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Round 2: Wheat-free Muffins

The next project in the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook that I thought I would attempt would be muffins.  The pictures in the book and the recipe seemed fairly straight forward, and I figured it would be a good recipe to try to adapt to a wheat-free recipe.  The recipe is Blueberry Muffins (click here to get the recipe), though I revised the recipe to be blueberry-less as there were no good local blueberries at the market in the middle of winter-time (I try to limit the distance my groceries travel from to a 250km/155 mile radius when I have the chance).  I revised the recipe to be pumpkin oatmeal muffins instead, using pumpkin puree, oatmeal, molasses and cinnamon in place of blueberries.

Here is what I substituted:

- Instead of regular flour: 1 cup white rice flour and 1 cup corn flour

- Gluten-free Baking Powder (instead of regular baking powder)

- Instead of blueberries: 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1 cup of oatmeal, 1/4 cup of molasses

As noted in my previous posts, instead of butter to grease my muffin tins, I use extra virgin olive oil and then dust my tins with white rice flour.  Of course you can use butter if you choose, but it is just my personal preference to use olive oil (less cholesterol and seems to work better with gluten-free flours).

When mixing the ingredients in the electric mixer, you may find that mixing for an extra 10 minutes or so will help blend the chunks of oatmeal and accommodate the thickness of the molasses.

Batter and my awesome electric mixing paddle

I found that when cooking the muffins, I needed to cook them for an extra 5-7 minutes to accommodate the extra ingredients. Of course, as with any wheat-free cooking, you will want to keep an eye on your baking in the oven, as dependent on your oven you may need less cooking time.

Upon trying the cooked version of the muffins, they were fluffy and moist, and due to the oatmeal, corn flour and molasses, they had a unique texture.  Keep in mind that these muffins will be a slightly browner color than in the cookbook, as the corn flour and molasses will brown the batter and make it a bit denser.

Muffins Baking in the Oven

All in all, this was a successful baking adventure.  If you decide to make a wheat-free version of these muffins with the blueberries included, I would love to hear about how it went. Hopefully my substitutions and wheat-free trials have been helpful.  See the picture below for my final muffin batch:

Yummy Finished Pumpkin Muffins

Next on Wheat-free baking with the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook… Gingerbread Cookies!

Ciao!

Deanna

Round 1: Wheat-free, Chocolate-free, & Healthier Version of Martha Stewart Baking

The first recipe I tested out in the Martha Stewart  was the Chocolate-Glazed Gingerbread Cakes (found on page 191).  While the recipe seems straight forward I had to reassess how I would tackle it in a wheat-free and chocolate-free way.  As noted in my previous post, I not only have to make food that is wheat-free but also chocolate-free and MSG-free (Don’t want to cause anaphylactic allergies for any loved-ones).  Since I was already adjusting flour and chocolate within this recipe, I didn’t dare attempt to make it vegan too, though I plan in the future to try it out with vegan butter and eggs.

These little fluffy cakes looked absolutely delicious in the cookbook, covered in a chocolate ganache. I assessed the needed ingredients, placed them all out on the counter, and began substituting.  Here are my three substitutions (not bad really):

- gluten-free baking powder (replacing regular baking powder)

- white rice flour (replacing the regular flour)

- carob flour (replacing the chocolate/cocoa in the ganache – p. 387)

Pouring the batter into the tins

In mixing and preparing this recipe, I found that the rice flour needed a bit more mixing than regular flour, which when using an electric mixing bowl is really a piece of cake (mind the pun!). For the sake of using the least amount of dairy as possible in this recipe (as it uses butter), I greased each of the muffin tins using extra virgin olive oil.  This has proved to be a successful form of greasing pans when using rice flour, as butter or non-stick spray seem to be useless on gluten-free products.

Baking time: add 3-5 extra minutes to your baking time, as it will help cook the cakes more thoroughly.

Upon pulling out the muffin tins with the gingerbread cakes fully cooked inside, they smelled amazing.  The only visual difference from the “Martha” cakes was that these little cakes have an indentation in their centres, which once they are flipped over is not noticeable in the least.  Since I planned on putting a warm ganache over these cakes, I figure having a well to hold the yummy sauce could be advantageous.

Fresh Out of the Oven - Had to eat one (oops!)

