Beer Bread, 4 ways

 You might as well know...I like beer.  I come from a family of beer drinkers.  "I come from a family of neurosurgeons" might sound more impressive, but there ya go.Even though I'd never had a beer until I was 21 *cough*, I'd gotten a little taste from my mom's famous beer bread.  It couldn't be simpler to make (FOUR INGREDIENTS), no kneading, no rising....just stir, bake, done. Since my sister

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Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls

Fresh baked gluten-free dinner rolls- warm and tender.

We've been slurping lots of soup this Spring while the temperatures hover well below my chilly bones preference of 72 degrees. I hate to complain about 52 degrees, but, honestly. I'm shivering like a kitten in a Steve Martin movie. This is L.A. not New Hampshire. Where is my sunshine and technicolor blue sky?

Hiding its good humor behind wrinkled duvets of fuzzy gray clouds, that's where.

So we make gluten-free soup.

But the soup needs a companion. Our potage is lonely. And so I play matchmaker. I've been inviting gluten-free roll recipes to come and play. I've been flirting with their quirks and grainy idiosyncrasies, trying to be a good host. Coaxing their prickly little batters into behaving. As in, taste GOOD. And I've had some almost there success. But nothing to brag about. Nothing blog worthy.

Until today. These rolls are a balance of whole grain flavor and softness. Just crusty enough. These were tender and lovely warm from the oven. Not gummy. Not heavy. Not too grainy.

Just right.



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Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls

Fresh baked gluten-free dinner rolls- warm and tender.

We've been slurping lots of soup this Spring while the temperatures hover well below my chilly bones preference of 72 degrees. I hate to complain about 52 degrees, but, honestly. I'm shivering like a kitten in a Steve Martin movie. This is L.A. not New Hampshire. Where is my sunshine and technicolor blue sky?

Hiding its good humor behind wrinkled duvets of fuzzy gray clouds, that's where.

So we make gluten-free soup.

But the soup needs a companion. Our potage is lonely. And so I play matchmaker. I've been inviting gluten-free roll recipes to come and play. I've been flirting with their quirks and grainy idiosyncrasies, trying to be a good host. Coaxing their prickly little batters into behaving. As in, taste GOOD. And I've had some almost there success. But nothing to brag about. Nothing blog worthy.

Until today. These rolls are a balance of whole grain flavor and softness. Just crusty enough. These were tender and lovely warm from the oven. Not gummy. Not heavy. Not too grainy.

Just right.



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Gluten-Free Bread: Spotted Dog

This Spotted Dog Irish bread is yeast-free and gluten-free.

If I call this new bread an Irish soda bread, traditionalists will snicker. Raisins are not traditional in an Irish soda bread, you see. If a yeast-free soda bread has raisins in it, it's called Spotted Dog. I never knew this, growing up on the white clapboard wilds of the Connecticut shore. I was blithely ignorant of this quaint canine moniker, despite a hefty streak of familial Irish blood. We ate more pierogies than Irish soda bread. So when I started baking, my Irish soda bread had raisins. Why not?

When it comes to traditions, I admit, I'm an upstart. I wiggle and chafe beneath constraint and "should" like an itchy little girl with pinching new shoes. I admire traditions. From afar. At least, in theory. In an abstract, symbolic way. The meaning and the message is more interesting to me than formula. When it comes to formula, I usually prefer to wing it.

Which is why I enjoy gluten-free baking.

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Gluten-Free Bread: Spotted Dog

This Spotted Dog Irish bread is yeast-free and gluten-free.

If I call this new bread an Irish soda bread, traditionalists will snicker. Raisins are not traditional in an Irish soda bread, you see. If a yeast-free soda bread has raisins in it, it's called Spotted Dog. I never knew this, growing up on the white clapboard wilds of the Connecticut shore. I was blithely ignorant of this quaint canine moniker, despite a hefty streak of familial Irish blood. We ate more pierogies than Irish soda bread. So when I started baking, my Irish soda bread had raisins. Why not?

When it comes to traditions, I admit, I'm an upstart. I wiggle and chafe beneath constraint and "should" like an itchy little girl with pinching new shoes. I admire traditions. From afar. At least, in theory. In an abstract, symbolic way. The meaning and the message is more interesting to me than formula. When it comes to formula, I usually prefer to wing it.

Which is why I enjoy gluten-free baking.

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Gluten-Free Pizza Crust - My New Recipe

The best gluten-free pizza crust to date. A few tweaks make all the difference.

