The survey says it is for those living with or caring for someone with UC, so the rest of you who are like me (loved ones) should probably skip it too.

Bump this ad.

tishtoshnm -- As with many gluten-free books, they use more high-glycemic starches and all-purpose gluten-free flour mixtures than I care to consume. I tend to use more almond and coconut flour for baked goods. You are right, my "shoestring" is definitely much smaller than the author's (LOL). To give credit where credit is due, she does the math with many of the recipes in the book to prove her "shoestring" theory - based on making her recipe or buying a g-f frozen version. Personally, I can live without a gluten-free baked pretzel - at any price. Some foods you just can't make a good gluten-free substitute, so I don't waste my time/money. There are a lot of meat-related and vegetable recipes, but most people who are gluten-free don't need a recipe for glazed carrots or pot roast. The only recipe I've tried was for Arepas: (makes 10-12) 1 c. precooked cornmeal flour (P.A.N.) 1 c. grated mozzarella cheese 1/8 t. kosher salt 1 c. plus 2-4 T. tepid water 1/4 c. vegetable oil (I use coconut oil) In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal flour, cheese, and salt. Add 1 cup of water and stir to combine and incorporate the water into the flour mixture. Add more water by the tablespoonful if necessary for the dough to come together. Once the dough has come together, cover the towel with plastic wrap and allow it to stand at room temperature for 3-4 minutes. The cornmeal flour will continue to absorb water, and the dough will stiffen as it stands. After the dough has stiffened, wet your hands and divide the dough into 10-12 portions of about 3 T. each. With wet hands again, form the first piece of dough into a ball, then flatten into a disk about 1/4-inch thick and 2-1/2-inches wide. Repeat with each piece of dough. Pour the oil into a 12-inch skillet with at least 2-inch high sides, and heat the oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers. While the oil heats, prepare the first portion of dough for frying. Wet your hands again and press all around the edge of the disk, eliminating any cracks. Flatten along the side, smoothing as you go. When you fry the Arepas, if you have successfully eliminated all the cracks, steam will build up inside and they will puff and swell. It takes some practice, but it's well worth the effort. When the oil is ready, place each portion of dough carefully in the pan, and fry until golden brown, turning over once during frying and frying for 4-5 minutes per side. Do not crowd the pan. Fry in batches. Drain Arepas on towels before serving. With a wet serrated knife, slice the Arepas in half horizontally and serve warm or at room temperature. (Grainlady note: I slice them open before wrapping the leftovers for the freezer. In fact, I use my English Muffin "fork" for the task. I like to toast the inside on a dry griddle after they are thawed, apply the filling of choice - we often make ham and cheese - then grill the outside to melt the cheese inside and warm the ham. I also use them with poached eggs (using one-half of an arepa, toasted), shredded pork/beef/chicken sandwiches, egg salad, tuna salad...... I always wish I would have know this recipe for my mother, who had Celiac disease. She would have loved these little beauties. :-) -Grainlady

Thank you. We have been so pleased at the traffic and all the offers and the wonderful feedback on our farm, but it has not been a good experience with our agent. She has been dishonest and we don't feel she's been working on our behalf. On this deal, we sent a counter to buyer's agent, our agent called and said they want the contribution to as-built. I told her we will agree to pay half that, but do not want them coming back and picking our counter apart so please check with them to make sure that every thing else in our counter is acceptable if we agreed to half contribution. She called back and said yes they're fine with everything in your counter. Great! So I get their counter yesterday, expecting our last price, half contribution etc. and it came in with lower price. I asked for her advice because this was a lower price than they had agreed, and she told me that they never agreed to our counter, and we had discussed the lower price. Not! GRRR. So we signed at the lower price but needless to say are not happy with our agent. This is not the first time this has happened in our negotiations with three offers and it has made it so much more stressful. We just want to get through this one without giving up too much more, and if it doesn't close we'll be switching agents. I appreciate the opportunity to vent.