Cookies You Can Make With Your Eyes Closed . . .

. . . if you are 3 and have an adult to do the actual baking.  This recipe is also from Mrs. Fields' book with only a minor adaptation for gluten free.



Lacy Oatmeal Cookies
yield 8 dozen (according to the book, 5½ dozen for us)

Ingredients:
1 cup quick oats
1/8 cup rice flour
1/8 cup tapioca starch
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325*
Combine oats, flours, salt and baking powder and set aside.
Beat sugar and butter to a grainy paste.  Add egg and vanilla, beating until smooth.
Add flour mixture and blend just to combine.
Drop dough by teaspoons onto lined cookie sheets, 2-1/2 inches apart.
Bake 9-12 minutes, until edges begin to turn golden.  Cool and remove.

Ours do not look like the picture in the book.  Probably because we used old fashioned oats.  Possibly because I looked for more of a "creamed" look before adding the flour mixture.  I don't know the why of not creaming the sugar and butter and then adding the egg and vanilla, do you?  The book's cookies looked lacy.  They actually said to "peel off" the cookies from the baking sheet. Ours had a little lace-ness to them, but also had a little poof.  Either way they tasted really good.

Update on Cavell

Our poor boy woke up at 3 this morning and didn't understand why he couldn't open his eyes.  As one can imagine, he was scared.  I was able to tuck him back into bed after some snuggles.  A few weeks ago I watched a boxing movie that depicted someone slicing a black eye open.  It was very disturbing to me.  Paul explained that it allowed the blood and edema to drain out so the person could see.  Now as I watch my blind little boy, I can understand why a controlled cut could be worth it.  No, we are not going to drain Cavell's eyes.

When Cavell woke up again for the morning (at 5!) I was able to comfort him again and carry him downstairs to listen to the TV.  He walked to the kitchen for breakfast and did a great job eating his ball cereal (aka Kix) and raisins.  He didn't even spill his milk.  When he was done I took him back to the chair by the TV.

7:30 am and Cavell was already bored.  He began wondering the house, running into a couple of walls.  He even went upstairs to hang out with his Papa, but needed to be carried down.  By 8:30 he was able to just peek out from the bottom of his eyes.  This made him think he could run around; except some things stick out further than the wall and he has run into those, with his head.  He also asked for his frozen grapes for his eyes.  He used them for a while, and then started to eat them.

10 am and Cavell has fallen asleep.  Except, I couldn't tell.  At 11 he helped me make some really simple cookies.  He did a really good job and didn't even spill.

Cavell is again watching TV.  To see out of the bottom of his eyelids, he needs to tilt his head back and stretch out his mouth to move his cheeks out of the way.

The swelling is moving down and away from his forehead which is good.  It's obviously filled up his eyelids and now is migrating down his nose and starting to move down his cheeks as well.  The entire upper third of his face is losing definition.

All of this seems to be hardest on the parents.  Cavell is taking things in stride pretty well.  He was climbing up on my lap and doing back flips on to the floor this afternoon.  His sense of humor is fully intact.  The positive we are taking out of this is that he has slowed down enough that we get to sit down and snuggle with him during the day.

Monster

We call him monster.  Don't know why, but he's always seemed like a monster. Cavell needs a costume for Halloween.
We are thinking Ferengi. . .

Or maybe Frankenstein?


What would be your choice? Here is what we've come up with so far.

Cute little monster, eh?

Here's the actual story.  On our way home from a delightful parent teacher conference, Paul was walking and holding Cavell's hand.  Cavell was in a playful mood and Paul would lift him up in the air and swing him a few steps before setting him down.  Cavell got his hand so that he was holding Paul's hand instead of Paul holding Cavell's hand.  As Paul lifted Cavell up in the air, Cavell's grip slipped and he fell, landing flat on his face and knees.  Unfortunately, his face took the majority of the impact.

We got him up and carried him to the car.  He was no longer crying, just a whimper.  That was when we saw the golf ball standing up on his forehead.  We immediately panic, finish buckling kids into "safety" seats and drive home to get ice.  When we got him out of the van, the golf ball had turned into a softball.

We got him into the house and applied a bag of frozen grapes.  Cavell and Paul camped out in front of the TV discussing the merits of applying the grapes to the forehead to reduce the swelling.  Cavell was convinced that the grapes would do him more good on his knees.

About 20 minutes after coming home, Cavell stood up and walked over to the table to eat some Jello for his afternoon snack.  He was talking and playful and even giggling. He returned to his chair to watch the rest of "Cars" and generally annoy his older sister.

At dinner, during the prayer, he dropped his head down on the table pretty hard.  It didn't faze him a bit.  While putting him to bed, he jumped into his bed and threw his head into the mattress pretty hard.  Nothing. 

Pupils are even.  Speech is only as slurred as is normal for a three year old.  We are ready to pronounce him as OK.  Now if the parents can be as carefree about his head as Cavell is, we will be in good shape.

The pictures just don't do justice to the reality.  His face is pretty gruesome.  He started bruising up in the evening and has already started getting dark around his eyes and down his nose.  His forehead is swollen all the way across the front now instead of a round ball.  It's actually somewhat comical in a dark sort of way.

