Feb13

valentine’s day

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When I was about four years old, my parents enrolled me in an “alternative preschool.” It was designed around creativity and unstructured learning, but was a little offbeat. We played with sticks and mud, ate our lunches out of wooden bowls, and for an entire preschool year, were only allowed to paint and draw pictures using the color red. Only red.

This preschool was also strictly against sweets and desserts. Every morning, the teachers would walk around and collect any treats our parents had given us for lunch into a small basket, which we never saw again. Cookies, cupcakes, candy—all into the basket, even on holidays like Valentine’s Day. When my mother found out they took our treats away, it was the end of “alternative learning” for Juliet and back to happily eating pink and red sugar cookies.  I’ve never loved or hated Valentine’s Day, but I always appreciate an opportunity to make homemade cards, bake cookies, and get a dozen roses from my Mom and Dad.

These sugar cookies have a classic buttery sweet taste, topped with royal icing and sprinkles. I made a Christmas themed batch a few months ago, but my family ate them too quickly for me to photograph. They are simple to make and delicious to eat, and can be suited for any holiday, whether it is Christmas, Valentine’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day. Whether you enjoy these yourself or share them with your loved ones, I hope you have a lovely and love-filled Valentine’s Day!

Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour blend (see below)*
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Flour Blend: Combine 2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour and 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. 2 1/4 cups for recipe; store the rest in an airtight container.

Directions: 

Combine sugar and butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg yolks and vanilla. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour blend and salt. Beat until well mixed. Cover; refrigerate until firm (1 hour).

Heat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough on surface sprinkled lightly with gluten-free flour, one-half at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut  with cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let stand 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.

Royal Icing

Ingredients: 

  • 2 large egg whites
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
Directions: 
With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and lemon juice until combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat on a low speed until combined. If you do not use all the icing, store in an airtight container to prevent the icing from hardening.
Feb2

yogurt creme brulee

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The summer before I turned 15, I went on a ten-day canoe trip into the Boundary Waters, a pristine network of lakes spanning the US and Canada in northern Minnesota. One morning, I woke up earlier than the other girls on my trip. I tiptoed out of the tent and sat on one of the large, craggy rocks bordering the lake, and looked up at the early morning sky.

In those few moments, I felt completely at peace with myself. I wasn’t worried or thinking about anything—I simply existed. I was alone, yet a whole person, living entirely in that moment. I’ll never forget that feeling, and ever since then I have appreciated solitude.

I was talking to my Mom a few weeks ago, and somehow we started talking about going out to eat alone. Not just to Chipotle or Noodles, but going to a real sit-down restaurant by yourself. I realized that I had never eaten alone in my entire life.  I was going into the city the next day to take photographs for my art final, and I decided to go out to lunch all by myself. I spent the day wandering around all places of worship, from massive basilicas to neighborhood chapels. The silence resonated in the buildings, creating a beautiful atmosphere for taking pictures.

Here are some of my favorites:

After hours of taking photographs, I ventured out for my lunch alone. It was an interesting experience. I went to one of my favorite restaurants and sat at the bar. It was Sunday and they were still serving brunch, and the restaurant was full of couples and families. I made small talk with the waiter and ordered hash browns, bacon, and the inspiration for this post—yogurt creme brulee.

Eating alone gave me time to truly enjoy this amazing dish, and try to figure out how to make it myself. I’m not usually a fan of creme brulee—it’s always been too heavy and sweet for me. However, the yogurt used in this version made the creme brulee light and refreshing, the perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess. When I attempted it at home, it was surprisingly easy. It only takes a few ingredients blended together in a food processor, and you have a delicious, healthier version of a classic French dessert.  Enjoy!

