Movin' to the Country...

I’m back!  And wow have things changed since we last talked!  As in, have-to-change-my-description-of-myself-on-the-side changes.  I no longer live in Fishers.  I no longer stay at home with my youngest.  I no longer volunteer at the church.  I no longer have time to bake cakes. Oh, and we got a new dog.  Well, technically we didn't have to go anywhere to get him; he arrived in my upstairs bathroom along with his 7 siblings one fabulous morning in December.  Very soon after that, his mother arrived in the vet’s office and left very, very cranky with us.  But that’s another story entirely- back to my changing life! 

My husband has talked about opening his own law firm for years.  He has asked for books about being a solo- practitioner for Christmas multiple years in a row- if he gives up a Christmas present for it, it’s a sure sign that he is serious.  However, it all seemed very much like a pipe dream where we were- after all, you can hardly swing a stick without hitting an attorney in Fishers.  Then one day, he gets a call from the Mayor of a small city in southern Indiana, Greensburg.  Now, it just so happens that we are from this same small town of Greensburg and the majority of our family still lives there.  Long story short, Chris was enticed to throw his name into a hat for the contract to be City Attorney and in the end, he was the one they chose to hire. 

Once we got the call that Chris had the city attorney gig, we had some quick decisions to make.  Do we stay in our house and have Chris commute the hour each way every day?  Or do we move down right now and try to get settled before school started in the fall?  We had about 2 days to figure out what we needed to do and we chose to move.  We made the decision, went on an already scheduled week-long camping trip, and then moved a week later!  

So, that’s the past several months in a nutshell.  Which means this blog will be evolving to something a little different than it has been in the past.  You will now get to hear all about my adventures of trying to live a life without wheat, dairy or eggs in a city that thinks soy is only the bean that grows in the field on the off years to replenish the soil for the corn.  It’s been interesting, but it’s been fun.  Man, it's to be home!

♪♫ Isn't It Ironic? Don't You Think? ♪♫

Here lately, my life has been playing out like a tame verison of that obnoxious Alanis Morissette song.  No one has won the lottery and kicked the bucket or anything, but there have been some little things that just make a person wonder.  For instance, I finally decided to get an iPhone.  It took me 2 months to actually decide that it was worth spending the money to do it.  After all, my Samsung Continuum was fine- it just wasn't an iPod.  And it had a case that drove me crazy because it hid some of the cooler features.  And I couldn't watch Netflix on it.  Really, it was the last thing that finally convinced me to get the iPhone.  After all, baseball season is coming, as is spring football season.  I'm going to be spending a lot of time out on one sports field or another, and I relied heavily on Netflix on my phone last year to entertain the youngest (Mommy of the year, right here!)  So, I finally made the decision that I would purchase the iPhone on Monday.  Guess what came down the pipe on Sunday afternoon?  You guessed it!  Netflix on my Samsung.  By that time though, I had already talked myself into the new phone.  So, I go get the phone on Monday morning, and afterwards I drive to Meijer to pick up a few things.  Guess what I find in the clearance section?  A phone case for the Samsung that is 90% off, and addresses all the issues I had with my case.  Isn't it ironic?  Don’t you think?

Up until the irony of my iPhone/Samsung fiasco, the most ironic thing that had happened to me lately was my pasta makers.  Yes, you will note that I said "makers", plural.  I have been asking for a pasta maker for Christmas for multiple years now.  I didn't care if it was a hand crank one or the kind that attaches to the Kitchenaid.  I just wanted a pasta maker.  I finally gave up asking my parents (too many other items on the list), and only put it on my in-law's list for nostalgia's sake.  When we opened presents, I was ecstatic to find a manual pasta maker in my loot from the in-laws. Then, when I opened presents from my parents, I was doubly ecstatic to find the Kitchenaid version in my loot from them.  Seriously, the year I give up I get not one, but two of the darn things?  Um, I have also given up on that cherry red Mustang convertible.  Honestly!

As crazy as it may seem, it was a blessing to get both.  The gluten free pasta that I make takes a few times through the machine before it comes together enough to truly be workable.  The Kitchenaid machine is wonderful in that respect, because you can change the speed of how fast it rolls and you can use both hands to feed the pasta through as the machine pulls it through mechanically.  However, the Kitchenaid only makes long flat pieces (great for ravioli, but not so much for noodles if you want them consistent.)  The hand-crank machine came with two different sized cutters, so I can make evenly cut noodles in a flash.  Also, I can use the flat section on the hand-crank for the gluten-full pasta I make for the family to help offset any possibility of cross-contamination.  Both machines get an equal workout.

