Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Gluten free and pumpkin (towels that is) and other things

I believe I mentioned that Laura and I went grocery shopping Sunday morning. This is such an abnormal shopping day for this structured old lady. Holiday weekend! Sunday! Very, very small grocery store! To my surprise, everything on my list was in stock, except pie crusts. The ones made by a local bakery, and, as my sister disdainfully pointed out to me, that use lard. "Why do you think they are so good!"

Well, no pie crusts. I already had four containers of blueberries in the cart. After Laura reported the pie crust shortage, she produced four gluten free crusts she found in the freezer. I used one this week and dug the first quarter of my crostata from the pan yesterday. I ate another quarter today. It is food, and doesn't taste bad, it's just w.r.o.n.g.

First, the crust did not pick up with elasticity. No, none of that. I gently lifted the sides away from the pie pan and folded a one inch band around the blueberries in the middle. It cracked and tore indiscriminately, in protest of being used ad hoc.

I put it in the oven at 425 for 30 minutes. It was bubbly, but the crust was very blond and pale, no shade of brown at all. I pulled up my chair and watched it remain so for the next fifteen minutes, while the purple juices bubbled all around the outside, through all the cracks in the "crust". I removed Blondie from the oven and set to cool.

The next day I attempted to cut it. It's only a pie crust, but needed close to a jackhammer to turn into four quarters. For two days I have savored it, forming my best opinion. It's more like a cookie, a thin sugar cookie. I've read the list of "real" ingredients, and none are any I have or would have need of. Something also is very grainy and does not melt in the mouth. Selling them as "pie crust" is a fraud.

Onward:

I've had three very good shows, and my web page shows low stock under eight of sixteen selections. That means three, two or one left. Serious effort has been exerted, and today I put up the eleven finished pumpkin towels. They are on the TOWEL tab, too, with a link to the sales page. There are five weeks to the next show, and I will finish the grass green and perhaps another set. I'll be in good shape for the end of the season and whatever I sell from the web page. Here is the grass green:



I gave Becca the completely current vet records for Toby, with his week old rabies tag. I pointed out his chip number and his birth date, which is May, 2011. I also realized that I began this blog the week I rescued him; my first post. My blog is ten years old, with 1,683 posts. That excludes the many, many posts I deleted as "offensive" to someone. Interesting, this past time.



34 comments:

  1. Happy Blogversary! I'm happy that you are experiencing such success with the towels. That is a definite compliment to their quality and eye appeal. I've not been impressed with any gluten free baked goods. And pie crust HAS to be right or it can ruin the pie.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Of course your towels are going like wildfire- I should not say that- a curse is nigh! Weather has cooled but danger of fires right on the verge...Glad that you are selling them at a furious rate. They are FABULOUS!
    "Offensive"? I would say if one is offended then good job you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had a gluten free tortilla recently. It was impossible to use as a wrap, it cracked apart.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I recall my mom always made pie crusts from scratch.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am not at all surprised that your towels are rushing out the door. Quality sells well.
    Your number of posts is impressive. I have not yet reached the 1000 point.
    Gluten free? For some it is sad necessity. Not for me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I do not do well with pie crusts, so my greatest pie success is a crumb-top apple pie, which is completely crustless. Happy 10 years of blogging. I, too, have offended with some posts.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your towel selling/shows are going great! Fantastic!! I have found the pre-made pie crusts from Aldi to be better than the name brand ones and ten times better than the house brand ones! I don't read ingredient labels so can't say why!! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  8. So your blog is on it's eleventh year. Congratulations! Gluten free pie crusts are, well they are difficult. I once made a pie crust using Almond flour. It tasted just okay and was very finicky to make.

    Well done on your successful shows! I'm not at all surprised considering your talent.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy Blogoversary! And I just made a raspberry crostata today using your recipe. Delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your blogversary! And I think gluten free pastry is a contradiction in terms. It's pretty much cardboard. It's the gluten which gives the elasticity.
    But I expect the fruit was fine!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Can I put in an order for one yellow and one of your future 'Grass Green' towels? I'm happy to pay in advance for both towels. If you don't have any yellow left, I'll settle for two grass green! ;) Just LOVE that green, and I'm not usually a green person (especially my thumbs! LOL) Hugs...

