Eleven years ago, my cousin on my dad's side decided that for his birthday, what he really wanted was for people to be nice to each other in a very specific way. Rather than throwing a birthday party for himself, where people would feel obligated to give him gifts, he wanted people to gift each other with cookies. It didn't matter how many or what kind. It didn't matter whether the giver knew the recipient. In fact, the random gift of cookies to total strangers is encouraged, especially if it helps strike up a conversation with someone new or brightens the day of someone who really needs a smile out of the blue. This day has come to be known in our circles as "Unofficial International Bob Day." For the last few years, I've been hesitant to participate. I didn't have good contact with outside people for a while, and for the last three years I have been unable to consume regular cookies due to my diet restrictions. But now that I'm working on a cookbook, I've started perfecting cookie recipes, and damn if I wasn't ready to go when UIBD rolled around. Two weeks ago, I made up a snickerdoodle recipe off the top of my head, and the cookies turned out amazing. It was nearly impossible to tell that there wasn't a single grain product in them. On Friday, for our planned St Patrick's day lunch and basketball watch party with the neighbor, I translated the snickerdoodle recipe into one for chocolate chip and pecan cookies, and brought them to give away, as an early Bob Day gesture. But those were eaten quickly, and there were only two left this morning to have with our first cups of coffee. I had to plan on making more before the day's end to comply with this high holiday.
Mr X and I took our neighbor out to meet our old college roommate at one of the breweries in town, and we had a great time reliving old stories. I think we scared our neighbor a little with tales of our misdeeds. I got to stay sober, while the boys drained a gallon or so of good quality beer. By the time the sun was going down, I was exhausted and ready to go home, and more than a little hungry. The neighbor came over to watch a movie while Mr X and I made our dinner and I mixed up another batch of cookie dough, this time another batch of the ginger snaps I created months ago. It wasn't quite at the level of showing up at work or at friends' houses with mounded plates of cookies, but having just enough fresh-baked ones to get through the movie was a decent showing for my first celebration of Bob Day in years. (Besides, I had left the neighbor a half dozen of the chocolate chip ones on Friday.)
I feel like I am perfecting these recipes, as I prepare this cookbook. I have been taking excellent notes most of the time. I really have something here. I think it will be unique enough in the crowded field of gluten free/grain free cooking to sell. The preponderance of store-bought gluten free baked goods are made with rice flour blends, and honestly, they're awful. They taste like ground glass. And they are ludicrously expensive, for very small quantities. Grain free versions are even more expensive per ounce/per serving. These recipes are slightly more complex than ones that use wheat flour, but they really aren't hard to make. They just take a little more time than prying open a plastic-wrapped box. It's so worth it to have real food that actually tastes like food. Someone who wants the convenience of throwing a pre-made chunk of semi-digestible substance into the microwave won't like my methods. They're not my audience. I'm looking for people willing and able to use a whisk, a knife, or a spatula. These are my people. To them I will bring my book soon.
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