Since finding out that I can't eat wheat or soy, life has been hard. Yes, I can find things to eat. No, I'm not starving. But dear baby Jesus, it is so incredibly hard to resist baked goods. Things that I didn't even really like before - donuts and cakes - I want all of a sudden. So I have been trying to focus on the things that I CAN have.
A couple of weeks ago we had friends over for dinner, and the woman made an incredibly gorgeous baklava. She's Turkish, so she followed all the rules, made it with 40 layers and filled it with honey. Although I drooled over it, it was wheat city and was a no-go. Thankfully, my mother-in-law was kind enough to make something equally delicious.
She made a batch of surprisingly simple to make macaroons, or almond cookies. These didn't have coconut in them, which I was expecting. Instead, they had three basic ingredients - almond meal, sugar and egg whites. You can't get much easier than that, can you? Each one was topped with a single whole almond, and they were tasty enough that none lasted the night. Delicious. Here's a basic recipe for them HERE.
Random tangent here, but I feel like it is my duty to make sure that anyone reading this is well-versed on the distinction between macarons and macaroons. Both, in my opinion, are delicious. But they are very different confections. See below for clarification:
Phew. Now we've got that out of the way.
Another delicious dish my mother in law whipped up for us while she was here was profiteroles. I'll admit I came close to shedding a tear for having to miss this one, because they are incredible. She made the shells light and airy, we whipped heavy whipping cream for the center and each one was topped with melted chocolate.
To make sure I wasn't a sad little bunny, I decided to dip some cherries in the same melted chocolate. Man, they may not be pretty (ok, fine - they look ugly) but they tasted incredible. Lesson = dip anything in chocolate, and it will taste good.
Do you have any dietary restrictions/food allergies?
I won't continue with my sob story, but YES! Gluten and soy. Thankfully chocolate is okay so I'll be fine.
Macaroon or macaron?
As delicious as the macaroons I had were - it's macarons all day long. Specifically because they come in such gorgeous colors. I don't even mind that they cost like $300 apiece because they're just so dainty and pretty and delicious.
A couple of weeks ago we had friends over for dinner, and the woman made an incredibly gorgeous baklava. She's Turkish, so she followed all the rules, made it with 40 layers and filled it with honey. Although I drooled over it, it was wheat city and was a no-go. Thankfully, my mother-in-law was kind enough to make something equally delicious.
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| Baklava! |
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| Macaroons, baklava and lemon cake |
She made a batch of surprisingly simple to make macaroons, or almond cookies. These didn't have coconut in them, which I was expecting. Instead, they had three basic ingredients - almond meal, sugar and egg whites. You can't get much easier than that, can you? Each one was topped with a single whole almond, and they were tasty enough that none lasted the night. Delicious. Here's a basic recipe for them HERE.
Random tangent here, but I feel like it is my duty to make sure that anyone reading this is well-versed on the distinction between macarons and macaroons. Both, in my opinion, are delicious. But they are very different confections. See below for clarification:
 |
| source |
Phew. Now we've got that out of the way.
Another delicious dish my mother in law whipped up for us while she was here was profiteroles. I'll admit I came close to shedding a tear for having to miss this one, because they are incredible. She made the shells light and airy, we whipped heavy whipping cream for the center and each one was topped with melted chocolate.
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| Hard at work. With chocolate. |
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| Profiteroles |
To make sure I wasn't a sad little bunny, I decided to dip some cherries in the same melted chocolate. Man, they may not be pretty (ok, fine - they look ugly) but they tasted incredible. Lesson = dip anything in chocolate, and it will taste good.
Do you have any dietary restrictions/food allergies?
I won't continue with my sob story, but YES! Gluten and soy. Thankfully chocolate is okay so I'll be fine.
Macaroon or macaron?
As delicious as the macaroons I had were - it's macarons all day long. Specifically because they come in such gorgeous colors. I don't even mind that they cost like $300 apiece because they're just so dainty and pretty and delicious.
Bane of my existence - a peanut allergy. Also cashews and blueberries. I'm loads of fun at a potluck!
ReplyDeleteWheat gives me hot flashes, so I avoid it. I make my own wheat flour substitute and do my own baking. For cookies, cakes, and brownies, I replace 1 cup of wheat flour with 3/4 cup chickpea flour+1/4 cup almond flour+1/4 cup cornstarch. To save money, make your own chickpea flour by running dried chickpeas through a food processor until it is all very finely ground. Ditto the almond flour.
