Gluten Free Pizza

Homemade gluten free pizza that we like as much as wheat-crust.

We have been so disappointed with gluten free pizza. Sabatasso from Costco is the only frozen version D and R like. Pizza crust mixes turn out a crust that's gritty from the rice flour, and has a strange taste. (Beany, musty . . . a problem with so many baked goods made from wheat-free flours.)

Back when we could eat wheat, I loved to make no-knead bread. I followed Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François' artisan bread in five minutes a day method. I was so happy to see that they have a gluten free book out. I bought the book, and I've been baking with their basic flour mix. Baguettes are still disappointing, but I think the errors are mine and I'll keep trying. In the meantime, I had some dough left in the fridge. This morning I tried it out as pizza crust.

There is a pizza recipe in the book that uses some added ingredients, but I was amazed how great a crust the regular bread recipe made. I was hoping that the fact this dough sits in the fridge for several days would help with the grittiness of undissolved rice flour. And that the crust would have the character and almost sourdough taste of slow-rising artisan bread. Both turned out to be true, to my delight.

Pull off peach-sized pieces from the dough container, and pat them into rough crust shapes. Extra rice flour and parchment on the board helped to handle the sticky dough. I let them rise on the parchment on the sheet pan for an hour.

My family likes pretty straight-ahead pizza. I'm the only one who will go for white pizzas or salad greens on top or even mushrooms and peppers. So I put a thin layer of tomato sauce (Trader Joe's marinara) on the dough and topped it with almost fully cooked cubes of chicken breast, grated and fresh mozzarella, chopped tomatoes*, and fresh basil. I brushed the edges of the crust with olive oil, and drizzled more oil over the toppings. The baking stone had been heating in a 500 degree oven for 45 minutes. I slid the pizzas on their parchment, directly onto the super-hot stone. They baked at 500 for about 12 minutes.

It was by far the best gluten free pizza we've had. No grittiness at all. The hot oven blistered and crisped the dough, and left the inside chewy like our favorite gluten crusts. I had been missing that chewy, artisan bread texture in our gluten free baking. There was no off taste, just the familiar, aged yeast flavor of really good bread.

More fresh basil on top after it came out of the oven. This was such an encouraging morning, after some baking failures. I spent so many years learning how to bake, even pastry school in France, only to start all over getting used to "flours" that behave nothing like wheat flour. I feel like I've knocked down one more obstacle in helping R appreciate the advantages of eating gluten free, without feeling deprived or wishing she weren't celiac. I'm going back to tackle baguettes and boules again. I can't recommend this book highly enough, if you can't have gluten and miss really good bread.

*The dreaded winter tomatoes. I started buying them this year because R loves them on her chopped salads, and anything that helps her eat more vegetables is fine with me.

The Power of Free Voluntary Reading

Bedhead, pj's, a comfortable couch and a good book.

Homeschooling frees up more time for reading. Hours spent immersed in a book that you chose yourself, that you're reading purely for pleasure. No book report or quiz at the end. Reading, and enjoying reading, is the end in itself. A reader picks up grammar and vocabulary without knowing it. A child who reads a lot learns to structure sentences, and take pleasure in the rhythm of language.

Recently I started reading Stephen Krashen and watching his presentations. This site links to great resources about the benefits of free voluntary reading, from Dr. Krashen and others. There are studies that prove that reading for pleasure physically changes your brain, and makes it grow (increased cortical thickness). Common sense observation shows that free reading improves general knowledge, vocabulary, independence, language competence, writing, and motivation to learn. The research backs up and confirms common sense conclusions.

We have books stashed everywhere, and cozy corners that are good for reading. 

A whole row of Great Illustrated Classics. R got involved in the process of collecting them, hunting at thrift stores and looking online for used ones. This September she finished reading all of the 50+ ones we own. 

At age 11, she can read lots of classics in their unabridged versions. But the feeling of accomplishment, of collecting these books, setting a goal to read all of them and then reaching that goal, was a great motivator. I hope our house has a culture of books, an environment where they are valued and appreciated, and always available. We try to protect free time, so R has the time to choose books and to read as much as she wants.

We like to make a special event of listening to audio books together. Dickens is the best, especially with a good, expressive reader.

We're starting a collection of the lives of the saints. She has several saints' anthologies too. 

A treasured Christmas gift from my Dad this year. The Access to Shakespeare editions with facing-page translations in contemporary English. 

"A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end.You live several lives while reading." --William Styron.

This is a great shelf. Narnia, Lemony Snickett, Harry Potter, and Tolkien's books. My old copy of my favorite book as a kid, Harriet the Spy. 

I love this quote from Paul Auster: "Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author's words reverberating in your head." I think it's a mistake for schools to fill students' days with "reading skills" instruction, vocabulary quizzes, and assigned books with a dreaded report as the reward for finishing. The free time so necessary for voluntary reading is eaten up by schools assigning hours of homework a night, and by parents overscheduling extracurriculars and lessons. The books we pick up for "pure pleasure," with the anticipation of escaping and going somewhere else for awhile, are where we learn to be literate. "To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life."  --- W. Somerset Maugham.

Smoothie and Sunbutter Cookies

We start most mornings with a smoothie. Thank goodness for the giant bags of frozen berries at Costco. Usually it's berries, Greek yogurt, spinach or other greens, flax meal, and an egg from our free range chickens. R asks for some sweetener in hers, honey or sugar. The cookies are grain free with sunflower butter and coconut flour. They're sweetened with honey, and the eggs and the sunbutter are good for protein in the morning. I think I can do better so I won't post the recipe yet.

We're also loving this green juice from Trader Joe's. It tastes mild and citrusy. R won't drink a green glass, but I can mix it in a smoothie and she can't tell. D calls that "Jessica Seinfelding it." I try not to be sneaky like that, but I'm not above it. Lots of greens and vitamin C for chilly January days and cold and flu season.