in the future i will go back to making chocolates.... you never know :)

*These pictures contain some very yummy items and may not be suitable for hungry people. Serious injury can occur if a hungry person tries to eat these very yummy items resulting in being electrocuted an/or being seriously injured!*

"cups of joy" a yummy chocolate cup filled with creamy icing!

"chocolate lollipops" these are for Christmas but i had over 20 different kind of molds.

"sweet dreams" marshmallows covered in chocolate and sprinkles

(on the left) candy canes dipped in chocolate (on the right) white chocolate with candy cane chunks

Pictures that are special to me

2007-09-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

My first picture with my digital camera (and how surprising, its of food!)

Ahh don't you just love waking up to (GF) french toast in the morning?!

This picture is the top to my (well really my mom's) mixer, we were making some sort of salad dressing and look what came out! Its ART i tell you!!

you can't go wrong with a little basil.... well maybe a lot of basil!

Out-of-this-world Chocolate coffee Ice Cream

2007-09-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing recipe and is perfect for one of those hot days (like today) when you just don't want to do anything. The cold will help clear you head and the sweet of the coffee and sugar will wake you up. The beautiful color and aroma fill your heart with joy as the smooth silky ice cream slides down off the spoon and into your mouth.
I am getting a little carried away... my whole family loves this ice cream my sister loves the coffee and my brother loves the chocolate and mixed together its so good!!

I am basically allergic to dairy, so i use lactose free milk instead of normal milk or cream. you can substitute it with either plain milk or half milk and half cream.

One little potential problem, you need an ice cream maker to enjoy this recipe.
I would suggest getting an ice cream maker either an attachment to an kitchenaid mixer or the whole machine itself. they really only have two purposes, to make ice cream or to make sorbet.

for this recipe you need,

3 - cups lactose free milk
3/4 - sugar
1 - packet of hot cocoa mix (I have been using Nestle, but i think any kind will work)
1 to 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
3 - tablespoons coffee*
1 - teaspoon vanilla

*since i am not the biggest fan of coffee i use less, but if you want more feel free to use more!*

Mix the milk, sugar, hot cocoa mix, and chocolate syrup in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved. (just get most of it off the bottom or else you could be mixing for hours!)
Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and turn it on for 25-30 minutes. (the time depends how you like the texture of the ice cream to be!)
after it has finished cooling and is in the consistency of you desire add the pre-brewed cool coffee into your ice cream and mix once again until incorporated.

serve cold and enjoy!

since my family loved it so much, by the time i could take a picture there was only a little left. do not be fooled by the little bit of container in the pictures.

c r u m b

2007-09-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

I have just started my own business. (yes I may be a little young, and no I am not going to let that stop me!) I have always loved making cakes, and desserts so I am going to keep pushing foward. I am going to/already selling my baked goodies to other stores around my home town. I have baked for my own gradutaion (3 cakes fully decorated, 1 Gluten Free cake, and 40+ cupcakes.) I know stress. Imagine catering the desserts for your graduation and having to worry about being on time and the cakes not melting, the icing not getting squished and smashed, and having all the right utensils to fix any transportation glitches. Above all that I still had to do everything to prepare myself! (shower, pick out/get clothing, and all the other stuff a guy has to do!) Now back to the subject, I have also catered for a friend's birthday 2 years in a row. (He and his parents have always been happy and amazed with the final product.) I also used to sell molded chocolates at my grandparents' store. So now I am moving onto the next level. Right now it's calling to me and saying "Dylan, you must start your own dessert business before school starts again. If you do not complete this task before school you will be doomed for the rest of the year!" Something like that... So now you have it, a little look at why I am so insane as to sart something like this. What it comes down to, is that I have always wanted to do this and now the opportunity has come! My future is calling to me :)

My new busniess is called...

c r u m b

Living with Two Butters

2007-09-01T16:07:00.001-07:00

My life living with two butters!

My brother and father have celiac disease and me, my sister and mom can eat gluten. We sometimes will eat gluten but since my brother and father cannot we try not to. My sister loves toast (I don't know why) and you cannot have toast without butter so that explains why "I live with two butters!"

I have made a list of 10 of the necessary Gluten Free ingredients and mixes that you should always have on hand. (The ones you will really need and the ones just for fun!)

