Yes, you can make roux with corn starch. Perhaps you already knew this. It’s simple… just replace the corn starch equally for flour. I had no idea how it would taste. I have no comparison because I never made roux before to start a sauce. It came out too thin, but Julia has a save. I just had to cook it longer. It’s wonderful, and it uses much less cornstarch than I usually do for gravy. The creamy, buttery after taste of this sauce is divine. I remember having something like when I used to eat out (before the no gluten diet). It must be good because Spencer, the Cheetoh cat, went after it. He knocked my new Julia Child’s cookbook to the floor trying to get to the stove. He never checks out gravies.

I have two cups of white sauce (sauce velouté–translation:  velvet sauce) made with chicken stock. I left it unflavored. Who knew that salt and pepper should be added after heating? I didn’t. I added it last, but I always cooked my sauces further. With this simple sauce, I can add whatever spices I want when I want. The sauce refrigerates and freezes well, so it’s the one thing I will probably use all for myself. If the cats are lucky, maybe they will have a taste of this smooth sauce.

I actually have a sense of accomplishment after making this sauce. I have tons of cookbooks. I own more kitchen utensils than anyone I know. I have a heavy duty stand mixer and a food processor with an entire choice of disks to make anything. I even own a set of All-Clad cookware. I’m all set and have been for years, but every time I looked at those other books and read about sauces or anything else, it seemed too difficult. Julia makes it easy.

This actually coincides perfectly with my recent return to the French language. I have been working on relearning French for the past couple of weeks.

I didn’t know that butter in Europe is different from American butter until I began reading Julia Child’s cookbook. This morning I went to the grocery store to pick up fresh butter, eggs and cream–the basics for French cooking. My eggs and butter are less than fresh–well, old, really. I didn’t have any cream in the house. I also picked up some fresh, full-fat cheese. All this came to just under $30. I just bought groceries, and I am planning a trip to Costco on Monday. The most wonderful part of the trip was that I found unsalted European style butter at my nearby grocery store. The store is on the street behind my house. It’s an easy walk on most days. European butter, which I have never tasted, has 10 more calories per tablespoon than American butter. All I had was unsalted sweet butter, which works well, but may not give the preferred taste to the sauces, although I’m sure it’s fine for baking. So why the quick trip to the store? I need to test my sauce to see if eggs and cream can be folded in using cornstarch-based sauce. Flour is supposed to help the eggs go into the sauce. So I wonder if my sauce will work just as well.

Eating for most people is easy. They don’t have to think about it. I do. I have several food allergies, so I think constantly about what is in my food. I have resorted to a very simplistic diet. That’s not bad, but it is limiting. I avoid eating out. When you see the list of things that I can’t have, you will see why. And then there is the long list of things I don’t like to eat…

Here’s what I can’t eat:

gluten (that means no wheat, barley, rye or spelt)

soy

peanuts

mushrooms

What I don’t eat (don’t like or doesn’t agree with my system):

pork

shellfish

broccoli

cauliflower

garlic (must keep it to minimum)

Just these things alone eliminate lots of yummy ethnic foods. I also watch what I eat as far as calories go. I never used to when I ate bread, but I had digestive issues that kept me skinny and often had me passed out in pain on the bathroom floor. So here I am after watching Julie and Julia wondering if those delicious French recipes can be modified for my diet. I have never undertaken changing recipes. It is just too much trouble. I like to know that the recipe is going to work out. I like the tried and tested. Gluten free flours are so expensive and hard to find that I just don’t bake often. So back to Julia Childs… I love French food. I miss baguettes. So I’m out to see if I can modify the recipes for my dietary needs. I am unlikely to attempt every recipe, but in the process I hope to learn some new techniques in cooking. With all the butter, I will have to find a way to exercise more or taste the recipes and feed other people.

How often when running errands are you privy to an interesting conversation? For me, it’s rare. I went to the post office today because it was a necessity. I had avoided the post office before the hectic mailing for the holidays.  I went early knowing that I would have to wait in line until they opened the doors. When I got in line, there was a black man, an Indian man and a Chinese woman talking about the differences in how their cultures treat women. It was rather brilliant, and for once, I was glad that I got somewhere early to stand in line.

I took a break from my normal Saturday, although this Saturday is far from normal since Philip is here. The kid is thin! It’s remarkable. He desperately needed clothes. What he had was falling off. We went to see “Men Who Stare at Goats.” It was a good time to go, since everyone else is seeing the Twilight movie or 2012. There were only three other people in the theater. Philip and I thought it was a riot. I laughed so hard. One reference I had to explain to Philip because he doesn’t know the history of LSD. No one else was laughing. My son particularly liked the references to being a Jedi and Ewan MacGregor’s character (Obi-Wan) having no clue. This is one movie where the time went by quickly and I had no desire to find out the time. That’s rare.

So I got behind in my word count where I write 3,000 words a day. I wrote around 7.000 words today to make up for lost time and to reach 60,000. I have serious neck cramps from sitting at the computer most of the day. I did finally write the scene I had been planning for about five days. Yeah! It took fewer words than I expected. Darn! My poor characters are on a rollercoaster ride.

Last night around 8 pm, I reached 50,000 words. I have finally hit a turning point in my novel.

I have almost reached the 50,000 word mark. I have a lot more story to tell. One of the characters did a surprising thing. He finally woke up and returned to the living. My characters are in crisis mode yet again. I haven’t reached the biggest crisis that they have to face yet. I don’t know what that will be.

I have finally gotten to the point in my novel where my characters are surprising me. I did throw them into an impossible situation. They acted just like you might expect for a while. Not now. I’m not sure what hardship they should endure next. Death? Disease? Near Death? Surprise visitors? This time I have gotten attached to my characters. Death seems like too much.

I have this nifty shirt from the NaNoWriMo shop. Since you may not be able to see the words on the sign. It says, “An Idyllic Writers Retreat Smack-Dab in the Middle of Your Crazy Life”.

I have been busy writing my novel and working–too busy to post here. After some weeks I finally spoke to my son on the phone. It was good and then bad. I don’t know if he will pick up the phone the next time I call. He was upset. I was upset. I’m no longer listed on his friends list on Facebook. I have quite a bit to say about that, but none of it can be posted here. He is supposed to be here for Thanksgiving vacation. Frankly, I have no idea if he will show up.