<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> ========================= Cooking Each person must evaluate all recipes prior to use. Many inappropriate products are included in cookbooks. The inappropriate products may be the result of a local brand that is GF, the product may be homemade, or the GF status may have changed. 1. Bette Hagman's new cookbook The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy: Wheat Free with Less Fuss and Fat is expected to be available in late Spring or early Summer. Your next trip to the bookstore would be an excellent time to order your copy for delivery when it is available. 2. Food Editors do not like to talk about the damaging effects of food on our health. That is one of the reasons that GF recipes are not highlighted in many newspapers. The exception is when talking about allergic shock reactions (peanuts or seafood) or in specialty cookbooks. Recipes that highlight low-salt or low-fat are in response to interest in health styles. 3. The Wheat Free Kitchen from Jacqueline Mallorca, food writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, will be available in February. Advance orders are $11.50 plus $2 mailing from Farthing Press, PO Box 47117, San Francisco 94147. 4. Easy Bread Making for Special Diets by Nicolette Dumke is published by Adapt Books, 1877 Polk Ave, Louisville, CO 80027. It gives numerous examples of uses for the bread machine for making wheat, milk, egg, gluten, sugar-free baked items. Many of the wheat-free items use spelt. So celiacs must stay with the 22 recipes marked gluten-free. It is available by mail-order for $14.95 plus shipping ($2.50) or from a local bookstore. 5. The Complete Wilton Book of Candy, ISBN 0-912696-18-4, is an excellent reference for making simple sweets to fabulous chocolates. The authors Eugene & Marilyn Sullivan recipes use mostly GF ingredients. Some of the chapters are: fudges, caramels, divinity, jellies, truffles, and chocolates. 6. A Lactose-Free Sour Cream substitute can be made by adding 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup Mocha Mix and an equal amounts of water. Use this substitute in place of sour cream, just slightly reduce the total liquids. (20) 7. Graham Kerrs Minimax Cookbook has an excellent recipe for a low fat pie crust using cooked rice. 8. The Gluten-Free Baker Newsletter is a quarterly newsletter dedicated to GF baking with home kitchen recipes tested by Sandra Leonard. A one year subscription is $19.95, Ohio residents add 6%. For subscriptions, mail payment to: 361 Cherrywood Dr., Fairborn, OH 45324-4012. 9. Sliced Fig Snacks (Fig Newtons) from Mary Gunn: Filling 1-1/2 cups dried figs, finely chopped or ground 1/2 cup orange juice 3/4 cup water 1/3 cup sugar Combine above ingredients. Bring to a boil: reduce heat, simmer uncovered 15 minutes or until thick. Set aside to cool. Cookie Dough 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened 2 cups plus, 3 tbs. rice flour 2/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar 3 tsp. baking powder 2 eggs 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. vanilla 2 tsp. xanthan gum, if available Cream butter and brown sugar well with electric mixer at medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Add well-combined dry ingredients, mixing well. Divide dough into thirds. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate two or three hours. Rolls out one-third into a 16x4-inch rectangle. Place on a baking sheet. Spread 1/2 to 1/3 cup of fig mixture lengthwise in a 1-inch strip, about 1/2 inch from edge of dough. Brush water on edges; fold dough over filling and gently press edges and ends together to seal. Turn roll over so sealed edge is on bottom. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 17 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Slice crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. Yield about 4 1/2 dozen.