Simple Syrup

Light Corn Syrup Substitute:

***CLEARLY ONE WITH A CORN ALLERGY CAN NOT USE CORN SYRUP***

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Instructions:
1. Combine ingredients.
2. Over medium heat, bring to full boil.
3. Boil for one minute, or until all sugar particles are dissolved.
4. Transfer mixture into airtight refrigerator container.

Marshmallows

Yum. I had never made marshmallows before. Hadn't even thought about it. Picking up a bag at the market on the occasions we "needed" them was so simple. Enter corn allergy. Not so simple. Marshmallows are LOADED with corn: corn syrup, corn starch, powdered sugar.....

Hubs and I went camping last weekend for the first time since March. We love camping and cooking over the fire and sleeping in a tent for a couple of days. Hiking and lazing around a campfire... s'mores....

Thus began my thoughts of home made marshmallows... I'd already conquered the art of graham crackers and we can purchase corn free, soy free chocolate bars soooo...


We toasted them over the fire - they aren't flammable!!! How exciting for me - she who always ignites her marshmallows. I stuck one right in the flame and it just browned up. That's it. What is in those goofy store bought that makes them burst into flames I wonder... They smooshed well with graham cracker and chocolate squares and were soooo tasty. They don't tend to hold the heat the same way store bought does so we ate them straight off the fire and into the s'more with no burned tongue! Yea.

The first evening we went camping we dropped a marshmallow into a cup of hot chocolate too. They melted perfectly and added such great flavor to the home made hot chocolate mix.

When we got home from camping I made rice krispy treats with the 10oz of marshmallow I left behind for just such a thing. I made the traditional recipe from Kellogg's but of course with organic puffed brown rice cereal because Kellogg's is made with loads of corn. They were so delicious Hubs couldn't keep out of them long enough to "set". I caught him with a spoon going after the warm gooey treats. Several days later he's still taking them to work (I had them in a covered container in the fridge) and they are still delicious. I should know, I ate one with a piece of chocolate and a graham cracker two days ago.

I didn't take pictures of the process because it is SUPER sticky and very messy. It's fun too don't worry but I didn't want to try and mess around with my camera while managing the gooey treats. The website I adapted the recipe from (linked below) has loads of pictures and my experience is basically what she has pictured.

Springy, Fluffy Marshmallows
(adapted from: Smitten Kitchen)

Makes about 96 1-inch cubed marshmallows

About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar~~~~
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin^####
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup simple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon home made vanilla

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar. (Don't be stingy w/the powdered sugar it's what is going to help get those buggers out later! I used a glass pan because that's all I have.)

In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, simple syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer.

In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla into sugar mixture until just combined.

Pour mixture into baking pan.

Sift 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar evenly over top.

Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.

Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (I used an oiled pizza cutter).

(I had a glass pan so I used my thin metal spatula and slid it around the side of the pan and then under the edges and worked the marshmallow out in a big sheet. It's quite pliable and plopped out as intended. I trimmed the edges and stuck them along with other "rough" cut pieces into a glass container until I had the 10oz I needed for Krispy Treats.)

Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.

Do ahead: Marshmallows keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 1 week.

^{~~~~Organic powdered sugar is often made corn free but be sure to LOOK! Powdered sugar often is made with corn starch.~~~~}

^####I used Knox original gelatin unflavored 4 envelopes 1 oz pack. I called Knox and they assured me that this product was made with beef and pork products only. NO CORN^####

Home Made Vanilla Extract

David thought I should post about our making vanilla extract. I purchased, from Cost Plus World Market a few weeks ago 2 vanilla beans. I have been waiting for the purchase of potato vodka to start making my own vanilla. Although my mom had a vanilla, that I think would have been OK for David, I have seen only one alcohol free vanilla extract, which I purchased for an exorbitant amount of money. I brought it home in anticipation of making my own once I was able to get the two needed ingredients:

750ml bottle of potato vodka
&
2 vanilla beans


David came home two days ago with a bottle of potato vodka. We dropped the beans in and have been checking it daily to see progress. We both expected to see the clear vodka start changing colors immediately but that's just not the case. In two days the vodka has started to take on a faint brownish tint of sorts. Hence the reason that the beans must soak 30 days. Our camera is currently being recharged as the battery was so low it refused to allow me one picture but I will post a few pictures when the camera is charged.