When making the ganache, I found it useful to heat my carob flour and heavy cream in the microwave beforehand, since organic carob flour doesn’t easily mix with the milk. I found that microwaving for 15 second intervals and then stirring until it was bubbling made it thick and gooey.  (The standard heating it over a stovetop would work just fine too, but will take a little longer.  I tried both ways). I made two batches of ganache: one with the ingredients from the book, and the other one I added a cup of Sweetened Condensed Milk to help thicken and sweeten up the sauce.  Both versions were delicious, but I found the one with condensed milk to be tastier.

Gingerbread Mini-Cake Awaiting Ganache

So all-in-all, the “de-wheatifying” of these gingerbread cakes worked out fantastically.  As for substituting the chocolate for carob – When @nachoman (the guy that is allergic to chocolate) tried out these little morsels fresh out of the oven, he stated “how dare you feed me something so delicious! now I know what I have been missing”.  When a chocolate loving friend ate one, she noted that it was extremely tasty and moist.  So I have to conclude that Round 1 of baking without wheat or chocolate was an absolute success.

Next time on Wheat-free baking from the Martha Stewart Handbook is . . . Muffins!

Ciao!

Deanna

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to be trying out different recipes from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.  Well, after substituting wheat flour for rice flour in a few recipes, I realized that a majority of the recipes in the cookbook are able to be wheat-free and yummy at the same time!

Now keep in mind, that with cooking in general, my kitchen is completely chocolate-free due to deadly allergies to cocoa in our household.  Not only did I substitute all wheat products with rice flour or corn flour, but I also substituted all chocolate ingredients in the recipes with carob flour and carob chips.  Trust me, it is not an easy task when used to making delicious desserts with chocolate.  All in all it worked out.

Sometime in the next couple days, between reading papers, students and life in general, I will be posting a couple of my favorite recipes and how I made them.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Ciao!

Deanna

I was sitting with my mother today, reading through children’s books (for early learning of the alphabet). As we flipped through the pages of The Walt Disney book “Learning the Alphabet A through Z – Learn to Read” we came across many great Disney characters.

We got through letters, A, B, C, and D, on the first 2 pages, and thought the book was quite quaint and innocent. Until we got to the Letter F.

Just thought it was necessary to post this amusing children’s book. Though I wonder what a elementary classroom these days would do if they got their hands on this book. . . Free reign to say “F” words?

Cheers,
Deanna

Over the past year,  I have spent more than my fair share of waiting in doctor’s offices and medical waiting rooms.  While it is one of the most tedious things (waiting for an appointment), it is a necessary evil of the medical world.  When visiting a specialist, they typically book their initial appointments into 20-30 minute time blocks (or so I presume from the receptionist’s little scheduling book). Somehow though, either due to chatty patients or patients with too many problems (I am guilty of both of these things), the doctor is always behind schedule.

What makes  my visit to the doctor less tiring and frustrating tends to be the doctor’s office waiting room.  There are different little details that all make a difference in my “waiting” experience. I have noticed something in these doctor’s offices and medical waiting rooms, there seems to be four distinct types of waiting rooms.  I have listed them in order of peacefulness and making my day a little better.

The Kid & Senior Friendly:

There is a giant area or box of toys for the children to play with, there are kids books everywhere.  A tonka truck sits in the middle of the aisles where you are trying to walk, and you nearly every time step right on it and go tripping and falling (well at least that always happens to me).  There are sniffling, crying, screaming children everywhere (the poor things are sick, and just dont know why! Its heartbreaking).  While there are various ages of adults also waiting in the sitting area with you, you will notice the abundance of seniors, with canes, walkers or scooters.  Unfortunately since it is usually a cramped waiting room, the poor unsuspecting seniors have to finagle their way through the maze of children on the ground and the children’s toys that get stuck underneath their mobilty scooter or walker. 

While many of the seniors are happy to see the cheerful smiling faces of children, I am pretty sure that they don’t appreciate it when that same giggling child sneezes in their face. I have watched this happen time and time again.  Mixed in with all of this, is an assortment of people of all ages and illnesses.  The magazines are typically family oriented or child oriented, with tattered pages and at least 2 years out of date. All in all, these waiting rooms are not half bad, though I always feel like I walk out of there with a new flu or cold and a headache.

The Communal:

The interesting thing about many new specialists and medical professionals is that when starting up their practice, they need a space to place their office.  Likely due to the budgetary aspects, what ends up happening is they set up their practice in a communal office or room. This type of waiting room serves as a holding area for multiple doctors, dentists, and other medical practitioners.  I have also seen a variety of acupuncturists, tanning salons, immunization clinics and travel centers sharing their waiting room with a doctor.  This makes for an eclectic mix of individuals waiting for their appointments.  It becomes a game of guessing who is waiting for what office, and what illness, problem or need they have. The seats are never comfortable, and it always smells like a brand new waiting room for some reason, sterile and lacking books and magazines.  The depletion of magazines is most likely due to visitors leaving with the magazine they were reading, as there is no receptionist close by to notice their misdemeanor.

