I'm still pretending that I'll get to lead an average, normal life, health issues be damned. That even extends to the things that I eat in a post-gluten world. This afternoon, while I was on my very last spoon, sitting in a chair and reading a book, I allowed myself to be "tricked" into getting up and attempting to bake a pie for the first time since I discovered cassava flour. I pulled a recipe off of the internet, for a crust recipe that should have worked. It sounded great. I just fiddled with it, like I do, and I screwed it up. I used cassava and the other mix-ins that I used for the prison biscuits, namely a sprinkle of potato starch and xanthan gum (instead of the arrowroot starch that was called for), plus the salt and cinnamon that was in the recipe. Instead of just butter as the fat, I mixed butter and coconut oil. Another mistake. I did use a couple beaten eggs, as called for, and I reserved just a tiny bit of that to use as a wash on the outside of the crust at the end. Back in the old days, I would have mixed flour into the filling as well, or at least some cornstarch for a thickener. The cassava did nothing to thicken the raspberry-peach filling this time. Or maybe it was the coconut oil seeping out of the crust, making the inside just soup. But really it was pleasant-tasting soup. It was downright yummy. And really, isn't that the part that matters? I made a sloppy, runny, delicious dessert, and I enjoyed it outside by the fire. It felt as normal as I can be right now.
My brokerage is supposed to have its first big volunteer project this weekend. We are supposed to go to a day care center that serves low-income families, and clean it and take care of several minor repairs that need to be done. I volunteered to lead a room full of people to sterilize toys. But there is still doubt that we will get to be there at all. It depends on how soon this gigantic snowstorm rolls into the state, and where it actually goes. The mountains will see more than a foot and a half of snow, up to three feet. Out here, we're still looking at a half to one foot, maybe more. It has been very difficult to predict the track of this storm, and its impact. My gut feeling is that the snow will hold off long enough for us to make it through the project, and the lunch hosted by our volunteer partner (a northern Colorado brewery). We shall see.
This storm has the potential to do major damage to the trees here. They've already started to leaf out, and an extended heavy snow will bring down a lot of branches. Might bring down a handful of whole trees while it's at it. I have three baby trees in the yard that should survive, but just today, we found the first deliciously fragrant blossoms opening on the chokecherry tree out back. I can't express how desperately I want the rest of the tree to wait three days to totally bloom out. The timing is important. If it isn't right this year, we are not going to see any cherries, and that would depress me greatly. I've never cooked with chokecherries, but I have been told they make a great jam. I don't know whether I could make a pie with them, assuming I ever get the recipe right for a crust. Maybe I'll just sweeten up the prison biscuit recipe, and turn it into cobbler. Maybe that would succeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment