Against the Grain by Nancy Cain

A year ago, I found out I was allergic to wheat. This is not a gluten-intolerance, but a bonafide allergy, with all the pains and care that entails. It's been relatively easy for me to give up certain things, such as changing out the type of pasta we use, or finding a different sort of cracker when we have folks over for wine and cheese. It's even been okay to find a bread we like for everyday use, thanks to a good recipe that involves no grains whatsoever from another cookbook. What's been harder is to figure out how to substitute gluten free flours in baking or to find decent recipes to create my own pizza dough or a nice baguette. Or for something when I want to bring a dish to a party. Against the Grain is the perfect book to hold my had through this next phase of wheat free (and gluten free, since it turns out there is a gluten intolerance in the family as well) cooking. Nancy Cain is seriously into buckwheat flour, which might be the one gluten free flour we don't have in the house, but I intend to get some and start baking. The pictures make me hungry.