Simple GF pancakes | Naked Solstice fun

I used to enjoy making breads, and things like pancakes and waffles — before I started eating gluten-free. I had it down pretty well, and could whip up credible baked goods without recipes, if I wanted to. Now I'm so intimidated by all the flours and starches that go into GF goods, I often avoid  baking, except for special occasions, or if I'm testing a cookbook. One day recently I got a craving for pancakes that had me running to my well-stocked, but usually avoided, GF pantry. I just wanted to throw together some pancakes — sheesh — is that too much to ask? I chose four flours (four!) and a starch and threw them together as I've learned to do from months of reading cookbooks and blogs, and ate pancakes. I thought they were delicious, and I hope I can remember that and feel a little freer to experiment more often. I mean to try them out on Miss E Sunday morning to see if she notices a difference from her usual pancakes.

Simple GF pancakes - serves two (or one really hungry eater)

• 1 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 5 drops liquid stevia
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup quinoa flour
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup sorghum flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1. Mix the vinegar and milk in a measuring cup and allow to sit for a few minutes until slightly thickened, while you combine the dry ingredients in the next step. Mix in the stevia.
2. Combine the rice flour, quinoa flour, almond meal, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda and xanthan gum in a dry bowl, and whisk together until well-combined. 
3. Mix the wet into the dry.
4. Heat a cast iron pan until water hisses when dropped onto the pan.
5. Spread a thin coat of oil on the pan.
6. Cook the pancakes on one side until bubbles form and the edges start to dry. Carefully turn pancakes over and cook the second side until done.
7. Serve with maple syrup or the topping of your choice.

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Naked Solstice fun

O.K., now that we've got the pancakes out of the way, here's what you're really looking for, right? We attended the annual Fremont Solstice Parade held in the Center of the Universe, the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. There's lots of unusual stuff in Fremont, but perhaps the strangest and most fun is the annual  parade with its nude bikers. This is our second experience attending the parade.

Perhaps no one ever feels they have quite enough to offer

The parade is the highlight of the annual Fremont Fair, which was started in 1972, and now draws 100,000 people. The parade opens with a nude bike ride. The original riders back in the 70s were either arrested or threatened with arrest, but not any more. There were 800 to 1,000 riders this year, painted in every imaginable way.

Some riders wear only paint while others incorporate strategically placed clothing items or other props like hats, to enhance their costume theme.

Captain Hook has a scarf, hat, cuff, belt, and hook paraphernalia, but the rest of his attire is paint. Some of the paint jobs are so amazing, it's hard to tell they're not really clothes, though there are some telltale signs, ho ho.

The woman perched next to me on the guardrail told me she had never heard of the parade before. She was in Seattle accompanying  her husband, who was attending a  conference, and had convinced him to play hooky and come to the festival.

She said she was a very conservative person, but found the nude bike ride quite acceptable because the riders were so cleverly painted you never look at their private parts. She told me this about 10 times, and while I agree it's not a sexual message the riders are spreading, can I claim I never look? Noop, sorry, can't say that.

I will say that I laughed hysterically and clapped my hands in appreciation along with the rest of the crowd, through the whole parade.

I can't print all the photos I took, but here are a few more to give you an idea of the fabulous, crazy event.

Thing one and thing two!

The nude bicyclists are only the opening act of the parade. There is a whole parade full of floats, crazy bands and assorted costumed revelers that follows, but I'll save a few photos for my next post. In the meantime, Happy Solstice!