The communal waiting room typically has a bit more room than a regular medical practice, though I always end up sitting beside the coughing patient and thinking to myself, “I wonder what they are here for. . . ? Should I move over a couple seats?” and lo-and-behold they get called into the Immunization and TB testing clinic. . .

The “Has Not Changed Since the 70’s”:

We all know this type of waiting room, most of our own family doctors waiting rooms are like this.  The orange coloured chairs that seem to have been bought in the 1960’s, the oak table with various issues of Highlights for Kids (from 10 years ago), the pile of disheveled magazines that haven’t been replaced since you first started going to this doctor 20 years ago, and of course the “piece de résistance” the complete collection of Readers Digests scattered throughout the office.  This type of waiting room has a comfortable familiar feel to it, as you know the 70 year old receptionist “Blanche” by name, the walls have the same patterned faded wall-paper from the 70’s and you know that you may even recognize some of the other patients in the office from visit to visit.

This type of office, while not that entertaining or boisterous, gives you a welcoming expectation of the “traditional doctor with stethoscope and white lab coat” calling you into his office to talk to you about your family (which of course he knows everyone’s name).  The waiting room that feels like it is stuck in the 70’s never really changes, it just gets the occasional new (2 year old) magazine every once in a while.

The High-Brow Spa-like Fancy:

Ah! This is by far my favourite type of waiting room.  There is a spa-like feel when you open the door to this office, it feels like you have walked in to a Amazon rainforest with chirping birds, waterfalls and peaceful harp music being plucked by angels.  The receptionist is always young and attractive, with a headset glowing blue on her head, she gives you an acknowledging nod that almost seems to say “Welcome and Namaste”.  There are comfortable chairs to sit on, with ample room separating you from other patients. There is a watercooler carefully disguised as a rock fountain in the corner, where fresh purified, ionized etc. chilled water pours out of the tap.  The receptionist will offer you a cup of that cold fresh water with a slice of lemon (of course giving you an actual wine glass of water) or offers you a cup of freshly brewed green-rooibos tea picked from the hilltops of somewhere in Nepal.

You sit down to sip your water or tea, and look down at the beautifully hand carved table beside you to find this month’s issue of every magazine under the sun.  There are fresh white and yellow flowers carefully placed throughout the office.  This peaceful and serene waiting room almost seems like a little piece of heaven, you almost are sad to have to get up for your appointment. The waiting room never seems packed, and no one talks above a gentle soothing whisper it seems.  This waiting room style seems perfect and serene, until a mother comes in with a screaming child, you feel sorry for her as her poor child seems in pain with some illness, yet the soothing calming sounds of the room and the comfortable chairs seem to calm the child’s cries to a gentle whimper, and by the time it is their turn for their appointment, the child is asleep.  Ah, this waiting room is the dream. I wish they were all this peaceful.

I am still refining my opinion of the four styles of waiting rooms, but so far it seems that these are the categories I have run into. If only every doctor’s office I went to had the soothing peaceful tranquility feel, though I am just happy these days to actually have an appointment within the next 3 months at all, so I will take what I can get.

Ciao

Deanna

A continuation of my reading on Plato’s Republic (a few more thoughts):

Within Plato’s “just” city, he is set in believing this utopia can be achieved through specific educational curriculum and societal laws.  I am skeptical this could be accomplished, yet when considering many research studies within modern psychology, I feel that his belief of an ideal city could potentially be warranted.

Plato’s ideal city will have educated its’ citizens from childhood, to conform and believe in their harmonious society.  A majority of the citizens will be kept in the dark about the actual truth of the world (the allegory of the cave), as according to Plato’s educational regimen, only the best of the best will be able to go forward into learning the truth.    At times, it seems reminiscent of many isolationist cults or even the systematic censorship within the former USSR.  One of the issues the Soviet Union suffered from was not taking into account the concept of self-serving human nature and the abuse of power.  The guardians may be taught and bred to believe that dying for the greater good would be noble, yet human psychology dictates that self-preservation is an innate factor.

