Canyon Bakehouse

The good people at Canyon Bakehouse reached out to me recently to see if I'd like to sample some of their products. You know I said yes.  They sent me their 7-Grain Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Rosemary & Thyme Focaccia, and Hot Dog Buns.

I wrote about their 7-Grain bread over two years ago and said it was the best gluten free bread I had tried. This holds true today.  Their 7-Grain bread is my favorite gluten free bread out there.  I've never been much of a cinnamon raisin bread gal but I've been enjoying their's recently with breakfast.  I turned the focaccia into stuffing for Friendsgiving yesterday and it worked well.  It's currently 25 degrees in NYC so I'm not anticipating hot dogs anytime soon, but I'm sure they are great as well.  I see from their site that they have a deli rye style bread.  I miss rye bread and will definitely be giving this a try.

Canyon Bakehouse's products are certified gluten free, kosher, 100% whole grain, as well as dairy, nut, and soy free. Thank you Canyon Bakehouse for such great gluten free products!

Sweet Christine's Bakery

Awhile back I received a box of samples from Sweet Christine's Bakery in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Summer is the crazy busy season at my job so I am quite late on writing this post.  In fact, things have been so busy that I haven't even been able to try everything I was sent!  In early August Sweet Christine's sent me: a loaf of bread, a baguette, 6 small pizza crusts, a cookie, and a brownie.  The day I received the package I immediately opened and shared the cookie and brownie with my stressed co-workers.  The brownie was good and as I sit here writing this I wish I had another (ignore the fact that it's 9 am).  The cookie had the taste and consistency of what I remember Chips Ahoy cookies tasting like, which isn't my preferred cookie, but for a prepackaged cookie is pretty good.

I must say I don't love the bread.  It is a bit sweeter than I like.  I haven't tried the baguette yet but it looks great and I'm keeping it in my freezer until I cook something worthy of serving it with (I'm imagining lasagna).  The pizza crusts are interesting because it says you can use them as pizza crusts, or as wraps or quesadillas.  It suggests to use a pizza stone or right on the oven rack versus on a baking sheet.  I don't have a pizza stone and I was weary of cooking them right on the rack so I opted not to try them as pizza crusts.  First I tried them as soft taco wrappers which didn't work so well, but as quesadillas I really liked them.  I don't think I've had any quesadillas since going gluten free and these were great.

Sweet Christine's has a storefront in Kennett Square, but after doing some research on their website they do so much more.  They are partnering with schools, colleges, and stadiums to get gluten free products available in places they traditionally aren't, which I think is great.

Thanksgiving 2012

I didn't take any pictures while I was home.  This is from the summer.
But it is the view from my backyard.  Vermont is lovely.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It's all about food and family.  I like it so much that this year I went to Canada for Canadian Thanksgiving just so I could celebrate the holiday twice.  Around Thanksgiving time most food bloggers post all sorts of new recipes for the holiday.  I didn't because we eat the same thing every year and I love it.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Last year we had to adapt Thanksgiving to be gluten free.  With the experimenting last year, this year was a breeze.  My mom even made me homemade gluten free stuffing this year using Udi's bread since I've never tried a packaged GF stuffing I've enjoyed.  I bought a mini GF pumpkin pie at the local co-op since I really didn't need an entire full size gluten free pie laying around.  It was pretty delicious.  We also had the creamed spinach, sweet potatoes, and mashed cauliflower again.  This year we added brussels sprouts to the menu, which I love.  I also had Almond Nut Thins around for all the cracker and cheese appetizers.

I spent six days at home laying low, eating good food, and visiting with family and friends.  What could be better?

A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey - ebook review

Last Monday I got an email from Sibel Hodge asking if I'd like to review her cookbook: A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey.  My first thought was "heck yes".  My second thought was "...what is Turkish food?"  I didn't have to wonder for long because within a few hours I had a copy of Sibel's ebook.

Sibel has dual Turkish Cypriot and British nationality.  She started cooking gluten free for her husband who has Celiac.  I really enjoyed this little anecdote in her introduction about getting to know her husband:

‘I’m coeliac,’ he admitted sheepishly, just after I’d invited him round for dinner early on in our relationship.

