Wow! It’s really fun to give away all these goodies, but geez, picking names is hard!! Even if I do let Random.org make the choices for me, I truly do wish I had a prize for all of you. I’m probably one of those folks who would give ribbons out to all race participants just for participating. But until Bob gives me a bigger prize budget- LOL- you’ll have to settle for taking chances.

Here are the winners:

Gluten Free Macroons:

Ashley Megan: Gift Set #2

and

Veronica Franco: Gift Set #2

I was so happy to see how cute everyone thought these were. I’m sure Nicole from Cookies by Cartier will be pleased as well. I’ll be in touch with each of you to get your shipping addresses.

Tricolor and Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous Set:

1. Christine Kadra McDonough
2. Shelley Grosjean
3. Kristen Hansen
4. Jenni
5. Katie R.

For this one, I did count everyone who was unable to paste a link on Facebook.

Congrats to our winners! We have even more, even bigger giveaways coming up, so keep an eye here and be sure to enter. In fact, I think we’ve got one to announce tomorrow. As always, if I don’t hear from the winners within a week, we’ll pick new ones. I urge everyone to please, please read the instructions for entering thoroughly. I hate not including people because they didn’t follow the instructions or didn’t enter in time.

Bob’s Red Mill would like to extend our very best wishes for all of the mothers, grandmothers and mothers-to-be today.

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.

~Tenneva Jordan

Happy Mother’s Day

from all of your friends at Bob’s Red Mill!

French macarons are not to be confused with those delicious coconut mounds that your grandmother used to make (well, MY grandmother at any rate).  Unflaggingly popular in the blog world and specialty patisseries, these delightful little cookies are dramatically different from coconut macaroons. Crisp, fluffy and chewy all at the same time, macarons come in an abundance of flavors and enough colors to rival Joseph’s technicolor dream coat.

Most macarons are made using superfine sugar, almond meal (or ground almonds), powdered sugar, cream of tartar and egg whites, making them inherently gluten free. We all know how much flour flies around a bakery, which makes  finding one that you trust to make a treat gluten free is no small feat.

Sure, you can make your own, but geez! There are enough recipes with tips and pointers online to make you think twice before embarking on what just might be the most difficult cookie EVER. Well, maybe not, but I’ve yet to try my hand at it. All those techniques are intimidating.

Cue Nicole from Cookies by Cartier: a delightful online bakery that specializes in whimsical treats. Nicole has recently released a new line of gluten free treats—including gluten free macarons! Besides being gluten free, these macarons are adorned with images of Zelda, the world’s most famous English bulldog. Well, she might not be the most famous, but she’s pretty darn cute and has a whole line of  greeting cards. How does Zelda tie in with these cookies? When Nicole found out that Zelda’s owner has celiac disease she was inspired to create gluten free macarons.

We were lucky enough to taste these at our office a couple months ago (these are made with our almond meal) and, let me tell you, they are divine!

In honor of National Celiac Disease Awareness Month, Nicole has kindly offered a box of these tasty little treats to two lucky readers. Each box contains a dozen gluten free macarons  adorned with Zelda’s adorable image.

How to Enter:

Visit Cookies by Cartier and tell us here or on Facebook which Zelda cookie set you would like to win if you are selected. There are two different sets to choose from.

Two winners will be randomly selected from all those who enter by midnight on 05/10/11. Winners will be announced no later than May 12th. If the chosen winner does not respond within a week, we will select a new winner (so be sure to check in and see if you won).

Preparing food has long been a sign of love, whether it be for a single loved one or for a large gathering. Mother’s Day is right around the corner and I thought it was a lovely time to talk about the connection between love and food. I love my mother madly and wish I could cook her a delicious meal on Sunday.  She taught me to cook all those years go and, though we are separated by many miles, I can honor her by cooking food that is filled with love.

When I’m baking and cooking for loved ones,  I always feel like I’m infusing that food with love. You might not taste it, but if you’re astute you can tell when someone has infused their food with love—maybe a little more effort has been made or a special ingredient was used when a cheap alternative would have sufficed. Cooking can become a spiritual experience when you instill your passion into what you are creating.

Find a way to cook and bake with your heart. Not every meal has to be fancy and brimming with “feel goodery,” but find a special occasion (such as Mother’s Day *wink wink*)  to make your food sing true from your heart. It will make you feel good and your chosen recipient will feel your love in what you have created.

For those of you who feel unsure of how to make your food communicate your love, start with something really fun. There’s no harm in starting basic with something heart-shaped—sandwiches, cookies, pancakes and pizza are all easy to turn into hearts. Not a heart person? Strawberries, figs and chocolate are easy foods that can represent love.  Or try your hand at making a dish that will bring up warm memories for your recipients.