-Juliet

Yogurt Creme Brulee

(serves 4-5) 

Ingredients

  • 15 oz 2% plain greek yogurt
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Place the ingredients into a food processor.  Process until all ingredients are blended.
3. Pour the mixture into ramekins and place inside a roasting pan.
4. Fill the pan with water so that it reaches about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the mixture jiggles slightly when shaken.
5. Remove from the pan and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour and a half.  When you are ready to eat them, remove from the refrigerator.
6. Sprinkle on top with sugar.  Using a torch, melt the sugar until it turns golden brown. Serve immediately.
Jan24

bread and beginnings.

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Before I talk about this beautiful loaf of bread, I have a few updates.

I began my final semester of high school today with mixed emotions. Part of me has loved the time I’ve spent at my wonderful high school, but I am also incredibly excited to begin a new chapter in my life. I’ve been absent from my blog for a variety of reasons—the main ones being that I’ve been busy with school and college applications. Now that the majority of work is behind me, I’m ready for a little rest and time to blog. Since I last posted in October, a lot has changed.

First, meet Darcy, our puppy.

Yes, Darcy is named after the dashing character in Pride and Prejudice, (who my mother and I shamelessly adore) even though she’s a girl. We’re a literary family.

Darcy likes to chew on bottles. She is irresistibly cute.

I also received an acceptance letter from my dream university. This is the best letter I have and probably will ever open. I can’t even begin to explain the happiness I experienced ripping open this envelope.

But now that all the chaos has died down, I decided yesterday that I wanted to make something simple and delicious. Before celiac disease awareness spread, my mom used to have to make her own bread. This recipe is  a soft, savory pumpernickel, the rich brown color of chestnuts. It has a fragrant taste due to caraway seeds and orange peel, and tastes phenomenal alone and when toasted. It stays moist for quite sometime, which is an accomplishment for a gluten-free bread.

I’ve been eating it non-stop for breakfast and lunch, and I believe I’ll be needing to make another loaf soon. I used a bread machine to make this recipe, which was convenient and eliminated a lot of the work required to make homemade bread. My bread machine is bordering on 10-15 years old, but bread machines can be found for about $50 and under. There’s no need to get a $3oo machine with 50 settings. Keep it simple. I recommend investing in one, as you can make a loaf of bread in a day with only about an hour of prep time—something you could do every week to enjoy fresh bread. This bread is worth every penny.
Marianne’s Pumpernickel Bread 

Dry Ingredients

  • 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
  • 2 cups brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup tapioca flour
  • 1/2 cup potato starch flour
  • 1 tablespoon xanthan gum
  • 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 cup dry milk
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange peel

Wet Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons molasses
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil

*If you cannot find potato starch flour, just use another 1/2 cup of tapioca flour as a replacement.

Directions:
Bake according to your bread machine, but pour the wet ingredients into the machine first, then the dry ingredients. As the machine begins it’s cycle, scrape down the edges of the pan and ensure there are no clumps of flour in the dough. I baked mine on the Basic setting on my machine, which took about 4 hours.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Juliet

Oct21

montana on my mind.

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montana on my mind.

This is me at age seven, in Glacier National Park in Montana.

I’m laughing.
I’m laughing because I have no cares, no fears, only a future full of dreams and possibilities. I’m laughing because the water is freezing, and all I can feel is icy water tickling my numb feet. There’s just something about Montana.

When I was little, Dad would always take me with him wherever he went—Jerry’s Hardware Store, to Blockbuster, even to return books at the library. I would sit in the backseat, swinging my spindly legs against the upholstery, and say,

“Dad! Only ten more years until I can drive!”

“Dad! Only five years until I go to high school!”

“Dad! Only eleven years till I go to college!”

He would give me a knowing smile, saying “I know. Time sure is going quickly.”
But to a seven-year-old whose freedoms consisted of being able to walk the dog around the block, time couldn’t go fast enough. I wanted to drive cars, wear lipstick, go to dances, date boys, change classes.

I turned seventeen seven months ago, and I’m afraid. I’m making some of the biggest decisions of my life. Where I will go to college, what I will become, what I’m going to do with my life. I longed to escape.

