middle of the night musings with red wine

As the title suggests, I am writing this while consuming red wine. It's a fairly inexpensive Malbec. Malbec's probably my favourite type of red wine, although I am quite partial to a good port (but that's in a different class, since it's more of a dessert wine). I dislike Cabernet, which, for a while, made me think I didn't like red wine. I've since changed my mind.

I was thinking more about knitting than about wine, though. We're off on a trip to Victoria in a couple of weeks, and while I've done the arranging to get to the ferry and the booking of the B&B, the things that need to be done in advance, I'm now thinking more about the knitting I should bring. Makes me feel an affinity with the Yarn Harlot, based on one of her recent posts regarding travel knitting.

Last time I had travel knitting, I had the bright idea of bringing a cotton sweater to work on, which really wasn't pleasant. My hands began to hurt quite quickly, and switching to socks only helped a little. Socks are one of those natural things to bring on a trip--small, portable, and perfect in pictures. I've got a number of sock projects slated for the summer, so it's just a matter of picking one to accompany us. We have an hour in the car on the way out to the ferry, at least an hour and a half on the ferry, and probably another hour and a half from the ferry to downtown Victoria on the bus. Then we spend the day wandering around downtown with my family, who's going to be visiting (they'll be camping on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and then ferrying up from there), spend the night at a B&B, and head home sometime in the morning. That's a lot of hours in transit, especially given that I have to be at Maker Faire the afternoon we get home, and will probably be going straight there from the ferry. That's a lot of knitting time.

Still, I have to say I'm looking forward to the adventure. And the knitting time. I could bring a hat to work on. A hat and a pair of socks. Plus I have plans to stop in at a yarn shop over there, just in case.

Gluten-free: Days 6 & 7

So we come to the end of the week, the end of the experiment. Based on what I've learned over the last few days, I'm not gluten-intolerant. So I can eat gluten-infested foods without worrying too much.

This is, in my opinion, a pretty good thing. I know that many gluten-free people (in my experience) are quite evangelistic about it, and think that everyone should stop eating gluten, but for me, at least, the reality is that I'd rather just eat fewer starchy things and be more healthy about my eating habits in general, rather than having to worry about completely cutting out something that's all over the place.

So yeah. Not the most exciting trial of an elimination diet. I might chronicle the week I cut out dairy and see what happens with that, but we'll have to see. Or I'll just update on the general craziness that is Unofficial Knitting Month and planning for Yarn Harvest in the fall, and trying to get my blasted thesis done.

Gluten-free: Days 4 and 5

I may be successfully avoiding gluten, but it really doesn't seem like it's making much of a difference. I'm less inclined to eat random junk food, especially mindlessly, which is a good change, but my sleeping habits and congestion haven't changed.

The other thing is that I'm not having the bread cravings that I'd expected. I'd like some bread, sure, and am debating making some kind of bruschetta on Sunday (we have sun-dried tomato spread, and we have olives that I can turn into tapenade), but it's not withdrawal level by any means. Either this means that I'm not as attached to bread as I thought I was, or I'm just not gluten-intolerant. One of my friends has spoken of feeling practically addicted to the stuff, and how her ADD got a lot better once she stopped eating gluten. Me, on the other hand, well, I've been just as alternately focused and spacey as I usually am, with the typical varying levels of pretty good and depression/anxiety (at least it's easier to deal with than it used to be).

I did try making some kind of snack food earlier, but managed to drop the jar of popcorn on the kitchen floor. It promptly shattered and I spent the next ten minutes cleaning it up. After that, I settled for some cheese and celery sticks and a cup of tea. I think I will get some more corn at the store later because movie night's tomorrow, but I've likely settled for a healthier snack, since I was considering putting brown sugar on the popcorn.

At any rate, my plan is to reincorporate gluten on Saturday (I'm going to a friend's house to put together knit-kits for the next guild event and if there's food there, I don't want to have to worry about it), and see how that goes. Tomorrow will still be gluten-free. If there's anything I've gathered from this, it's that I don't really need bready stuff most of the time, and it's made me think more about what I'm eating. Which is all to the good.

Gluten-free: Day 3

baking with multiple flours...

Well, gluten-free pizza isn't so bad. I used a recipe based on the one Gluten-Free Girl has up on her blog, swapping out the potato starch for tapioca flour, because that's what I had on hand. It wasn't bad, but I definitely missed how wheat flour makes a great, easily rollable dough. I might need to experiment with the amount of ground flaxseed in the mix if I keep doing this. I did like the corn flour and the way it tasted with the pizza, so that was a good choice, but I think the balance of cornstarch in the mix was a little too high. I'll have to experiment.

