Waffling

I hit a bit of a road block in my gluten-free baking, but there is some hope ahead.  The alternative flours, with rice flour and brown rice flour being two of the main ones, are heavier than wheat flour.  The rice flours in particular are very hard for my system to handle, and I was feeling discouraged yet again.  In a chip or cracker, I seem to do okay, but in bread form it was just too much.  Most of what I have read so far has said that a straight substitute of an alternative flour for wheat flour in a recipe doesn't work well.  Well, I decided to give it a go anyway with sorghum flour, just to see how it did and how I handled it.  Waffles seemed a good way to go since I can easily freeze and toast the leftovers, so that was this week's experiment.  Modifying the pancake recipe I tried a few weeks ago, I was able to come up with some very yummy waffles.  Next time I will increase the liquid to thin out the batter a bit more, but taste and texture-wise, they were quite good.  My tummy wasn't a hundred percent happy, but it was definitely better than what I have experienced so far.  Keeping the amounts smaller helps, but that is not a problem since they fill me up more.  I am going to try the same experiment with sweet potato flour, and then see if I can come up with my own flour blend.  

Another experiment I tried this week was having brown rice as a breakfast cereal.  I precooked the rice the night before and heated it in the microwave with some vanilla soy milk and a little brown sugar.  Then I added a few dried cranberries.  It was a nice break from oatmeal, but I don't know that I liked it well enough to do again.  My current granola, which was made with the rice flours, is restricted to afternoon snacking, but my hope is that with an acceptable flour blend, I can create a recipe I can have for breakfast a few mornings a week.  I like oatmeal a lot, but some variety would be very nice.

The binding is going on Squared, the Vineyard quilt top is all pieced, and once I piece the backing for the Ugly Duckling, it will be ready for quilting.  The shawl is progressing slowing, and I am almost ready to start the decreasing on the hat.  My knitting lately has involved as much unknitting as knitting, but for the most part I am moving the projects forward.
  
I hope everyone is having as lovely a spring as we are here.  Next time I will plan to post some pictures of our garden.  Blessings!

GF Bread--Round Two

The gluten-free experiment continues and I am really feeling much better over all. Not only am I less achy, but my sinus allergies are better as well, even with all the oak pollen around.  It has been a bit frustrating in the past since I could never pinpoint the cause of the allergies.  The pollen count rarely seemed to match how I was doing, so I am now guessing that the wheat intolerance caused my body to be constantly producing histamines to try to counteract the wheat. 

My second try at GF bread was a recipe for Irish soda bread.  I added dried cranberries instead of currants and skipped the caraway seed.  Fresh out the of oven, the bread was very good and even had a more chewy rather than grainy texture.  It is only fair warmed over, but I will try toasting it to see how that does.  I plan to make the recipe again, but use some more savory spices and herbs. 

We are full on into spring now.  All the trees have leafed out--the red buds and ornament pear trees were gorgeous this year.  The garden is in--tomato, bell pepper, green beans, onions, zucchini, and yellow squash.  I wasn't sure how much container planting I would do this year, but decided to go ahead and fill all my pots.  Thought I would post a picture now, since they may or may not survive the summer heat.

There is no real rhyme or reason to my container planting.  Whatever I can find at Walmart that seems suitable and looks healthy is what comes home with me.  This year there are impatiens, begonias, New Guinea impatiens, cyclamen, and sedum.

In the wooly-cotton world, I am nearly done quilting the quilt I am making for my husband's workplace office so I should have pictures in a May post.  With knitting, my goal is to have a shawl project going and then something that is "in the round" such as fingerless mitts, hats, and someday socks.  The shawl project I pictured here recently is progressing nicely and I am very much enjoying the current hat project.  Here is a picture, but I couldn't get the color quite right.  The yarn is a lovely deep orange blend of wool and cotton. 

That pretty much sums up the latest happenings around here.  A happy spring to everyone!