No matter how you do it or how often you do it,  let love inspire you in the kitchen.

Bob’s Red Mill is proud to introduce pearl couscous, also known as Israeli couscous, to our line of entrée items. Pearl couscous is made from toasted wheat flour that has been rolled into small pearls. This type of couscous is much larger than Moroccan couscous and is similar in taste and texture to pasta. Contrary to popular belief, couscous is considered to be pasta not grain.

Our new pearl couscous comes in three varieties—natural (unflavored), whole wheat and tricolor. The tricolor is made using spinach powder and tomato powder to produce lovely green and red hues that are mixed with the natural pearl couscous. The color is really the only difference between the tricolor and the natural. There is no flavor or nutritional difference. Whole wheat has the nutty, full-bodied flavor you expect from whole wheat pasta. All three cook in less than 20 minutes and make a great addition to soups, salads and pilafs.

There are so many wonderful ways to dress up these special pastas! You can add a simple pesto or marinara sauce for a quick dish or take a culinary adventure and use a recipe with Indian or Middle Eastern flavors. We have a few recipes on our website, but a quick search on the internet delivers myriad ways to use this simple ingredient. If you have a favorite recipe, we’d love if you would share it with us. Simply visit our site and select “Contact Us”  to submit your recipe.

Now for the juicy bit! I’d like to give 5 lucky winners a package of Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous and a package of Tricolor Pearl Couscous.

How to win:

All you need to do to enter is post a link to a recipe using pearl (Israeli) couscous that appeals to you in the comment section and tell us what makes it sounds delicious. For example (and you can’t use this one!):

Here is a link to a recipe using pearl couscous to make a pesto salad. This sounds good to me because I LOVE pesto and it looks quick and easy.  http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=1883

I will select five winners randomly from all those who comment by midnight on 05/06/11. Winners will be announced by 05/12/11.

Lisa from Gluten Free Foodies sent this delicious recipe a few months ago and I have been waiting for the perfect time to share it with you. Nothing beats a drizzly May day like oatmeal cookies, add chocolate chips and cherries and you have a special treat to beat the rainy-day blues. If you recall, Lisa also shared this wonderful recipe for Pear Fig Muffins last fall. Yum!

This is not your Grandma’s Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookie!  I decided to give the ever popular Oatmeal Cookie a makeover!  I have been craving a cookie with texture, flavor and chewiness.  I have been experimenting with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oats and dreamed this cookie up after many, many years of craving!  I haven’t been eating oats, Gluten Free or not for at least 6 years.  Every time I did I would get sick immediately. During the winter time there is nothing better than a warm bowl of oatmeal.  I like to put dried fruit and honey in mine.  I decided to make the cookies and see if I had a reaction.  Lucky for me … All is well!  It was worth the wait!

I love the flavor of the creamy chocolate chips and the tartness of the cherries!  The sweetness of the cookie has a nice balance of the dark brown sugar’s caramel like flavor to balance out the cherries and chocolate.  The honey is the perfect compliment to the oats … speaking of which … these are the most beautiful big oats that I have ever seen!  The oats make the cookie’s hearty crunch so satisfying that you will be very happy with just one or two cookies.  I decided to add the flaxseed meal to add to the wholesome goodness of the combination of ingredients – antioxidants from the chocolate, potassium and melatonin from the dried cherries, omegas from the flaxseed meal, fiber from the flaxseed meal and oats.

So no guilt from these cookies!

Gluten Free Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Dry Ingredients

• 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats
• 1/2 cup flaxseed meal
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1/4 cup sweet rice flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Wet Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup butter or non-dairy Earth Balance butter – room temperature
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 Tbsp Gluten Free Vanilla
• 1 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips -  (Gluten Free, non-dairy, non-soy, nut free)
• 3/4 cup chopped dried cherries

Mix the wet ingredients – eggs, butter or non-dairy butter, dark brown sugar, honey, vanilla in a standing mixer.

In a separate bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients with a fork or whisk to break up any clumps. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in the standing mixer.

Add the chopped dried cherries and chocolate chips.

Put the dough into a container with a lid and into the refrigerator for 30 minutes, overnight is better if you can wait.  Chilling the dough will help meld the flavors of the ingredients.

Bake at 350 for 13 – 15 minutes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  I used a #70 spring scoop to make a two bite cookie.

This is the perfect cookie with your favorite hot beverage – coffee, tea or milk, even non-dairy in front of the fire sharing good times with family and friends.

Enjoy!

