Popularity of gluten-free baked goods on the rise

Because they are good! Cakes, muffins, and bread made without gluten used to be dry, tough, and blah. But now, you can scarcely distinguish gluten-free items from their traditional counterparts. Several factors have contributed to this change:

• Trial and error recipe testing by the likes of Erin McKenna and Shauna James Ahern (Babycakes, anyone?).
• The increased availability of gluten-free flours and gluten-free mixes.
• The growing number of gluten-free cookbooks.

The article includes suggestions for substituting gluten-free flours in your favorite recipes and a ratio for mixing your own gluten-free flour. Ready to test-drive a gluten-free recipe? Here’s the one for the cinnamon sugar cake doughnuts shown above.

Is Paula Deen getting more than her share of flak?

Paula Deen has Type 2 diabetes. (Hands up if you found this revelation shocking. Thaaaaat’s what we thought.) Not surprisingly, there has been a flurry of media coverage, most of it criticizing Deen for continuing to feature/promote less than healthy food for three years before announcing her diagnosis earlier this week—now that she’s a spokesperson for a diabetes program.

But of the media flurry, we think this little snowflake by John Birdsall is worth pondering. Birdsall asks whether social class and gender might not be playing a role in the way some people (particularly Anthony Bourdain) are responding to Deen’s confession:

“Perhaps our notions of health and excess are rooted in class. Deen, we assume, speaks to a down-market audience who need to be lectured about nutrition and willpower. Bourdain speaks to the well-heeled traveler for whom a foie gras hot dog is an occasional indulgence, not a moral failing. Right? Or is it somehow acceptable for men to engage in extreme eating, while women have an obligation to show restraint?”

For more on the connections between gender, class, and food (particularly as they relate to body image), check out Susan Bordo’s Unbearable Weight.

(Source: Flickr / bunchofpants)

Beet greens with poached egg and fontina

Sometimes, dinner should just be warm and simple. We first had beet greens about this time last year and realized that we’ve been missing out! (Our moms were anti-greens, how could we know?)

• 1 or 2 eggs
• 1 thick slice or 2 thinner slices whole-grain country bread
• 1 garlic clove, cut in half
• 2 tsps extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup blanched or steamed beet greens, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 ounce fontina or Gruyère, thinly sliced or grated
• Chopped fresh chives (if desired)

1. Poach the egg(s) and set aside in a bowl of warm water.
2. Lightly toast the bread, and rub with the cut side of the garlic clove. Finely chop or purée the remaining garlic.
3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small skillet and add the garlic. As soon as it smells fragrant, in about 30 seconds, stir in the beet greens. Stir together for about a minute, until greens are infused with the garlic and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Top the toasted bread with the greens. Top the greens with the cheese. Place in a warm oven or a microwave and heat just until the cheese begins to melt. Remove from the heat. Blot the eggs dry if they are in warm water and place on top of the greens. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chives. Enjoy.

webstartwomen:

Wanted: A few nerdy women

As we get the ball rolling in Boston and continue to grow in Philadelphia, we’re looking for instructors who love geeking out on web development as much as we do.

If you have the knowledge and the confidence to lead a group of smart, determined women on any of the following topics, we should talk!

• HTML / CSS
• JavaScript / jQuery
• PHP / MySQL
• Ajax
• Photoshop
• Git
• WordPress
• Drupal
• Graphic Design
• Business (as it pertains to the web, ‘course :-)

Many of the courses already have curriculum created, so your job is just to come in and teach it. For an example of our material, check out the notes from our first class in the HTML/CSS series. Other topics have not been run yet, and you’ll have the opportunity to help us develop that material (compensation will be higher).

Class commitments are usually a couple hours, one night a week or occasionally a half an afternoon on a weekend.

If this sounds like fun to you, send us some information about yourself and your background to instructors@webstartwomen.com.

And, if you don’t fit the description above, but you know a woman who does, please let her know! The more talented, awesome instructors we can find, the more classes we can run, and the quicker more women can start coding their ideas into reality. :-)

http://webstartwomen.com/gigs

Word on the street is that Web Start Women is planning online classes in the near future. Good news for those of us who aren’t in Philly, Boston, or San Francisco! Check ‘em out if you are a lady-person who wants to learn how to make the interwebs. :-)

OCD much?

Ursus Wehrli, a Swiss artist and comedian, tidies things up—to an extreme—and then photographs them. This shot is from his new book, The Art of Clean Up (or Die Kunst, Aufzuraumen).

(Source: buero-dlb.ch)

Lamb’s lettuce?

Mâche is one of the lesser-known greens that packs a nutritional punch. It’s delightful in a salad with end-of-summer tomatoes and yogurt dressing.

• 1 4-ounce bag mâche (about 5 cups), rinsed and spun dry
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbsp thick Greek-style or drained yogurt
• 1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste)
• Optional: Halved cherry tomatoes, sliced roasted beets, chickpeas

1. Place the mâche in a salad bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Toss with the mâche.
2. Combine the garlic cloves with a generous pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle and mash to a paste. Stir in the yogurt. Add to the salad and toss. Top with any of the optional ingredients, and serve at once.