I made another quick trip to the World Market today. I needed caraway seeds for rye bread. At about $7 for a tiny jar at the grocery store, I was hoping to find a bargain at WM. And I did! $.99 for a baggie full. I was so delighted. I was also able to find a bag of ground cumin, which we use for Hummus, curries and other things. I LOVE their spice section. Everything is so reasonably priced and thus far has been of good quality.

Visiting

David and I went to CT in early August to visit my family. Mom read the blog called me and did loads of research and was able to provide David with some FABULOUS food - allergen free. It was great. Even all the little details about "dextrose" and unspecified vinegars, spice mixes and so on. She was able to make substitutions like ground oats rather than bread crumbs and other such things. It was so nice to relax and let mom do the cooking and not worry about David being sick for hours after eating. We had offered to bring food for David because we know what an inconvenience (and expense) it can be to purchase and prepare food for him but mom did beautifully (thanks, Mom!). She had homemade bread waiting for David and cookies and meatballs and on and on and on. We ate our way through our visit. We had dinner with other family members that also went out of their way to ensure that David was able to eat without concerns about label reading and it was humbling and gracious and so very much appreciated! This is the first extended trip we have taken since finding out about David's food allergies and it was so nice to travel and eat without worrying.

We packed snacks and such for the road (it's a loooong day of traveling to fly from Houston to Bradley) but once we arrived David was totally covered.

Our home, grocery shopping and food preparing has become a bit less challenging which is so nice. David is shouldering about 1/2 the cooking since my having gone back to school limits the amount of time I have to prepare meals. He's planning on making some cashew butter in lieu of the almond butter he's been eating since we discovered his food allergy. While we can purchase almond butter that would be safe for him to eat, it's about $10 for 6 oz and we simply can not justify that expense when we have a food processor and it takes on a few minutes to prepare our own nut butters.

While visiting mom my sister and David had "Pie School" as they termed it. Now that David can make a pie I'm looking forward to him baking one here. ;) My sister made an apple pie, my mom made a peach pie and David made a chocolate-pecan pie concoction that didn't last long. (I'm getting quite skilled at mixing up a batch of semi-sweet chocolate for all sorts of goodies from 100% cocoa).

BASIC SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE
In sauce pan melt 100% cocoa. Add a touch of 1/2 & 1/2 or cream, vanilla and sugar. Whisk all ingredients until thoroughly mixed. I don't really have measurements but I do it to taste.

The pie crusts were made from butter, rather than Crisco or lard. It makes for slightly different measurements but it has to be done by feel.

David has gotten quite good at substituting for baking powder and recently whipped up a great batch of blueberry waffles.

When David sticks to his food changes, he does really well. He can always tell when he's run into something because he typically feels sick for several hours. His energy is back and he's started running in the early morning with Sunshine, our lab mix. All in all, I am happy to report, things are well on the food allergy horizon. = )

The baking challenge

The following products all contain corn by products:
Baking Powder
Powdered sugar
Yeast (Except Red Star brand)
Vanilla
Some flours (nearly ALL self rising - which I don't use anyway and MOST bleached white flours - which I also avoid)
Corn Starch (duh!)
Corn meal (right?)

