Free!

We're "free" at our house . . . gluten-free that is, to adjust to the digestive systems of 3 family members whose bodies can't remember where they put all the enzymes they need when it comes time to digest the wheat.  And so we accommodate those quirky digestive systems.  And for a while that meant no cookies, no cupcakes, no bread, no pizza until we could find some substitutes.

And for Youngest Daughter, that would have meant no Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting for her birthday . . . except for the fact that this delightful book was given to me!

Silvana has her own special flour blend, which had me purchasing, for the first time, rice flour, potato flour, tapioca flour, and xanthum gum.  She's got a great blend going here, and it works!

Young hands sifted the flours, stirred in the puree, piped the strawberry buttercream frosting and topped the creamy mountain with a specially-picked-out fruit snack.  The Olders Kids said there was too much frosting.  Are you kidding me?  Too much creamy, butter-based, powdered sugar-fluffed, fresh strawberry-infused frosting?  No way.  These were great.  Flour was not missed.  We're happy to be free.



Alice and Me

Two months ago I fell down a rabbit hole called "Volleyball Season."  It has been a nail-biting, exhilirating, tiring and thrilling two months, with enough moments of madness to make even Alice feel at home.

Tonight was the last game, and I begin my ascent up, out of the rabbit hole.  Into the sunshine.  I will miss it, painfully miss it . . . competetive volleyball, not the sunshine!  It is Oldest Daughter's last year in high school . . . the last time I'll see her play a high school volleyball match. 

Unlike Alice, who awakes to find her journey down the rabbit hole was just a dream, my last two months has been a joyful journey with memories to savor upon resurfacing.