As you have figured out by now, we eat gluten free in our house, not by choice, as two of us have Celiac disease. This week's shopper, Linnea, and I were diagnosed about five years ago, and it did not take long to figure out that trying to keep a partially GF kitchen, making separate meals for two out of six people, was never going to work. So, with very few exceptions (free bagels), gluten does not enter the kitchen.
Gluten free food is expensive, and much of it does not taste great. To make matters worse, I grew up in a family of bakers (my parents own a B&B), so the difference between homemade baked goods and breads with gluten and the store bought items without gluten is incredible to me. About a year or so after our diagnosis, I came across a blog called Gluten Free on a Shoestring which has allowed me to embrace GF baking that tastes really good. I have all the related cookbooks and the blog is the first page I visit after checking my email in the mornings; it has truly changed our lives.
So, back to Linnea. With her now $28, she needs to stretch her budget as much as possible, and really wants to keep the complaining to a minimum. She is the child in the family who most likes to bake, and her schedule has breads, cookies and other snacks on her to do list every day. So far, I have put together two bread starters at her request, she has frozen cookie dough balls ready for baking at anytime, a batch of protein bars in the fridge, and the ingredients for many other items. She has big plans!
Naturally, there is a catch. Plans on paper never quite work out in reality . . .
If Linnea could spend all day in the kitchen baking, everything would be fine. If she could sleep as late as she wanted each day and be totally rested, everything would be fine. If she didn't run, roller ski and babysit daily, everything would be fine. If she had no friends, everything would be fine.
Everything is not fine.
Linnea is discovering, as we adults all know, that having a life gets in the way of plans. I can hear her muttering about what to make for snacks and desserts, and I watch as the time ticks away in her day, and she starts to mutter even more about how she needs to get this done or that made. I am walking a fine line between wanting her to do this project her way and making sure she does not overwhelm herself with the stress of her plans needing some flexibility. Flexibility is not Linnea's strong suit!
Today was not a good day for her to bake, but tomorrow should be better. I plan to jump in there and give her a hand, partly to keep her from getting out of control, but also because, let's be honest, I love cookies.
No comments:
Post a Comment