‘Coeliac?’ I gave him an odd look, thinking he was trying to prepare me for some bizarre sexual quirk that sounded a bit dodgy.

Well, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, I can tell you, when he explained to me he had a disease that meant he was unable to eat gluten, not someone who wanted to dress up in lederhosen and be slapped with stinging nettles. Then I thought, unable to eat gluten? That must be really horrible, but how difficult can it be to cater for that? Well, not as easy as I first thought…

A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey is filled with funny little notes as well as a lot of great recipes.  It is broken into Meze, Soup, Salad, Egg Dishes, Pasta, Vegetable Dishes, Meat Dishes, Seafood, Dessert, Bread, and Drinks.  I like it because most of the recipes are naturally gluten free.

I couldn't decide on just one dish, so I made a Turkish feast (shout out to my boyfriend who eats everything I cook, even when I clearly have no idea what I'm doing).  I started with a yogurt and cucumber dip served with fresh veggies and individual corn bread.  I love yogurt dip as a dip, but also on main dishes like chicken and rice.  I'm so happy that now I know how to make it on my own.  The individual corn bread reminded me more of corn fritters than of what I would traditionally call corn bread.  But hey, who doesn't like a corn fritter?

I made two main dishes: Aubergine Bake and Chicken Casserole.  Aubergine is what we call eggplant in the US. According to Sibel, eggplants are eaten daily in one form or another in Turkey and North Cyprus.  I haven't cooked with eggplant in awhile so it seemed like a good opportunity.  Both of these recipes call for mozzarella melted on top.  How can you go wrong with melted cheese on top?  The answer is, you can't.

Other recipes I'd like to try include: Hummus, Sexy Cabbage, Bean Salad, and Beetroot Salad.

Overall I like this cookbook.  Sibel is funny and it's nice to have recipes on hand from a different type of cuisine.  A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey is available on Amazon for $4.99 and will be available in paperback soon.

Healthy Living Market and Cafe

I was in Vermont again last weekend.  This time I went for work.  I had to sit at a table in Burlington for several hours and hand out information about my company.  Not my normal job, but I'm always willing to help out when needed...especially when it means I get to go home for free.

Knowing that I was going to be sitting at a table for the majority of an afternoon, I wanted to bring lunch with me.  I went to the trusty Gluten Free Travel Site and searched Burlington, VT.  It was there I stumbled upon a review for Healthy Living Market and Cafe across from the University Mall.  It was a perfect quick stop before I headed downtown for an afternoon on the waterfront of Lake Champlain.

At the risk of sounding like the dorky gluten free person I am, Healthy Living Market was amazing.  They have an entire gluten free section when you first enter the store.  I don't mean a small section of an aisle.  I mean a whole mini store within the store.  It gives G-Free NYC a run for it's money.  Here's a low quality picture I took in my excitement:

You can't really tell how amazing it is from the picture, but they have everything.  What you see here are mostly the dry goods.  There is a row of freezers all along the left hand side with only gluten free stuff.  To the right before the food there is a section with gluten free magazines and books.  In the middle there is beer and behind that fresh baked goods and bread.  Nearly every gluten free product I've ever seen was here.  I even saw (and purchased) the new New Planet beer everyone's been talking about.  I also got the Bakery on Main instant oatmeal I've been wanting to try.  Seriously, this store has everything I could ever want for my gluten free needs.

But that's not all!  That only covers the market part.  They also have a cafe with lots of gluten free goods.  I got a gluten free raspberry muffin that was great.  And then... I was able to order a sandwich from the deli for the first time since I was diagnosed with Celiac 2 years ago!

For those of you that don't know me, this is very exciting.  I miss sandwiches and being able to order them for lunch.  We had to play an icebreaker with the summer interns at my job in June.  Everyone had to write down a t-shirt slogan that describes them and then other people have to guess who's slogan goes with who.  Mine said "I miss sandwiches."  I hate icebreakers.