What will they think at the YMCA childwatch?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I remember enjoying my first pumpkin chocolate chip cookie in the English Department at BYU. They were from the Provo Bakery (190 E 100 N) and I was told they were the BEST version I would ever try. I believed it. Due to different circumstances in life (that whole "gluten free family" thing being one) I haven't had a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie since I left the department. I no longer know what about those cookies made them that fabulous in my memory, but I have thought of them often, with longing.

I was recently informed that this recipe was the one to try for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. It happens to be the recipe of my running friend, Heidi. It shouldn't surprise anyone, I have now made a gluten free version.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from Food for Thought: Where Flours Bloom)
yield 3½ - 4 doz.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin purée
1 egg1/2 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup rice flour
2/3 cup tapioca starch
2/3 cup corn starch
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tsp xanthum gum
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp each cloves, nutmeg, ginger

1 c. mini semisweet morsels

Directions:
Cream butter and sugars together. Beat in egg, vanilla and pumpkin. Combine flours, xanthum gum, baking soda, salt and spices. Add flour mixture and chocolate chips to the creamed mixture and mix to combine. Refrigerate dough for a couple of hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop cookie dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. With wet fingers, slightly flatten and smooth the tops. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just set.

We all thought these were very yummy. They reminded us of little bites of a delicious cake. Are they as good as the cookies I remember from school? I don't know, but I do know that I had to lock up the cookies I could save from my family's greedy maws before all 4 dozen were gone in a single afternoon.

Brown Buttercrunch Cookies

I checked out Mrs. Fields Best Ever Cookie Book! from the library.


Alayna and I went thru and marked all of the cookies and treats we wanted to try (that weren't just a chocolate chip cookie base with alternate mix-ins). Then I determined which had ingredients most likely to be on hand. From those, I had to guess which ones might be adaptable for Gluten Free flour substitutions. 200 recipes were ultimately narrowed down to 5 MUST MAKE treats before we need to return the book. Brown Buttercrunch Cookies was the first.

Brown Buttercrunch Cookies
yield: 2-1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients
Cookies:
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar*
1 cup old-fashioned oats (not quick or instant)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour**
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze:
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Melt butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar over moderate heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high. When mixture boils, remove from heat and stir in oats, flour, and vanilla.
• Drop by half teaspoons 3 inches apart onto lined cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes or until mixture spreads, bubbles and begins to brown. Let cookies cool for 1-2 minutes before rolling.
• Roll around a wooden spoon handle, creating a tube. If cookies become too brittle, return to oven for 30 sec. to soften, then try again. Cool rolled cookies completely.
  

Chocolate Glaze:
Heat cream in microwave safe bowl until scalded. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips and corn syrup. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes for chocolate to melt. Mix until smooth.
When cookies are cool, dip half of each cookie into chocolate glaze. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set.

*I only had light brown sugar, so added 2 tsp of molasses to the corn syrup
**I used 1/4 cup each of Rice Flour, Potato Starch and Tapioca Starch

Notes
I figured out to drop ALL of my 1/2 tsps of cookies onto one long piece of waxed paper. Then, when it was time for a new tray, I only had to transfer 6 of the blobs with my silicone spatula. Otherwise, my mixture was cooling off between batches making them hard to portion.

The recipe is not kidding about dropping by 1/2 tsps 3 inches apart! These puppies spread. I use half sheet pans for my baking (with a liner that I love) and only placed 6 cookies each time. That worked well, because there is not much time for rolling. I started about 25 seconds after removing from the oven and sliding the liner onto a cooling rack. While it was still too hot to want to touch, but not so hot that the cookie was too melt-y to roll. I had to roll fast, or the last one was too brittle and I didn't want to have to put it back in the oven because the next batch was already in. I only needed to bake them for 5 minutes.

Because you are only using 1/2 tsp per cookie, this makes well over 2-1/2 dozen cookies! Or maybe they are referring to the number of cookies that will actually turn out right. A fair number of mine broke,

the roll became flat,

or weren't quite a roll because of flat parts cracking and poking up.

I did get some good rolls.

Verdict
Meh. Not bad exactly, but not at all worth the effort and overheated fingertips.

I think there is WAY to much butter in these. Making them my hands became greasy and there were actually bubbles in the layer of butter left on my liner after each batch that I had to wipe off. After I finished, I double checked that it said 1/2 cup of butter and not 1/2 a stick. It really wanted the whole stick! Even the cooled cookies left my fingers greasy.

These aren't good cookies for nibbling either. Because they are so brittle, one bite seems to make the whole thing shatter. Cavell decided he needed to eat his over the garbage can.

Edit to add:
I am more willing to call this a candy, like a brittle, rather than a cookie.  And, if I am in the mood for such a candy, I would rather make microwave peanut brittle.  I'll save that recipe for a later post.  If I want a light, sweet oat cookie, I will be making the Lacy Oatmeal Cookies.