This summer, a decade later, my family traveled back to Glacier National Park, Montana.

Whenever I think of the Big Sky state, I remember a quote by Robert Penn Warren from the book “All the King’s Men.”

“For West is where we all plan to go some day. It is where you go when the land gives out and the old-field pines encroach. It is where you go when you get the letter saying: “Flee, all is discovered.” It is where you go when you look down at the blade in your hand and see the blood on it. It is where you go when you are told that you are a bubble on the tide of empire. “

Montana, especially Glacier National Park, is one of the few untouched parts of nature left in the United States. These days, everywhere you look you see Starbucks, nail salons, Walmarts, grocery stores and shopping malls. Sirens blare, cars honk, lawnmowers roar and teenagers play music in their trucks late into the night. And so we went West for two weeks, to rediscover the earth. To leave all of my responsibilities, appointments and ACT prep classes at home.

Our first day in Montana it rained, so we drove to the North Fork, a remote corner of the park to a small community named Polebridge.

We had read in the guidebooks about the “Polebridge Mercantile”, a bakery/general store with amazing baked goods.

Of course, being celiac, my mom and I were a little jealous and resentful of my dad and little sister.

However.

We walked into the general store and gazed at the wood and glass bakery counter filled with the most delicious-looking treats I have ever seen. Fruit filled pastries, cookies studded with nuts and chocolate, my heart ached with desire. As Mom and I gazed longingly at the cases, my dad took action. He walked towards the back of the general store and asked one of the bakers if they had any gluten free treats.

And out here, literally in The middle of Nowhere, MT, they did. In fact, they had some of the finest gluten-free baked goods I have ever tasted. The young woman my dad had questioned, Sadie, had Celiac disease as well, and so they made gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, as well as raspberry coffee cake. She and her boyfriend, Wade, had migrated from sunny California to Polebridge, Montana. My mom and I sat at a rustic wood table with plates of steaming coffee cake before us. Our eyes glowed with happiness as we ate the warm, sweet cake dotted with juicy raspberries. We took a dozen peanut butter cookies to go, as well as four more slices of coffee cake.

The cookies were incredible. They were small peanut butter cookies studded with chocolate chips. They tasted less like a traditional cookie and more like a peanut butter-chocolate candy. I vowed to re-create these small masterpieces once I arrived home. One of the best parts of this recipe is that there is no flour in it. No almond flour, no tapioca flour, no flour at all. The cookies I made are slightly different from the Polebridge cookies, but they are delicious nonetheless. Enjoy!

Juliet’s Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup creamy store-bought peanut butter (Jif, Skippy, etc.)
  • 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips
  • Extra sugar

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Stir peanut butters together, and then mix in the cup of white sugar until incorporated.
  3. Mix in the baking powder and the egg, and then add the vanilla extract.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  5. Pour small amount of sugar onto a plate, and form small balls of cookie dough. Roll the cookies in the sugar until coated, and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
  6. Using two fingers, gently press down on the cookies. If you like, you can try the old fork-tine pattern, or leave them as is. However, these cookies do better the smaller that they are, so don’t press them down too hard.

xoxo,

Juliet

 

Photographs Copyright Juliet Beckstrand 2011

 

 

Aug1

complete control.

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I was visiting colleges this previous spring break, and one of the counselors at Davidson University brought up an important point in his “come to our university” speech. There were about 20 students in the room, all in varying states of worry and disarray.

“Could I even get into this college? My GPA is only a 3.6, it’s pretty much in the toilet already.”

“A 27 on my ACT? Forget about it. I’m not going to get into a good college.”

“That C in freshman science will kill me. I’ll never get accepted.”

“I don’t have enough leadership positions. Does my dog-walking job count?”

I’ve heard these statements and many others from friends and other prospective college applicants. My mind was swirling with similar thoughts, doubting and questioning my own accomplishments and statistics. The college presenter looked straight at us, leaning on a stool and holding a coffee mug.

