Cookie Daze 2009 here we come!

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Well, it's offical - Peg signed us up for the Cookie Daze Bake and Taste Contest.

Nothin' like waiting till the last possible minute. Today was the last day we could register. After all, the event is on Saturday...yeah...this coming Saturday...as in...August 1st.

It's a good thing we've done this a few times before (
2007, 2005, 2004), at least we know what to expect . We missed competing last year, however we did get to take part in something Cookie Daze related. We got to appear on WLUK-TV 11 to promote it! It was fun and quite the learning experience. Click here to see the pictures.

We started doing Cookie Daze in 2004. I started my GF Journey in 2003. We wanted to bring awareness to the community about Celiac Disease and gluten-free food. We wanted to show that gluten-free food does not have to crappy; it can be every bit as good as glutenous food - and often times better!

We didn't enter the contest win to anything, it was all about education and awareness. There was a small write up in an area newspaper about our story. This brought out a lot people to see what it was all about. They came out strictly to see US. Celiacs going to a cookie baking contest - who woulda figured...

We were award winners every year, we'll see if this year is any different. Peg is really fired up about this recipe. She thinks she'll do well.

If you like to see pictures from past years contests, be my guest:
Cookie Daze 2007 Pictures & Cookie Daze 2005 Pictures

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Baking Mixes

I talked earlier about the Betty Crocker gluten-free mixes that would be widely available in June. We have found them at Festival Foods in Fond du Lac & Oshkosh. Woodman's in Appleton also have them. The local Pick n Save did not have them as of a last week.

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So far we've tried the Chocolate Chip Cookie mix and the Yellow Cake Mix.

As you can see the cookies turned about quite well. Yes, they do taste as good as they look! Be aware, they do contain an entire stick of butter. The good thing is that these cookies freeze quite well, as to most GF baked goodies.





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Peg made the cupcakes for a family gathering we had recently.

The frosting she made is from an old family recipe. It's from her Aunt Elsie's "Funeral Cake" recipe. It's called funeral cake because Elsie would always make it to take for funeral gatherings.

Even the "gluten-eaters" approved of them. They're a bit denser than wheat cupcakes, but tasty none the less!

One thing I've noticed in these two products is the lack of grittiness. Often times rice flour that is not ground fine enough feels gritty in the mouth as you chew it. You'll find that the asian rice flours will have this very fine [almost powdery] grind. It appears that General Mills is using such a fine grind in these products.