Annie- WHY are you posting about eggs & flour when you should be posting wedding pictures?! I just found out that a local farm will let you "sponsor" a chicken for 5$ a month...you get a picture of your chicken, can come & visit & if you commit to a year of sponsoring can even come & harvest the eggs. I, too, would love to have chickens! Get me an Egglu & I'll be all set. I doubt that I'm zoned for it, though. I'm really surprised to see that the same miserable 5 lb bag of flour is more in some places than it is in NY. I guess I shouldn't complain when 5.79 makes 4.99 sound like a deal. Nina

I am mostly wheat/gluten-free. I do lots of baking - lots of experimenting with new recipes. I've had some pretty good luck! I recently started a blog (for fun) with mostly (but not all) gluten-free recipes. First few weeks going off of wheat were the hardest. Like with any addiction, the cravings are really strong. But it passes, and gets easier. I make my own gluten-free mix which I keep handy. It's 1 part Sorghum flour, 1 part Rice flour, 2/3 part Potato Starch, and 1/3 part Tapioca Starch (or flour). I also use Xanthan gum most of the time. I also use other flours like Brown rice flour, Almond flour, Oat flour (I don't need it certified since I don't have Celiac), Bean flours (can be strong). It depends on the recipe. Here's my favorite Waffle recipe. It's a Yeast recipe you make the night before, and cook up in the morning: 2 gluten-free flour 1-1/2 tsp instant yeast 1/2 stick melted butter (1/4 cup) 2 c. warm milk (or ½ buttermilk) -heated to about 110 degrees 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 Tbs. sugar 1/2 tsp salt The night before: Combine and whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Combine the melted butter and milk. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Whisk eggs and vanilla together in a separate small bowl. Add the egg-vanilla mixture to the other mixture, and whisk until well-combined. Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge until tomorrow morning. The next morning: Prepare waffle iron as usual. Stir the batter to deflate it (it should be puffy and frothy). Add to waffle iron the same way you would other batter, keeping in mind that this batter will rise more than batters that use baking powder instead of yeast. Bonnie Here is a link that might be useful: My blog :-)

Maggie, I think you are on to something..and as FG states, the rate of those diagnosed with Celiac is climbing..Funny that she put the numbers in..very close to the rate of Autism too (and there are some studies on going about the correlation of food related allergies and different degrees and oddities of Autism in children)..I have known for a long time that foods can cause amazing "problems" in an allergic body. Many kids that sport ADD, ADHD symptoms/problems have food allergies and the culprits in many ways are wheat, corn and dairy. The problem I see is, that this wonderful country we live in likes to play with our food supply. Things are tainted that shouldn't be tainted...And next year I will enjoy things that I can't eat right now..because I can grow heirloom varieties organically! and Maggie, I do eat pasta..and serve it to my family. I use brown rice and spelt(spelt is the "ancient" wheat grain) I'm not going gluten free, so I can eat Spelt, because it's a "whole" uncompromised grain.I also eat Oats. I just had a piece of Spelt Toast from TJ's with my homemade Tayberry jam for breakfast. Lastnight I was up alone, hubby was out with the "fellas" and the boys were asleep..I spent hours reading all the Gluten Free Blogs, looking at Gluten Free recipes and sites..There is sooooooo much information! Again, I don't want anyone confused on this subject and as it pertains to me, I'm just learning too...But I can see that in one months time, it's made a considerable difference removing wheat, corn, soy and red meat from my diet (as hard as it is to leave some of those things behind! BEEF!) The pay off is way worth it. I've never felt so commited in my life about something. I've always had the desire to feed my family better, to use as much whole foods as possible, to prepare good foods and treats using the best I could afford. I just never really implemented it as far as I knew I should..Until now..I've made a drastic change, and intend to slowly slip the changes into my families diet as well..They are already sharing in some things with no loss!

Wow, you folks are awesome, thanks so much for taking the time to post ideas and recipes, I really appreciate it. I'm going to ask tonight if eggs/egg whites are on the OK list because those macaroons are a great idea (and are a favorite of DH as well). Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. It's also found in spelt, I've just learned. So all of those products are out, along with a laundry list of other foods that seem to cause her stomach to cramp up. I love to bake - bread a couple of times/week, cakes, cookies, pies, etc. I feel badly for my neighbor as she's basically given up on all baked goods, which is why I thought I'd see if there were any possibilities for her that she might have overlooked. publickman I've brought quinoa salad a couple of times and am not a huge fan, but it's a good fallback. bons thanks so much for the recipes. The brownies and macaroons look great (assuming eggs are ok, I'd have to leave out the nuts) but the 3rd recipe won't work as was pointed out (milk). mom4j47 yes, this is pretty drastic and not by choice but for health reasons. My neighbor gets very very sick when she eats something not on her OK list. All veggies and some fruits are always welcome so I often bring those. Annie I'll check out the cornbread recipes (and ask her if cornmeal is ok). The meringue cookies look good although no nuts. dcarch thanks for the hint about Asian groceries, I've got one nearby. I have no idea how to use these flours though - anything you can share about them? Wild rice is a grass and as such it's on her OK list. I haven't seen wild rice flour (if it even exists) but I've got a really good recipe for a wild rice salad (includes dried cranberries and almonds) that I could bring sometime, with the almonds on the side. cloud_swift the cholo tiki recipe looks delicious - I know DH would love to try that. Teresa yes, rice just an additional food she is sensitive to, which makes things difficult since it's often an ingredient in gluten-free flours and foods. tami_ohio thanks for pointing out www.diningdownloads. I have a Kindle and will check it out. chi83 I'll have to check with her on coconut milk. I'm assuming almond milk is not going to work. I didn't know that coconut cream whips. compumom thanks, I'll see if meringues will work for her. Becky thanks for the recipe! Jessica thanks as well, I'll ask about corn meal because your recipe looks great. cynic I'm going to see her tonight and so will ask about all the ingredients I'm not sure of. I didn't realize flour residue hangs around. She loves the gewurztraminer that DH brings on occasion, so arriving with baked goods is not really all that critical. Her basic approach is to make a soup that she knows she can eat and assume that any other contributions from guests are not going to be something she'll be able to have. If the contributions fit her diet, it's a bonus. This has been a real education for me, both in getting to know this neighbor and in all the posts here. Thanks again to all who commented.