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My father became a diabetic when I was a young teenager, and I watched my
mother change a life-time of cooking to meet his new dietary needs.  Many of
the new dishes were pale imitations of what I considered to be the "real
thing" and I was always struck by the comments of those who would gush that
"such-and-such a recipie was so good that you couldn't tell that it was
diabetic."  I would always say to myself that the people praising this erstaz
food either had no tastebuds, and thus really couldn't tell the difference, or
they were engaging in transparent flattery.
 
Now, as adults, my wife and I are learning to change a life-time of cooking to
accomodate the needs of our celiac child.  Two items recently came out of our
kitchen which I deem worthy of sharing with the list - one is "real food" and
the other is "almost as good."  My celiac son, to be perverse, thinks just the
opposite.
 
GF Cornmeal Pancakes
 
1 cup cornmeal (white or yellow)
1 tsp salt
1-2 Tbs sugar
 
mix these ingredients with 1 cup boiling water - let this mixture stand for 10
minutes.
 
beat together:
 
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbs melted butter
 
sift 1/2 cup GF flour mix (Betty Hagman's mixture: 6 parts rice flour, 2 parts
potato starch flour, 1 part tapioca flour)
add 2 tsp baking powder to the sifted flour - sift again.
 
Combine all ingredients - stir together and cook on griddle.
 
I thought this made wonderful pancakes.  My son thought they were ok, but wasn't
enthusiastic about them when re-heated.
 
Sour-cream Shape Cookies
 
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening (we used Crisco)
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 2/3 cup cookie mix
(we used Miss Robben's versatile cookie mix - mail order at 1-800-0083 - we like
her mixes and have found her to be a reliable source of supply)\
1/2 cup gf sour cream (who ever heard of putting modified food starch in sour
cream?)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
 
Combine all ingredients, roll out onto a pastry cloth floured with gf flour -
use your favorite cookie cutters to make shapes, bake these at 425 degrees
(faren.) for 6-8 minutes. (topping with sugar or gf sprinkles is optional)
 
My son is very enthusiastic about this recipie.  We keep the cookies in the
freezer and he enjoys them straight from the freezer - they're still soft enough
to eat!
 
John Cornell
Rockville, MD
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