1. Pamela's - I live on this awesome baking mix. Almost every dessert, cake, and batch of pancakes are made with this mix. It's good for almost anything, from cakes to crusts to even waffles and pancakes. It is usually found in health food stores but trust me its worth the drive!

2. Nutella - A great late night snack that's awesome on strawberries! Nutella can be found in many supermarkets now and should always be kept in large quantitys!

3. Kosher Salt - This is the only salt we use in cooking, it just makes everything tast better. I dont know why but it does!

4. Pepper Grinder - I love having a sandwich with ham and turkey with mayo and freshly ground pepper. It's so much stronger than the stuff you buy pre-ground. I got my grinder at William-Sonoma but you Do Not need to spend $50 on a pepper grinder, so suport you neighborhood cooking store and buy one from them.

5. Salsa - You just cannot go wrong with some chips and salsa!

6. Fresh Veggies - They are the best thing to have. They just taste so much better. I get veggies from an awesome farm that is totally into not using chemicals (check out my post about Roxbury Farm)

7. Brownie, Cake and Apple crisp topping mixes - It's a late night and you have nothing for dessert but since you have celiac desease you cannot go to your nearest bakery, so you just bake up a batch of brownies. Yum I'm hungry just thinking about it!

8. Spices and Herbs - My family has a garden that we are growing many kinds of herbs and a few veggies! Even if you don't have a garden you can still get almost fresh herbs from your supermarket. I love cinnamon and other spices in my apple and pumpkin pies so I always try to keep a nice bunch of them around.

9. Chocolate - In any form will do (chocolate chips, chunks and pieces!) I even keep a bag of peanutbutter chocolate chips around for those special mornings with peanutbutter chocolate chip pancakes.

10. Pasta - Any Gluten free pasta that you like. We use Tinkyada If a dish goes wrong you have a back up!

Creamy Ricotta and Fresh Fruit

2007-09-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

I think this is an awesome recipe. It's just sweet enough to satisfy that sweet tooth and healthy with all the fresh fruit. It's based upon a cannoli recipe from both Jamie Oliver and Martha Stewart. It's a great Italian classic with a twist!

serves app. 5 depending on serving size

32 oz Ricotta (drain any liquid off the top)
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1/4 cup Sugar
app. 1 cup chocolate chips, as many as you want :)
Any kind of fruit you would like. I used strawberries, cherries, blueberries and blackberries. They all should be washed and sliced. You may want to add a little sugar to the strawberries so they let out their juices.
5 cookies, some sweet bread, or something crunchy to put on the fruit and ricotta.

Fresh blueberries, cherries and strawberries with a little sugar.

Put your ricotta, sugar and vanilla into a food processor and blend it for about 1 minute. After the ricotta gets a smooth creamy texture, take it out and put it into a bowl with the chocolate chips! Mix till the chocolate chips are evenly distributed.

Creamy Ricotta and chocolate chips.

Place ricotta and chocolate chips into ice cream cups or anything you like. Start by layering the fruit onto the ricotta. Then crumble your cookie or sweet bread on top!

Ricotta, fruit and cookie!

Serve cool and enjoy!

My Graduation

2007-09-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

For my 8th grade graduation I was asked to make the desserts. I was thrilled and could hardly wait to begin. I started planning and drawing out ideas. For the next few days I don't think I did any school work! After figuring out what kind of cakes I was going to make, I started to get a list of things I would need. After shopping for stuff, I started baking and making the frostings. And then baking some more and making some more frosting. Repeating until completed. Then the big day came. I finished just in time without cutting any corners. I arrived at my school (where the graduation was to be held) and started setting the cakes up. Now I am still amazed I pulled this whole thing off with only some help from my parents who totally kept me going. I got so many compliments that I could of drowned! I only wish I could have made them Gluten Free. Here are some pictures of the awesome cakes and desserts I made! (even if I do say so myself)

White chocolate coconut cake with butter cream frosting

Chocolate cake with butter cream frosting and fondant circles

A piece of each of the cakes that I made. (Even though you were only meant to have one slice.) Well I had to make sure that it all tasted good! :)

French genoise cake with chocolate ganache frosting with strawberries and white chocolate

I also made some cupcakes and a Gluten Free chocolate cake for my dad and brother, so they could enjoy and celebrate with us.

