About

Hi there!  I’m Jeanne.  I live in Seattle. You might remember me as Four Chickens (fourchickens.blogspot.com).  That was my blog name for quite awhile.  But since my passion is gluten-free baking, I thought it was high time to re-name my blog so people didn’t think I was a farming blog.  Um, yeah.  Originally, years ago, it was more of a knitting blog–so there was all-kinds of confusion.  Just so you know, for now I’m keeping @fourchickens as my Twitter name, so I haven’t completely abandoned the chickens thing. I do have chickens in my urban backyard–except our current flock is five chickens. I know, I know, I’m confusing.

I’ve been baking gluten-free ever since the birth of my daughter in 2000 triggered my gluten-intolerance.  Ever since, I’ve been experimenting with how to bake gluten-free goods that taste just like their wheat counterparts.  There has been a lot of research and trial and error during this journey, but I am happy to share with you my successes!  I also share my disasters when I think it will help folks.   In addition, I like to share various baking tips to help my readers bake the best they can!  I love to bake and I want my readers to have the best experience possible.  I often tackle hard stuff (like puff pastry), but I try to make it as accessible to everyone.

Currently I am working on my first cookbook–Gluten-Free Baking for the Holidays–to be published by Chronicle Books in Fall 2012. I’m so excited to be doing this!

I am represented by Lisa and Sally Ekus at The Lisa Ekus Group.

I have 1 daughter I refer to as Girlfriend; 1 husband I refer to as dAhub* (it’s a reference to Moby Dick and the hunt for the mouse-bats in our house–search “mouse-bat” on the site for more info); five (formerly four) chickens; 1 organic garden in a constant state of disrepair; 10 million books; 5 million cookbooks; a zillion unfinished projects rolling around the house; and 1 Ph.D. in an interdiciplinary, experimental theatre field.  I teach gluten-free baking at a local kitchen store, which is fun and allows me to help people know that gluten-free baking can be easy and delicious!

Not only am I gluten-intolerant, I have a life-threatening allergy to wheat (apparently I am the only one my allergist has ever seen with an actual wheat allergy).  And my daughter has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts and is sensitive to soy. Add to this a husband who reacts to almonds and lemons–and you can imagine how this combo platter keeps life interesting, to say the least!

I’m also the website editor for the site Canning Across America.  Canning Across America is an ad-hoc collective of folks all over the US who want to keep the traditions of food preserving alive.  Canning is very fun and I love to do it with my family and with my pals.   I then use my canned goods (mostly jam) in my baked goods.  Win-win!

I think the migration from the old site is complete, but if you find links that are broken, please let me know: artofgfbaking (AT) earthlink (DOT) net. Thanks!

Thanks for joining me here!

* in relation to the whole mouse-bat thing, you may call me Ishmael.