Daring Bakers: Chocolate Eclairs

Oh yeah. These were amazing. One afternoon, my friend and I just made them. Ok, maybe it was more the morning, but it was fun nonetheless. Of all of the Daring Baker's Challenges that I have done, this was definitely the easiest and least time consuming. It didn't hurt that I didn't do this one alone, as I have all the rest.

Now, for my éclairs by pictures:

The finished product. Now we backtrack.
Bringing the eggs to room temperature in warm water.
Stirring the beginnings of the dough.
After adding the flour, it thickened up a lot.
Then, I spun it all up, and added the eggs.
Then, in my piping bag, I piped out little soon-to-be eclairs.
Then we baked them. They didn't puff up as much as I expected.
The beginnings of a lovely pastry cream.
All the chocolate we needed to make the pastry cream and chocolate glaze.
The soon-to-be melted chocolate all chopped up, for the pastry cream.
After melting in the microwave, my friend added the melted chocolate to the pastry cream.
Then we shocked it, so it wouldn't keep cooking.
Then the chocolate sauce.
Which went into making the chocolate glaze.
Which went on top of out eclairs. With the pastry cream in the middle, it was perfect.
Yup, these rocked!

After all those pretty pictures, I don't have the recipe. Nope. Not this time. This time I only had to do one simple substitution, so I decided to not post the recipe, just the substitution. I know, I'm lazy, but it's the beginning of school season. And a looong weekend. I'm allowed to be =D. Anyways, my substitution:

Instead of 1 cup all-purpose wheat flour, I used 1 cup minus 1 teaspoon of Bette Hagman's mix (6 parts rice flour, 2 parts potato starch, and 1 part tapioca flour), and with that, I used 1 tsp of xanthan gum.

Yeah. These were awesome. Very yummy. They disappeared fast, even though we made like 30. That's how many it made. Crazy, right? Anyways, this was a lovely challenge to be gluten free. Besides the one cup substitution, this challenge was gluten free by doing the recipe exactly as it says.

Thanks to the hosts of this challenge, Tony and Meeta. I really enjoyed this one!

Yeah so thats about all,

xoxo
Lauren

7

Mhmm.  It's seven months Gluten Free.  Boy has this past month gone by fast.  Like super fast.  I love to say that.  I have only had seven months gluten free.  I have had seven entire months gluten free.  Wow.  Thats awesome!  

Yeah, I get excited with every milestone.  You may have noticed.  Here and here and here and here and here.  Yeah.  Thats a lot of milestones for a 4 month old (Already?!) blog.  Well I'm sure that in like 5 months, there will be at least 6 more milestone posts.  At least no one will ever get confused about how long I've had celiac and how long I've written this blog.  hehe =D.  

Anyways, 7 is great.  I learned more.  I always do.  8 will be awesome.  8 will be fun.  Here comes 8.  It starts now =D.

Enjoy your month, wherever your starting point may be.

xoxo

Lauren

New & Improved

No, it's not my blog.  It's still the same.  Not that it's only one thing each time...  Anyways, New & Improved.  In normal world, it's just a line they use to make a product seem better.  In the gluten free world, it usually is New & Improved.  When they improve a gluten free recipe, it tends to change quite a lot.  For the better.  The taste will often become less grainy, more flavorful and more like your memory of (the wheat version of) whatever the product is.  

With that said, if you see New & Improved on pretty much any gluten free product, chances are it's better.  And, if you are willing to, you should try it.  After all, it could bring back memories of Christmas or Saturday Mornings or Grandma or anything.  Or it could just be good.  However, if the product is just not quite there yet for you, I'd just be glad that you didn't have it's former incarnation.  Because, chances are, that it was worse before.  

Anyways, at least consider this the next time you see New & Improved on a Gluten Free product.

xoxo

Lauren

Glutino Cake Mix

I know, now it seems I'm all about mixes. This was one leftover from vacation. My grandma bought a Glutino White Cake Mix. My mom whipped it up. It was easy and there, so we had it =D.

photo via amazon.com

Glutino White Cake Mix

What it's like:

It was a nice cake. In terms of gluten free, it was good. The only thing was that compared to a normal cake, it was a little dense. Thats fine. It was kind of pound cake-y. Very Good.

Why I ate it:

It was there, gluten free and tasted good.

Other Stuff:

It was amazing with whipped cream and fresh peaches and fresh blueberries. I would definitely do that again. mmm

Thats about all, have a good night,

xoxo

Lauren

[Edit: I bought this product, it was not sent to me nor was I asked to review it for any sort of compensation.]

Getting Organized

So I've decided that this year I'm going to be organized.  I used to be so so organized (not including my room), but when I got sick and the papers from school just piled up around me, I pretty much gave up.  After all, I had no energy to do anything else, so why should I be organizing the schoolwork that I could barely even sit up to not focus very well on?  Thats what I was thinking.  I still agree with it.  Anyways, this year, I am going to be organized.  Knowing me, I'll probably go all out and then forget where everything is, even though they are in perfectly logical organized piles or whatever. 