I really thought I'd be experiencing more gluten cravings. I want bready food, but not so urgently that it feels like withdrawal or something along those lines. And I'm not noticing a difference with my allergies yet. We'll see how it goes tomorrow, when I spend the afternoon manning a table at the Farmer's Market. There are some quite spectacular bakers there usually, so there will be temptation in the way.

Gluten-free: Day 2

Day 2 of Gluten-free, or curses on the peanut butter companies...

I probably didn't balance my diet too well today, as I had only a banana for breakfast. My goal tomorrow is kasha, since I can't have the cream of wheat this week, and I'm not too sure about the provenance of the oats. I was craving peanut butter with celery around lunch-time, and after getting home from errands bringing celery with me, I discovered that the peanut butter someone gave us a while ago has maltodextrin in it, which means there's probably gluten in there. So, even though we still have a jar and a half of peanut butter to go through (and one of those jars is huge), if I want peanut butter this week, I'll have to buy a jar of the kind we usually eat--the kind with peanuts and maybe some salt and nothing else.

I did a basic stir-fry with rice for dinner, and that was fine, although I couldn't use up any random sauces from the fridge because they all had, wait for it, gluten. However, at knit-night, I managed to avoid the temptation to buy baked goods at Starbucks because of the gluten and that was definitely a good move. 

I'm feeling kind of hungry right now, but I figure a cup of tea and maybe an apple will quell that urge for the moment, since dinner was about five hours ago (which would be why I'm hungry). So far, the bread craving is surprisingly minimal. We'll see how it is tomorrow, when I attempt gluten-free pizza crust.

Gluten-free: Day 1

Recently, discussion with my SIL and a friend who are both gluten-intolerant has finally convinced me to try giving gluten-free a go, to see if gluten happens to be the source of my year-round congestion. I'd really rather it be dust-mites, but if it's gluten, I'm going to find out. Today kicks off a week (at minimum) of gluten-free living, to see if my symptoms are aleviated. This is about a week and a half after my husband and I started lowering our carb intake (i.e., buying less cereal) and switching to focusing on fruits, vegetables, and protein (and yes, I'm well aware that there are carbs in vegetables and fruits, but we're trying to eat less of the starch-laden carbs). The husband's already lost 4 kilos, whereas I can't tell the difference, except I'm less inclined to snack than usual.

Day 1: Braving the church potluck

I picked a hell of a day to go gluten-free: there was a potluck at church. The few people at my church who can't have wheat usually bring their own food on potluck days, and most of the food there is made without thought to food sensitivities or allergies. So I ended up with a plate full of salad. At least I was reasonably sure the potato salad was safe.

I'm not noticing the difference yet, but it's been less than twenty-four hours. I am noticing a distinct craving for bread, but so far, I'm not exactly jonesing for a bagel. I'm more in the mood, oddly enough, for steak. That or peanut butter with celery. And I think we're out of celery so I'm settling for grapes, since it's a little early for dinner.

Gluten-free so far? Meh. I kind of wish I could have had one of the chocolate croissants at church, but it's not exactly something I need in my diet, now, is it?

The blogging's been put to the side lately in favour of sleep deprivation and other types of writing. Since the sleep deprivation's a little better today (I actually managed to actually fall asleep in church, to the point where I had to ask how the sermon was--all I remember is the pastor quoting an encyclopaedia of philosophy, me thinking that sounded awesome, and then realizing it was time for the offering), I thought I'd blog a bit.

About what? I really have no idea. It's a quiet Monday--all I can hear right now is the humming of the fridge, the click of the clock, and the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard. And the occasional traffic outside. I was so deeply asleep this morning that I missed the bird who starts singing around 5 am, solely to drive me crazy. I think Jeremy asked me when I came to bed last night (given that I've pulled two inadvertent all-nighters in the last week), but he might have asked when to set the alarm for. I'll have to check.

I did dream that I was at a pub in New York, waiting for a beer I'd ordered, and then someone started an argument with me about my thesis. I'm not kidding. He thought the amount of diachronic evidence I'd included in my work was not sufficient, and I was trying to explain that the history I'd included was relevant only to the point that it helped me explain why the verbs I'm working with are the way they are now. Yeah. That's what goes in my head. I'm already defending the blasted thing.

In other news, I'm trying a new recipe to include with dinner. If they turn out, I may take a picture and post it. If not, well, you'll probably never hear about them again.