lol, Gold. The Dr. has okayed me eating a few sweets. My numbers have been excellent. Except if I get sick they go up. Rose, here's a simple from scratch recipe for them which I'll try eventually. Have you never had one before? They are excellent! We get them for dessert at our favorite Mexican restaurant. The recipe below is c&p. Apparently it's the Baking Powder in them which makes them fluff up and be hollow in the center. "Sopaipillas are pretty quick and easy to make: for 20 to 30, depending on the size, sift together 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in 2 tablespoons shortening until mealy, work in 3/4 cup cold water to form a dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead until smooth. Roll out as thin as possible and cut int 2- or 3-inch squares. Drop one at a time into hot (370 degree F) deep oil. Cook until brown on one side, turn over. Drain on paper towels."

I've made a croquembouche before for a brunch I hosted one New Year's. Cream puffs are made using pate choux, a very easy pastry. Either dollop the dough by the spoonful or pipe them using a pastry bag or even a ziploc bag with the corner clipped. You can fill the baked & cooled puffs with pastry cream, pudding, or leave them unfilled. Then you make a caramel syrup (sugar melted and caramelized). Dip a part of the puff in the caramel and create a circle, then you build on the circle, forming the croquembouche pyramid. I made a little spun sugar, using the caramel to create little strands of sugar. Before the strands cool all the way, you can wrap it around the croquembouche. It's really pretty. I'll bet you'll be able to find a youtube video on how to create one. And I'm sure there are a ga-jillion recipes on the web for the puffs. Lori