I wish I could tell you I loved my sandwich, but I wasn't that happy with the bread. I did really really appreciate it though.  They have a hot bar with lots of gluten free options and I hear they even have gluten free pizza sometimes.

If you are gluten free and live within an hour of this place you have to go.  Or, if you are visiting lovely Burlington, VT, make sure to stop by.  Honestly, it's better than Whole Foods.  That's right, I said it.

I've Missed You Too

From my backyard in Vermont.

I've been missing recently and it's because of a few different reasons.  First, this was my very busy season at work.  And let me tell you, it was a crazy summer.

Second, well, my brother and I have just about eaten our way through most of the gluten free restaurants in New York City.  Sure, there are some I haven't reviewed.  Some that I had nothing nice to say about.  And a few out there I'm still hoping to discover.  I've also been trying to avoid packaged foods because generally they are not as good for you, and while I'd love to eat them all, I'd also love to  fit into my "skinny" pants again.  The world is full of tough decisions.

Since May I've been to DC, Vermont five times, Montreal, Connecticut twice, Pennsylvania, a boat cruise around New York City at night, Long Island for a day at the beach, two weddings, and a baby shower in the Bronx where the mom had gone into labor the night before and missed her own shower.  I've also had my work emails synched to my phone and basically been working 24/7 since mid June.  There was also a small incident of not having a job and then having a job again a few days later.  Not only is life full of tough decisions, but it's also quite unpredictable.

But here we are again and I assure you, I have been eating all this time.  The nice man overseeing the food at the wedding I went to was able to get me a gluten free plate.  My parents make sure to have gluten free pasta and bread on hand when I get home to Vermont for the fresh pesto from the garden and sandwiches made with lettuce and tomato picked right in the back yard.

I went to my boyfriend's 5 year college reunion in Connecticut.  A college I also went to and then transferred from.  It was a lot of fun and my dear boyfriend called ahead to make sure they would have gluten free food for me.  It was about the nicest thing.  And sure enough, they did.  For every meal there were gluten free options, including a box of these on the table of snacks for the drunk people:

KinniKritters Animal Crackers

Acting like I was in college again, I proceeded to indulge in alcoholic beverages and then steal this box of animal crackers off the table meant for everyone and carry them around all night because I decided they had been bought special for me.  I'm sure they had.

Fast forward to this last weekend and said boyfriend took me on a picnic.  I've been asking him to go on a picnic for the last four years and Friday he suggested we go.  It was great.  I brought sandwiches made on Udi's bread, veggies and hummus, a fruit platter, cool ranch dorrito's, beverages, and more KinniKritters Animal Crackers.  This time I tried the graham style animal crackers, you know, to switch it up. 

Our picnic spread looked like this:

The graham style animal crackers looks like this:

I thought they were good but my boyfriend said, "These are different.  Most of the time your gluten free stuff tastes the same.  But these are different."  I disagree.  In my animal cracker expertise, the KinniKritters Animal Crackers are more like the animal crackers that used to come in tubs:

while the KinniKritters Graham Style Animal Crackers are more like the ones that used to come in the box with the handle:

See?  They each have a different taste.  Both are good, depending on your mood.  Phew, I'm glad I cleared that up.  And thank you for not mentioning that KinniKritters actually call their animal crackers "cookies".  I've been trying to ignore that.

Ok, enough for now.  As I write this I'm sitting on my front porch in Vermont.  I'm wearing long pants and a sweater.  Fall in definitely in the air.

Bloom's

There is a diner two blocks from my job that has gluten free pancakes.  I've never been because diner food, in my opinion, is for weekend brunch or late night burgers.  Neither of which usually happen near my office. But, tomorrow is my 26th birthday and I thought I'd treat myself to some gluten free pancakes for breakfast this morning.  I didn't have high hopes, but these were pretty good.  They were light and fluffy and everything pancakes should be.  My only qualms were the $10 price tag and the fact that they didn't have real maple syrup, but most diners don't.

Bloom's is on 39th and Lexington in Midtown Manhattan.  They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner 7 days a week.  Their extensive gluten free menu includes gluten free pancakes, french toast, and gluten free toast to go with egg dishes in the morning.  Sandwiches are served on gluten free bread and burgers are served on gluten free buns.  They also have salads, entrees, and desserts typical to diners.

