June 10th, 2010
R Quayle
Hubby is always picking me up little gluten free tidbits when he finds them and while I knew Starbuck’s was carrying packaged gluten free goodies I don’t believe in spending that much money on (come ON Starbuck’s, bake us up something already- that’s my formal public rebuke), I hadn’t splashed out for any.
After Hubby’s doctor appt I slipped into the car to find the latest treat on my seat: Dr. Lucy’s Chocolate Chip cookies. I wasn’t holding out much hope for the gluten free, egg free, diary free, nut free (what else is there….) little rounds but I did like the packaging and let’s face it, I’m a whore for a pretty bag.
Who knew gluten/dairy/egg/nut could be so good? No, but really. For connoisseurs of crunchy cookies, and I know the camp is often violently divided on the issue of crispy or moist, you can’t go wrong with Dr. Lucy’s. Crunchy but not crumbly, dunkable but not mushy. And frankly, they look nice. I could hear my carton of milk calling for them from the fridge, jealous of my mug of tea. (Note to Nabisco: go run for the hills.)
Hecks, I even like the website. Clean, informative and not full of freaking flash. My only complaint is the chocolate chips, which I understand are vegan. And don’t taste so absolutely great honestly but the overall texture of the cookie absolutely makes up for it- 100% Now all Dr. Lucy needs to do is whip me up some peanut butter cookies….
Tasty factor: love them and will pay silly amounts of money to not have to make my own now that I’ve sucked down a bag for myself
Poopy factor: the chocolate chips taste wierd but once you get past the first bite (yes, bite them, don’t inhale or it’s a waste of cookie), you’ll forget it.
April 29th, 2010
Gluten Free Cooking School gives great tips on how to pull off a gluten free pizza party everyone can enjoy:http://tinyurl.com/2efjnym
April 9th, 2010
R Quayle
I was in Shadyside on Saturday with Husband to gawk at the line of people outside the Apple store waiting for the iPad (we’re on the list for the 3G release and I hope I’m not expected to camp out for that, but it is very sweet and you can play with one at BestBuy). In the meantime we had time to kill and nothing was open on Walnut street so we mosied on down to Coffee Tree Roasters to get some joe.
I have to say that we were a little disappointed to see that CTR is even more pricey than Husband’s love affair with Starbuck’s but they did have some tasty gluten free treats I decided to try. That’s not to knock Starbuck’s on this item either- though I’ve only encountered ONE GF baked good in a Starbuck’s case ONE time, they do sell a variety of prepackaged fruit chews, bars and cookies now that are GF and in some cases lactose free. But back to the Coffee Tree.
The Heart Thrives packages sitting up on top of the baked goods case caught my eye and Husband got me one to snack on. Well, actually it got put in the fridge for 5 days and then I cracked it open to split for my breakfast. What are they? ‘Sun cakes’ and heart shaped little goodies that look somewhat like suet or at least something our local birds would be fanatic about. They are gluten free, diary free, vegan and have no GMO. Sounds tasty….
I opted for the apple variety and I can say that on the go they’re a good option. Now they say they’re gluten free but the main ingredient is oats so if you’d like to call the company (Healthy Baking Company 1-800-830-0309) to make sure there’s no cross contamination, go for it but I didn’t have any issues with them.
The verdict? Well their website is pretty crappy which never gives me a whole lot of confidence in a product but the stuff isn’t bad. Not very tasty really- it’s kind of like a bar of oatmeal and I detest oatmeal but it does keep you full longer and I cheer for anything that can claim that and pull it off. I generally eat a light yoghurt and an orange with my breakfast so one of the apple cakes was the perfect accompaniment for these. If you like yoghurt (or honey or lite syrup/jam), try a little on top of your bar and eat it with a fork but if you’re going to grab and go it’s not bad, just make sure you’ve got a drink with it!
P.s. I hear that WholeFoods carries the Heart Thrive bars too 
And if you order through the parent company’s site you can get free bars with your first order. I’m for that!
April 4th, 2010
R Quayle
Well it’s been a while dear Readers and I apologise for my lack of posting but I was away for a little while and now am back to it. I realise it’s a little late to be posting Easter-y things (but Happy Easter btw) but I liked my little cuppycakes and you can always file this recipe away for next year.
I’m going to be moving soon and I wanted to use up some of the pantry wares before I went so I adapted this white cake recipe from AllRecipes.com into a gluten free treat. I originally was trying to make a layer cake though I’d read in the comments for this recipe that people were having trouble with that and my cake pan ended up deciding for me- the bottom of it slipped and half of the cake batter leaked onto the bottom of my oven and baked there so I poured it into a muffin tin and tried again. The result is below!
GF Easter Cuppycakes (adapted from Simple White Cake recipe)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white rice flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp orange flower or rose water
1. Heat oven to 350F.
2. Cream together sugar and margarine.
3. Beat in one egg at a time, then stir in the vanilla and orange or rose water.
4. In a separate bowl sift flour, xanthan gum and baking powder.
5. Add the dry mixture to the batter in 3 additions and and mix well (you should get some air bubbles when you mix it).
6. Lastly, add milk in 2 additions and beat until batter is smooth.
7. Spoon batter into a 12-c. muffin tin lined with paper liners and bake 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Icing
1/2 c. Betty Crocker Whipped vanilla frosting
4-5 drops food colour
1/2 tsp orange flower or rose water
Cadbury’s mini eggs or other small candies for decoration
Frankly I suck at making icing so I cheated with this one and beat in about 4 drops of food colour and 1/2 tsp of orange water into 1/2 c. of Betty Crocker whipped frosting (which made it even lighter – yum). It turned out pretty good. I only frosted half of the batch so if you’re doing all of your cuppycakes make sure to double the icing amounts.
Tasty Factor: These aren’t too bad. A little on the bland side but the icing perks them up well enough. Husband actually ate them without complaint.
Poopy Factor: Okay, he had one complaint: the cakes crumble really badly.
March 17th, 2010
anybody know where an individual can purchase Luigi’s sherbets? I think J&J Foods only sells to institutions-they’re a GF wonder snack!
February 19th, 2010
Did you know? Ensure is gluten and dairy free!
February 14th, 2010
February 13th, 2010
Address your GF cookie valentines with customizable message-in-a-cookie stamps: http://tinyurl.com/ykun4ay
February 13th, 2010
February 13th, 2010
Guests can’t find their way to the party? Send the invite in a Google Maps envelope: http://tinyurl.com/ykf9blc
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