Back to Baking

I just gave my boss my notice of resignation and it felt like a large weight was just lifted from my shoulders. I have a month left and I am ready for summer. I thought about some of the ventures that I would like to try or I had put aside for a time that I was not so busy. Working full time at a job I cannot stand anymore is no way to live. I can survive just fine, but I need to actually live now. My list of tasks that I want to tackle are to focus on my sons' education, learning to sew, and baking better bread.

My husband and I usually purchase our bread from a bakery that bakes gluten-free bread with a label that states that it was in fact produced in a facility that also makes wheat bread. Is my husband really eating bread that is gluten-free? He is also just limited to brown rice bread. No hamburgers. No Hot Dogs. No Bagels or English muffins. Many of these places have sweets, but they taste, well Gluten-Free.

I usually make our own sweet treats, but I would like to offer him different alternatives for bread that is not only full of grains besides rice, but are also tasty. Now I have that chance at least for the summer. The only thing I cannot figure out is how am I going to make a hot dog bun?

Menu for the Week
Saturday 4/24- Girls Night GF Polenta Pizza, Puff Pastry Pizza, and Italian Nachos (Contains Gluten)
Sunday 4/25 Green Chile Cheese Burgers, with homemade GF buns, oven-fried onion rings
Monday 4/26 Tuna Salad Sandwiches w/sliced Fresh cucumbers and carrots
Tuesday 4/27 Grilled Rosemary/Garlic rubbed pork chops, butternut squash risotto, romaine and arugula salad
Wednesday 4/28 Leftovers, I hope. Plan B Chopped steak w/gravy on toast, Broccolette or another Salad
Thursday 4/29 Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes & Cream Gravy, Steamed Peas and Carrots
Friday 4/30 Dinner Out or Leftovers.

Torta de Huevo

When I was a child, my mother's side of the family would get together on Good Friday for the Good Friday Dinner. They were all Catholic at one time, but stopped practicing long ago. However, they would still make this elaborate meal on a day that most Catholics are fasting and mourning. The foods showcased in this meal are traditional Lenten food choices in this region. They include Torta de Huevo, Fried Salmon Patties (salmon from a can, fresh fish in New Mexico was not readily available or very expensive), Quelites, and Beans with or without Chicos, and of course a dessert termed as Sopa. I could never figure this one out because sopa means soup in Spanish.

The one food that I want to feature is Torta de Huevo. This dish (at least here in Central NM) is whipped egg whites reconstituted with their yolks and then spoonfulls of it is placed in hot oil to cook. After cooked, we smother them with Chile Colorado (Red Chile from the pods and re-hydrated if not fresh), serve with a ladle of pinto beans and eat.

When I was little, I didn't like eggs at all in any shape or form. My aunt would tell me that she is making Easter Eggs. She would break out her hand mixer beat egg whites until they were stiff add the egg yolks and drop the mixture in hot oil. As I watched the batter puff up in the pan I actually got excited to eat them and promise to try the Easter eggs. After they were cooked, I would try them and spit it back out.

Well a couple of pregnancies later and I really look forward to Lent so that I can eat them. It is funny that I actually look forward to a food during Lent. Torta de Huevo almost defeats the purpose of fasting during the Lenten season.