Roxbury Farm

2007-09-01T16:01:00.001-07:00

My family has shares in an organic biodynamic farm called Roxbury Farm . Every Friday (except for in the winter) we pick up our vegetables.

The veggies and fruit that we get from Roxbury Farm is amazing. You can taste the difference between your busy Price Chopper (who in the world thought of that name?) and Roxbury!

Here are a few pictures of the very fresh vegetables we get from the Farm!

Roxbury Farm

Whipped Cream

2007-09-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

3 tablespoon sugar

2 ½ cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla (you don’t have to be exact)

Mix the cream till soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix. Serve Cold

Tip: don’t overmix the cream. Tip: you can also chill the bowl so the cream whips faster

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes

2007-09-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

Heat a large skillet or pan to: 350º

Makes App. 8-9 pancakes

1 Cup Pamela’s Baking mix

1 Large egg

3/4 Cup water

1 Tablespoon oli

1 Cup of Caned Pumpkin

1/2 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons of butter for the skillet

In a Bowl mix the egg, water, oil & Pamela’s mix and when it is well combined add the pumpkin and mix well!

When your skillet is hot, spread the butter evenly over the pan.

TIP: to see if your pan is hot take a spoon of cool water and pour a few drips onto the skillet and if it bubbles a very little bit then it is not very hot if the bubbles jump right off the pan and evaporate in less then 1 or 2 seconds it is way to hot but if they bounce around for a few seconds, then your pan is great!

Spoon out the batter onto the skillet. When the top side has small bubbles on it, flip them. Serve with butter or whipped cream!

Enjoy!!

"Batter"

"Pancakes"

My Obsession

2007-09-01T15:53:00.001-07:00

I love making cakes so I wanted the world to see what I can make! I'm very proud of my cakes! I spent weeks planning it drawing sketches after sketches! I beg my mom to let me make a cake each weekend! I watch the Food Network all the time and my family enjoys cooking together in our kitchen! I can say the Food Nework is my inspiration besides my MOM and DAD. Hope you enjoy my food... and my CAKES!

Food Diets

2007-09-01T15:51:00.001-07:00

I was watching this show and there was a family who only ate raw food including meat! My family is trying to go vegan because of its health benefits, what are you takes on vegetarian, vegan and raw diets?

The Food Netwrok

2007-09-01T15:50:00.001-07:00

I have been looking at all these blogs and about how much people hate the food network. I personally love it I spend hours watching Alton Brown, Paula Dean and some other shows. I don't understand why you guys don't like it. I get why some of you dislike Rachel Ray and semi homemade lady, but other than that what makes you not like the food network? If the TV is on its either sports, (hockey) or the Food network in my house, and I love getting inspired with new ingredients and ideas from it.

Dylan and Karen’s Banana Bliss

2007-09-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

CAUTION: VERY HOT OIL IS NEEDED AND CAN BURN YOUR SKIN! :( 2 – Bananas 1 – Cup Really Great Food co. pancake mix 2-3 – Paper bags 2 – Tablespoons oil (a better oil for eating) App. 3 Cups frying oil 1 – large egg (mixed in a small bowl with a fork) 2 – Teaspoons of cinnamon Powdered sugar for garnish Cut bananas to about 1 inch or a little bigger. Put the App. 3 cups of frying oil in a big pot and start heating it up. Put the pancake mix, the good oil, egg, cinnamon and bananas in the paper bag (you may need to double the bags). Then close the bag and shake it up well so the bananas are covered with the flower and egg mixture. Take some tongs and put the bananas pieces in the VERY HOT OIL. After about a few seconds (10 sec. –1 minute) look to see if they are done. (To tell if the bananas are done, they should have a light brown color to them; they should be warm and have a little bit of a crust.) If they are done, take the bananas out of the oil and put them out on a plate with paper towel on it and let drain off any extra oil. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy! Serve warm!

Pamels's Baking and Pancake Mix

2007-09-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Pamela's is a mix consisting of brown rice flour, white rice flour, cultured buttermilk, natural almond meal, tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, potato starch, grainless & aluminum free baking powder (sodium bicarbonate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, potato starch), baking soda, sea salt, xanthan gum.

