Wheat eaters have it SO easy, don’t they?

They can grab any old cracker, chip or toasted bread when they want something to scoop up their favorite spread. We, the gluten-intolerant, have fewer choices when it comes to this mission. I myself often reach for the box of rice crackers, or make chips out of veggies such as carrots or kale.

Would it be too much to ask for something that would provide a little double-duty? One that could play the role of soft sandwich ends OR crispy snacker chip thingy if toasted to perfection?

How about something tangy that could be chewy or crunchy depending on the mood or needs? And better yet, haven’t you been waiting for more excuses to use your gluten-free sourdough starter anyway? Think flatbread.

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We all love the efficiency and ease of the one-pot wonder: a meal that’s made in one vessel – thrown together and baked or cooked – ready for the after-skiing (or in my case, snowboarding) meal.

A steaming hot pot of spicy chili was always on the menu, waiting for my family when we got home from the mountain – the best thing to fill my hungry tummy after a long day of racing. Thawing out to a great comfort meal is an important part of life here in the Northeast, and we Vermonters certainly participate in plenty of bone-chilling cold-weather winter activities.

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For years, we have seen chocolate become infused with hot stuff- chilis, chipotle, and wasabi. This,  for the chocolate purists, may be considered a small crime, but in our world of fusion cuisine just happens to go with the flow of traffic.

This blog began as a request for a chocolate cream pie, but since I couldn’t imagine anything better than Susan Reid’s recipe on our website, I figured my time would be better spent on a new creation.

The inspiration for the ginger came when I pulled the 9″ x 9″ square tart pan from the rack and imagined other square-shaped dishes- the kind you see in Asian restaurants wearing sushi, rice noodles and pickled GINGER.

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Got banana bread? I think the question really is: “Who doesn’t have a trusty old recipe up their sleeve?” Like china sets and pieces of fine jewelry, they’re handed down through family generations, but much more often used and appreciated.

I have to admit that I am one of the few that was left without granny’s heirloom banana bread recipe, but I DO have her zucchini bread formula which proved to be a great starting canvas for the gluten-free recipe I’m about to share with you.

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There’s something about warm chocolate melting inside a moist, dark, rich cake that never seems to go out of style.

For years it has been a regular on dessert menus standing alongside its only relentless competitor, creme brulée. Now you can see its tempting face on the front of baking mix boxes promoted by words like decadence, indulgence, and molten.

We call it lava cake. For all the chocolate-crazed dessert lovers out there, THIS is your gig!

Timeless and simple it may be as a dessert celebrity, but it does demand careful clock-watching in the kitchen. Like a soufflé, this type of dessert ages exponentially by the minute after it’s pulled from the oven – the lava firms up, and so does the magic.

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I could sense some doubt when I mentioned making a gluten-free shortbread.

I heard, “You can’t do that, it just won’t work” enough times to almost start believing it myself. I was like the kid who was discouraged from doing something dangerously daring and just wanted to do it anyway to prove everyone wrong.

Armed only with a gluten-free butter cookie that crumbled like a dry sandcastle when touched, I was ready for some structure science. This drop cookie was great for a trifle maybe, but not-so-impressive for solo presentation.

True shortbread should be strong enough to be cut in to wedges or squares, but still tender enough to melt in your mouth.

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I promised to get busy developing some yeast recipes for the sourdough starter that I introduced a few months ago and thought English muffins would be a good first challenge. I’ve had a fair taste-test run with a variety of gluten-free English muffins; mostly the kind you buy frozen in the grocery store.

Deal-breaker #1: One muffin costs about the same amount as the ingredients to make them at home. Make your own batch!

Deal-breaker #2: Most all of them were shaped like English muffins, but when broken into, were no different than a lightened gluten-free white bread: soft and spongy with an even crumb, no nooks or crannies.

I may as well have taken a biscuit cutter to a loaf of bread and saved the money.

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It was easy to divi up the Christmas cookies in my family when I was younger. My brother gorged himself on the chocolate chip, while my dad snuck the snickerdoodles and butter cookies (the ones my mom would curse as she struggled to get the dough out of the press in anything more comprehensible than a blob) to his room.

I was a little less impulsive than dad, but would still anxiously await the day when mom would make her ginger molasses cookies- a recipe from an old bed and breakfast they had stumbled upon on one year while in Maine. They were bendy-chewy and stuck to your teeth just right.

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Oh the woes of gluten free bread.

It’s boring. Tasteless. The dough is unmanageable and not versatile.

I beg to differ.

When my family began making the gluten-free transition years ago, it was so hard to part with the comfort of good bread. It actually seemed easier to just avoid it altogether rather than risking failure in making it, or spending $6-$7 for a loaf at the grocery store.

We have since then, despite a small amount of whining in the process, successfully landed in a happy homemade loaf-loving life.

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When summer fades gracefully into autumn rhythms and we start pulling out the long-sleeved wool, packing lunchboxes, and harvesting our gardens, there’s a quiet reverence that transports me to my childhood.

I always enjoyed the first weeks of school, seeing the crisp frost on the ground as I walked down my long driveway to catch the bus, and picking that first ripe apple from the tree at our neighboring orchard.

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