Tree of Knowledge

Tonight, weary from 10 hours at work and the constant stream of demanding customers on this rare, freezing snowy day, I walked through my door and yelled and screamed and stomped my feet. I took out all of my anger, anxiety, grief and suffering on the room full of friends that I hardly knew that my roommate had gathered to watch a movie. They seemed entertained, but I was not. I just stormed through the room, throwing layers of damp clothes as I went. Grabbing a bottle of Kahlua and the carton of Almond milk from the fridge, I began my preemptive strike against further explosions. I heated the almond milk to just below a boil and mixed it with pure, organic cocoa and a dribble of honey, then in went the Kahlua. About a shot or so. Just to mellow the tone quickly settling into my bones.

It had the desired effect and I began work on a quiche I had promised to make for my friend's birthday brunch. It did not take long for me to release the tension and sink into the task at hand.
There is something about dough, ANY kind of dough, that makes me into a different person. The most basic of baking knowledge is required to make dough. It is less skill, more experience. KNOWING when you have too much or too little flour. KNOWING the consistency of a hearty protein loaf as opposed to the tender flake of buttery pie crust. I long to work with all kinds of flour and and yeast. Nuts, seeds, honey, berries, apples, cheeses. I NEED to bake, to cook, to create and re-create.

I am not much of an artist and I have very few ideas that are original, most being the same recipe my mother used or my mother's mother and that I know by heart. I cannot come up with incredible new ideas or recipes, but I can tweak and perfect oldies.

Being gluten-free has been quite a challenge. I can no longer sample the warm zing of my favorite Jalapeno Cheddar bread or crunch on the floury dust of a pumpkin pie crust dipped in coffee. I have found ways around these sad fates and I still bake these timeless classics of mine for others, but I am determined to find a way to make gluten-free cooking and baking just as delicious as regular baking. I know it will be near impossible, seeing as how almond, tapioca and rice flour just don't fluff, but I will find a way and I will share my journey with the rest of you...it's only fair.

So...I made a gluten free pie crust for my quiche...clumsily working about my kitchen with a fuzzy head and slightly unbalanced feet. I did not burnt it and it smells very "normal." The proof is, indeed, in the pudding...or the quiche. Tomorrow will be the reveal and I will come back to tell you all about it!