It can basically be used for anything! Use it for pancakes, waffles, cakes, cookies and more and best of all it's GLUTEN FREE and WHEAT FREE. I use it in most of my gluten free recipes. Since I do not have celiac disease I can eat gluten, but I find there is no reason to, because the Pamela’s Baking Mix makes it taste like it is something you buy from a bakery. You can’t realy tell the difference between gluten and GLUTEN FREE with this Pamela’ Baking Mix! Pamela’s Baking Mix can be found in health food stores and on the web at:

Pamela's Products Or email them at: Info@pamelasproducts.com

If you have celiac disease or are allergic to wheat I strongly suggest that you try this mix.

Peach & Pineapple Pie

2007-09-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

Preheat over to: 350º 1 – Can pineapple (cut up into small pieces) 1 – Can peaches (cut up into small pieces) 1 – Teaspoon sugar 1½ - Cups applesauce Crust 1½ - Cups PAMELA’S BAKING MIX 4 – Tablespoons butter ¼ Cup - ice water ⅛ cup - Oil Whipped Cream You have on option you can either buy some already made whipped cream or cool whip or you can make your own! 1 Tablespoon - sugar ½ Teaspoon (or a small drizzle) of vanilla 1½ - 2 cups heavy cream Pie filling! In a pot put the peaches and pineapple, sugar and apple sauce (if you are on a diet or something like that, this pie is delicious without the sugar so feel free to leave it out!) and cook it at medium heat and stir every 5 minutes. In another bowl put the Pamela’s pancake mix. Cut up the butter into small pieces and mix in with the pancake mix. When it is well combined take your ice water and slowly mix it into the mixture. (you may not need all the water but I found that you usually need it all) then take two pieces of wax paper and put the Dough onto it and put the other piece of wax paper on top and roll it out and place into the pie tin. (The Dough may rip so you may need to patch it up a bit) and put it in the oven to bake for 15- 20 minutes. It will turn a light brown when it is done! After 2 hours give or take the pie filling should be done. To see if it is done see if it is thick and kind of mushy if it is then lower the heat to low. (Turn the heat to as low as it can go) then just let it sit stirring sometimes. If the pie crust is done take it out and let it cool down. In the mixer (or bowl) mix the heavy cream till it has peaks and then put in the sugar (and here like, the pie filling, you can leave out the sugar if you want. It will not be as sweet but it will still work) and vanilla. Mix until the vanilla and the sugar are incorporated. When the pie crust has cooled down you can put the pie filling in. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream (or cool whip) And enjoy!

Fruit Tart

2007-09-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

Pre-heat you oven to 350 1 Stick of Butter ½ cup of Pamela’s Pancake Mix ½ cup & 2 tablespoons of sugar App. 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 banana 3 small plums ½ nectarine You can substitute any of these fruits with, pineapple, strawberries, peaches and so on... First put the butter in a small bowl and mash till it is in small pieces. Add the Pamela’s Baking Mix, sugar and cinnamon then mash. When the mixture is all combined and smooth with no lumps, place in pie dish and press till it is evenly covering the whole dish. If the crust is starting to get mushy and hard to work with, stick it in the freezer for a few minutes. Take it out and make changes if necessary. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon on the bottom and sides of the tart crust. Go around with a fork and poke holes every inch on the sides and bottom of the crust. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15–20 minutes till lightly brown! The tart crust may start to bubble and puff up, that’s ok, when you take it out it will sink back down! Take the crust out and let it cool for a few seconds so you don’t burn yourself! After it has cooled start placing the fruit around the tart crust! Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of the fruit! Place in the oven again for 10-15 minutes (until the juices have come out of the fruit, the bananas are slightly brown and the fruit is warm to the touch!) Serve with a dollop of whipped cream! TIP: you may need a spoon or a spatula to get it out of the pan!

Chocolate Shake

2007-09-01T15:29:00.001-07:00

1 packet hot cocoa mix 10 strawberries 1 banana 1 cup milk 2 cups ice Place your hot cocoa, strawberries, banana, milk and ice into the blender. Blend till slightly chunky!