For years I've missed pizza. Not because there isn't gluten-free pizza available. It's out there. You can find it if you look hard enough. Take a gander in the frozen food aisle of your favorite natural market. Snoop around in the dairy case, next to the gluten-free bagels. You might even hit pay dirt at your local pizzeria. Especially if you happen to live in Arizona (Picazzo's gluten-free pizza is by far the best pizza joint fare I've tried). So yeah. There are choices.

Problem is, most gluten-free pizza sucks.

It's usually big on the chewy aspect. Or cracker crisp dry. With not much flavor. Yawningly bland. Certainly nothing to brag about. I mean, you wouldn't eat it if you didn't have to. You know what I'm sayin'? It's just that after years of pizza deprivation some of us are desperate for a decent slice. I'll try anything.

Twice.


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Gluten-Free Pizza Crust - My New Recipe

The best gluten-free pizza crust to date. A few tweaks make all the difference.

For years I've missed pizza. Not because there isn't gluten-free pizza available. It's out there. You can find it if you look hard enough. Take a gander in the frozen food aisle of your favorite natural market. Snoop around in the dairy case, next to the gluten-free bagels. You might even hit pay dirt at your local pizzeria. Especially if you happen to live in Arizona (Picazzo's gluten-free pizza is by far the best pizza joint fare I've tried). So yeah. There are choices.

Problem is, most gluten-free pizza sucks.

It's usually big on the chewy aspect. Or cracker crisp dry. With not much flavor. Yawningly bland. Certainly nothing to brag about. I mean, you wouldn't eat it if you didn't have to. You know what I'm sayin'? It's just that after years of pizza deprivation some of us are desperate for a decent slice. I'll try anything.

Twice.


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Gluten-Free Carrot Bread with Chai Spices

Gluten-free carrot bread with raisins and chai spices.

This week I've got a lovely tender tea bread recipe for you- a gluten-free carrot bread fragrant with chai spices and studded with juicy sweet raisins. Ever since I baked those happy, sunny carrot muffins I've been pondering carrot bread. I wanted to create a new gluten-free bread recipe that featured several whole grains, including (gasp!) brown rice flour. Shocking, I know. Long time readers will confirm I'm not the biggest fan of rice flours. I almost never bake with them. And yet. There I was. Standing in the Whole Foods check out line. Buying a bag of Bob's Red Mill organic brown rice flour. On impulse. Because it just sounded good to me. Wholesome. Nutty.

And friendly to carrots.

Which is important in a gluten-free recipe. The friendliness. You want all your ingredients to get along. You want your flavors co-mingling in savory-sweet bliss. Supporting one another's strengths. Forgiving each other's weaknesses. No single gluten-free flour is perfect on its own, as you well know. Going solo doesn't work. It needs a supporting cast. It needs to find balance and achieve harmony via relationships. Give and take. That's what it's all about in the crazy game of gluten-free baking.

Kinda like love.

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Gluten-Free Carrot Bread with Chai Spices

Gluten-free carrot bread with raisins and chai spices.

This week I've got a lovely tender tea bread recipe for you- a gluten-free carrot bread fragrant with chai spices and studded with juicy sweet raisins. Ever since I baked those happy, sunny carrot muffins I've been pondering carrot bread. I wanted to create a new gluten-free bread recipe that featured several whole grains, including (gasp!) brown rice flour. Shocking, I know. Long time readers will confirm I'm not the biggest fan of rice flours. I almost never bake with them. And yet. There I was. Standing in the Whole Foods check out line. Buying a bag of Bob's Red Mill organic brown rice flour. On impulse. Because it just sounded good to me. Wholesome. Nutty.

And friendly to carrots.

Which is important in a gluten-free recipe. The friendliness. You want all your ingredients to get along. You want your flavors co-mingling in savory-sweet bliss. Supporting one another's strengths. Forgiving each other's weaknesses. No single gluten-free flour is perfect on its own, as you well know. Going solo doesn't work. It needs a supporting cast. It needs to find balance and achieve harmony via relationships. Give and take. That's what it's all about in the crazy game of gluten-free baking.

Kinda like love.

Read >>

Read more »

Gluten-Free Cranberry Bread Recipe

Gluten-free cranberry bread for the holidays.

Christmas and cranberries. The two go together like Beatles and Sunday. Brad and Angie. Milk and cookies. I was imagining a tea bread that might work for gluten-free French toast, you see. The sort of breakfast you'd like to wake up to on Christmas morning. Something warm with melting butter and cozy cinnamon. Something festive. Special. Not your average grab-on-the-go with coffee nosh. A gluten-free bread worthy of a holiday. That's how it all started. When it dawned me. Cranberry bread. Why not? It's simple. And not too sweet. It flirts magically with maple syrup. So I started daydreaming about the tart little berry that is a bog's ruby jewel.