    ReplyDelete
  12. BTW, congratulations on your blog anniversary! I've had so many different blogs that it's hard to say how long I've been writing, but for sure since 1990, when I suffered my back injury. Blessings to you and good luck with your future shows. I know you'll do well. Your towels are wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congrats on 10 years of blogging and all the successful sales - hope you continue with both for many years!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Gluten free is not nearly as nice, but some people need that, like my son in law who is a Coeliac with a card to carry in his wallet as proof when he orders food in restaurants. They mainly eat at home anyway.
    That green is a lovely colour. Congrats. on ten years.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Good news about your sales. You must really love crostata to go through all of that.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hari OM
    A good news post on several counts - may there be many more years of blogging! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  17. You are obviously on the way to being a wealthy woman. Soon "Towels by Joanne" will be an item no respectable home can be without. As for pie crust, I have little experience so any opinion I might have would count for little. I will say, however, I have had a slice of pie now and then where I would have been quite happy to simply scoop out the filling. It shouldn't require ten minutes of mastication to get it down!

    ReplyDelete
  18. You removed posts that were offensive to someone? I can't imagine you writing anything that was offensive to anyone. Ten years is an achievement!
    That grass green is beautiful. Love it.
    I will happily leave all of the gluten-free products to those with Celiac. I feel so sorry for them. Those crusts seem even worse than most of the products. Perhaps on top of being gluten-free, they were old. Or old-ish. What a disappointment.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Some things require traditional ingredients. Seems like pie crust would be high on that list. I had friends with gluten issues visit recently and made a blueberry cobbler with gluten free flour. It was a little different texture-wise, but quite good in it's own way.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Well done with your sales! Though with that qualoty it is hardly surprising!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ten years! A decade of blogging--that's an achievement!
    Congrats, and here's to ten more!

    I'm curious what offended so badly you had to take it down.
    Politics, I'm guessing?

    Smart move to find Toby a new home, and lucky he's going where he is already known and loved, and can be cuddled. But perhaps it is a bit sad to let him go, too?

    A friend who is gluten-intolerant has tried all sorts of brands and bakeries and mixes of gluten-free bakery goods. It's quite an art--turns out the glue in gluten is really great stuff, not easy to replicate. Ha.
    No wonder we love wheat.

    Oh, btw, you may use the photos I sent you of Towels in Action. With my name or not, as you like.
    Your towels deserve to be widely known and used.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Congratulations on your tenth year of blogging. Good pie crust is key. I found a crust at Whole Foods that was very buttery and delicious. It was nearly as good as the one my grandmother used to make. Next time I see it, I'll buy three. The grass green is lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Yeah - I don't think "gluten-free" means the same as food but then, I don't have a gluten related problem. Hope Toby settles in easily with Becca.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Congrats on 10 years of blogging! Nice to hear that your sales are going well. Good luck with the shows that are left!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I have only begun reading your blog in the past few years. I probably missed many a good post, and would have loved to see the ones you felt you had to delete. Congratulations on Ten Years.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I love that green, so deep. The grainy bits are rice flour I would think. GF pastry is a farce. I've used it for GF free Daughter and it's just a tease.

    Lard is the best pastry, I agree.

    Back in the land of the living catching up.

    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
  27. Very early on, a long long time ago, I deleted a few posts that I didn't feel were up to snuff, but ever since then it's all history.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Lard is not popular today. It makes the very best pie crusts. It is the best for popping popcorn if you want a fluffy white treat.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I've never had to go gluten-free and from what I've heard it is very hard to find good substitutes. I feel for those with celiac disease as it's a difficult medical issue. And gluten-free food costs quite a bit more than regular, so much so that in Canada folks who need to eat it can claim a medical deduction for the extra cost.

    The green is a lovely shade. I'm glad you're selling strongly and consistently.

    ReplyDelete
  30. You are right about the GF pie crust. It is grainy. I bought some and tried it - was not happy. But there are some (few so far) that are good. Canyon Bakehouse bagels are good, Tate's GF coconut as well as chocolate chip cookies are good. King Arthur makes a GF measure for measure flour that can be used for pancakes and naan bread. But no, none of it is as good as the real stuff. I've been on GF since April and it's not been too difficult. (I do cheat on occasion).
    And I'm so glad that Toby went to a family member - someone who will love and care for him. Cats don't generally take to change, but it sounds like he may take to this one well.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Happy Blogging!
    Your gluten free pie crust sounds just like a similar pizza crust I tied. I had to throw it away after scraping off the toppings. All the crusts did the same no matter temp or time in the oven. I'm going to try crushed Cheerios as a crust.

    ReplyDelete
  32. gluten free. what a joke, not that it's gluten free but that it tries to pass itself off as something someone would want to eat. and I always buy the name brand of pie crusts in the cooler rather than the store brand because the name brand uses lard and the store brand does not and the taste difference is obvious.

    and your grass must be colored different than my grass. too blue.

    ReplyDelete
  33. crostata - a new and probably tasty word for me, thanks. Happy Blogaversary

    ReplyDelete
  34. That was a disappointing experience with your pie crust. Anything that falls to bits when you try to shape it is not fit for purpose!

    ReplyDelete