This is the Message Centre for Agapanthus

Ag from Hyp

Post 1

Hypatia

I received your Christmas card. It was such a lovely surprise. Thank you.

How are the dietary changes working for you? I have spent more than a little time worrying about you and wishing I could just wave a magic wand and make everything all right.

My finances won't let me visit right now, but one of these days I'll show up again to harass all of you.


Ag from Hyp

Post 2

Agapanthus

Hiya! Merry Christmahanukwanzaa. My pleasure, dear heart.

I haven't eaten wheat for a year now. I don't think I felt noticeably, markedly better at any point, but when I did since eat some breadiness, I'd have terrible cramps the next day. Which sucked. I have also become more reactive to things like white wine (even trace amounts, gah), but less to hazelnuts - I ate some by accident a couple of weeks ago smuggled into a gluten-free brownie and I merely got slightly itchy lips. I have decided I am being annoying just to confuse me. Also, I have a wedding to go to this weekend and will be able to eat and drink very little of the proffered deliciousness. I think I may sulk.

I have however found the bestest recipe for gluten-free orange and almond cake. Getting slightly obsessed with baking my way round the issues. Bake all the things!

I am looking forward very much to the day when one or both of us have the finances to hop across the Atlantic. Hugs!


Ag from Hyp

Post 3

Hypatia

Is it the sulfites in the wine? smiley - sadface

I love to use almond flour for baking now. I'm making almond flour scones for a library thing this Saturday. And there are some GF flour blends available here now that do a fair job for things like biscuits. Using plain rice flour and xanthum is too gritty for my taste. I have a focaccia recipe that uses almond flour and flaxseed meal that is very close to the real thing.


Ag from Hyp

Post 4

Agapanthus

It may well be the sulfites. We are planning on buying a box of anti-histamines and a bottle of wine that clearly states NO SULFITES on the label, and experimenting. Woman cannot live on gin alone.

And there's another additive they put in some brands of gluten-free pasta based on, of all things, saponified HOPS, which tastes insipid and bitter at the same time and I really can't stand it. But alas and gloom the brands which only use corn (maize) and/or rice are TWICE the price of the yucky brands. And in Britain, gluten free cakes and biscuits are all ALSO twice the price, AND gritty, AND unimaginative, and frankly soul-destroying. My usual supermarket trip nowadays involves an angry outdoor-voice rant in the bakery aisle about the fact first my life is made difficult by having this digestive problem, and then I'm doubly punished by being sold disgusting crud at TWICE THE PRICE of the tasty stuff, and that gluten-free brands are made by sadistic lazy greedy little smiley - bleeps exploiting our fragility.

Your focaccia recipe sounds very very intriguing *pleading puppy eyes*

Hugs.

And then I buy another 500g of almond flour and chocolate. I take these cakes to work sometimes and they go down, as it were, very well indeed.

I would love to try your focaccia recipe *pleading face*


Ag from Hyp

Post 5

Hypatia

I have several paleo and gluten free cookbooks. I'm sure you've startged collecting, too. I have donated some of mine to the library and given others away to other celiacs since I found the recipes unstisfactory. I have two that I actually use. The focaccia recipe is from a book by Peter Reinhart & Denene Wallace. Since Reinhart (who is wonderful) was willing to put his name on it, I was willing to buy it. I'm glad I did. Overall, it's my favorite GF cookbook. ISBN: 978-1-60774-116-9 Not sure if it's allowed anymore to publish a link, but I got it from Amazon and the title is "The joy of gluten-free, sugar-free. baking"

I do disagreee with the use of agave syrup in some of the recipes. He also uses soy milk, which I definitely cannot digest. But as long as a person can actually cook as opposed to only being able to follow a recipe, it is easy to make whatever substitutions are necessary. The result of the recipes I've tried are worth the effort, which definitely has not been the case often in the past.

I hate typing recipes on here. I'll copy it to a word file when I get home from work tonight and e-mail to you. The one I like is called "Olive Oil and Two-Basil Focaaccia."

The other cookbook I actually use is called "Artisnal Gluten-Free Cooking" by Kelli and Peter Bronski. There is a focaccia recipe in it that I haven't tried because it requires yeast and I haven't had the energy to mess with yeasted breads fir a while. But I do want to try it one of these days. I would also recommend this book.

Food in general is less expensive in the US than in the UK. I had sticker shock when I went shopping with T. But even here, the gluten-free products are 3 or 4 times as expensive as the regular wheat-based products. And like there, they are generally pretty disappointing. Downright nasty in some cases. It is far better to make your own. I've been using a cornflour pasta from a brand called Sam Mills. It's imported from Romania, of all places. I haven't had any problems with it and it is a fair substitute. But the price here has more than doubled over the last couple of years, which is frustrating. I also like plain old oriental rice noodles. And those are inexpensive if you know where to get them.


Key: Complain about this post

More Conversations for Agapanthus

Write an Entry

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."

Write an entry
Read more