The following contain soy:
Baking chips - chocolate, butterscotch, dark chocolate... you name it soy lechtin is probably in it
Vegetable oil

As a result of David's allergies baking has become a challenge. What once was second nature and a soothing activity has become some what stressful and not nearly as enjoyable. Reading labels and researching basic baking ingredients has sapped some of the pleasure out of baking. Further more, many of our wheat products here in the US are genetically engineered. Which, many think, has led to the rise in wheat and gluten allergies. With this in mind I have been attempting to experiment with new kinds of flour. Rice, rye and so on. While rye has a trace amount of gluten, rice has none. This means that a standard bread recipe I once made and always turned out perfectly no longer has the same light weight texture and feel. Gluten helps bread obtain that beautiful airy-ish texture we know and love. I made a batch of bread yesterday. Using a cup of rye and three cups of rice flour along with the remaining 2 cups or so of wheat flour. The bread is quite dense. While it's not dry like biscotti, it's dense like biscotti.

I made brownies on Tuesday night. I was bringing a meal to a friend who just had her first baby and thought a little something sweet would be perfect. I made the brownies with my cream of tarter/baking soda substitute for baking powder.

Word to the wise something I wish I had known: CREAM OF TARTER WILL EXPEDITE THE DRYING OUT OF BAKED GOODS. The muffins I made last week were perfect on Friday night. Moist and delicious. By Saturday morning, despite having bagged them in Ziplock bags and removing all excess air, the muffins were dry. Particularly the poppy seed. Like sand paper on my tongue. How terrible. I mushed them up in a bowl and ate them like cereal. Sand paper, slight exaggeration, eating the muffins like cereal, true story. All that to say I wish I had known. I should have figured it out. Cream of Tarter is most commonly used for things such as: making egg whites stiffen for pie toppings or assisting in the crispiness of a sugar cookie.... but with so many other things to think about those things NEVER crossed my mind. And so, when baking and using the Cream of Tarter and Baking Soda alternative ADD EXCESS FAT or APPLE SAUCE or something that will help to keep baked goods moist. Also if you live in a ridiculously hot place (like TX) and your A/C is running all the time just to keep the house at 80 degrees, storing baked goods in the fridge is a good idea. Helps keep them moist and because there are no preservatives in home baked goods, keeps them from going stale or molding.

Back to brownies. I used the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa Powder: which is safe. Substituting the baking powder and using my alcohol free, corn free vanilla and adding a few extra tablespoons of butter. They turned out perfect and were still pretty moist when we finished the last of the brownies today.

Grocery shopping trip

On Tuesday after a light supper of the few products that we had that we thought were probably corn free, we went grocery shopping to purchase products that David can safely eat.

Some of our great finds included:

• Central Market Organics Powdered Sugar - This product is made from Tapioca Starch as opposed to the often used Corn Starch
• Enjoy Life Food Products - All of their products are free from the top 8 food allergies, which include soy and peanut so we have only to look for corn ingredients. Their labels were pretty clear and easy to read so spotting the products with corn were easy
• An alcohol, corn syrup free Vanilla Flavoring product - I have never used anything but Pure Vanilla Extract so I'm a little nervous as to the flavor of this product but typical vanilla's aren't safe for David so here goes nothing
• Back to Nature Cinnamon Crunch cereal - David hasn't opened this cereal yet as he dug into the Enjoy Life granola we purchased to tide him over until I could make granola but it looks good and the ingredients once again were clearly listed and easy to figure out
• Lundberg Rice Cakes - made from brown rice and a little salt, David's waiting until I make almond butter to eat these bad boys

I have been preparing for a brunch this morning. When David was a kid his family would have a 4th of July brunch. We decided to do something along those line, only here at home being that the weather is clearing 100 degrees before 10am. I made three batches of home made muffins last night (all baking mixes are now out for muffins, brownies and cakes - which is fine now but we will have a sweet shortage during school months). I made an apple cinnamon batch, a blueberry batch and a poppy seed batch. I used the same basic muffin recipe and substituted the baking powder with a mix of cream of tarter and baking soda.

Here are baking substitutes for the corn, soy and peanut allergy folks:

Baking powder = 1 teaspoon substitute is 1/2 tsp Cream of Tarter plus 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
Corn Starch = 1 Tablespoon substitute is 2 Tbsp flour

The baking powder substitute worked well in the cheddar biscuits I made for dinner and the muffins I made for this morning. I haven't tried the mix in anything else yet but I'll keep posting.