The baking gene

Some people are great bakers, but somehow, I was born without the baking gene.

My mother, well, she was a great baker. She made cakes all the time -- chocolate pound cakes, fresh apple cakes, sour cream pound cakes, and Snickerdoodles and cheese straws. Snickerdoodles. Jeffrey loves them. I'll never forget, my Mom made Jeffrey a batch of Snickerdoodles not long before she died. He kept them in the bottom of the freezer for years, in a sense keeping her alive, I guess.

And her cheese straws. Flour, Rice Krispies, Grated Cheese, Butter, and Cayenne pepper. Not much, but I could sure mess them up. I NEVER made them the way she did. I miss those things.

I think there are two reasons I'm a lousy baker. 1. I'm not precise with measurements, which is required when you bake. 2. I'm not patient with doughs and baking. I am not one who will bake seven batches of cookies from a big bowl of dough.

I do OK with pies (can't make a crust for anything, though) and I do OK with some cookie-like things that don't require precise measurements, like oatmeal no bakes and date nut balls.

But I was born without the baking gene. I can cook about anything, but I just can't bake.

This deficiency in my character was made clear today when I had to watch my cooking doppleganger, Paula Deen, make cookie after cookie on her show. She did make one cookie with oats -- I have certified GF oats -- but this cookie was one that required three kinds of sugar, and two kinds of chips, and all that. Nope. No Patience. And Sandra Lee. Is there a way to make a semi-homemade gluten free cookie? I don't think so, scooter.

I do have one bag of a mix that is supposed to make cookies, and I am hanging on to it, just in case a spirit moves me.

So now, 'tis the season for cookies, and now that I am gluten free, I don't have the same resources for my once-a-year cookie fix. There's a great bakery here in Milledgeville, Ryals, and I'll miss buying their cookie basket there. And in Tampa, there are all kinds of possibilities for cookies -- Wright's Gourmet House, Alessi Bakery, random bake sales.

I know I have Pamela's packaged cookies and the Trader Joe's Ginger Snaps, but somehow, they're just not the same.

What I want more than anything is a plate full of homemade GF sugar cookies, with a little of sprinkled sugar on top. Or maybe, just for Jeffrey, some GF Snickerdoodles. I'm going to have to move through a season of holidays at friends and relatives houses from here to Texas and back with no chance of cookies.

If you want to read about the joys of gluten-free baking, I'm not your girl. Go to The Gluti Girls site, or Gluten Free Girl (the links are on the sidebar). They've got recipes, plans, and tips. I'm envious. I'll live vicariously through them.

But bake? Not I!

Bah, Humbug.

Much love, Ging