poplar road

I thought that lake looked familiar! When did you go?

We took Peter, our friend from Germany, out to that waterfront cafe you and I found last spring. Richard took this shot hanging out of the window of Peter's rental car as we were on our way back after drinks and pie at the cafe. (No pie for me, sigh. They had fresh blueberry.) That was the weekend before last. We spent the long weekend at home. Richard was so tired from a week away that he didn't do much other than watch movies and cook while I worked in the yard.

You'll appreciate this, WC - he tried to make an Anita-friendly modified Pavlova last night, using the last of my xylitol and goodness knows what other changes (wouldn't tell me what he was making 'til afterward) and it came out flat as a crepe. He tossed it out and we just had the fruit with whipped cream instead. I appreciated that he tried, disaster or not.

What's in pavlova you can't have?

Ah, how I miss living near water...

Richard wouldn't let me in the kitchen while he was baking it and I didn't see the original recipe, but common baking ingredients that I'm allergic to are sugar, wheat flour, corn starch, egg yolks, and yeast. I know he replaced the sugar with granulated xylitol. It might have called for whole eggs, don't know, but he would have used just the whites. Oh, and while I'm only allergic to whey protein and cottage cheese, not to milk or hard cheeses, my anti-candida regime has been tightened up again so no milk, cheese, cream cheese, or ice cream for me for a while. But I don't think pavlova has dairy in it. I've never made one, but my friend's mom used to make them all the time. It's been years since I've had it. Something else she used to make that the pavlova reminded me of: Baked Alaska. Now there's an allergen-infested combination of divine sinfulness. And what Richard really wanted to make was chocolate cake. Sigh. Can't wait until my 6 months of exclusion are up - just in time for Christmas.

Oh is that water BLUE!!! Discovered you through WC's 20 comments wednesday. Your life, or at least your day, sounds idyllic. Hope it was as wonderful as it sounds....am blissed out just reading your post.

Have a wonderful evening.....

Thanks for dropping by, ND! Bliss is the word - not every minute of the day, but there's usually a moment each day that rejuvenates me. I just finished making dinner on the BBQ while a couple of llamas cropped the weeds in my back yard, and with the tree frogs chirping and a bit of a breeze cooling down a 28 degree afternoon, I could stand there and watch them for hours. I sure don't miss the city on days like today. I'm glad I was able to pass a little of our peace and quiet on to you. Have a wonderful evening yourself.

Pavlova is basically a meringue - so egg whites and sugar and possibly a bit of vinegar. I'm not surprised the granulated xylitol didn't work - sugar performs a specific function in meringue apart from the sweetening. You might have gotten away with Splenda, but you'd need to experiment with it. It might have had cream of tartar in it, which I don't think is on your list of allergens.