I am so thankful that I finally got the pasta makers.  I make pasta all the time now!  In fact, my mom even financed my 25 lb. order of Better Batter flour in exchange for keeping her in bread and pasta.  The recipe I use works well fresh or frozen, and cooks up in a jiffy.  Eating pasta and bread makes me feel almost normal!

Mmmmm...  Pasta! 

The final piece to this crazy story of irony is that a few weeks ago I was in Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Once again I was in the clearance section, (see a pattern?) and what did I come across, but a pasta maker.  A pasta maker.  A PASTA MAKER.  A little tooooo ironic.  Yeah, I really do think….

I am Loved...

I am loved.  I am so loved.  I am so, so loved!  You know how I know I’m loved?  Because my Aunt Shirley made me fudge.  And my friend from church made me peanut brittle.  And my other friend from church is trying to arrange a dinner party menu to suit my needs (even though I told him he shouldn’t and I absolutely mean that if you are reading this!)  And I had some yummy salsa, gluten free crackers and shrimp cocktail at a Christmas party.  And I had an entire meal at my in-laws for Christmas Eve dinner that I could eat.  And I had a ridiculous meal on New Year’s Eve that I could eat.  But mostly, because my Aunt Shirley made me fudge!

If you don’t know Aunt Shirley, then you don’t understand how amazing that is.  Each year on Christmas Eve, my dad’s side of the family gets together at my parent’s house.  It’s the one time of the year that I get to see the majority of my cousins, and we have a good time.  My aunt is an amazing cook, and is known in our circle especially for her candies.  Each year she would bring a plate of peanut butter fudge- you know, the kind of fudge that you dream about.  Lots of people make fudge, but no one makes fudge like Aunt Shirley.   And each year, Fireman Sam, The Ranger and I would fight over the leftovers.  So much so that Aunt Shirley began making each of us our own little container of it.  Sometimes it came in a disposable Tupperware container; sometimes it came in a tin-foil pan.  And sometimes we stole each other’s containers, hoarding more for ourselves. 

Aunt Shirley’s fudge was one of the things that I was whining about in my last post.  Fudge is full of all kinds of goodies that are NOT Val-friendly.  I didn’t think I’d ever get my own container again.  Then, I walked in on Christmas Eve.  Aunt Shirley was there- and she had THIS for me:

I was shocked!  I was amazed!  I was thrilled!  I was… confused.  What was she giving me?  Was I getting my hopes up, only to have them dashed when I had to hand my share of the fudge over to The Ranger?  Then I opened it and Aunt Shirley explained.  She has been reading this blog (Hi Aunt Shirley!) and checked out this fudge recipe on Gluten Free On a Shoestring’s website.  It took her two trips to town to do it, but she found the ingredients and she made me fudge.  No diary, no gluten, no eggs.  Just love.  Oh, and chocolate and peanut butter!

So, is it truly Aunt Shirley’s fudge?  Not the original recipe, no.  But it was a container of fudge from my Aunt who loves me, and that’s all I needed.  I have talked about this before- it’s not the fact that she gave me fudge; it’s the fact that she cared enough to try to give me fudge.  It’s not easy to feed me, so when someone attempts to do so, I know they care.  So the peanut brittle, the salsa, the meal planning, the Christmas eve and New Year’s meals?  They are all big, warm fuzzy hugs to me.  Mmmm, big, peanut-buttery, chocolatey hugs....  I am so, so, so loved.

Christmas Whining and Wishes

*Warning: Some whining may occur in the following passages.  This author apologizes that you have to listen to it, but would like to point out that it is Christmas and she feels like maybe, just this once, she is justified- but it gets better in the end, she promises!*

Christmas is going to be rough this year, but not for the reasons one normally considers.  Sure, the economy is in the tank and no one has any money.  Yes, it is impossible to plan everything so you can fit it all in.  Those two thing are frustrating, true.  However, the thing that is really bringing me down this year is the fact that I can’t eat hardly any of my favorite holiday treats.   Aunt Shirley’s fudge?  Nope.  Hot chocolate by the tree with my boys?  Nu-uh.  Egg Nog?  Not the real stuff- just that soy crap that I pretend is almost as good as the real thing (but I know better.  Just don’t tell the Ranger…)  Aunt Helen’s pineapple upside down cake?  *sigh* No.  Any of the ridiculously good treats for the Tumilty Christmas Eve smorgasboard?  No… 