Joan's GF Great Bakes

I've been hearing about Joan's for a long time now but hadn't had the chance to try her products until recently.  Not only was I able to finally give her products a try, but I was able to meet Joan in person at Whole Foods a few weeks ago.  I was there for a book signing, but there were also a lot of gluten free vendors around the store giving out free samples.  Joan was one of them and Erin, the leader of the NYC Celiac Meetup Group and author of Gluten-Free Fun, told me I had to go try some of Joan's products.  I'm glad I did!

I sampled Joan's Corn Toaster Muffins, English Muffins, and Double Chocolate Muffins.  They were all amazing.  I ended up going home with the Corn Toaster Muffins and Multi Grain English Muffins.  The English muffins make a great addition to breakfast and the Corn Toasters are a nice evening treat.  Next I'd like to try Joan's pizza.

Not only were Joan's products really good, but she was very nice herself!  Overall, a winning combination.  Nice work Joan, and thanks for the great products!

Pappardella

I stole this picture from the internet.

My brother doesn't really go above mid-town Manhattan.  In fact, he generally tends not to go above Union Square if he doesn't have to.  But tonight I convinced him to meet me for dinner on 75th and Columbus.  Way out of his comfort zone, but since we have eaten at most of the restaurants with gluten free menus in the city, it's always nice to have somewhere new to try.

I learned about Pappardella on twitter a few weeks ago and have been excited to try it ever since (see, twitter can serve a purpose).  I've been meaning to eat healthier recently, but tonight I accidentally ate gluten free garlic bread, gluten free bruschetta with a fava bean spread, gluten free pasta bolognese, and flourless chocolate cake with hazelnut gelato and caramel sauce.  Oh, and my brother had the gluten free salmon dish and I tried some of that too.  Oops!  Don't worry, we shared it all but the pasta.

But here's the thing, with all their gluten free options, I had a hard time deciding.  The gluten free menu was huge and covered everything from appetizers and salads, to pizza and pasta, to meat and fish, to dessert.  They use Schar for their pasta, and I'm pretty sure their bread as well.  The gluten free substitutes were pretty good, but next time I would be interested in trying one of their naturally gluten free dishes such as their grilled rack of grass fed Austrailian lamb with caramelized cipollini onions, and creamy parmesan polenta, or the grilled NY strip steak served with a port wine reduction and garlic mashed potatoes.  And after that I'd like to try their pizza.

Go ahead, go to the Upper West side and give it a try.  Then let me know what you think.

4 Ingredients Gluten-Free Cookbook

I was at Whole Foods this week for a cooking demo and book signing by Kim McCosker of 4 Ingredients.  Kim McCosker and Rachael Bermingham started their cookbook series 4 Ingredients a little over 4 years ago.  The concept is simple: hundreds of recipes with four or less ingredients.  Recently, Kim and Rachael realized the need for a gluten free version and voila, here it is.

I love the concept of this book.  The recipes are pretty basic, but sometimes that's just what you need to get dinner going.  There are over 400 recipes in the gluten free version including condiments and dips, breakfasts, appetizers, light lunches, sides, mains, desserts, drinks, and recipes for kids.

It was fun to meet Kim at the event.  She was very nice, engaging, and gave lots of tips.  I was able to try her BBQ beef stir-fry, guacamole, chocolate covered marshmallows, and another dessert I don't remember the name of.  I'm looking forward to trying the Chicken Tikka Masala made with just chicken, tikka masala paste, condensed GF tomato sauce, and plain yogurt.

The only question I had in the book was about the ingredient gluten free self rising flour.  Apparently, this is something they have in Australia where Kim is from, but not really in the US.  When I asked her about it, she told me to just add a teaspoon of baking powder to a regular all purpose gluten free flour blend to make it "self rising".  Easy.

I've been in a bit of a cooking rut lately and I hope this book is just the jump start I need.

