Accomodating

With three of my neighbor ladies now being intolerant of anything with wheat based flour, and the next gathering just announced, I'm scouring the book store racks for gluten-free recipes. There are loads of good ones out there but the eensy weensy catch is that most bread-like textures won't hold together unless you add xantham gum. It's already in a lot of our foods, turns out, and the jury is still out on whether it is entirely good for you. Then again, if that was the criteria, we would not be able to eat anything.

Instead of making tortillas that crumble, I think I'll sign up for baking flan. That I can do with my eyes closed and no x-gum anywhere in sight.

Clearing the sidewalk garden of debris felt like a ritual purging. The city is sweeping the curbs tomorrow. That, more than anything, signals the beginning of Spring. I might even be out there working in the yard when they come by and I'll give them an appreciative wave, unlike the finger fist I give the street plow guys when they push the wall of snow in front of my drive. They can't tell what gesture it is anyway with my hands in those thick gloves. For all they know I'm saying thank you.