My daughter was diagnosed right before Thanksgiving when she was just 4 years old. I was diagnosed a few months before her. I remember being totally overwhelmed!
A big part of the holiday is baking. Every year for as long as I could remember I made various Christmas cookies and treats. How was I going to do this gluten-free? I did not know anyone else that had Celiac or had to eat gluten-free.
I have baked with my girls since they were little. My Nana was born in Wales and my Pop in Ireland. When my mom was growing up her mother baked and cooked a great deal. I learned how to make Irish Soda Bread and Scones with my mom as a little girl. These were traditions I was passing on to my own children. Now, what was I going to do?
I remember being determined to figure out how to make our favorite recipes gluten-free. I wanted to pass our traditions on to both of my girls. My youngest daughter was going to have to know how to bake even more with a Celiac diagnosis.
That year over Thanksgiving & Christmas break, I baked, and baked, and baked some more. Some things came out wonderful, many not so much. I experimented with different flour mixes and slowly found what did and did not work.
I began collecting these “modified” recipes for my daughter so that someday when she moves out, she will have her very own family recipes with a few modifications to make them gluten-free.
My mother started buying gluten-free flour mixes so when my daughters were at their house they could still bake together. This made it possible to continue our family traditions. They love to go to their Nana’s and bake with her!
In my determination, I now have a baker! My 13-year-old can bake better than me. Her homemade gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are better than any other I’ve ever had!
Believe it or not, she won’t share her recipes with me. She has taken many of our recipes and made them even better! She is not afraid to take on a challenge and makes whipping up gluten-free cinnamon rolls from scratch look easy! Her great grand Nana would be proud!
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