Lisa

http://www.glutenfreefoodies.blogspot.com

Stephanie from The Recipe Renovator wrote a wonderful Cornbread Stuffing recipe for us last December and the fun Easter Bunny Cake last month.  She kindly offered us this recipe to share with you for Meatless Monday.  Starting today, Meatless Monday is going to be a regular feature on this blog and we’ll share great ideas for making delicious meatless meals one day a week. We’re not saying that you need to stop eating meat, but rather encouraging you to try one day a week without meat. It is good for your health, good for the environment and good for your kitchen skills. If you don’t already, you’ll eventually meet a vegetarian or vegan and may want to cook something wonderful for them. Consider this our way of giving you a jumping off point.

Meatless doesn't mean flavorless! This dish is simply brimming with delicious spices that are guaranteed to make you feel like you're in New Orleans.

Dirty Rice is a New Orleans dish loaded with sausage and butter. I tend to make it when I have celery to use up, as its one of the only recipes that calls for celery leaves. You can add one cup of chopped carrots to increase the veggies here. Start the carrots with the onions. This freezes beautifully in single-serving containers for lunch.

Vegetarian Dirty Rice

• 1 cup TVP or TSP
• 2 Red Peppers, chopped
• 4 stalks Celery with leaves, chopped
• 1 Yellow Onion, chopped
• 1 cup Brown Rice or Brown and Wild Rice Blend
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced or pressed
• 2 cups Vegetable Broth (low-sodium)
• 1 tsp each Cayenne, Tabasco, Cumin, and Oregano to taste
• 1-2 tsp Sea Salt

Bring one cup of water to boil on the stove or in the microwave. Pour over one cup of TVP/TSP. Set aside.

Rinse the rice. Bring the broth to a boil in a large pan with a lid and add the rice. Turn down the heat to a low simmer and set the timer for 40 minutes.

Heat 1 Tbsp of olive or grapeseed oil in a large nonstick pan. Saute the onions and celery for 10 minutes over medium-high heat, adding the garlic after 5 minutes.

Add the peppers and spices and cook for 2 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Add the TVP and vegetables to the rice pan, stir once to mix thoroughly, and adjust the heat to keep it at a simmer. Put the lid back on.

Cook until the timer goes off. Turn off the heat without taking off the lid, and let sit for at least five minutes. Then fluff with a fork and serve.

May is one of my favorite times of the year at Bob’s Red Mill. Not only do the flowers let lose all over the country (at least we hope they are blooming where you are), but May is National Celiac Disease Awareness Month. That might not seem like a reason to celebrate, but May is as good a time as any to spread the word about celiac disease and gluten intolerance.

Celiac disease is a genetic condition in which the consumption of foods containing gluten (a form of protein found in some grains e.g. wheat, barley, and rye) triggers an autoimmune response that damages the small intestine. The damage to the intestine makes it hard for the body to absorb nutrients from food, especially fat, calcium, iron, and folic acid, leading to malnutrition and a variety of other problems such as diarrhea, weight loss, and weakness.

Gluten Free is only as boring as you make it. Try expanding your culinary horizons and explore the wonderful grain options available, such as gluten free polenta.

In the United States, the exact number of people who have Celiac Disease is not known. Recent screening tests have shown that 1 in every 133 people may have the condition. Many of those people are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions that have similar symptoms. The only cure is to follow a gluten free diet.

To make life a little easier for those with Celiac Disease, Bob’s Red Mill has dedicated a special section of our company solely to the production of gluten-free flours, cereals and baking mixes. They are all produced in a facility separated from where our products that contain gluten are manufactured, and they are tested in our laboratory using the R-5 ELISA Gluten Assay Test to ensure that they are gluten-free. Watch our video tour of our gluten free facility here.

Here are some fun ideas for spreading awareness of celiac disease:

1. Bring gluten free treats to your work or your child’s classroom and prove to others just how delicious gluten free can be. Make sure to bring your A-game and practice first if you’re not sure about a recipe.
2. Host a gluten free party and serve only gluten free foods and beverages. This is a great way to talk about the less-known sources of gluten (think beer and soy sauce). A simple Google search turned up pages of great ideas for a gluten free party.
3. Take a newly diagnosed friend or family member grocery shopping or help them clean out their kitchen to prepare for the new diet.
4. Organize a meet-up for other families on the gluten free diet.
5. Challenge yourself to try a new restaurant where you’ve heard they are responsive to special diet needs.

Got others? Share them with us on Facebook or in the comments here.

To celebrate Celiac Disease Awareness Month, we have some great giveaways planned. I have cookbooks, cookies, baking utensils and more! Keep checking back to here for your chance to win.