ReplyDeleteMacarons for sure. And I'm lucky enough to live in a city that has multiple options for great macarons in so many delicious flavours.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any dietary restrictions (though my body has a love hate relationship with dairy) but my husband is allergic to nuts and sometimes that means that I have to avoid them as well.
I am allergic to dairy. It messes with my throat. Not enough to restrict breathing, just enough to make it ache for hours to days. I avoid all cheese all the time. Butter inside of other things is occasionally worth the pain, though.
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh finally I know the difference...honestly I never really clued in why they called french macaroons, macaroons...I always thought the ones on the left were infact macaroons...
ReplyDeleteMacaroons...thought I would say it one more time lol
I have to restrict salt, caffeine, and alcohol so I don't have episodes of vertigo. The caffeine and alcohol aren't bad, but it's really tough to restrict (or find the right balance) salt when you're an endurance runner who needs to replenish salt.
ReplyDeleteI have restrictions on salt because of my kidneys but that's really easy live with. I don't think I could handle missing out on all those baked goods!
ReplyDeletebahhhhh. i agree. anything in chocolate = epic. okay most anything. or really...just the chocolate by itself is fine with me:) everything looks super yummy!
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't have food allergies but carbs love me like crazy!!! I must be "allergic" to baked breads, pretzels and crackers...is that possible?? LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteI have food allergies: ginger, cloves and shellfish. My son also has food allergies: peanuts, eggs and tree nuts. We live the food allergy life with no peanuts, eggs, tree nuts, shellfish, ginger or cloves. If you miss baked goods, you should check out the food allergy mama and divvies. They both have fabulous food allergy cookbooks.
ReplyDeleteI'm allergic to tequilla. It causes dizziness, lack of inhibitions, looseness of the tongue, and spontaneous dancing, sometimes accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
ReplyDeleteYum!! I almost ate my ipad! I LOVE the way macarons look but don't love the taste...so I guess I would pick macaroons but i like them even better if they are chocolate dipped!
ReplyDeleteDang, sorry to hear about your allergies! Well I guess on the bright side you know what to avoid!
ReplyDeleteEek, sorry to hear about your allergies! I am lactose intolerant, so really have to limit any dairy products. Although sometimes I cheat because I just HAVE to have pizza, I try to avoid it normally, LOL!
ReplyDeleteMacaroooooooons.
ReplyDeleteI have gone gluten free too and am not missing all the baking - actually quite relieved that I now have a legitimate reason to avoid eating it.
I have been learning to make great tasting things that are gluten free. Hang in there!
How did your MIL make gluten free profiteroles? I would love to have that recipe!
Hey Vanessa! Sorry but I think I missed something, you can't eat wheat?? What happened?
ReplyDeleteWhen I had amebic dysentery (parasites!) it caused leaky gut syndrome, so my body basically attacks certain foods when I ingest them. The tests that I had done - for wheat and soy- came back positive for an allergy. On the plus side, I feel much better without them!
DeletePamela's Baking Mix is gluten-free and I think even soy-free. It's the BEST. And Bob's Red Mill Brownie Mix.
ReplyDeleteNo gluten, no eggs, no dairy, soy we aren't certain. Sugar messes with me too :(
I'm gluten free too for 12 years now. I agree with XLMIC above. Those are the best!
ReplyDeleteBarbara
Grade ONEderful
Eating at home makes it so easy to avoid gluten if I want or dairy when I thought those were disrupting my tummy...but when you go out oh man it's hard, especially when it's a food you really want to dive in to
ReplyDeletesorry i've been MIA, gotta go back and read about your gluten free requirements now
I thankfully don't have any food allergies, but we are currently investigating whether my husband does! All signs are pointing to either a gluten allergy or a gallbladder problem. Good times are ahead for us.
ReplyDeleteHey Vanessa, I tagged you in my blogpost today!
ReplyDeleteNow I realize I've never had macarons and I'm sad that I'm missing out. I've never even heard of profiteroles. Your will power is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI like the macaroons that have coconut. I have never tried them without coconut before, so I can't say which one I would like best. Also those french ones -- I haven't tried either! I am a macaroon/macaron novice!
ReplyDeleteDude - I have been gone forever, but just saw that you ran HTC too! How was it?!! Post, post, post!
ReplyDeleteAnd, which Nuun van were you in? We were behind one at the Jewel/Mist exchange and we chatted with a couple of the runners & they were hooking us up with Nuun tablets & water. Loved them! :-)
Yeah! I didn't know you ran Hood to Coast, that's awesome!! I was in Van 1 of Team Night!
Delete:)