And a gluten-free cranberry bread recipe was born.


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Gluten-Free Cranberry Bread Recipe

Gluten-free cranberry bread for the holidays.

Christmas and cranberries. The two go together like Beatles and Sunday. Brad and Angie. Milk and cookies. I was imagining a tea bread that might work for gluten-free French toast, you see. The sort of breakfast you'd like to wake up to on Christmas morning. Something warm with melting butter and cozy cinnamon. Something festive. Special. Not your average grab-on-the-go with coffee nosh. A gluten-free bread worthy of a holiday. That's how it all started. When it dawned me. Cranberry bread. Why not? It's simple. And not too sweet. It flirts magically with maple syrup. So I started daydreaming about the tart little berry that is a bog's ruby jewel.

And a gluten-free cranberry bread recipe was born.


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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Bread

A moist and tender tea bread that tastes like pumpkin pie.

Happy Fall! Here's a weekend recipe from the archives- a moist, gluten-free pumpkin bread you can bake in a bread machine- or your oven.

This is a big week. Huge. Never mind The Canyon premiere. Forget the post screening parties at Cafe Was and the Palihouse (where the valet parked the only Honda Fit of the night- I'm guessing). Forget hanging out in Hollywood with Yvonne Strahovski. Mark Williams. We're talking major excitement. Glamor. Dreams come true. That's right.

We're unpacking our relocation cube.

But wait. There is more to the story, truth be told. There is a subplot with a third act twist. There is, um. Titillation. Desire. Longing. By your intrepid Goddess. No, Babycakes. Not longing for fame. Or glitz. Or girly-girl anything. I'm not that kind of Goddess (Botox and bling isn't on my radar). Nope.

So what is this obscure object of desire?

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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Bread

A moist and tender tea bread that tastes like pumpkin pie.

Happy Fall! Here's a weekend recipe from the archives- a moist, gluten-free pumpkin bread you can bake in a bread machine- or your oven.

This is a big week. Huge. Never mind The Canyon premiere. Forget the post screening parties at Cafe Was and the Palihouse (where the valet parked the only Honda Fit of the night- I'm guessing). Forget hanging out in Hollywood with Yvonne Strahovski. Mark Williams. We're talking major excitement. Glamor. Dreams come true. That's right.

We're unpacking our relocation cube.

But wait. There is more to the story, truth be told. There is a subplot with a third act twist. There is, um. Titillation. Desire. Longing. By your intrepid Goddess. No, Babycakes. Not longing for fame. Or glitz. Or girly-girl anything. I'm not that kind of Goddess (Botox and bling isn't on my radar). Nope.

So what is this obscure object of desire?

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Gluten-Free English Muffins

Lovely, toasty gluten-free English muffins. I kid you not.

Reprising my English muffin recipe today because yours truly is flat out down and out with ragweed allergies (I can barely think straight. And that can only lead to trouble). English muffins with peanut butter was my favorite pre-school breakfast as a kid. What was yours? And do you make it now gluten-free? xox Karina

After four attempts we have a gluten-free English muffin we can toast with pride. An English muffin worthy of jam. Worthy of peanut butter. Or a sit down breakfast. Heck, worthy of breakfast in bed. These warm and golden little babies are too crispy-tender good to munch running to the bus stop or strapped in your car, thinking about the onslaught of your daily tasks. These muffins deserve a proper plate. A mug of tea. Your Sunday morning iTunes playlist.

I'm not sure why a simple English muffin is so tricky to recreate gluten-free (and in my case, also vegan- no milk and eggs to help the stubborn gluten-free flours fluff and rise). I thought it would be a snap. So I perused Alton Brown's recipes for inspiration, found his English muffin recipe, and did a quick gluten-free casein-free conversion. It seemed doable. Although I knew from experience that using a griddle to cook gluten-free muffins would be trouble.

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Gluten-Free English Muffins

Lovely, toasty gluten-free English muffins. I kid you not.

Reprising my English muffin recipe today because yours truly is flat out down and out with ragweed allergies (I can barely think straight. And that can only lead to trouble). English muffins with peanut butter was my favorite pre-school breakfast as a kid. What was yours? And do you make it now gluten-free? xox Karina

After four attempts we have a gluten-free English muffin we can toast with pride. An English muffin worthy of jam. Worthy of peanut butter. Or a sit down breakfast. Heck, worthy of breakfast in bed. These warm and golden little babies are too crispy-tender good to munch running to the bus stop or strapped in your car, thinking about the onslaught of your daily tasks. These muffins deserve a proper plate. A mug of tea. Your Sunday morning iTunes playlist.

