Monday Monday,

Ok, so I can be repetitive, but I do want to go over some of the products I have tried out over the last year that have been nothing short of amazing. I will start with ingredients I found in an attempt to put a good pie recipe together. I never, EVER thought I would be able to make a gluten free, egg free, diary free anything, let alone a pumpkin pie, but finally, after many tries I got it right (if you can’t tell I kind of obsess over pumpkin things) and to my surprise it went quite well. I decided to make it two different ways: one with soy and one with goat milk. Surprisingly the pie with condensed goat milk was far superior in taste to the soy pie. Now like most, I would love to omit any kind of dairy, even goat, but I also hate the idea of using soy in everything. The first thing I had to start off with was the pie crust, I make a simple crust with earth balance vegan butter, a cheaper GF all purpose flour and some water. There are a few local producers of GF flour in the area that are superb but I hate waist the flavor and money on a pie crust. I also found that grinding up a cup of Kinnikinnick gluten free Smoreable graham crackers added a nice touch and finish of the flavor. After the pie crust was resolved I had to move on to the filling, the recipe is simple, and keeping it simple keeps it safe, tasty and not too pricey, if I can’t make it for cheaper than I am buying it, I’m doing something wrong. I usually start off with a cheaper domino brand sugar (checked with the company and yes it is gluten free) or you could use sugar in the raw (also checked GF) but I like to grind it up further for baking. For the spices I LOVE penzey spices! They’re a local company out of Wauwatosa, WI and can be contacted on specific spices to determine if they are GF (The cinnamon, ginger and cloves for the pie are for sure GF) As far as egg replacer goes I have only had success with the “ener-G” brand, I know there is some available from Bob’s Red Mill, but I just have a tendency to shy away from their products. You do have to be careful to follow the directions on the box perfectly or you’re in for a surprise, just trust me on this. And lastly you have to decide, dairy or no. Soy replacers are great in some aspects but if you are someone you cook for is allergic to soy or suffers from migraines I would suggest using the evaporated goat milk, I was turned off at first I must admit, but the flavor is so much more rich and satisfying over a soy product I would never switch back. It is doable, and it doesn’t have to be bland. I will post the recipe on my recipe page when time permits.

Penzey’s Spices Hope Page
Ener-G’s Hope Page

Thank you as always.