Oh, and then there's this adorableness. Check out "Drawing a Kitty with my Foot." Can that cat (the real one) be any cuter?
Okay, now that that's taken care of, let's get on with business.Two days ago I made the batch of Betty Crocker pancakes, and the thing is: cake flour is magic.
golden and delicious
They weren't restaurant-like, so I still haven't achieved my goal, but they tasted like normal pancakes. They had only the slightest aftertaste common to gluten-free baked goods. They smelled delicious, they were the right texture (not grainy or doughy), they were thick yet fluffy, they were golden, and they were positively yummy.
Since, however, my tastebuds are used to gluten-freeness and therefore cannot be trusted to determine if food tastes normal, I asked my mom and my brother J to weigh in as judges.
Mom: said that she gave the cakes a 25 out of 10, because they didn't stink up the house like the old recipe did, and they were good. Said that she would actually eat them, whereas she'd rather eat her own hand than eat the old ones.
J: said that he gave them a 7 out of 10, because of the aftertaste. Otherwise thought they were good.
I'd give them an 9, purely because I hope I can make them even better. But they were definitely the best GF pancakes I've EVER EATEN. I had the leftovers for breakfast this morning.
fluffy and delicious
The only real issue I had was that the cake flour had the unexpected result of making the batter very thick and sort of gelatinous. I think this was because of the corn starch; the batter seemed kind of gravy-like. But once the batter was in the pan it cooked up with no problems and they came out tasting, as I said, really good. So don't let that throw you off if you make them.
Also, in the original recipe I stupidly left out xanthum gum, which is a crucial ingredient of GF baked goods. I used about 1/4 of a teaspoon and they came out just right. I've gone back in and added it to the original post, but if you already wrote it down then you should add the xanthum gum. Otherwise they'll be flat as . . . well, a pancake.
And now I have a pancake recipe I can make for non-GF people that won't make them puke. Yay!
In other news, I went to Target today to pick up more stuff for H2, and in a bizarre twist, I ended up buying all pink things. What are the odds of that? Our cart looked like some sort of little-girls'-birthday explosion. I got: a pink phone, pink sheets, pink curtains, a pink plastic case for odds and ends, a pink date book, and a thing of neon dry erase markers with a pink one in it.
That's a lot of pink. Woo-hoo! I love pink.
Having been crazy busy with packing and moving things into H2, I caught up on my blog reading today. And I have to add my own protestations to Meg Cabot's July 12th post:
What is with parents taking little kids to movies that are way beyond their maturity level? I went to see "The Incredible Hulk" last week in the theater (Edward Norton is the only reason I went to see this movie, and he absolutely delivered. I LOVED this movie. It was amazing, and can I just say that Edward Norton totally has the market cornered on soulful eyes). Anyway, there was this dad with, like, a six year old little girl sitting down the aisle from us. He let her watch the brutal carnage, he let her watch Edward Norton turn into the Hulk (which looks a little freaky, with all the giant wiggling muscles), he let her watch the guy who turns into Abomination while he was all bloody and torn to shreds in the hospital, and he let her watch Abomination run around and fight the Hulk (let's face it, Abomination kind of looks like an enormous, muscular skeleton made of snot). All this passes on the screen and Daddy Dearest doesn't once say anything to the daughter. But during the so-called sex scene between Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, which was basically G-rated, he reaches over and covers the little girl's eyes.
What is up with that? What do you think is more likely to give a six-year-old nightmares, a snot skeleton or a little bit of kissing? Yeah, I'm gonna go with the snot skeleton.
Why wouldn't you take your six-year-old daughter to see "Kitt Kittredge" or "Wall-E," or whatever? Why "The Incredible Hulk?" Is he taking her to see "The Dark Knight" this week? Is the dude seriously that cheap that he couldn't cough up ten bucks for a baby-sitter? I was completely appalled at the whole thing.
But you don't want to get me started on a stupid-parents rant, because I've worked at two day care centers and one summer camp, and worked birthday parties at a store in the mall. The stupidity of parents is shocking.
Of course, I also met a lot of really good parents. So I really can't complain too much. But that guy at the theater fully deserves all my wrath. And yours. So send him any mental waves of wrath you may have to spare.
Now, as far as the Pancake Games go, I'll be making this recipe next (scroll down to the October 29th segment for the recipe). It might be a few days because I have to go out and buy the special flours, but I'll keep you posted!
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