Food Experiments

In my family we are self-proclaimed food snobs, especially me, my dad, and my sisters. "Food snob" probably overstates it a bit, but who doesn't love a little hyperbole that helps people judge you unfairly? Anyway, what really happens is that we talk about food a lot and we critique it with thoughtful passion. Sometimes strangers mistake our critique for criticism, but we really try and figure out what can be better so that we can adjust recipes and enjoy them even more. (And by "we" I mean "my dad and sisters" because I am an inexperienced and terrible cook. But I can bake your face off.)

For instance, last week I made a chocolate cream pie from scratch. No easy feat, if I do say so myself. I've made it before, and it was no less delicious this time. However, upon reflection and family discussion, we decided that the crust recipe I was using is not at all right for the pie. It's hard to get it to come out of the pan, and it's not flakey enough. It's a little more like shortbread than a regular pie crust. (But we all agreed that the recipe-suggested graham cracker crust was a terrible idea.) I was not offended that the crust wasn't up to snuff, and I was not discouraged from making more pie. This is just how we roll.

A slice of my chocolate cream pie with freshly whipped cream on top.

A brother-in-law yelled at me once over a critique of my sister's cooking. "Why can't you just be grateful that she cooked for you?!" Even after my sister and I explained to him that I was grateful and that she wanted the input, he still was upset. The fact is that aside from my dad, she is the best cook I know.

All of our family functions and vacations center around food. While eating breakfast we talk about what we're going to eat for lunch, and while we're eating lunch we talk about what we're going to eat for dinner.

The downside of being a food snob is that there are certain food places that feel like torture to patronize. Sometimes this puts a damper on my social life when people want to throw good money after bad at subpar eateries. It's much easier to bow out of plans than to fight the people who just love TGIFridays.

I suppose I'm telling you all of this because 1) I want to let you know how integral food is in my life, because 2) I'm embarking on a food experiment this week that makes me nervous. I live with my parents at the moment, and my dad pretty much does all of the cooking; it's his hobby and he loves it. The folks are going out of town and I sadly have to endure my own cooking. No only that, I decided to cook gluten-free, because I think I may have a problem with gluten (not celiac's disease per se, but an allergy maybe), and I want to try gluten-free out to see if it makes a difference. (I could just go to the doctor if I had insurance, but I don't, so experimentation it is!)

I already have some rice noodles that will hopefully be transformed into Pad Thai, and I've got a falafel recipe (sans pita, of course) that I already know will be delicious if I can cook it right. If you have any favorite gluten-free recipes, please share them!

P.S. I know that everyone will be overjoyed to learn that Mountain Dew is gluten-free! The nectar of the gods will remain in my diet.