Genius Gluten Free Bread

I've heard a lot of hype recently about Genius Gluten Free bread.  Particularly their sliced white bread.  I've pretty much given up on eating gluten free bread, but I like to try new brands from time to time.  I saw the sliced white bread in Whole Foods today and decided to give it a try.

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but I did not like it.  It tasted like...nothing.  Not only did it taste like nothing, but the nothingness concealed the flavors of the sandwich contents.  Maybe I should have tried their brown bread instead since I like grainier breads these days, but there is something nice about a simple white loaf for sandwiches or toasted with some butter.

Has anyone else tried this bread or their other flavors?  Thoughts?

The Wild Tomato

Today is my "blogiversary", as the kids say.  For those of you not so hip and with it, that means I've had this blog for a year today.  That's a pretty long time.  But at the same time, being gluten free is such a part of my life these days that sometimes it's hard to believe I've only been gluten free for a year and a half.

But anyway, I digress from the point of this post.  I'm back in Pennsylvania for work again and I stopped by The Wild Tomato in Harrisburg yesterday.  I learned about it a few months back when I was doing my initial research on gluten free restaurants in Pennsylvania.  I didn't actually need to be in Harrisburg this trip, but I had to drive through the area and was deciding between stopping at The Wild Tomato or Pizza Sorrento in Hershey. Then, I was reading my new issue of Delight Gluten Free Magazine on the train here and they coincidentally had a small blurb about The Wild Tomato from someone in the area and I just had to go.

The Wild Tomato is a small family owned and operated restaurant that does take out, delivery, and catering.  They specialize in pizza, grinders, and pastas.  97% of their menu can be made gluten free.  I tried the Little Italy gluten free pizza.  It was great.  What I especially liked about it was the tomato sauce.  I'd also be interested in trying the Sausage and Peppers pasta and one of the sandwiches.

For those of you that only like to eat at certified gluten free restaurants, this place is certified by the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) and seems to really understand and care about food allergies.  Between the good food, friendly staff, and gluten free assurances of this place, I would definitely come back. I suggest you try it too.

A First Time For Everything - Bread

The thought of making bread scares me.  Regular or gluten free.  It just seems too difficult.  So difficult that I had never attempted it - except for one unfortunate incident with a bread machine in the 90's that I'd rather not relive.

As all you gluten free folks out there know, there is an extreme lack of good gluten free bread.  There is even a lack of decent gluten free bread.  For the past year I took this to mean I just shouldn't eat bread.  But sometimes, just sometimes, I get a craving for a sandwich and I curse gluten while simultaneously having a pity party.

In addition, my brother has been hounding me to figure out to make great bread.  Hounding might be a strong word.  Let's go with encouraging.  So what we have is bad bread, me wanting a sandwich for lunch, and my brother encouraging me to make bread.  Then my friend Mallory sends me an email with a link to the "best ever gluten free sandwich bread".  Ok, this was it.  Time to put on my big girl apron and get to work.

This recipe calls for several things I never use like yeast, almond milk, and apple cider vinegar.  It's a vegan recipe so I needed three "flax eggs" and had to buy ground flax seed.  It also calls for xanthan gum so I finally broke down and bought some.  Normally I would omit it, but if I was going to attempt to make the best ever gluten free sandwich bread, I didn't want to be taking any chances.  Same with the vegan parts.  Could I have used real eggs and milk instead?  Maybe, but I've never made bread before, so get off my back.

Without further ado, here's the recipe from Clean Eating Chelsea.  I copied it right from her site and followed it exactly (mostly).

Best Ever Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup quinoa flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
• 1 tbsp. yeast
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetend almond milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 flax eggs
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 tbsp. honey (optional)
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Instructions:
1. Proof the yeast: Heat up 1/2 cup almond milk and 1 cup water to approximately 105-110 degrees. To do this, I microwaved my liquid for 70 seconds and checked the temperature. Once the liquid is heated, add 1 tbsp. active yeast and 1 tbsp. sugar – give it a quick stir and set aside until foamy (~5 minutes).

2. Make your flax eggs: In a small bowl or mug, mix 3 tbsp. ground flax seed with 9 tbsp. (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp.) water. Give a quick stir and set aside until thickened (~3-4 minutes).

