Busy as a cooking snail

Lately I've been trying to keep myself busy while 1) quitting horrible hostessing job at an Italian restaurant, 2) avoiding planning a church retreat, 3) waiting for a new motherboard for Mr. Computer, and 4) waiting to be offered a new job (which happened - yay!) and waiting to start new job. While I faithfully check on my list of favorite blogs, hoping that there will be a new GF tidbit for me to devour, I am not yet enough of a blogger myself to actually update my own blog. Woe is me! Sadly my camera is also out-of-order currently, so no pictures as of yet.

In any case, I have been keeping busy in the kitchen making things for myself and others. Among my latest successes and failings:

- forgetting to turn the oven off while letting the spiffy sorghum cast-iron bread (Gluten-Free Girl) rise, leading to a crunchy sorghum brick that I could barely cut with my new IKEA bread knife

- finding the BEST BREAD RECIPE EVER (and no, all of those shouting-like caps are NOT overkill) at Gluten-free by the Bay...when he says that this bread just might make you cry--totally not kidding:
First, I had never actually baked bread (well, until the above disaster) without the assistance of my mom's trusty ol' breadmaker that was donated to the GF cause upon my diagnosis.
Second, while Mom and I determined that this was a pretty dang good loaf of bread (better than any store-bought nastiness, that's for sure!), it still left much to be desired. I don't remember much about wheat bread when going on 9 years of eating GF, but I do know that it was malleable, squishy, didn't require heating and some sort of moisture addition (jam, butter, cream cheese, tomato slices, etc.) to be edible after being in the refrigerator, wasn't the texture of a pound cake, didn't crumble into a pile of, well, crumbs when being touched in any way it didn't want to be...which was everything from cutting to eating, and didn't cause massive coughing fits when eaten at the inopportune moment of breathing/talking/laughing. Not a long list of faults, really, considering that it did have taste, was awesome fresh out of the machine, and didn't cost $6 per loaf (crucial for college/grad student).
That being said, I just about leapt for joy at the fact that, aside from being far more healthy (brown rice, quinoa, flax seed) than many recipes, IT WAS SQUISHY!!! Yes friends, it didn't turn into a pile of crumby rubble upon touching OR biting. AND it could still do its squishing AFTER being put in the fridge!!! Kudos, kudos to this recipe and its creators. The bounce in my bread put a bounce in my step.

- discovering the coveted can of "zucchini in tomato sauce" at a local grocery store:
Why is this such a big deal, you ask? This puppy is a critical ingredient in my mom's new recipe for a minestrone-type veggie soup that's amazing! I was thrilled when I saw the little green can smiling at me on the shelf. Of course this recipe got doctored up a bit because of the red cabbage residing in my fridge and my BF's (not to be confused with GF) insistence that foods without meat do not fill him up. Still, the soup (or perhaps stew is a better term...all of my soups seem to turn into stews) was a hit and retained its homey essence.

- making my roommate her yearly birthday carrot cake:
For me, the trick to awesome cakes (even 9x13"!) is the incorporation of fruits and veggies. Lucky for me that I am not much of a chocolate fan (sacrilege, I know) and would much prefer these garden-type cakes...especially since they are often adorned with cream cheese frosting. My roommate of course knows that this cake is GF, but a guest last night didn't know what hit her. Huzzah! One of my mental indulgences is still bliss over the fact that I can make frosting from scratch. Do you have those foods that you've been scared to death of trying because you just know you'll screw them up. For me these were non-chili soups (especially pea and bean, though cream soups as well), un-breadmakered breads, homemade mashed potatoes, and homemade frosting. I suppose by this post you can see that I've pretty much conquered my cooking fears--except for cream soups. I'm not sure where the frosting thing came from, maybe because such a big deal is made about how much better the stuff is from scratch (aka Pilsbury doesn't even put up a fight when the real stuff is in the room). Still, I kind of feel as if cream cheese frosting is "cheating" in some way because of its already creamy texture. Now if you just have milk and powdered sugar...THAT is something to write home about. Even so, I am proud of my frosting skills. My hand mixer and I (yes, HAND mixer...see above comment about grad student salary) are becoming good buddies.

- concocting pumpkin-zucchini curry (sauteed zucchini in oil and spices, added leftover canned pumpkin) with cucumber raita (plain yogurt, chopped cucumber unpeeled, cumin to taste). The raita is my new favorite thing--just eating it alone with rice is tasty. As Martha says, "It's a good thing."

Mom's Vegetable Soup
1 can zucchini in tomato sauce
1 can cut carrots, drained
1 can diced potatoes, drained
1 can petite diced tomatoes
Garlic powder,salt and pepper, and Italian seasonings to taste

Extras:
1 c chopped red cabbage
1 lb browned ground turkey
1 c chicken broth

Combine all ingredients. Simmer for 30+ minutes.

Carrot Cake
4 eggs
2 c sugar
1 1/4 c oil
1 1/4 c white rice flour
1/4 c potato starch flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 c grated carrots
1/2 c chopped walnuts
2 c chopped apples

Combine the eggs, sugar, and oil. Combine dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients. Add veggies, nuts, and fruit.

In 9x13" pan, bake at 350 deg F for 45 min. Let cool before frosting.