Pasty

It seems like if you are a "true" yooper, you should know how to make pasty.  The Cornish introduced the pasty to the UP and the Finns perfected it. 
My mom is a great pasty maker.  When John and the kids were first on a gluten free diet, it bugged her to not be able make them pasties.  We would make crustless pasties which were very boring. 
I have finally figured out a recipe for gluten free crust.  The problem with it is that the dough is not very forgiving.  It does not stretch and tears easily.  The first times I made gluten free pasties, they were the ugliest pasties I had ever seen with a lot of patches over the tears.  I have now learned to use parchment paper to roll the crust and to put the top over. 

Yesterday, my mom and dad prepared the pasty filling and I made dough for crust.  John is the official roller of the crust in our house.  He is able to roll perfect circles.  His pasties are beautiful compared to what mine were in the past.  We made 18 regular sized pasties, 4 large ones and one pasty pie.
The real test happened later in the evening.  We brought a pasty to John's mom who also has celiac disease.  She has hated everything gluten free since she was diagnosed and had to go on the diet.  We very seldom hear from her that something tastes good.  We stopped at her house after snowshoeing at the Porkies.  She actually liked the crust! 

Recipe for Gluten Free Pasty Crust
Mix in bowl: (I use my Kitchenaid mixer with the regular beaters.)
1 cup white rice flour ( or 1/2 cup sorghum flour and 1/2 cup amaranth flour)
1/2 cup tapioca starch flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons xanthan gum

Rub into the above:
1/4 cup shortening and 1/4 cup butter

Mix together the following in measuring cup and then add to above and mix:
1/4 cup cold water
3 Tablespoons cold water
1 teaspoon vinegar

Roll this out with parchment paper. I put a piece of parchment paper on the bottom and a piece on the top. When the dough is the size you want it, add the inside mix on one side. Use the parchment paper to get the dough over the top. Then put your sides together.
Rolling it out is the worst part because it does not give very much. Be careful that the parchment paper does not get wrinkled. Wrinkles will cause the dough to tear.
The above batch makes about 3 pasties so double or triple if needed.

BREAD

Bread is probably the hardest gluten free food to get use to.  Before having a gluten free house, I loved to bake bread.  I baked bread a couple times a week during the winter.  My favorites were:  whole wheat bread, graham bread and nisu, which is a Finnish sweet bread flavored with cardamom.  Little did I know that those were slowly killing my family. 
I no longer bake bread.  I tried at first, sure that I would eventually find a recipe that would work.  Gluten is what binds the bread so gluten free bread is difficult to make.  So many batches of bread went into the garbage or if it was edible it was not meant to be sliced.  If the humidity in the house is up, the bread flops,  if is down the bread flops.  I just finally got tired of wasting time.
I buy bread in bulk.   Usually our freezer has a variety of bread in it.  Noah is allergic to rice so he eats a different kind of bread than the others.  The others like raisin bread for morning and whole grain for sandwiches.   Last week the freezer ran out of bread.  The order for more won't be delivered until Thursday.  Aliina and I went to the grocery store in Rhinelander on Saturday to get bread.  It is shocking to see the price of gluten free bread in the store.  We paid $6.59 for one loaf of bread.  Now it is a very small loaf.  Not nice and fluffy like Brownberry.   We picked up three different types of bread and a bag of bagels.  I should appreciate being able to buy one loaf at a time because before I order in bulk I like to have an idea for whether it is something my family will eat.  The cost at a store like Trig's in Rhinelander is outrageous though.  May have to drive to Madison next time we run out of bread.  Now Woodman's grocery store impressed me!  I will post about them someday.
I have been searching for a gluten free nisu recipe.  If I ever find one, my family will be pleased.