slightly relevant

Today my brother told me about Candida. Of the 60 possible symptoms, I relate to 45 of them. 75%. I find that to be pretty significant. Especially when problems I considered to be unrelated all converge on this one topic. I also find it highly interesting that gluten intolerance is one of the many symptoms.

Remember when I learned about Celiac and had an epiphany? This is that epiphany times two, at least. I am just trying to figure out the best way for me to go about eradicating the blasted thing. Yes, that is the good news: it can be removed, and I don’t have to suffer with it for the rest of my life.

You guys might think I am crazy, but I don’t care. Like I said, this is the Celiac epiphany times two! My brother feels the same way, and we’re both pretty sure that we inherited it from our dad (my sister, also). My dad is even looking into it as a cause for all of his symptoms.

Yes, I am very optimistic and excited about this news.

However, I am also a bit… well, a bit irritated. Why? Well, let’s see. A year ago I went gluten free. It was a very heartfelt decision, and it was a lifelong commitment that I made. However, the only people who seemed to not take me seriously were those in my own family. They thought I was being silly, even if they didn’t say it. My dad even said to me last week that if I lose some weight and get back into better shape that the whole "gluten free thing will just disappear". Like it’s some phase or something. The only one who believed me, and wanted to go gluten-free too, was my sister.

But then my brother comes along with this discovery of Candida, which is even harder to diagnose than Celiac (or even mis-diagnosed as Celiac), and is most often self-diagnosed because of that. And my entire family takes his word for it, at face value, and starts looking into it for themselves. What. The. Fuck? Why? Is his word so much better than mine? Is he to be trusted more than I? I’m not saying my brother isn’t to be trusted, but I don’t see how he is more adept or intelligent than I am, even if he is four years older. My parents always tell me how intelligent I am, and how proud they are of me, and they know that I’m not likely to make such a big decision without being certain about it. Apparently they have an underlying desire to not trust me. Well, piss on that.
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A little something for my Candida scrapbook:

(I took this extended questionnaire).

So I found this chapstick last weekend when I was replenishing my stock.

It was in a limited edition packet with the cherry flavor I normally get. I figured it wouldn’t be any good, but I was wrong. Whenever I wear it, I am pleasantly reminded of sugar cookies all day long. In fact, it inspired me to bake some sugar cookies last night!

I used this recipe, and the name doesn’t lie. It is without a doubt the BEST sugar cookie recipe I have ever tried. And it worked flawlessly with my favorite gluten free flour mixture. I also used this icing recipe, which turned out very well, but I had to add some extra milk and corn syrup. These taste like the sugar cookies I’ve been craving for over a year now. The kind I can only seem to find from expensive bakers. I am ecstatic!

Gluten free coconut cupcakes with lemon curd filling, Italian buttercream frosting, and toasted coconut.

They’re yummy, especially after being refrigerated overnight. The lemon curd filling was a bit overpowering at first, but today it is good. The frosting is a bit too buttery, which is disappointing. Next time I will use heavy cream and coconut milk in place of most of the butter.

The recipes for all of the components were rather in-depth and more complex than I am used to. However, it was a lot of fun. And I’m very glad I bought a new stand mixer and hand mixer before trying these recipes. Now I just need a double-boiler! :O

Yesterday was a very bad day. Today is better.
I made pralines. They are so yummy.