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Pamelas Pasts the Holiday Test

Early this week while planning the holiday meal for Thanksgiving, I went into the local health food store to pick up a bag of bread mix for myself, and found a little gem called Pamela's. Knowledgeable staff turned me on to it I must admit; I was bee-lining it for the best of the recent test but couldn't find the right aisle. What the clerk told me was that this one has recipes for pizza and pie crusts and bagels, too! So I decided to buy two bags to try this new brand to make myself some bread, and then test out Pamela's on mom's pumpkin pie recipe for the holiday - the hardest test of all!

First, as a sandwich bread, Pamela's passes the parameters - it's firm enough to cut in slices that don't fall apart for a sandwich, panini, or egg-in-the-middle; and most important, it tastes like regular white-flour bread. It was also a better bread than the other three, the taste and texture were most real and the crust is also generally firmer and better tasting as well.

Second, as a pie crust, Pamela's also passes brilliantly for pumpkin pie, and I can already tell from its pliability for rolling and sugary taste it would be great for apple pie too. I'm used to making my own crust, and while this one is less flaky than the traditional flour version, it holds together nicely, rolls out on wax paper, and tastes even better in my opinion. I used shortening for the even-comparison, as my traditional recipe calls for that instead of butter and my family thinks it makes a better crust. Testing Pamela's for the pie crust was the most exciting to me because I bake a lot of pies at the holidays, and want to eat them too!

I can also tell from it's rolled-out width and texture that it would be fine- although perhaps a little sweet- for pizza crust as well. Will be testing that!

Last, for bagels, it's a hard comparison up here in the altitude that we live (6900), and I'm partial to the NY ones so even the bagels from the store don't satisfy me here. That said, Pamela's were really really good. The sweetness helped, and we added cinnamon and raisins to add some additional flavors and texture. Since it's been so long since I've had a glutenous bagel (10 mos?) with a little melted butter and cream cheese these tasted as good as the typical Colorado version to me!
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