Gluten Free

Years ago, when I was in the thick of sorting out my gut issues, Dr’s diagnosed IBF, Fibromyalgia, all sorts of things. I tried many diets, FODMAP, Paleo, Gluten free etc. Nothing worked for me.
Undergoing the elimination diet, I went gluten free. At the time there wasn’t that much out there for a gluten free diet. And asking for gluten free in a restaurant was futile. “Here’s some corn chips”.
Today there are many more choices available, and infinitely better than twenty years ago, but still not that homemade yeasty goodness that is just so satisfying. It’s all about the taste and texture.

For years I have made gluten free cookies and gluten free mini loaves, available through our cottage bakery. I always wanted to provide at least a couple alternatives for my GF friends.

Due to the amount of customers asking for gluten free items, specifically cinnamon rolls and bread. I’ve decided to dedicate more space and time to develop more gluten free baked goods.

The gluten free area is a dedicated room used just for gluten free baking. Only gluten free products are kept there. Pans, mixing bowls and equipment will be only used for gluten free cooking. A dedicated kitchenAid mixer (my favorite model) Will be the only one used for gluten free cooking. Furthermore, I will be baking on a specific day, I’ve set aside Thursdays, so there is less risk of cross contamination. I know most people have a milder intolerance to gluten, but my goal is to provide a high quality product that even a severely gluten intolerant person would be ok with.

While some products are tricky to pin down as to the care taken during the milling process, such as some oat flours are milled alongside or mixed with wheat. Or the factory manufacturing processes, which I have no control over. But in my spaces. Wheat and other grains are binned separately and kept completely apart. So far apart that there can be no mistake or hiccup of intermixing.

My cottage bakery mixers are all red.

G.F is Coral.

For the Gluten Free Prep room, I have a brilliant discontinued color. “Bird of Paradise”. No getting things mixed up. It has never, ever even looked at gluten flour. Not a spec. It has remained pure. We bought it specifically for gluten free mixing, and it has never seen anything else. Flour dust gets into every little cranny, and there is no way to prevent intermixing unless things are completely seperated.

THE GLUTEN FREE PREP SPACE. TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING.

This seperation took on a life of its own when we decided to convert the space that was originally a spare room and art studio space. My drafting table and supplies migrated out to the “she shed” and stainless began to take over. All the books and study materials migrated into another bedroom once we sold the furniture and became a study/library. We faced the fact that we are not ever having more children, nor ever will we run a boarding house or Air B&B. We truly love this new arrangement of a 4/2 becoming a single bedroom house, taken over by a cottage bakery enterprise.

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The gallery of becoming

Stay tuned for more as we begin to work and flesh out the G.F space. It’s a bit overwhelming finding what needs tweaking when you’re working in a place vs. arranging it.

I will be posting what I will make Thursdays (most of the time, that is, if I have a plan)