“You are in complete control.” He said.

Yeah right. Me? In control? No way.

A lot of times, I feel like I am completely out of control. Every day teachers tell me what to do, parents tell me where to go, coaches tell me what to change in my tennis serve. Sometimes I feel like a puppet, yanked around by a million strings, controlled by dozens of people. My life can feel like a series of controlled and calculated events. Even though I know I need control to be happy and successful in the long run, I’ve realized that I feel my happiest when I am free from the constraints of my family, friends, teachers, coaches, and mentors. You cannot control the life you are born into. You can’t control whether you are tall or short, have brown eyes or blue eyes, or whether it rains or shines. You especially cannot control if you have Celiac Disease. However, it was that out-of-control feeling the day I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease that inspired me to create this blog.

The only thing you can control is your attitude. One of my grandfather’s favorite prayers was the Serenity Prayer. It goes:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

When explaining Celiac Disease to others, I often mention how I can’t eat wheat, rye, oats, or barley. It appears that I am “controlled” by what I cannot eat. But Celiac has not controlled me. It has given me new beginnings and opportunities. This blog would not exist if I did not have Celiac. I would not have discovered the science and delicate balance of baking without having Celiac. I would not have met amazing people and discovered incredible blogs and websites without Celiac.

I believe that true happiness in life comes from finding the small freedoms, the moments in life in which you can be completely and utterly you. Don’t let life control you. Control how you see life.

Jul3

fourth of july pie.

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I wasn’t a typical kid. As a baby, I loved to watch ceiling fans. When I was a toddler, I refused to play imaginative games, opting instead for entertaining games such as “rearrange plastic fruit on the floor” and “secretary with a broken pocket calculator.” Another one of my anomalies was my indifference to Christmas.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Christmas is wonderful. I live in a place where we always have a white Christmas. We trim our tree with gold ribbon, gifts under the tree are abundant, and stockings are stuffed. However, it was never really my favorite holiday. Perhaps it was because I had a spring birthday, and knew gifts were right around the corner, but I never went crazy over Christmas. In elementary school, whenever we would go around in a circle saying what our favorite holiday was, I would almost always bring up Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July. I love Thanksgiving because it is the one time of year I can eat obscene amounts of pumpkin pie, but I love the Fourth of July because I love summer. For almost half a year, I am stuck in a frozen wasteland. I walk to my car in -20 degree temperatures. I own 2 down coats. Every single person I know has a snowblower. The only thing that gets me through those miserable winter days is thinking about summer. I love lemonade, smoothies, short shorts, lakes, bikinis, bright nailpolish, drippy ice-cream cones, everything. Especially the Fourth of July.

Since I was a little kid, my family has gone camping over the Fourth of July. We own an Airstream travel trailer, one of those beautiful silver-bullet trailers. We have traveled the entire United States in this trailer, and we are gearing up for an upcoming 2 week trip to Glacier National Park. Some of my most vivid and indelible memories come from these trips. Once, when I was about 9 years old, we were driving around a town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, trying to find a place to watch fireworks. It was getting late and the fireworks had already started. We finally found a spot on the outskirts of town. My little sister and I climbed up on the top of our truck and sat there, eating Ms. Field cookies (pre-Celiac, of course) and drinking Coca-Cola as the fireworks exploded above us. It seemed like we were so high up, even though we were only on top of a Land Rover. The entire sky glowed. The Fourth of July always meant “summer” to me, and although we are spending this Fourth at home, it is sure to still be magical. In the spirit of the holiday, I adapted a favorite family recipe. My family adores ice-cream, and usually during the winter holiday season, my father makes something he calls “Holiday Pie.” A.K.A, ice cream pie. He layers coffee, chocolate, and vanilla ice cream over a cornflake crust, and it tastes wonderful.

