I used to bake with my grandchildren, Lucy. When they moved far away, baking made me miss them too much and I not only stopped baking but I gave away most of my baking pans and utensils.

But, last year, my gluten allergy worsen, I had food poisoning, developed colitis, was hospitalized for 5 days, then had my gallbladder removed. My diet changed drastically and I took up baking again so I could create baked goods that wouldn't make me sick.

Although I bake mostly gluten-free, there are some recipes that only taste right with regular flour. Thankfully I am not a celiac and I can have some gluten as long as I don't overdo it.

My favorite baked good in the world was my mother-in-law's Argentine Pasta Frola. She gave me the recipe when visiting many years ago but I was so intimidated by the recipe, I never tried to make it and the recipe was lost in our move almost 5 years ago. She has passed now and when I decided to boldly try to make Pasta Frola, I looked for a similar recipe online and found one.

My husband and I don't exchange Christmas gifts so my attempt at Pasta Frola, also a favorite of his, was my gift to him this past Christmas. It didn't look pretty - the crust was too thick - but the tart itself was very tasty. I wanted to try making it again for Valentine's but was working too much and didn't have the time. I wrote about my Christmas attempt here:

https://medium.com/in-my-life/christmas-eve-fruit-tart-not-gluten-free-b95610df738d