The thing that is really, really getting me down this year is my inability to eat my in-law’s Christmas Eve dinner.  It used to be my favorite meal of the entire year.  A while back, they decided that the old tradition of having Beef Heart for Christmas wasn’t really working for the younger generation anymore, so we updated it.  Now it is an amalgamation of all of my favorite foods.  It starts with a huge bowl of shrimp cocktail- did you know that commercially purchased cocktail sauce often has wheat in it?  Me either until I ate some one day.  Grr.  Then we move on to the Caesar Salad, made by secret family recipe.  I dream of that salad.  I think it is/was my favorite food on this entire planet.  However, with eggs, bready croutons and parmesan cheese taken out of the picture, I am left with lettuce.  Then we move onto the main course- steaks!  Thank goodness for good, old-fashioned plain beef!  And potatoes- with butter and cheese and sour cream!  Oh, well… um…. So we move onto asparagus wrapped in swiss cheese and bacon (hey, I said it was a tradition.  I didn’t say it was healthy!  ;)  And then my second favorite food in the world- Spinach ala Lloyd.  It is spinach and cracker and cheesy goodness that my father in law invented.  Now I can have… spinach.  And then we move onto dessert.  My father in law makes the absolute best candy in this world.  Fudge, caramels, Sugar Roll (it may put you into a sugar coma, but it’s soooo worth it!) and homemade turtles.  I’m drooling just thinking about it!  Now I can have…. Um... well… the pecans if they aren’t put in the turtles.  Seriously?  My life sucks sometimes!

Tired of my whining yet?  Yeah, me too.  Some things are just gone and there is nothing I can do about it.  Others take some finagling, but I can get them back if I really try.  The family secret Caesar salad?  That’s in the gone forever pile.  But, last year they did find a dressing recipe that was Val-friendly and it was good- really good!  I do miss the croutons and cheese, but at least I get a salad.  The shrimp cocktail?  Easy enough to make my own cocktail sauce so that’s a go!  Steaks?  No change needed there.  Thank goodness I never became a vegetarian!  Potatoes?  If I bring my sour cream and use the vegan butter I’m still good there.  Asparagus?  Gotta lay off the cheese, but bacon is delicious.  Spinach ala Lloyd?  Nope.  Gone forever.  The crackers that I can have just don’t do it, and it just isn’t the same without the cheese.  I do miss that…. 

And the candy.  Oh, the candy.  No more candy.  Even if it could be made with dairy-free milk and vegan butter it just wouldn’t be the same.  The vegan butter just doesn’t have the creaminess that real butter has.  And vegan evaporated milk is essentially non-existent.  Bye-bye candy. 

But- BUT!  Yes!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel!  As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.  And someone invented a DF/GF Toffee recipe that soothes my candy-starved soul.  And one of my favorite scouts introduced me to the best allergen-friendly chocolate I’ve ever had.  I won’t admit to eating the chocolate chips by the handful- because you can’t prove it!  Enjoy Life chocolate chips are the absolute bomb- and they have them at Meijer and Target.  Normal places!  And when you use them to make this recipe for Gluten and Dairy Free Toffee…. You feel normal again. 

A little piece of heaven on a plate...

So, I guess these are my Christmas wishes for you all.  If you can eat everything you want, enjoy it!  Savor it!  Appreciate it!  You never know when that might change.  And if you fall into the same category as me, embrace it!  Accept it!  Get over it!  Moping about it does nothing but make you feel bad.  And who wants to feel bad at Christmas?  It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible.  Work until you find something you like.  If you need help, email me at hippiebydefault@gmail.com and I will see what I can do to help you make your old recipes fit into your new life.  Everyone deserves to be happy, and if a little food will help you find that happiness- let’s go find a kitchen! 

Thanks for sticking with me through the beginning whiny session.  And thanks for sticking with me as I take this journey.  The love and support (and occasional GF/EF/DF treats!) that I have received from my friends and family and readers have really helped to make this a great year.  Love to you all!  And Merry Christmas!

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Turkey Day everyone!  Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year.  Not because I particularly care for turkey- I'm really not a huge fan.  No, it's my favorite time of the year because it starts my birthday season!

Yes, I did say "season".  And I love it.  See, when your birthday falls so closely to Christmas, you feel like the festivities start on your birthday (or in this year's case, Thanksgiving, which is two days before my birthday) and then continues all the way through the New Year!  Of course I realize that most of the parties aren't for me.  But the lights, the presents, the seeing family and friends that you don't get to see often, and the inevitable blow-up creation that graces the front lawns of people's decorated houses- you can't beat it!  And when you start the month in a festive mood, it just gets better from there.

