Glutino cookies

Wow, it has been an exhausting couple of days! I have been home with a sick toddler. He is much better now and is back to playing with his good friends while I work.

But now my computer is gravely ill and at the tech hospital. Pray for a speedy recovery. I am inputting this blog entry at work so it will have to be short and sweet.

I had every intention of telling you about one of the recipes that I have adapted to be GF, but alas, that is not possible today.

Instead, I bring you another GF product review: Glutino's Chocolate Wafers coated in Chocolate.

These were wonderful, with light crispy wafers with creamy smooth chocolate coating. The wafer to chocolate ratio was perfect. The chocolate melted nicely in my mouth. These would be wonderful savored with a cup of coffee. Not like how I ate them: standing at the counter, cramming them in my mouth for a chocolate fix while my cranky and sick toddler clutched at my legs begging to be held for the 23rd hour that day. Sigh.

They were about 4 inches long and about .75 inches wide and high. At $4.99 a box, these were quite pricey. However, if you are in need of satisfying a wafer cookie fix or even a candy bar craving, these are perfect.

Enjoy and be well,
Amy

Mother's Day Pancakes

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. And Mom, thanks for being my mom. I couldn't ask for more. I love you!

I started the day by sleeping in, a little. My slumber was disturbed by my oldest (E) as she came into the room to tell me I was not allowed to get out of bed. E insisted on continuing the tradition that she and my husband started a few years ago, making me breakfast in bed. After getting permission to go to the bathroom and wash up, I returned to bed just in time for her and my mom to bring in my breakfast on a tray. I had some GF cereal and a banana. Yum.

The card E made me is amazing. She put so much work into it; not a detail was missed. So sweet.

And she gave me the ultimate gift: dark chocolate. That girl knows the way to my heart.

Once everyone was up my dad and husband set to work making pancakes for brunch. For me, he used Bob's Red Mill GF Pancake Mix. As the pancakes were cooking on the griddle he added some frozen wild blueberries. He did this just before he flipped them over. The results was delicious. This mix was better than I had expected. The pancakes were light and fluffy. No grit, no aftertaste and a good mouth feel. Even the parts that did not get blueberries tasted very good. The addition of the blueberries was like icing on a cake; it made them even better. I had a little bit of butter and a touch of real maple syrup. They were a delicious Mother's Day treat. Even the glutenites in the house enjoyed them. They were indistinguishable from a standard pancake.

The rest of the family had my dad's amazing peanut butter pancakes. These used to be my favorite pancakes in the world. So moist and delicious, with just a slight peanut flavor. All that they needed was a touch of homemade jam. I missed having them, but my blueberry pancakes were great. I am going to work on adapting my dad's recipe so that I can once again enjoy peanut butter pancakes. I will post it here when I get it all figured out.

Enjoy the rest of your day Moms,

Amy

Gluten-free Starbucks

I was out running errands yesterday when I came dangerously close to a drive-thru Starbucks. Since I knew the afternoon coma would be hitting I couldn't help but pull in and order my favorite tall cappucino. Then I remembered that Starbucks had released their individually wrapped, gluten-free Velencia Orange Cake. There was no mention of it on the drive-thru menu board so I had to ask. Sure enough, they had them. I immediatly requested one and began anticipating a new GF taste experience. The cake came wrapped in cellophane to prevent any cross contamination from all the other baked goods that I used to enjoy.

Back at the office, I sat down and unwrapped my new goody. Because the cake was fairly moist I decided to use a fork, but it wasn't so moist that I couldn't enjoy eating it by hand. The first bite was delicious! It was less orange-y than I had anticipated, but had enough flavor for a pleasant citrus tang. It was incredibly moist and smooth in my mouth. There was none of that grittiness that sometimes comes along with GF baked goods. I could hardly wait for my next bite...and the next and the next. In fact, it was so delicious that I finished it off far too quickly. Well done Starbucks! I will return for another when I feel I need a quick pick me up. And at at a cost of $1.95, it shouldn't break my bank.

Of course, I do need to remember that gluten-free does NOT mean calorie free. Here is the nutritonal info from the Starbucks' website:

Nutrition Facts:

Calories - 290

Total Fat - 16g

Saturated Fat - 2g

Trans Fat - 0g

Sodium - 40 mg

Total Carbohydrate - 32g

Dietary Fiber - 4g

Ingredients:

Whole Eggs
Valencia Orange Pulp
Almonds
Sugar
Orange Peel
Gluten-Free Baking Powder
Orange Oil

Thank you Starbucks! Now...can you make something GF and chocolate????