These are a bit of work but are wonderful and freeze beautifully. Spanikopita 16 Oz Phyllo Dough Thawed in the fridge For 24 Hours 10 Oz Frozen Spinach Thawed and of all liquid Drained 3/4 Lb Feta Cheese 1/2 Lb Cottage Cheese - About 1 Cup Pressed And Drained 1/4 lb Cream Cheese Softened 3 Eggs 1/4 Cup Fresh Dill Chopped Fine Salt Pepper Nutmeg 3/4 Cup Butter Melted In large bowl combine all ingredients except phylo and butter. Working with one sheet of phylo at a time, brush with melted butter and cut in 5 strips lengthwise. Place 1 spoonful of mixture at the bottom of each strip about 1 inch from the bottom, fold the bottom piece up over the filling and then fold up into triangles. Fold like you fold a flag, to the left, up , to the right ,up etc. These can be made ahead and frozen for up to three months. Lay them flat on a cookie sheet and then transfer to freezer bags or container. Freeze uncooked and cook from frozen When ready to cook:~Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden.Serve warm~ Don't let the name fool you this makes a very attractive appetizer , is drop dead easy and is always a huge hit. Stacked Pizza 7 sheets phyllo pastry 1/2 Cup butter melted 7 Tbl freshly grated parmesan 1 1/2 Cup grated mozzarella 1 sweet onion sliced thinly And Separated Into Rings 5-6 roma tomatoes sliced 1 Tsp oregano salt and pepper to taste ( I don't use any I find the parm salty enough and I forget about the pepper!!!) fresh herbs sprigs thyme oregano or rosemary Preheat oven to 375. Follow package instructions to thaw phyllo. Place 1 sheet of phyllo on baking sheet, brush with butter and sprinkle with 1 TBSP of the parmesan cheese. Repeat until all layers are used. Press down firmly so layers stick together. Sprinkle top sheet with mozzarella. Place onions on top then place tomatoes on top. Season with oregano. Bake for 20-25 minutes until edges are golden, and the bottom is cooked. Decorate with fresh herbs and cut into squares (squares can be cut in half to make two bite triangles) Notes: I slice the onions and then cut the circles in half to arrange on top. I also try and line the tomatoes up in a diagonal pattern, I don't place them randomly, and then when I cut it I cut the squares so each piece has 1 roma slice. I also don't measure anything anymore I just sprinkle the cheese. I use rosemary but I cut the leaves off the stems. I've often cooked it with the rosemary on it. I also line my baking sheet with parchment paper. These are very good and I like them becasue don't require deep frying which not something I want to be doing when I have company. Spring Rolls - Rachel Ray Via Woodie 1 Tbl vegetable oil or olive oil 1/2 red bell pepper chopped fine 2 stalks celery from the heart chopped fine 6 water chestnuts chopped fine 1/2 small onion chopped fine 1/4 Cup fresh bean sprouts a handful, chopped 2 6-ounce) cans lump crab meat drained flaked - or -12 Oz Cooked chicken 2 Tbl dark soy such as Tamari 1/2 Tsp dried thyme leaves eyeball it 4 (13 by 17-inch) sheets defrosted phyllo dough 3 Tbl melted butter Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Add oil to a preheated skillet over medium to medium high heat. Saute pepper, celery, water chestnuts, onion 2 to 3 minutes. Veggies should still have a little crunch. Transfer to a bowl.Add bean spouts, crab, soy and thyme. Combine well with a spoon. Paint half of a sheet of phyllo dough with melted butter and fold sheet in half. Pile a few spoonfuls of filling 2 inches from the bottom of sheet and leaving 2 inches at either side of sheet. Fold bottom flap up and side edges in, then roll up and over until you reach the top of the sheet. Your pastry will look like a spring roll. Touch the edges and sides of your roll with melted butter and place roll seam side down on a pastry sheet Repeat with the remaining sheets of phyllo dough. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden all over. Very tasty and company worthy. Chicken Strudel (Lori) 8 oz mushrooms sliced 3 chicken breast halves boned,skinned and thinly sliced 3/4 c water 1/2 t salt pinch of pepper 1/2 bay leaf 2 T minced onions 1/4 c vermouth or dry white wine 4 T butter 1/3 c flour 1/4 c milk 2 egg yolks 1/2 c whipping cream 1/2 c grated Swiss cheese 1 T pimiento 1/4 c chopped parsley 1/2 lb phyllo dough leaves 1/2 c butter,melted 1/2 c dry bread crumbs In a saucepan, place mushrooms, chicken, water, salt, pepper, bay leaf and onions. Bring to a boil, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove mushrooms and meat with a slotted spoon and place in bowl. Boil down the cooking liquid to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat, add wine, and set aside. In a separate saucepan, melt butter, add flour, and stir constantly over medium heat for 2 minutes. Slowly add cooking liquid and milk;stir with a wire whisk until thick and smooth. Remove from heat. Slowly stir in egg yolks, whipping cream and cheese. Add chopped pimiento and parsley. Then add chicken and mushrooms, stir well and correct seasoning. On a dry kitchen towel, lay 1 phyllo sheet, brush lightly with melted butter, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon dry bread crumbs, top with another phyllo sheet, brush again with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Repeat until 1/2 pound phyllo leaves are used.~ Pour chicken mixture in a band lengthwise down center of prepared phyllo sheets. Roll sheets up as you would a jelly roll. Carefully transfer roll to a greased baking sheet, seam side down, and brush top with remaining melted butter. With a sharp knife (a bread knife works well here) divide roll into 6 or 8 portions*, cutting halfway to two- thirds through the roll. Bake at 375 F. for 35 minutes until golden. *I usually get about 10 generous slices out of each roll. If I'm having several people over for brunch, I make 2 or 3. I'd probably double the recipe and make 2 for your party. Also, I make this up the night before I'm serving it. I cover it well(on the baking sheet) with plastic wrap, and then put a slightly damp towel over that. Then just bake as recipe instructs. It's wonderful! Lori This is similar to Katie's but I do find they puff up better if you chi8ll the slices before putting in the oven. Palmiers With Honey Mustard And Prosciutto (Craftyrn) 1 sheet puff pastry -- 18 x 11" 3 Tbl honey mustard 4 Ounces prosciutto -- thinly sliced 1 Cup Parmesan cheese -- freshly grated 1 egg 2 Tsp water Place the puff pastry on a work surface and spread the mustard over the top. Arrange the prosciutto evenly over the mustard to cover all the pastry, andthen sprinkle with the Parmesan. Lightly press the cheese into the prosciutto with a rolling pin. starting at one long edge, roll up the puff pastry like a jelly roll just to the middle of the dough; then roll up the other side in the same fashion,making two rolls that meet in the center. Using a serrated knife, cut the rolls crosswise into 1/2" slices. Place the slices on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and press lightly with your hands to flatten Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat the egg and water together in a small bowl. Brush the top of each palmier with the egg wash. Bake until puffed and lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Servings: 20 on

That sounds really good! Trader Joe's small bag of GF flour is better than others I've tried. It's mostly starch. Egg free gets so much harder, and I totally get the desire for commercial products. They have better ways of producing foods using gums and the like. The commercial GF puff pastry that looks okay has eggs and butter. :( I think by the time you remove the gluten and butter, its not puff even through squinty eyes. You have to have some kind of protein, and I don't think pea protein would work. And the fat globules of vegetable fat probably wouldn't work either. :( I found this blog, but what's in the picture proves she's so far down the rabbit hole, she doesn't know what she's making. OTOH, it looks crisp and flakey and might suit the purpose on the homemade side. There's another one that claims to have made GF vegan profiteroles. Well, I made some savory choux paste puffs last year that looked just the same. They're NOT puffs. They're nasty, dry squatty things. Much better to invent something new with what you have than go to these lengths to make a really bad version. The rice crust I described doesn't have to have egg. That just makes it stick together. You could use chia goo or gum or honey or anything that'll make it stick together enough to get it out of the pan. And from that point of view, something like baklava or spankopita filling could be baked by itself in a glazed baking dish and be scooped out and served on GF/eggF/dairyF water crackers (or gluten free matzah-like squares), or just eaten with a spoon. ;) Or GF toast points. Hm... I wonder what would happen if you toasted GF bread, dampened it, and rolled it out thin then baked it? Moosemac, your zucchini sheets sound interesting. I can definitely see it for something like spanakopita!