I'm not sure why a simple English muffin is so tricky to recreate gluten-free (and in my case, also vegan- no milk and eggs to help the stubborn gluten-free flours fluff and rise). I thought it would be a snap. So I perused Alton Brown's recipes for inspiration, found his English muffin recipe, and did a quick gluten-free casein-free conversion. It seemed doable. Although I knew from experience that using a griddle to cook gluten-free muffins would be trouble.

Read >>

Read more »

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread Recipe

Delicious gluten-free zucchini bread.

Today's post will be short and sweet. No waxing philosophical. No stories of loss or triumph. No giggles or clever asides. I think the move to West Hollywood has caught up with me. My energy is sparse and fleeting. So guess what? I'm not gonna fight it. I'm gonna kick off my flip-flops and sink into the sofa. I've got season two of Sons of Anarchy to catch up on before the September season premiere (a quick shout out to Regina Corrado- a writer on Sons, who rocks my world with her words; not to mention the brilliant Katey Sagal).

And the recipe? Here's a classic late summer favorite with a gluten-free twist- zucchini bread. I hope you like it.

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Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread Recipe

Delicious gluten-free zucchini bread.

Today's post will be short and sweet. No waxing philosophical. No stories of loss or triumph. No giggles or clever asides. I think the move to West Hollywood has caught up with me. My energy is sparse and fleeting. So guess what? I'm not gonna fight it. I'm gonna kick off my flip-flops and sink into the sofa. I've got season two of Sons of Anarchy to catch up on before the September season premiere (a quick shout out to Regina Corrado- a writer on Sons, who rocks my world with her words; not to mention the brilliant Katey Sagal).

And the recipe? Here's a classic late summer favorite with a gluten-free twist- zucchini bread. I hope you like it.

Read >>

Read more »

Gluten-Free Baguettes with Greek Olive Tapenade Recipe

Rustic, easy gluten-free baguette baked from Pamela's Gluten-free Bread Mix.

Why do you always crave the things you can't have? Is it because desire dims upon acquisition? Is it the crusty chestnut that the chase is more interesting than the catch? Do we simply take for granted the things we hold, the things we use, the things we eat, day after day? Familiarity breeds perhaps not contempt but a subtle numbness. We slowly turn off to the everyday beauty, the generosity of the simple luxuries in our life. It seems to me a form of forgetting. A spiritual amnesia that coaxes us into believing we want what we don't have. And we neglect to appreciate what we do possess.

Which brings me, I'm sorry to say, not to any esoteric mystery, but. To bread.

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Gluten-Free Baguettes with Greek Olive Tapenade Recipe

Rustic, easy gluten-free baguette baked from Pamela's Gluten-free Bread Mix.

Why do you always crave the things you can't have? Is it because desire dims upon acquisition? Is it the crusty chestnut that the chase is more interesting than the catch? Do we simply take for granted the things we hold, the things we use, the things we eat, day after day? Familiarity breeds perhaps not contempt but a subtle numbness. We slowly turn off to the everyday beauty, the generosity of the simple luxuries in our life. It seems to me a form of forgetting. A spiritual amnesia that coaxes us into believing we want what we don't have. And we neglect to appreciate what we do possess.

Which brings me, I'm sorry to say, not to any esoteric mystery, but. To bread.

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Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Tender, delicious gluten-free soda bread.

As with anything in life, you get a little, you lose a little.

I just wish Mother Nature would reverse the getting and losing when it comes to life post-menopause, Darling. I'm losing on top where I've never been particularly gifted, if you know what I mean. I buy bras in the teen section because the only adult bras that fit me are those pull-over-your-head uniboob running bras and Ladies, come on. These tight little torturers (once you squeeze into them, which could take a good seven minutes; I timed it once) are, shall we say, less than inspiring. If you're over a certain age and so is your husband, you know what I'm talking about.

So I'm losing oomph there and I'm gaining in the new mid-section of me I like to call Doris because it somehow seems appropriate. These love handles deserve a name, after all. A retro name like Kitty or Patty or Madge. Because they're evidently not intent upon leaving. They insist they're here to stay.

So since Doris won't go away, I try to coax her to skedaddle by eating lots of lettuce. And a rice cake or two. I tell myself, Bunny food rocks! But I lose even more of my boobs when I eat this way.

And Doris still sticks around.

Which brings me to bread. (What midriff conversation doesn't?) In this case, Irish soda bread. Yep. The classic, yeast-free quick bread. I'm not gonna give up a bread this delicious. Even for Doris. I'll just have to run up and down the block. A lot. In between taking iPhotos with my iPhone. That's my plan anyway.

That should work, right?

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