3. Mix your dry ingredients: In a stand mixer bowl, combine 1 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup quinoa flour, 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, 2 tsp. xanthan gum, and 1 tsp. salt. Toss for approximately 10 seconds with a spatula or fork to combine the ingredients.

4. Once your flax eggs have thickened, add 1 tbsp. olive oil, 3 tbsp. honey, and 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar to the eggs. Whisk until ingredients are combined and set aside.

5. Make your dough: By this time, your yeast mixture should be foamy. If not, you might have killed the yeast due to the water being too hot. If this is the case, just start over with new yeast! If your yeast is good to go, pour the yeast and the flax egg mixture into the flour. Using a dough hook attachment, set your mixer to low-medium speed and mix for 3-4 minutes.

6. Let it Rise: Pour your dough into a greased 9×5 bread pan, cover it with a kitchen towel, and let it hang out in an UNHEATED oven for about an hour. Once the dough has risen to the top of the pan, take the bread pan out of the oven.

7. Cook to perfection: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit once the dough has been taken out of the oven. Cook, uncovered for 45-50 minutes. The outside should be golden brown. Let bread cool completely before cutting into slices.


That's it: bread.  I only let my dough rise for half an hour because it was already well over the top of the pan.  Then, I checked my loaf after 40 minutes and the top was golden brown so I took it out.  This was a mistake.  While the flavor of the bread was good, it was a bit underdone.  How are you supposed to know when bread is done though?

While I think this would be good bread had I cooked it long enough, it is still a bit dense, as gluten free bread often is.  It's more the consistency of banana bread than fluffy sandwich bread.  How do you make fluffy gluten free sandwich bread you ask?  No one has figured it out.  I'm telling you, really good gluten free bread doesn't exist yet.  Sure, there are good ones out there, like my personal favorite, Canyon Bakehouse, but honestly, no gluten eating person is throwing down their bread to eat ours.

My brother has informed me I need to keep trying.  According to him, this is just the first in many bread attempts.  I need to figure out the science of it.  The science, as I understand it, is gluten makes things fluffy.  No gluten, no fluffy.  I'll work on it though.  Maybe.

Oh Hi

Sorry I've been missing.  I've been pretty busy with stuff I'm not quite ready to share with you yet.  It's big though, just you wait.  I have been cooking and baking up a storm though.

There are two things I'd like to recommend you make.

First, I made this chicken salad last Monday from With Style & Grace.  I mixed it with greens and had it for lunch every day last week.  It was a nice change from whatever it is I usually eat for lunch.  Next time I'll use grapes instead of raisins.

From With Style & Grace

Next, this weekend I made blueberry scones.  I had never made scones before, but I really like them.  Scones often get a bad rap, but they are perfect with a cup of tea.  They are also, as you may remember, a large part of the reason I got fat in college.  Oops.

From Celiac Teen

Lauren used currants, but I don't like currnts so I used blueberries.  This recipe was another reason I needed a food scale.  If you don't have one, I'm sorry, because I have no idea what this would be in cups.

Ok, back to my busy life now.

Greensquare Tavern

Greensquare Tavern was recommended to me by a fellow Celiac.  While they don't have a dedicated gluten free menu, my friend assured me they have plenty of gluten free options.  I finally got around to trying it last night and was quite happy.

When I asked the waitress about their gluten free selections she informed me that everything on the menu is already gluten free or could be made gluten free except the pastas and bread (i.e. hamburger buns).  This was nice to hear.  My brother and I both ordered the steak.  It came with home made french fries and roasted vegetables.  I hadn't had a steak in a long time and it really hit the spot.

The waitress also informed me that the corn bread muffins were gluten free.  This was very exciting until the bread man came around and all the bread was in the same basket.  As a Celiac, I was horrified.  As a fat kid at heart, I still ate the corn bread.  Don't tell the gluten free police.  This is obviously a giant no no for anyone that is extremely sensitive.  I am moderately sensitive and didn't have a reaction, so yay to that.  Someone a bit more vocal would have mentioned to the staff that it is unacceptable.  I opted for silence and a prayer not to get sick.  It worked.