Artisan Bread

A while ago (January), Paul sent me a link to a recipe for a simple, free-form gluten free bread. The exciting part for me was that I had heard about the book (or maybe it was their first book) thru regular flour users that were loving the whole rustic bread idea and having great results using this method.
When a different GF blogger recently posted her great results and love for this bread I decided I would give it a go. I even had everything on hand.

Gluten-Free Crusty Boule
Makes enough dough for at least four 1-pound loaves

2 cups Brown Rice Flour
1 1/2 cups Sorghum Flour
3 cups Tapioca Flour (also called tapioca starch)
2 tablespoons yeast (can be reduced but you will have to increase the rise time)
1 tablespoon kosher salt (increase or decrease to taste)
2 tablespoons Xanthan Gum
2 2/3 cups lukewarm water
4 large eggs, whisked together
1/3 cup neutral-flavored oil or olive oil
2 tablespoons honey or sugar

Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt and xanthan gum.
Combine the oil, sugar and water, set aside.
Dump the eggs into the dry ingredients and then stir while you gradually pour and mix in the oil and water.
Stir until the dough is nice and smooth. Cover and rest on the counter for about 2 hours. Place the dough in the refrigerator and store for up to 7 days.

On baking day remove 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough. Use wet hands to smooth out the surface of the dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest on the counter for about 90 minutes. 30 minutes before baking time preheat the oven with a 5 1/2 quart Dutch Oven in it to 500 degrees.

The dough will not have grown much while resting, but it will seem a little bit puffier. Use a serrated knife to cut slashes in the dough. Lower the parchment and bread into the pot. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the heat down to 450 and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Allow the bread to cool completely before eating.

Because they said it makes 4 loaves, I halved the recipe. It's a lot of flours and xanthum gum to risk wasting on an experiment. When it was time to divide, I even weighed my dough balls. 2 dough balls, 1-pound each.

Look how well that turned out.
For reference, that is a sandwich bag the "loaf" is sitting on.
Can you guess how the inside turned out? That's right. Dense and heavy, and not in a good, hearty bread sort of way.

This is ALL the slices I got from a loaf.

I don't know why I keep following, to the letter, recipes that have me mix my yeast in with the dry ingredients. It ALWAYS fails. I don't think the beginning dough ball rose at all. But then, for the instructions to reassure me that I shouldn't expect the individual loaf dough balls to grow during their rest wasn't encouraging either. I know my yeast is still good. I am strict about checking the temperature of my water so I don't kill the yeast. IF I was going to try this again, I would let the yeast grow in the sugar water mixture instead. But, I don't think I'm going to try again. The flavour wasn't that impressive when I already have a bread recipe that has been successful every time. Although this does use less flours, yeast and xanthum gum per loaf - which could be worthwhile if they would rise more, you know, to the size of a regular loaf.

Lex, Again

Do you remember when we shared that Lex was becoming mobile? He must have known we posted that and wanted to get further ahead. A week later he is everywhere and anywhere he wants to be. I caught up to him roving through the kitchen trying to follow his siblings outside!

Paul was recently teasing him about being just a baby, who couldn't even cross the midline. Crossing midline is an important neurological and physical developmental stage in infants.  It usually occurs between 8-12 months of age.  I, as the proud, frivolous, indulgent, mother have decided that Lex crosses midline on a regular basis and is advanced for his age.  Paul, as the cold, callow, and objective, yet highly experienced and handsome, wheelchair professional who has done what it takes to help small children as well as adults cross midline for their first time, bases his more realistic opinion on actually observing Lex as he moves and plays.

This is not an example of crossing the midline.
Not even close.

This is an example of how cute Lex is sitting and playing with the alligator. Oh, did I mention the sitting? Yes, he is able to do that unsupported now. Yes, I am a proud mama chatting about her baby doing everyday things that every baby does.

Lex Developments

Lex is growing up. He is much more fun to be around. Now when I leave him in ChildWatch at the gym, he doesn't cry the whole time. He has begun to play and have an interest in things. Like computers.

They start so young.

Lex is also becoming more mobile. The first clue is when you go to get him in the morning and he is not where you laid him down. We find he is on the other side of the crib, facing the other direction and flipped over. Instead of the "army crawl", Lex began moving with a full body "worm" motion. Now, he is working up to actual crawling.

Giggles, squeals, coos and babbles are his new form of communication as well. His favourite babble seems to be "ma". This means he says it more than once and I get to hear "mama" often! While I'm sure this is not actually a first word, I will take it.

Don't let the pictures fool you. This child stills retains a lot of resentment and anger over something. That much is evident in his screams. Happily, the interludes between crying jags are growing longer and are beginning to be filled with some pleasant indicators of personality development.

Cavell

Cavell loves the camera. Cavell prefers to take pictures of himself. He seems to be most interested in his mouth.















I think it may be time for a lesson in the basics of photographic framing, composition, light and focus. Any volunteers?

Flamenco!

Alayna has been taking a Flamenco dance class for a couple of months. This evening she participated in a demonstration at the library.

A few pictures before everything started.




Her teacher, Cristabell, gave a demonstration with the castanets.

Alayna danced.


and the finale with the whole class.


Alayna received many complements from the crowd of spectators.  One lady was so impressed she commented that, "You can tell that she dances from her heart."