Growing up, my favorite birthday cake was a chocolate chip cake with cream cheese icing.  Between that and German Chocolate cake, I really didn't eat much more cake.  Well now, if it is "Val-Friendly" I eat it!  I mean, they are few and far between so I take full advantage!  My Grandma figured out that if you use the Betty Crocker GF yellow cake mix and omit the vanilla, it is really, really good!  When I was at Mom and Dad's this weekend, we made one of those, complete with frosting made with vegan butter.  It was heaven in a bowl, I tell you!  So now I've got my brain working, and I'm pretty sure that if we add chocolate chips to one of those mixes, and use the cream cheese icing recipe that I got out of my new favorite vegan cookbooks Have Your Cake and Vegan too, I can have my favorite cake again!  Soy cream cheese- here we come!  (just sounds wrong, doesn't it...)

As I said earlier, I can take or leave turkey.  What I can't live without is pumpkin pie.  The search for a decent pumpkin pie began almost the day I realized that I couldn't have eggs and milk- it was that important to me.  Most of the recipes I found called for something weird, like tofu, to replace the eggs.  Tofu has a time and a place, and it is NOT in my pie!  Finally, I stumbled onto a recipe that has been out since 1997.  In fact, it was printed in the November 1, 1997 issue of Vegetarian Times- but I've got a link to it right here!  If you are GF, you have to ignore the crust at the top- instead, I suggest using the Gluten Free on a Shoestring crust, and there is a link to that, plus a how-to video right here!  Oh, yum!  Oh, happy day!  Oh, happy Turkey day!  OH, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I refuse to let my dietary limitations horn in on my fun for my holidays or my birthday.  However, since I am going to continue our annual tradition of midnight shopping, I do have to be extra careful on Thanksgiving.  The last thing I want is to be glutenated or egged or dairyied (you thought I was going to say "milked" didn't you- Ha!) and have to miss out on the fun that is the Edinburgh Outlets at midnight.  So, I'll be careful.  And you all be careful, too!  Enjoy your turkey, your pumpkin pie and your shopping-if you are crazy enough go!  And I'll see you on the flipside of 35.  Happy Turkey Day!

Eggs and Milk and Flour- Oh My!

This past week, I got a call for an “emergency cake.”  The mom had purchased a Rapunzel doll at Target and taken it to a local bakery to have them make a Princess cake- you know, the one where the dress is made of cake and icing and you stick the doll down the middle.  It turns out that you can’t make those with a regular doll- or so she was told.  The way it is normally made is by using a creepy half-doll torso with a toothpick shaped piece of plastic instead of legs.  And the only doll torso they had was dark haired.  Rapunzel  from Tangled was NOT a short-haired brunette!  So, she made a call to a friend of mine, got my phone number and begged. 

As we were talking about the cake, I asked her what flavor she wanted.  The question that invariably follows is, “What kind can you make?”  Normally, the answer to that question is “whatever you want.”  However, this was a bit of a rush job so knew I had limited time.  I offered vanilla and chocolate.  If you think about it, you realize that I have a serious handicap when it comes to baking- I can’t eat it!  So really, the only things I can tell you are good are the things I had before I was diagnosed.  That means that I am trusting my memory from almost 2 years ago.  I don’t trust my memory from yesterday!  When I make cake flavors that I have never had before, I always do a test run and trust the people around me to tell me if it is good or not.  And my husband is really kind of caked out so I’m always looking for volunteers!  I knew that I wouldn’t have the time to test run any new cakes, so she got the boring answer.  She chose chocolate.

A couple of weeks ago, the Ranger and the Mrs. and my mom and dad came over to the house to help my hubby make the car behave.  I was making cupcakes for another birthday party that day, so I kept out a few extras for the car warriors to snack on.  (Not to mention, my favorite red-headed Turtle just LOVES Aunt Val’s cupcakes!)  The Ranger tried one of the cupcakes and said, “Are you making these differently?”  I answered that I was not, but my husband piped up and said that I had stopped measuring- which was only partially true.  The Ranger told me to continue to do whatever it was I was doing differently because they were better than before.  When he left, I asked Mom about it.  I wasn’t doing anything differently, so why was it different?  Of course, she can’t eat the cake either, but in between bites of her bowl of frosting (no, it’s cool- all the cool kids eat frosting out of a bowl!) she mentioned that the frosting tasted differently, too.  Apparently the amazing Mexican vanilla that I had been using for 2 months was changing the cakes that much.  Who knew?  I didn’t!

