Thank you for the kind words. My absolute pleasure!

Hi Nikki! Thank you! Good to be back (again!) 😉 …

All sounds good. I know there are things I can do to speed up the site. I created a lot of “debris” when building it, which I can and will clean up. It’s on the list.

The big issue you mentioned was the newsletter itself, which I had actually revamped on my computer, but when I went to add it to MailChimp, I’d realized that what I’d built wasn’t perfectly compatible with MailChimp and I didn’t have time to fix it. The next one will likely be similarly small, but then I’ll hopefully have time to squeeze in the new newsletter template (with a larger/darker font).

As to the wonky page loading … ? Hopefully that was just a random anomaly!

There’s no doubt I’ve got my work still cut out for me, but … ON IT! 😀 ❤

Hi Louise, unfortunately, it’s difficult for me to comment on this. I bounce between Cabo, MX and Seattle, WA. Both are essentially at sea level. I have no practical experience faking at high altitudes.

Here are great notes from AllRecipes.com: http://dish.allrecipes.com/high-altitude-cake-baking/

Here are notes specific to gluten/grain-free baking from the great Kelly Bejelly: https://agirlworthsaving.net/2015/07/making-high-altitude-baking-a-breeze.html

Kelly’s notes are very similar. It also sounds like you’ve already tried all of this and come up a bit lackluster. The issue, I would assume, is that without gluten, everything you’re baking rises too quickly, or higher than its internal structure will allow, resulting in everything collapsing back into itself … for a bit of a flat dense disappointment. My best suggestion would be to add a touch of xanthan gum to your baked goods. Add between 1/4 tsp to 2 tsp of xanthan gum per cup of grain-free flour to help it hold its shape. I’d start with about 1 tsp per and adjust up or down based on your experiments. I’d also look into gluten-replacers to see if you have other potential favorites, like pysllium husk or glucomannan.

Ultimately, my best guess is your problem is the structure is weak. Maybe add an egg, as well. Beef up the structure and you’ll probably be happier with the results.

I hope this helps!

HUZZAH!!! Thank you for all the kind words and success! (as well as the recommendations to friends!) Yep, I’ve been playing with Allulose quite a bit (almost out, in fact). I’m a bit torn on it, to be honest. There’s a very faint bitter twang to it that I don’t like. It’s fine as a background sweetener, but I don’t like it front and center. That said, its COOKING properties are fantastic! It browns and gets gummy and chewy. Behaviorally, it’s very much like working with regular sugar again. I need to work it into a blend so that I get a better taste while maintaining enough of the behavior so that it’s still pleasant to work with. I’m thrilled it’s working for you, though. Keep up the good work! 😀