A Link

Science is actually confirming what we guessed all along-high fructose corn syrup is BAD for you.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070823094819.htm

Caramel!!!!

Found this post by my friend Jenn. She heard about making Dulce de Leche by boiling cans of sweetened condensed milk. Since I am looking for an alternative corn syrup-free caramel recipe I decided to give it a try. All you do is put unopened cans in a dutch oven, cover it with water and simmer-3 hours for a nice topping, longer for candy. I'll try longer next time, but the three hours was perfect for topping. A word of caution-check often to be sure the can is still completely covered with water. I hear it can blow up if it isn't. I had no trouble-just kept setting the timer for an hour and would add water then. Take out, let cool a while, open and enjoy.

Oh, my! Hubs and I have already eaten our way through most of the first can, and I'm sure the second won't last much longer. We just love it as a dip for apples, and it is completely allergen-free for me.

Look What I Found Today!

Because of the corn allergy, I am severely limited in what brands of dairy products I can use. For instance, most, if not all major brands of yogurt have either cornstarch, corn syrup, or both. I can find the organic brands that don't contain corn products pretty reasonably at our local warehouse-type store. They also carry the Western Family Naturals brand of sour cream-most sour creams have cornstarch, but this particular one doesn't. I just have to be sure to read the label and get the natural one. I was across town today and wasn't planning to go to the warehouse store, but here's what I found in Walmart:

No corn starch-just milk products! (I'm lucky enough not to be allergic to milk)

Another shopping problem I had was powdered sugar. They add just a bit of cornstarch just to keep the sugar from caking. Consequently I haven't had frosting since May. This is what I found in the local Food Co-op:

Instead of cornstarch, they use tapioca starch. Frosting here I come-provided I can put together a decent cake with my special flours.

Just Found This

I just Googled, "sucrose corn" and the first thing that came up was this. Kind of chilling what the modern food industry is doing to us.

Why I was researching was that I made a pumpkin cheesecake today (recipe soon) and wanted a nice whipped cream to put on top. I popped into our small town's "mom and pop" store thinking this would be a lead pipe cinch. Boy was I mistaken! The first carton of heavy whipping cream had "modified food starch," which of course is corn starch. The only other kind they had there had sucrose in it. Riggggght-corn derived. What the heck is all that crap doing in an innocent carton of whipping cream? Anyway read this article, it's an eye opener.

(I did get my whipping cream. We had to go to Belgrade for a function at the grandkids' school tonight so we stopped by the supermarket there and I found one that just said "cream, milk" on its label. Not organic, but beggars can't be choosers at 8:00 P.M. on a Thursday night.)

Utah Peaches

Hands down the best tasting peaches are those from Utah. I think the alkaline soil makes them sweeter. Some years we drive down and buy peaches, but it didn't work out this year. No grocer in this area seems to want to carry Utah peaches anymore-it's either Washington or California. Neither are as sweet. My SIL told me she found Utah peaches on the corner near her home and did we want her to pick a box up for us? Of course! They weren't cheap, but what a treat.

More of those make-do containers. I try to reuse every container I get-there's even a potato salad container among the yogurt containers.

So far, there's been lots of eating, and the other day Hubs put up seven quarts in the canner. Today I made two batches of freezer jam. Oh, winter will be much nicer with this little stash! Add that to the strawberry and raspberry jams in the freezer and we will be happy campers! Oh, and I made my cobbler, too!

The heavenly jam-it set up really fast. This container won't make it to the freezer-I have some waffles that are waiting for it.

My SIL brought me a recipe for fake corn syrup. I used in the jam since the recipe in the pectin box called for corn syrup to prevent sugar crystal from forming in the freezer. I'm going to try the rest of the syrup batch in my special caramels and if it works I will post both recipes in a day or so.

Another Thing I Can't Have!

I thought, after reading the label, that the Starbucks Mocha coffee was safe for me to drink. Not so-it contains ascorbic acid and I just Googled it and it also is derived from corn! This is just not fair-all I want is a little treat now and then. Manufacturers don't care about people, just profits, and since corn is cheaper to use, they use it a lot.

Sigh!

Day in Yellowstone

We drove to Yellowstone yesterday to see if we could hear the elk bugle. Yes we did, but not until we were heading home. That was OK, we still got to see them. We ate lunch in Mammoth at the restaurant there. The waitress was very accommodating about my allergies, and I had a nice salad. After driving through Norris and Tower Falls and back to Mammoth we stopped at the snack bar for ice cream. Not for me-the kid scooping found the ingredient list and read "corn syrup." I got a cup of coffee and ate part of a "safe" candy bar I had in my purse for just such an occasion. It was fine and the trip was great, but I still felt a bit left out.

Communion

What do you do when communion is scheduled at church? The elders offered to get rice crackers, but I had to explain that I'm allergic to rice, too.

Today was communion again. I usually just skip the bread and drink the juice, but today they threw me a curve. Last month they used juice that was sweetened with Splenda-not my favorite, but I tolerated it. (Why does grape juice have to be sweetened anyway?) This month, right after I downed the tiny glassful, I could taste the corn syrup. I immediately got welts on the roof of my mouth, my lips itched, and I coughed all afternoon.

After church I went down to the kitchen to see if I could find a label, but the juice was in a regular pitcher, so I couldn't tell. If there was a can in the trash, it was buried and I wasn't going to dig. I'll have to have a chat with the elders. I'm thinking of making a cracker of some kind that I could use for the bread-any ideas?

The worst time I had was Good Friday service. They decided it would be more meaningful to file to the front of the church, tear off a piece of bread and dip it in the juice. Of course I couldn't take ANY of that, especially after all that wheat was dipped into the juice. People kept trying to urge me to the front and couldn't understand why I was skipping communion. I think they thought I had some terrible sin to atone for or something.

I let myself have a bit of a pity party today. Communion is such a meaningful time and I can't completely participate-C'mon, Lord, it's for You-help me out here!