I switched the ice cream flavors around to fit the Fourth of July theme, and I crafted a red, white and blue pie using blueberry ice cream, vanilla, and strawberry. While not a difficult pie to make, it does take some prep time. Each ice cream layer requires re-freezing, so leave some time to make this one. It is crunchy, refreshing, and oh-so-patriotic. I hope you enjoy it.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July!

xoxo,

J

Jace’s Holiday Pie (adapted by Juliet)

Crust:

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup corn syrup
  • 2 1/2 cup gluten free cornflakes, slightly crushed
Directions: 
  1.  In medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and syrup. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture just begins to boil. Remove from heat.
  2.  Immediately stir in cereal, mixing until well coated.Gently press into a crust shape, using a pie tin. Place crust in freezer until hardened, approx. 30 minutes.
Filling:
Ingredients:
  • 1 pint blueberry ice cream
  • 1 pint vanilla ice cream
  • 1 pint strawberry ice cream
  • Raspberries and blueberries to garnish
Directions:
  1. Soften the ice cream until spreadable, but not melting. Using a rubber spatula, spread about 3/4 of the blueberry ice cream on the bottom of the pie crust, thick enough so that you do not see the crust through the ice cream. Smooth, and place a piece of plastic wrap over the ice cream layer. Place back in freezer, and freeze until ice cream is hard enough that it does not move. Approx. 45 min-1 hour.
  2. Repeat Step 1 with vanilla and strawberry ice cream.
  3. Place raspberries and blueberries on top of the ice cream, freeze until serving.
Jun30

lemon failure.

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I love to succeed. The perfect A+ paper, a flawlessly done self-manicure, getting elected as the committee chair—there is nothing like the adrenaline rush of accomplishment. In life, you cannot guarantee that you will succeed, but at some point in your life, you most certainly will fail.

Failure takes many forms. That test you thought you aced? C-. You thought the interview went really well—but the other woman got the job. The cute boy you went out with? He’s not calling you back.

I woke up and decided it was a pie-making day. Pies are not fly-by-night, spontaneous ventures. Pies are plotted and planned. I was ready. I wanted to make the quintessential lemon meringue. Sunny yellow custard topped with fluffy pillows of sugar. I would make the perfect June Cleaver, blue-ribbon pie.

I spent all day on the pie. I had baked the crust, chilled the custard, and browned the meringue. Taking it out of the convection oven, I felt immensely accomplished. It was beautiful. Belonged on the cover of Gourmet magazine. I wiped down the counters, placed the dishes in the washer, and smiled. It chilled in the refrigerator, waiting for dessert time.

The moment had come. The knife glided through the meringue and custard, gently tapping the bottom of the silver tin. I gingerly lifted up the slice.

My beautiful custard leaked from beneath the meringue, creating a watery pool of goop. The fluffy topping was suddenly a thick white raft floating in a yellow ocean. Disgusting. My pie was a failure. A huge, messy failure. I looked at the pie, looked at my mom, and looked back at the pie. I stared at it for a while, frozen over the granite counter. I looked back at mom, and a smile slowly began to spread across her face. So we laughed. We chuckled at my “snot pie.”

You can pretend that you don’t really care. You can say that, in the grand scheme of life, this specific failure doesn’t matter. You can write another paper, flirt with another boy, or apply for a new job. You tell yourself: “I don’t care” or “It’s not a big deal.”

“If you never fail, you never succeed!” I’ve heard this from my parents, teachers, friends, everyone. I don’t buy it. I know that yes, you do have to fail in life, but I don’t believe that it is constantly a necessity. I wish someone would simply be honest.

“Yes. You failed. And that is failure.”

You do care. It does hurt. Accept it. Live in your failure. Examine it, dissect it, analyze it, cry over it. Listen to sad songs. Stick your tongue out when you pass his house. Rip the essay up. Don’t ignore your failure, see it as what it is. A failure. A sticky, messy, yellow failure.

xoxo,

J