 

 Oh well, I can deal with that.  I just have to get there.  Now, if only I knew what each of my teachers want me to get for their class (besides pens and pencils and erasers)...

The past few days, I've been cleaning up my computer space.  The piles on the floor are *almost* gone.  Give me a few more days of nothing to do (too much nervous energy) and it'll look great.  Then my brother will come and mess it up, but thats another story.  Anyways, I am thinking of colour-coding (maybe), and of course having a location at home for each subject (already chosen).  I have a workspace at home.  I have pens and pencils and a planner-type book thing.  I have a computer that I can use, with Word.  I'm all set.  I think.  

Thats about all...

xoxo

Lauren

So Long Starbucks.

Ugh.  So I've come to the discovery that Starbucks syrups are not good for me.  My mom is a Starbucks Tea Addict, so we end up going there in passing often.  I personally like the steamed milk, with a flavoring.  The only problem is that recently they've been making me feel off after I have one.  Of course, this could just be a coincidence, but I don't know.  Lately, after I've had one, I've felt almost light-headed, but not really really dizzy like I used to.

 

Although I could drink something else, it just seams to be a hassle to think about it.  Oh, and I'm not a coffee person.  So there we go.  No more fancy Starbucks drinks.  

Thats pretty much all for today,

xoxo

Lauren

Fashion Find: The Sartorialist

Ahh! I just realized that it's been over a month since I did a fashion post. Although I'm pretty sure that you all (mostly?) come here for the gluten-freeness, I really enjoy doing these fashion and book and random-type posts. With that said, here is my latest fashion find.

A few months ago, I began reading The Sartorialist. It is a must-read blog if you are interested in current fashion. Scott Schuman, the blog's author is a fashion photographer that broke into the business through his blog. He travels all over the world, and takes pictures of people on the street, or wherever, wearing their clothes. When you visit his blog, you never know what you're going to find. Some styles are interesting, some are simply beautiful. All of the pictures are amazing. With that said, here are some of his recent pictures that I have loved. (Note: He does do men as well, sometimes more men than women. It all depends on who he finds.)

This picture is simply an amazing silhouette. She truly understands what works with her body. That is a gift. Every body has it's challenges, and knowing how to dress your body can create amazing results. (As demonstrated here:)

I love how this outfit is carefree, yet perfectly put together. Each element is just right, even the fact that she is walking instead of posing.

I like this last one because it is exactly where it's supposed to be. When wearing that outfit, I doubt that there could be a better background than a poolside with palm trees. I love it!

Photos via here.

These are just some of my favorite pictures from The Sartorialist in recent months. I'd love to know what you think. After all, fashion is all about your point of view. That, and how you wear it.

xoxo

Lauren

Book Review: Pretty Little Liars Series

So, I'm back with another book review! This series I have been reading for the past few years, as they have come out. My friend and I do a sort of book exchange every so often, so you can pretty much bet that at all times I have one of her books (possibly in the depths of my basement). The only problem is that because we like the same type of books, we often end up with the same ones, decreasing our chance to borrow...

Anyways, the two of us have loved this series for quite some time. I was recently reminded of it when she gave me (let me borrow...) the 4th book. With that said, on with the review!

Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Liars Canada USA

Flawless Canada USA

Perfect Canada USA

Unbelievable Canada USA

Summary:

Everyone has secrets, right? Well, for Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily, secrets aren't light. They are part of life. So when A starts texting them all, threatening to reveal their secrets, they assume that their former friend Alison was behind it all. After all, Alison went missing years ago, the summer after seventh grade. Alison was the former group's leader. Everyone's secrets were known by Alison alone, so who else could it be? Then more recent events get mentioned in the texts, and no one can be sure of anything. All they can do now is follow A's instructions and hope that she doesn't get mad. Spencer, who likes her sister's boyfriend, Aria, who is dating her teacher, Emily, who isn't sure of her sexual identity, and Hanna, who will do anything to be thin. They've got really big secrets, and with A, they've got too much to lose.

What I thought:

I always found these books hard to put down. Occasionally they were a little freaky, with A knowing all of this stuff, both from the past and very recent, but that made them hard to put down, for you never really knew everything.

NOTE:

These books were a little eerie (not that bad) at times (how did she know everything?!), but other than that, I know there were mentions to adult related scenes, but I don't think there was much detail in that area.

Enjoy this series.

xoxo

Lauren

photos via here.

Cornbread Mix

I love Cornbread.  My whole family does.  To me, it means Christmas Morning.  It's always been an essential part of Christmas.  Now, why am I making a Christmas dish in the middle (ok... the end) of summer?  Well it's simple.  I love cornbread.  We came across this mix for it, and put it all together and you get a big craving for cornbread.  It was taunting me, I swear!  Anyways, here is my review/new favorite.