Despite this snafu, I really enjoyed Greensquare Tavern.  Our waitress was nice, the host came over to check in, and the chef even came out at the end to ask how everything was.  Ok ok, this would have been a good time to mention that you can't keep gluten free corn bread in with the regular bread, but I've eaten at plenty of places with gluten free menus and assurances of my safety and still gotten sick, so you really never know.

Has anyone else been here?  How was your experience?

Bob's Red Mill

Bob's Red Mill is my favorite overall company for GF products.  Bob has all types of flour, gluten free oats, and baking mixes galore.  His products are available all over the place making them not only good, but very convenient.  And he looks so nice, how could you not love Bob?

You may have noticed that I use Bob's All Purpose GF Flour Mix for most of my baking.  It has done pretty well by me thus far, but I think I'm just about ready to branch into trying my own flour mixes.  For Christmas this year I have asked my mom to get me all the gluten free flours I'm too cheap to buy myself - which is basically all of them except rice flour.  I finally want to try baking with almond, coconut, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, etc. flours.  Bob has them all.  I'm very excited.

Bob also has gluten free oats for my winter breakfasts.  In case you don't know, oats in of themselves are considered safe for people with celiac to eat, but because they are usually grown on the same fields as wheat in alternating seasons, they are deemed too cross contaminated to eat.  Bob gets his from fields really far away from wheat.

And now for the mixes.  Sometimes you want homemade products but don't know exactly how to make them.  Bob makes it easy with his gluten free pancake, biscuit, bread, corn bread, brownie, cookie, cake, and pizza dough mixes.  I've tried several of them and they are all really good.

So head on over to Whole Foods or your local health food store and stock up on Bob's.  Then let me know which your favorite is.

Bistango Restaurant

I've been to Bistango a few times now.  In fact, it was one of the very first restaurants I tried after going gluten free.  They are very aware of food allergies and ask upon seating if anyone in your party has any food allergies.  While the menu isn't huge, they specialize in Italian food and have plenty of dishes to choose from.  Just about everything on the menu can be modified to be gluten free, including the pasta dishes.

I went last night and when I told them I had a gluten allergy they promptly brought me some toasted gluten free bread with my own garlic and olive oil.  My man friend's fresh gluten filled bread looked much better, but that's ok.  On Monday nights they have a slightly different menu that is a little bit cheaper.  I like this because while their food is good, it is a little bit above my average night out's price range.  I got the Baked Lasagna with Short Rib Bolognese.  To make it gluten free they modified it by serving the same ingredients over gluten free penne.  It was really good.  My man friend had the Grilled Salmon and enjoyed his as well.  They also have fresh gluten free pasta which I think would be interesting to try.

Overall, Bistango is a pretty good choice for gluten free Italian food in the city.  They do charge $2 more for gluten free penne, but a lot of places do that.  I also just noticed they have gluten free pancakes during brunch, so I will definitely be back to try them at some point.

GF Hamburger Buns

Ok, so I know I just talked about Canyon Bakehouse yesterday, but here I am again to talk about their hamburger buns.  I bought a pack of these last week to keep in my freezer just in case a burger occasion should present itself.  By coincidence, it did today and these buns were there for me.

At my company we have birthday lunches for our team.  The birthday person gets to choose their lunch of choice.  Today's birthday girl picked burgers.  No problem.  I ordered mine without a bun, brought my own, and happily ate along side everyone else without feeling left out at all.  The bun didn't need to be toasted and didn't crumble.  Overall I was very satisfied.

My Favorite GF Bread

I've had a lot of bad gluten free bread in the last year.  Canyon Bakehouse's San Juan 7-Grain is the best I've had.  According to the website, "The San Juan 7-Grain is named after the beautiful San Juan Mountain Range in southwest Colorado. It is loaded with healthy whole grains and touched with a hint of sweetness. Great for sandwiches, buttered or dunked in your favorite soup. This is a versatile, all around favorite choice!"  I agree.  And, at around $5 a loaf, it is reasonably priced in terms of gluten free loaves.  Go ahead, try it.  It looks like this: