Mrs. Miniver, Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns, and The New Normal

Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns (adaptable for plain dinner rolls)

Recipe Below

It's been such a long time since I've posted, being immersed for so long, like so many others in the busyness of daily life, full-time courses, children, husband, pets. 

I had strangely high hopes for this new year, and perhaps, as insane as it sounds, I wasn't that far off, but the goodness didn't quite come in the packages I expected. 

It was a strange feeling to have especially since the year started off quite badly, with losing my beloved companion and friend, my elder Pomeranian, Martha, on January 6.  I had to make what was hands down the hardest and most difficult decision of my life in letting her go.  I still miss her everyday and have moments where I get teared up by her absence.  This all coming from someone who has buried every single member of my immediate family by the time I was 38 (excluding my children.)  I'm also a hospice volunteer, so death and I were already old friends.  I thought certainly, especially since she had been suffering since I'd adopted her six years ago with a collapsed trachea that we had managed with medication, that in expecting the time to come eventually, it would some how be less painful. 

It wasn't.  

Her ashes sit in an urn behind the sofa, the sofa where she slept every night and where she and I enjoyed our quiet time together sans husband, children or our other dog Lucy every morning while I had my coffee.

To say her loss devastated me is an understatement. 

But I soldiered on.

In February, after my other dog exhibited signs of depression and loneliness we adopted another little dog who is simply wonderful.  But she is not and never can be, my beloved Martha. 

So even with that dark start, I still never saw the current conditions of the pandemic we are under coming.  Yet here we are. 

We count ourselves some of the lucky ones.  Having been a home schooling family for 12 years, when my older son got sent home, there was a feeling of familiarity and my younger son is still home schooled.  Because we are gluten free, and I was raised by poor people who survived the depression, I already shop ahead, and always stock up a little, just in case one of us got sick or the unexpected happens. I also am very blessed in having the knowledge of how to turn not much of anything into something to put on the table.  

Still, my children have feelings of uneasiness and we all seem to be holding our breath a little while fighting for a sense of normal as much as we are able. 

After many years of not making them, today I made hot cross buns for Good Friday.  The recipe came out quite perfectly and I can only call it divine intervention because usually gluten free recipes are tremendously unpredictable.  I've included it below. 

Every day, we count our blessings, reminding ourselves of how comparatively easy and 'first world' most of our current problems are.  We are not at war, infrastructure and staples are not in short supply, although we might have to be more patient and frugal.  We have a place to sleep at night.  We are blessed that we will survive on the income we currently have and so far, by the grace of God, we have our health.

If you're looking for something to remind you to count your blessings, I can't recommend Mrs. Miniver highly enough.  A 1942 view of life overseas during WWII.  She is the picture of keeping calm and carrying on.

In the words of W.H. Auden "Stagger onward, rejoicing."

Ingredients for gluten free hot cross buns (for plain dinner rolls omit spices, raisins).

• 2 cups of unbleached flour (Better Batter Gluten Free)
• ½ cup ground oats (whole, not quick) I grind my own in a processor as needed.
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 packet of yeast (3 tsp) (I used Saf brand)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp extra xantham gum
• 1 cup of milk warmed to 110°F (whole)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of melted unsalted or salted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of currants (or ½ cup raisins chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of salt (1/2 tsp of salt if using salted butter)
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Dash allspice
• Dash mace

Mix dough together adding ¼ cup loosely packed additional flour.   Scrape down the bowl and let it rest 15 minutes.  Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough into portions forming into balls adding flour as necessary for handling. 

Form into 8 to 12 balls.  Place into buttered pan lightly touching. I used a dark spring form pan.

Let rise 40 to 45 minutes covered in plastic wrap in a warm area.  Bake 350 for 15 to 20 minutes, turn down heat to 325 and bake an additional 15 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  Remove from pan and let cool 15 minutes and apply icing.

Ingredients for Icing

• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons milk

The Mystery of Lebkuchen, Black Walnuts and a Merry Christmas

"No one is useless who lightens the burden of another." ~ Charles Dickens

This year was the first year in some time that I tried some new recipes.  Last year I barely had the energy to muster up enough Christmas spirit to muddle through the holiday.  This year I juggled remaining coursework for my classes, but still managed to get some baking in.

In honor of uncovering my very German heritage this past year through the discovery of my previously unknown paternal family history, (mind you I already had a healthy dose of German in my maternal grandmother) I was inspired to try a Lebkuchen round.  It also appealed to my recipe (or receipt depending on how far you go back) research on historical food ways. Yes, I have been known to read cookbooks and household books of antiquity for fun and entertainment. 

As with most heritage recipes, its history is an interesting shade of gray.  Some say it translates literally as "life cake," others "loaf cake." I was also intrigued by their lineage, going back perhaps to the 1200's or longer, making their way like many rarities through the hands of monks and then becoming a holiday staple.  Rich in spices and then later nuts and candied fruits and glazed they became a specialty. 

Virginia Pasley's The Christmas Cookie Book listed no less than three versions. I chose the more common "round" as opposed to the cakes. 

I was most intrigued by the amount of honey.  I was certain it was once considered a digestive and probably a health cookie.  The interesting thing was its longevity, supposedly getting better with age. 

My first impression of the dough was that there was no human way to roll it out, much less cut it into rounds.  It was a goopy, sticky mess.  But after sitting a day in the refrigerator, it went much more smoothly than I imagined.  (I am also struggling with the need to be gluten free, so I can never be sure how regular recipes will transfer.)

I was also blessed to have some real candied angelica on hand to add, along with some slivered almonds.

Because it was my first time making them, I opted not to include a glaze figuring that with a cup of honey per batch as well as brown sugar, the sweetness would be plenty. 

I somehow managed a successful batch and the first bite both intrigued and surprised me.  It was chewy.  Very.  But not dry, although it seemed it should be, and the more you chewed it the more the honey seemed to appear.  It was indeed good, and definitely a cookie for the "older set." Missing the sprinkles, frosting and chocolate and having a high spice content, I can't see many children loving this cookie.  But it is truly the ideal tea or coffee cookie, or breakfast, if the case may be.  In the cookie box, they are unassuming and plain, unless you opt for the glaze.  I was glad that I didn't. 

My other culinary experience this year was with the black walnut.  My first time.  Having a black walnut tree in back of my house and thinking someday I might go through the laborious task of harvesting some, I bought a bag from a reputable national purveyor.  As a matter of fact the store selling them was almost out.  I was excited and filled with the expectation of some kind of mysterious nut-filled experience.  I rushed home, opened the bag and was filled with ...

disappointment, horror and even disgust. 

They smelled like nail polish, and left a horribly bitter after taste.  THIS is a black walnut????!!! I thought.  So I hopped on-line, hoping I had simply gotten a bad bag and indeed they were described as having the scent and odor of everything from bleu cheese to mustiness and being an 'acquired' taste.  I couldn't have been more saddened given my love of English walnuts in brownies and cookies and fudge. 

I can't imagine what the cooks of yore were thinking when they put in cups of the stuff into recipes while most modern black walnut lovers suggested a "sprinkling."  Yuck.  So much for that! 

I also made a favorite fruitcake recipe in the antique gem pan (a real fruit cake, with real organic dried fruit, no neon colored fruit remnants here) chocolate gingerbread, Italian chocolate, cut-outs, hot cha cha's, peanut blossoms, and almond joy cookies. I'm still not exactly sure how I got it all done in about 3 days, but I did.

And it was just in time for a pre-Christmas celebration with my oldest daughter who couldn't make it Christmas eve this year (in which we broke out the Rumptof, which goes surprisingly well with ginger ale) and then a quiet but lovely Christmas eve and day at home with the remaining children and my husband.  We watched a wonderful movie about the writing of A Christmas Carol called 'The Man Who Invented Christmas,' and watched our favorite performance of the book with Patrick Stewart on Christmas Day.  I may myself read through the original this evening, because it is truly literary perfection. 

And with that in mind, may your holiday season bring you joy, and your new year gladness, and may God bless us, every one.

Tuesday's Tip ~ Leftover Applesauce

Leftover Applesauce

Spread on biscuit dough, roll up tightly like a jelly roll and bake in a moderate oven (see oven temperature conversions here) for twenty minutes.  

Serve hot with cream or hard sauce.

 Mrs. J.T.J., Eagle Grove, Iowa

Woman's World, February, 1935

My Recipe for the Best Gluten Free Biscuits

Mr. Ken's Favorite Biscuits

Being married to a Texan comes with its own set of culinary requirements.  Being gluten free comes with another.  So making my husband's favorite recipes and having them taste good and familiar is a constant challenge.  

After years of experimentation (literally, we have been gluten free since 2007) I finally hit on the perfect combination of workability and taste.

These biscuits taste just like the real thing, are flaky, pull apart and delicious.

1 3/4 cup all purpose GF flour (I use Better Batter)

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt

2 Tblsp nonfat dry milk powder

1/4 c salted butter

1/4 crisco, lard or shortening substitute

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup whole milk plain yogurt

Combine the dry ingredients and mix well.  Cut in the butter and shortening until crumbly and well combined.  Mix yogurt into buttermilk and gently mix the wet and dry ingredients to bring them together.  At this point I use my hands to pull it together, gently knead enough to shape and turn it out onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  I form a rectangle and use a rolling pin to get the dough to about 1" thick.  You can cut your biscuits to size.  I usually do 9 medium or 6 large biscuits.

At this point you should let them rest at least 15 minutes.  I have refrigerated the unbaked dough overnight with no issues.  I even tried freezing the unbaked biscuits.  They still worked fine, but the texture was slightly different although not unpleasant.

Put them in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

Serve hot or lightly toasted the next day.

Recipes for Mother's Day

I was surprised to note that in my entire collection of Woman's World recipe booklets there was not a great deal of attention placed on Mother's day, despite it becoming a national holiday in 1914.  It is quietly noted as possible 'cakes for mother' in the Cakes and Desserts booklet table of contents.   So I chose the menu from the second Sunday in May as well as a recipe for an unusual buttermilk custard. 

I am continuously amazed at the amount of cakes and desserts that call for beaten egg whites, given the amount of elbow grease it takes to make those without a modern mixer. 

I can only assume our forebears had sturdy biceps.

Suggested Menu for Mother's Day

Fried Chicken w/ Cream Gravy

Creamed New Potatoes

New Peas

Hot Raised Rolls

Lettuce Salad

Sour Cream Dressing 

Poinsettia White Cake

Strawberries and Cream

Coffee

Recipe for Poinsettia White Cake

Cream 2 cups sugar with 1/2 cup butter working the mixture until it as creamy as for hard sauce.  Sift with 3 cups flour, 3 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt.  Sift 3 times and sift the flour before measuring.  Add the flour to the butter and sugar alternating with 1 cup milk put in by spoonfuls.  Fold in last the well beaten whites of 3 eggs.  Flavor with a tsp of almond or vanilla extract, and bake in a tube cake tin for 30  or 40 minutes.  Spread with white icing and when it is dry make poinsettia flowers along the edge with maraschino cherries cut in strips.

Baked Buttermilk Custard

2 cups buttermilk

4 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp lemon extract

Beat eggs until yokes and whites are well mixed, add sugar, buttermilk and flavoring.  Strain into custard cups, grate nutmeg on top, stand in pan of hot water and bake until firm in a moderate oven.

Homemade Bread, Marcel Waves and Holding Affection

From February 1925 Better Homes and Gardens ~ 'Let's Bake Some Bread'

"Whether home baking is a money-saver or not is a matter for each one to work out according to her own local conditions.  There is a wide diversity of opinion on the subject.  It is probably not much of a saving to bake bread for a family of two, but by the same token, it is not much trouble to make it!  It would be interesting and illuminating to take a census of all husbands' opinions, as to whether a fresh baking of homemade rolls or a fresh marcel in their wives' hair had the greatest power for holding affections!  It is possible, of course, that one can go so far as to greet one's husband occasionally with both."