Gluten-Free Pantry's Yankee Cornbread and Muffin Mix

What it's like:

A real good cornbread.  It was kind of crumbly, but I liked the taste better than the cornbread we used to make every Christmas morning.  Yeah, it was that good =D.

Why I eat it:

It took no time to make, and tasted good.  What more could you want?

Other Stuff:  

I don't know about the nutrition and stuff, but all you need to make it is the mix, sugar, buttermilk, an egg, and melted butter.  Stuff you've probably got on hand (assuming your not GFCF or vegan...).

Tip:

To make buttermilk (like I did), you put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in the bottom of your measuring cup, then you put in enough milk to make one cup.  *This recipe needed 1 1/3 cups, so I used 4 teaspoons (or 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon) of lemon juice or vinegar, then enough milk to make 1 1/3 cups liquid.

Enjoy this cornbread (it's really good, I ate a lot of it...).

xoxo

Lauren

PS - Second picture from Amazon.com.

[Edit: I bought this product, it was not sent to me nor was I asked to review it for any sort of compensation.]

Cough Cough... Is this thing on?

Boy, do I hope so!  I'm back from vacation.  (I'm sure you guessed that...).  And now I'm drawing a total blank about what I was going to write (I guess I'm still on vacation in my head...).  With that said, pardon any unexplained randomness in this post.

Ooo,  big news!  Canada has 13 medals!  Yay!  Ok, so you big (as in population) countries are probably not that excited about that, but Canada went the first quite a few days without any medals at all.  Then, one day we got a Silver (in Men's pairs rowing), a Gold (in Women's wrestling) and a Bronze (in Women's wrestling).  And now, we have 10 more.  Yay!!  

Oh, and speaking of Olympics, Usain Bolt.  If you did not see him do the 100 meter final, go see it.  Now.  Like this second.  He was amazing.  Just wow.  And, of course, then he did the 200 meter final and also got a world record.  He is an unbelievable runner.  Just wow.

I should probably say something about Michael Phelps.  Yes, what he did was amazing, I'm not denying that.  I just think that running 100 meters in 9.69 seconds is cooler.  Feel free to argue, but I'm not changing my opinion.  Ok, so before this turns into an Olympic blog, I should get back to other stuff...

461.  I have to read all that in my Google reader.  Ugh.  It's gonna take forever.

School.  It's almost (or already, for some) here.  I like summer, but it's kind of nice to have something normal like school again!

Ooo, and school means that I get to see all my friends that I haven't seen for awhile!  Yay!

Anyways, I'm back, and thats about all I have to say.  

For now, of course.

xoxo

Lauren

Celiac, Life, and of course, Vacation!

So awhile back (something like my second post), I did a thank you post. It is one post that I really believe in. Thank you can be two of the most powerful words one can say. Thank you, for reading this. Thank you for commenting. I am always super excited whenever anyone says that they will come back. Either for a friend with celiac or they themselves just got diagnosed (or even are in the process of getting there).

I love the concept of a community like this. There are no borders, no exclusions, just like celiac. Anyone can get it, and more importantly, anyone can thrive with it. I know celiac is half of my blog's name, but it doesn't define me, just like teen doesn't. Together, they are two parts of who I am, now. In ten years, teen won't apply. Celiac won't ever go away, but it will get easier. It already has. Life is good. Vacations are good. This life will be on vacation. See you all in two weeks.

Right now, I'm heading to visit my family. Far away. I will be back soon. I'm sorry that there won't be any posts, unless I happen to find some time to make something, take pictures and write it all up on here (sorry, but it's not all that likely). My last post on me going away has some good stuff to keep you busy (and, of course you have your own wonderful life to live!), but just wait 2 weeks, give or take a day, and I'll do my best to have something up on here, even if I'm just telling you that I am back and not sleeping 24/7.

So, I'll do my best to post your comments asap after you write them, but no promises! I'm not sure at all of my computer access.

Lastly, enjoy your summer, your family, your friends, and your free time. Life can be anything, so let it be what you want it to be.

xoxo
Lauren

August is here!

Wow, can you believe that we are halfway through the summer months?  I know that I sure cannot.  It feels like just yesterday that school ended and we were pumped for a nice long relaxing summer.  I think that I am having that, it's just that it feels like July disappeared, even though I did so much!  

August makes me think summer nights.  And everything that goes with them.  BBQs, stargazing, Family all around you, Friends close by, ice cream, watermelon, popsicles (I haven't had them in forever!), juice, ice cubes, Ok, sorry I was getting carried away.  Anyways, that is what August is to me.  That and back to school shopping, even though I so don't want to be thinking about that yet!  Unless, of course I get nice clothes and nice, but most importantly functional, school supplies.  This year, I will be organized.  I have a new desk and bookcase.  I will have lots of room to do homework, and other things.

So, my big question for you is What does August make you think of?

I love August, and I think that it will be a good month, after all month 7 of the gluten free world should be a good one, right?  I think so!

xoxo

Lauren