Holiday Goodies

I, like usual, have been dreaming of a dozen yummy things to cook and bake, if only I had the time.

First, there's the midwife thing that gets in the way of my "want to do's." I may go ahead and start a couple of cheesecakes and hope that I get them finished before someone in early labor calls me back and I have to leave in a hurry...

Then there's the no-gluten and the no-sugar thing. Yeah. That makes perfection in baking much, much harder to achieve. At first, I thought it was close to hopeless to ever expect to have truly GOOD normal tasting desserts when gluten and sugar are not an option. Cut out gluten and at least you have a few fudgey options and good brownies left. Cut out the sugar and you can still make delectable goodies with honey, agave nectar or maple syrup. But cut them both out, and how is one to make anything taste normal and good??

I've been pleased to discover that though non-gluten, non-sugar baking will never make it easy and simple to turn out yummy desserts and baked goods, it is still possible. I think it's an art. One I'm trying hard to learn. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes my creations are hard, dry crumbly flops.

I'm glad that I can eat gluten and sugar. But with several family members in the house on restricted diets, we try to only make desserts that they can eat. The rest of us can splurge and enjoy our sugar and gluten on other occasions. :)

So, today I'm looking at recipes and trying to figure which ones are worth attempting to bake with gluten and sugar substitutes. I'm so grateful that said people can eat butter and cream cheese and eggs and other things that make baked goods yummy and moist and rich. :)

I think I'll start with the cheesecake and attempt to make some cookies that aren't too dry and crumbly. But more than likely I'll have to leave for a birth before I get any of it into the oven. That's what sisters are for, right?

I just hope I'm back in time to eat with the family tomorrow! :)