This whole thing has kind of thrown me for a loop.  I have been kicking around the idea of opening a bakery at some point in the future.  I don’t think I want it to be a vegan bakery just because that’s what I have to eat- I mean, I’d like it to make money and not go belly up in the first month!  My thought has always been that I could supplement the vegan bakery aspect of it with making cakes on the side.  But you have that whole cross-contamination issue and the I-can’t-tell-you-if-it-is-good-because-egg-and-flour-are-the-devil thing going for me.  So, I have to figure this out.  Maybe a partner?  Maybe I just suck it up and go vegan to see if it is possible?  I don’t know.  I’ve got a little while to think.  Until I get it worked out, I think I’ll just try to figure out a name.  Any suggestions?  “Meat-Eating Vegan Patisserie” probably won’t cut it, huh… 

Holiday Hijinks...

Well, it’s getting to be that time of year again.  The leaves are falling; the temperature is falling.  Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations are in the stores- I think I may have even spotted a few Valentine Hearts in Walmart today!  Not really, but you wouldn’t be surprised, would you?  We are a holiday-loving bunch here in the United States.  Think about it- we even make up holidays!  Did you know that today is “No Beard Day”?  Not too long ago, it was “World Egg Day” and “National Dessert Day.”  Saturday was “Sweetest Day” and Monday was “Boss’s Day.”  Yes, we love us some holidays!

Of course, not all holidays are celebrated as well as others.  I mean, you don’t see items out in Walmart four months early for “National Pickle Day.”  But we love Halloween, we love the days off and the shopping associated with Thanksgiving (Don’t get me started on that one!  I’m a Thanksgiving baby, and I used to get livid when I saw the Christmas trees out, but NO turkeys!  I’m kinda lukewarm about it now- I’ve mellowed in my age…)  and we most certainly love Christmas!  Holidays mean family and food.  And of course, that’s where my world goes sideways…

When I found out about my food allergies, I bounced from doctor to doctor to try to get things figured out.  I ended up at Integrative Health Specialists in Carmel.  They did a bunch of tests and determined that my whole system was so out of whack that I was reacting to something like 70 different foods.  This wasn’t a true allergic reaction, but it mimicked one because of the “Leaky Gut Syndrome” I had acquired.  Basically, my gut was so out of sorts that it was letting all sorts of stuff into my blood stream.  This would, in turn, cause my system to attack them- mimicking an allergic reaction.  The way to fix it was to avoid all the reactive foods for 6 months.  I got this news in October 2010.  Do the math and you realize that meant that I was avoiding the foods through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. 

I did not do very well with this.  I got very cranky.  VERY cranky.  But I followed through with it (for about 4 months- it was all I could take!) and I did feel better for doing it.  But it really pointed out to me how much we associate the ritual of food with holidays.  My in-laws traditionally have Caesar salad for Christmas Eve.  Real eggs, real cheese, really huge croutons.  Really off limits now.  My Grandma has had to switch her butter out with my vegan substitute, and no longer has a reason to make me pickled eggs.  My Mom’s sugar cream pie is non-existent to me now.  Now, I look forward to scrutinizing everything people make and asking for specific ingredients.  And I hate to do that, because if they think they have made it “Val-safe” but missed even one little ingredient, I can’t eat it.  I feel like I’m rejecting people and they feel like their efforts were for naught.  You don’t realize how personal cooking is to people until you have to repeatedly turn the items that they have slaved over down.   

But, you do what you have to do.  Some things, like my Mom’s aforementioned sugar CREAM pie, is forever dead to me.  But other things I have found ways around.  A great example of this is the Caesar salad.  I figured out that the dressing could be made without any ingredients that I can’t have and it is suitable.  Is it as good as the original?  No, no, no.  But I get to go through the ritual of eating it with everyone else- and that helps.  Another is my favorite- pumpkin pie.  I’ve found a few recipes that are workable, and I’m trying to figure out how to fix the issues that I have with the ones that I have found.  When I do, I’ll be sure to share.  Until then, here is a link to the recipe that I use now:  Gluten Free Goddess Vegan Pumpkin Pie  

The other thing that has made my holiday season is Soy Egg Nog!   It’s made by Silk, but doesn’t have the sliminess that I think their soy milk has.  It has no egg, no dairy and I think it tastes like true nog.  Ahhh, happiness in a glass! 

So, if I see you at the holiday table and I don’t eat your food, please don’t be hurt.  Trust me, I’d LOVE to eat it!  Instead, I’m happy to share my pie, or my nog with you.  I’m also just as happy to watch you eat the real thing.  I won’t be jealous much, I promise!  (Did you know it is National Cross Your Fingers When You Lie Day?  ;)