Gluten-free Apple Tart

My gluten-free baking experiment....  not because I'm trendy, or celiac - but because I am curious.

There is a lot of information out there about how many people actually have Celiac disease or may be gluten intolerant/sensitive.   However, it does seem to be the trendy self-diagnosis as well.   I too very briefly tried going gluten free for a while, but it is simply not possible for me.  First and foremost - I have my doubts about the nutritional value of going wheat free without a doctor telling me to do so and then helping me with the process.   With those doubts, the amount of concentration devoted to eliminating the offending grains became overbearing.  

Instead, I choose to enjoy everything I eat. Spending huge portions of my time and energy worrying about it takes all the joy out of a meal.  

I subscribe to the Slow Food principles of paying attention to my food and understanding where it comes from, but also to taking time to savor the cooking and the consuming of my meals.  Choose to appreciate the good food!

With all of that said, I still decided to try making a gluten free dessert....

Summer Breeze....

Oh the love affair between Americans and their air conditioning....
   I admit it - I heart my AC, especially when it stops working and the temperature goes above 80.   However, it really was kind of nice to sleep with a cool breeze coming in through the windows once the temperature dropped and I also had the ceiling fan going.

 It reminded me of when I lived in Italy for a summer in an apartment with no air conditioning except in the living room.   The cheap little fan I bought saved my life!  I left it there for the next student so she would not have to suffer - kind of paying it forward I guess.




Tito, the cat, checking his email.



Sometimes I think research is more fun than the actual writing.  Maybe this is because searching for new information can go on endlessly Whereas organizing all the tidbits you have found into a cohesive product is more difficult and requires more final decisions - about what to include, where and how it relates to what you want to say.

For brain food when I am writing, I have found that pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream works better than any other snack or junk food out there.   The balance of sugars and carbs is both a treat and an energy boost.  Plus, it counteracts the gallons of coffee you have consumed if you are as caffeine depended as I am!

This may also be true since most of my research regards food, food related media and the Slow Food movement....  however, I still have not decided what kind of pie goes with which particular topic yet, except that it does vary with the seasons and what fruit is available.