Allergen Free Pumpkin Pancakes and Roasted Pork

I've been doing a lot of reading lately about allergen free cooking and baking, and finally decided to dive in.  No better way to learn than on the fly, right? I checked my recipe books for a pancake recipe, but the only one I found had xanthan gum in it - which my one year old can't have because it's too close in form to corn syrup, and he's allergic to corn.  A substitute for that is guar gum, but I haven't had a chance to buy that yet, so I was stuck.  (And by the way, if you're looking to learn about this subject, this is the book you need - tons of information on what exactly each different ingredient does - how it interacts with the others, and the best uses for each thing).

But thanks to the book above, I know what each ingredient does and was able to wing it and come out with a decent recipe.  Now, I didn't measure anything, which is a big no-no in allergy free cooking as things seem to be pretty precise.  But here's what I came up with.  The measurements here are total guesswork.  But they're close...

1/2 cup of canned pumpkin

1/4 c. brown rice flour

1/4 c. sweet sorghum flour

2 T. flaxseed meal

2 T. tapioca starch

small handful of quick oats

1 or 2 T. cinnamon sugar

 water

So the process is really technical - ha.  I glopped a couple spoons full of pumpkin into the bottom of my bowl, sprinkled in all the dry ingredients, and added enough water to come to the same consistency that the pumpkin puree started out as.  This is not a pour-able pancake batter.  I spooned it onto a hot cast iron skillet and flipped when it looked ready.  They take longer than normal pancakes, so don't get too eager to flip them or they'll be doughy.  I tasted one, and it was pretty good.  The texture was right, and they held together well (which is a problem with cooking with all these odd flours).  They're so versatile too.  Next time I might substitute applesauce for the pumpkin, use maple syrup in place of the cinnamon sugar, add blueberries, raisins, or apple chunks.  We'll see.

I came across a great pork roast recipe too (ala Pinterest).  It calls for a pork picnic shoulder or ham - something with the skin still on it.  It bakes all day for at least 8 hours - until the meat is very tender - at 250 degrees.  Then it comes out of the oven, and rests tented with foil until you're close to time to eat.  Crank the heat in the oven to 500 degrees, remove the foil from the roast, and put it back in the oven for 5 minute intervals, rotating it so all the skin crisps up.  It bubbles up beautifully.  When this is done, remove it from the oven, tent with foil again and let it sit at least 15 minutes.  YUM.  Best pork roast I've ever made, and it's with the cheaper meat.  I have made this twice now, and each time we have the meal hot, then at least 2-3 more meals throughout the week using the same meat.  Very economical, and the meat stays moist the whole time.

I don't think I ever posted about the postcard our four year old sent is sister in college.  I didn't want to ruin the surprise for her, and then I forgot I had the pictures.  He sent this back in February.

He drew all the lines and I asked him what everything was.  I taped a post-it note over the place where her address went so that he wouldn't color there. Good thing.

I think it's hysterical that he identified two of the pictures as Dad, but one as his dad, and one as his brother's dad - lol.  The bottom one, above the signature he told me was a buffalo.  Duh.  See the faded out picture of the buffalo in the background.  He must have thought I was a real dunce for not knowing that was a buffalo - ha.