I propose an interesting question: if Plato designed this complex and almost life long educational curriculum, to shape and mold the guardians of this ideal society, how can Plato consider himself competent enough to develop this curriculum and how would he deal with the unpredictability of the human condition?

Cheers,

Deanna

I have been reading Plato’s The Republic, and have had a few different thoughts bouncing around in my head.  In the world of education, Platonic thinking seems to arise when you least expect it, and the more I read, the more I feel like I do not know enough.  Five million questions came to mind when reading Plato, like whether or not he truly believed a perfect City could be achieved, or whether it was simply an idealistic fantasy. Either way, I know I have only started to brush off the surface of understanding what Plato was trying to say.

Nonetheless, here are the three main thoughts that arose from my reading Plato’s The Republic – Books 1 – 4:

Learning:

Persuasion is only possible when the other person is listening, as noted in the statement “But can you persuade, if we refuse to listen?” in book One.  In the context of education and the shaping of impressionable minds, I find this statement to be noteworthy.  If a student is not open to the concept of listening, and the possibility of growing their knowledge base, their opposition hinders the learning process.

The Ideal City and Music:

The education of the members of the ideal city focuses on following the rules, and a strictly censored learning and content.  I found Plato’s stance on music education to be fascinating, as his belief that certain harmonies evoke certain emotions, virtue and a “good” soul, while “bad” harmonies or music can corrupt and “latch onto” the soul.  Now in today’s society, and as a musician/composer myself, I find it difficult to wrap my mind around having my Art censored.  Upon consideration within the “Ideal Just City”, I can completely understand why there would be specific restrictions on the types of music that will be a part of education, as creativity and thinking “outside-the-box” could be catastrophic to the organized structure of the just society.

An Interesting Side Note on “Bad Music”:

Throughout history, certain types of music have been banned for their potential to evoke emotions that were incongruent with the ideals of that time.  The augmented fourth interval, also known as a tritone, has been used consistently as an example of a “bad” interval, with a historical connotation of being dissonant and “evil” (even used today in horror films to evoke “evil”).

As there are different overtones that occur from different intervals, it could be quite possible that certain harmonic scales could be particularly disturbing to someone who associates the tritone with “evil”, due to their societal music education.  Overtones are the natural resonance of an instrument, as instruments emit harmonic frequencies in addition to their fundamental pitch.

There were so many themes and ideas that came out of my readings, yet I felt that these three topics were my favourites. Any thoughts?

Ciao

Deanna

Going back to school after being away for a couple years is a daunting thing. You worry about if you will be able to keep up with the rest of your class. You worry about if your writing skills are up to snuff. Most of all, you worry if you are going to be able to keep up with the excessive reading that is expected of you.

I started my Ph.D. this week, and was extremely excited to go to my first class.  It is only one class per week, which with my migraines, vertigo and stomach problems, I figured would be up to my speed.  I have seven other colleagues in my class, and of course all older than me, which I always find intellectually invigorating (since they typically have more life and work experience to rely on – instead of people who have never had a real job in their life).

I have taken a variety of courses over the past decade, and haven’t been what you might call overly enthused about the reading lists and discussions I have had. . . Until now!

My first task is to read Plato’s “The Republic”.  It is not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination, nor is it a boring book.  It is known as one of the most influential works of philosophical and political theory.   I am reading the book as a part of an educational history course, that is looking at The Republic in the context of being an influential part of the evolution of education.  Interesting, yes. . . The fact that I have to read this book in depth in under a week. . . ? Well, I am wondering how that is going to be realistically done. Baffled actually.

Over the years I have read numerous texts from the Academy, and have always been fascinated with the ingenuity and complexities of the Greek philosophers.  I am only a few pages into The Republic, and I think I have either been out of academia a little too long, or that this book is quite a dense read that needs tender love and thought (not to mention, I think it is more a text that I could write my dissertation about, rather than read it in a week).  Has anyone else read Plato’s “The Republic”? If so, what are your thoughts? (Please!)

I have been worried that maybe I am just behind on my reading, and that I am not reading at the same level I used to.  It is funny how one can second guess themselves.  Though when I consider it, I think I am just not in the same mindset I used to be.  The material is interesting, I can relate it to my research, yet I can think of numerous other texts that would be more beneficial to my line of study than this book.  I’m not sure.  I think I am going to go back to reading and reconsider my opinion of this text in the context of academia, once I have gotten through the first book.

I will keep you all posted on my progress through my academic pursuits, since it is always nice to know that even someone who has been in school for a decade, still wonders if they can read fast enough.

Ciao,

~Deanna