Sentient

The gingerbread we use for our houses is a different recipe to the one we make our cookies out of.  It does not rise and is denser.  When cooked it does spread slightly but not much, which is what you want.

Gingerbread House recipe

4½ cups flour
¾ packed brown sugar
2tsp cinnamon
1½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup butter ( I ended up using a bit more as the dough was too dry to work with )
¾ cup molasses
1 egg yolk ( save white for icing )

Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine flour, sugar, ginger, cloves and salt in large bowl. Set aside. Slice cube of butter into 4-6 slices, put in microwave bowl and melt in microwave, about 1 minute on high, it should not boil. Mix butter, molasses and egg yolk together in a small bowl with a fork or large spoon. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until combined. The dough will be thick and slightly dry. ( I used my kitchen aid mixer because it could handle it )

When rolling it out roll it between pieces of parchment, but before you do work the dough in your hands to get rid of any air bubbles. It should only be rolled to ¼” thickness. The best way to guarantee this is to use two pieces of dowel either side of the rolling pin. Chopsticks work too.

Glue icing

1¼ cups icing sugar
1 egg white
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
food colouring

Put all ingredients in a non-plastic bowl. Mix with electric mixer on highest speed until peaks stay when you lift mixture with a spoon, about 5 minutes.

I am one week into my new gluten-free life. Tuesday last week I had an endoscopy which confirmed what my doctor had suspected after seeing the results of my recent blood tests. I have battled against anaemia for years, getting my levels up to the bare minimum, only to see them plummet back within a year. The last test concerned my doctor as there were other deficiencies showing up along side the iron. She decided that perhaps I was not absorbing the iron or other nutrients, an effect of celiac disease. To cut a long story short, it appears that she was right.

I have not met with a dietician yet or started reading books on the condition. I have done a little googling and a lot of label reading. (actually my children are doing a lot of the label reading as I can’t decipher that tiny writing) I am not new to restrictive diets. I was once put on an elimination diet which started with pears, rice and not much else. I have managed to follow a wheat free, dairy free, refined sugar free diet, (some would say the flavour free diet). In fact over the past fifteen years I have restricted my wheat and dairy products most of the time.

The specialist who did the test believed, without waiting for the results of the biopsy, that I have celiac disease and suggested I start the diet immediately. I keep thinking of foods that are now forbidden like egg rolls, lemon meringue pie and muesli. And then one springs to mind which is acceptable like pavlova. I intend to make some delicious and mouth watering gluten free snacks and put them in the freezer, but right now it’s pretty much just peanut butter and rice crackers. Imagine if I couldn’t have peanut butter either, now that would be bad.