Crazy Cake and Dopey Dreams

Tonight my family came over for dinner, for a combination "just because" gathering and birthday dinner. We were celebrating Baby E's, Amy's, and Sis J's birthdays--all in August. Amy's birthday was actually today, and Sis' was Sunday.

Dinner ended up being late, but it turned out really well. I started cooking the main dish (chicken and brown rice) in the crock pot, but had to finish it on the stove.

I'm finally getting used to cooking meat dishes with no bullion or broth. The chicken was quite flavorful with just water, brown rice, sea salt, pepper, basil, thyme and dill, with some onions and garlic (which I carmelized in a little butter and olive oil before adding). Chopped dill weed is my new favorite seasoning--it really brings out the flavor of so many foods from poultry and fish to potatoes and carrots. We had some steamed cabbage (I got rid of the stovetop steamer and learned how to use an electric countertop steamer), broccoli and cauliflower, and homemade bread along with the mixed green salad my family brought.

For dessert, I modified this recipe to make an allergen-free chocolate crazy cake with no gluten, dairy, corn, soy, nightshades, sulfites, nitrates or grape-derived ingredients.


################################

I had to substitute ground psyllium seed husk for the xanthan gum, brown sugar for the granulated sugar, and maple syrup for the vanilla, and then I added an egg just because I thought it would be nice. It turned out so rich and fudgy, and it rose beautifully and looked just like a "normal" cake--especially with some stiffly-whipped maple cream on top. Mmmmm.

I used 1/2 cup each of brown rice, sweet rice and tapioca flour, with a scant half-cup of amaranth flour filled the rest of the way with sweet rice flour. I think next time I'll try using more tapioca flour and less of the brown rice and/or amaranth, as it was just a bit gritty in texture. If I am able to perfect the recipe, I'll post it.

Sis and Amy were excited to have a cake they could eat that actually tasted good, and even the family members that normally don't like non-standard foods liked the cake.

Amy was telling us that a friend asked her if she was going to have cake and ice cream for her birthday. She replied, "Well, I can't have cake. But if anyone can figure out how to make a gluten-free cake it would be my sister Purple_Kangaroo."

It does seem that I can tolerate small amounts of chocolate just fine. Baby E didn't test allergic to chocolate, so I'm experimenting with different types and amounts of chocolate for myself. I read recently that chocolate and a few other things (like coffee and carob, if I remember right) have a substance similar to histamine in them that can cause an allergy-like reaction in people who aren't actually allergic to those foods if they're consumed in too large amounts. I'm regretting that second piece of cake tonight, but I think I would have been just fine with one small piece. :)

Happy Birthday to Sis and Amy! I love them both so much.

When other kids would ask me who my best friend was as a kid, I would always answer, "My sisters are my best friends." We did everything together, from playing dolls to helping build houses, to staying up all hours having deep conversations. It was great growing up together, and I enjoy them both even more in different ways now that we're all adults.

Sis has a depth and quiet strength that even people much older don't often display, and I've gotten to see her maturity and grace shining out lately, especially as she's faced some challenges recently. She leaves to return to college in a week. I hate to have her leave again and be so far away, but I'm glad she's taking the initiative to finish her degree. She is a brilliant scientist, and I'm sure she'll be a great success as a teacher or whatever she decides to do.

Amy is such a sweet, comfortable person to be around. She puts people at ease and draws them out to either have fun or share deeply of themselves, depending on the situation. She's been through some challenges in the past few years as well, and it's so nice to see her having come through a difficult time in her life and coming out a stronger person with a growing depth of character, and even more of the empathy and giftedness to love and help others that she's always had. I'm so happy to see her pursuing her dreams of becoming a writer and a sign language interpreter, and starting to have some success even so early in the process.

I love to be with both of my sisters, both together with the whole family and individually. It's nice to have such good friends in the family. I especially watching my kids interact with my parents and sisters. My girls have no idea how unusual it is to have such nice grandparents, aunts and uncles on both sides of the family.

On another note, last night I dreamed that CCW called me on the telephone. I've never heard her voice, but it was a very nice voice in the dream. I wish I could remember what we talked about. :) I was dreaming vividly all night in a drug-induced stupor after taking a dose of Benadryl.

The Benadryl didn't help much against the effects of the allergy testing (I still have itchy welts on my back, among other things), but it certainly succeeded in giving me a very heavy but unrestful sleep. When I did finally manage to wake up I went on feeling like a very groggy, bone-wrenchingly fatigued, extremely grouchy and hopeless zombie through half the day.

I don't think Benadryl and I get along well. It seemed to have that effect on me last time I took it, too. I don't know how something like Benadryl would make me spiral so suddenly and severely into depression, but it really seems to put me in a bad way. This morning was not fun, to say the least. Thankfully, the effect wore off after a few hours.

Of course, I suppose it could be a side effect of the allergic reaction that was the reason I was taking the Benadryl in the first place . . . maybe I'm blaming the wrong source. Either way, I'd like to avoid that kind of reaction to whichever it is as much as possible. It's too close to an internal nuclear meltdown.

Today I worked on battling the dust mites during breaks between playing paper dolls with the girls, feeding Baby E (who took two! naps!), and preparing to have company for dinner.

Dust mites are by far more difficult to remove from our lives than corn, but we'll do our best to minimize them anyway. Getting rid of clutter and any uneccesary pillows, stuffed animals, etc. is a start, along with putting allergen covers on bedding and laundering and vaccuming everything more thoroughly and frequently. It's a bit overwhelming to think of adding the dust mite battle onto everything else, but my goal is to just do what I can and try not to worry about the rest (or picture the little buggies crawling everywhere--ugh!).

DH and I decided to go ahead and order the Oreck steam-cleaner we've been looking at for a couple of years now, and we got a factory refurbished one (complete with a 1-year warranty) for less than it would cost us to have our carpets professionally cleaned even once, I'm sure. We can use it on hard surfaces and upholstery, too. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

I was able to do a minor repair on our beloved Oreck vaccuum cleaner today, also, so it's running effectively again. It had been smelling hot and not picking up as well, but I didn't realize until today that it was because the beater bar wasn't turning (even after a belt change). I'd forgotten how well that vaccuum really works when it's working right. That should help a lot to minimize the allergens in the house. I vaccuumed thoroughly in the family room, including the sofas, today.

Tomorrow I hope to uncover enough of the bedroom floor to be able to vaccuum the entire carpet in there. I've made progress toward that goal in the last few days, but I still have quite a bit to do in there. I also need to do some recipe planning (made easier by the cookbooks my mom brought over tonight) and get some groceries in preparation for JT's visit and our meal prep marathon on Sunday after church.

But first, tomorrow I get to go to a very special baby shower. Miraclebaby is finally 37 weeks pregnant and her baby girl will be born soon. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful that is. It's truly a miracle, and something many people have been praying for a lot. After being on bedrest almost her entire pregnancy and not being sure if the stitch would hold, she's reached full term and the baby can come any time she feels like it. I'm so thrilled and excited for them.