It's Halloween Again!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hey Folks.  It's Halloween again except this year I practically forgot because of a little storm named Sandy.  I was supposed to be in San Francisco right now trick or treating with my three year old nephew Gus and 6 month old niece Vivian.  Instead, I was home all day reading and cleaning because flights and public transportation just aren't happening.  Work was cancelled, which is great except that it means I didn't come across any fun sized Halloween treats.  I figured I better re-post my post from last year so you can remember how much I love candy and in case you need a reminder of what candy is gluten free what candy is in the danger zone.  Have a fun and safe day!

Fresh Restaurant Toronto

 

I went out to eat twice when I was in Toronto and both times was to Fresh.  That's right, I liked it so much the first time I went back the next morning for bunch.  View the menu here.  Saturday afternoon we went for lunch and I had the Baby Buddha on brown rice and a smoothie.  Sunday morning I had the gluten free vegan blueberry pancakes served with real maple syrup.  These people really know the way to my heart.

Bunner's Vegan and Gluten Free Bakeshop - Toronto

As I mentioned in my post about visiting Toronto last weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving, Amanda's sister was nice enough to bring gluten free stuffing and pumpkin pie for me.  She got the goods from Bunner's.  Bunner's is a vegan and gluten free bakery in Toronto.  The stuffing was perfect with my Thanksgiving meal and the pie was perfect for dessert.  I was extremely thankful.

Not only did she buy the stuffing and pumpkin pie, but she also got a cinnamon bun.  Her husband sampled the bun in the car on the way to Thanksgiving dinner and deemed it uneatable.  I sampled it when she arrived and deemed it heaven on earth.  With all the amazing food available I kept craving this cinnamon bun and taking little pieces off of it throughout the night.  I then suavely put it in my purse to take back with me to Padmini's apartment.

When we got home Padmini and I laid on her couch in our lounge clothes and kept talking about how full we were.  The next morning we woke up and had pie for breakfast.  To accompany our pie Padmini had a carrot cake cupcake and I had the remainder of the cinnamon bun warmed up in the oven.  Did I already mention it was heaven on earth?  Let me tell you, it's a good thing there isn't a Bunner's in New York or I would be in big vegan gluten free cinnamon bun from heaven trouble. BIG TROUBLE.

I haven't been to the Bunner's location, but if you are ever in Toronto I highly suggest you stop by for a treat.

Canadian Thanksgiving!

Last weekend I went to Toronto for Canadian Thanksgiving.  The fact that it was Canadian Thanksgiving was just an added bonus to the fact that I got to see my three roommates from college.  I transferred to McGill junior year and was very fortunate to land in an apartment with such great people.

This is us in college.

I've seen all three of these ladies several times since college, but this was the first time the four of us had been together since we lived together.  We only got to spend a few hours all together this visit, but it was aca-awesome.  We chatted and saw Pitch Perfect. Go see Pitch Perfect.

Sunday, Amanda's aunt graciously took me and Padmini into her home for Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving in Canada is pretty similar to Thanksgiving in the United States in that it revolves around family and eating lots of good food.  Amanda's family is Italian so in addition to the traditional Thanksgiving cuisine (turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, and cranberry sauce), they had focaccia and eggplant parmigiana.

Their Thanksgiving was amazingly nearly gluten free.  I couldn't eat the focaccia, eggplant parmigiana, or stuffing, but I could eat mostly everything else.  They make their gravy with cornstarch instead of flour and her sister got me gluten free stuffing and gluten free pumpkin pie!  Canadians are so friendly.

Not only was the food amazing, but the company was great.  Thanksgiving at my house is all about food and crazy family dynamics and it was very similar at Amanda's.  From the sister of her uncle by marriage that mostly spoke Italian and asked me when I was getting married, to her uncle that said that he too could be stunning with all the bullshit women put on their faces, to Amanda and her brother in law getting into a heated discussion about organic food, I had a great time.  I had such a nice time I'm thinking of inviting myself back next year as well.

Thank you Amanda for having me at your family gathering and thank you Padmini for hosting me.  Thank you Tahnee for being you.  I love and miss you all.

Food Bloggers in NYC Meetup at Murray's Cheese

 

As I've mentioned a few times, I'm a member of the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group.  I've met some really nice people this way and most importantly gotten a lot of good information about Celiac Disease.

A few weeks ago my friend Mallory over at total noms and co-owner of Mile End Bakery decided she wanted to start a meetup for Food Bloggers in NYC.  As a fellow food blogger and friend, I signed right up.  Within just a few days there were over 80 members!

The first meetup was Tuesday night at Murray's Cheese Bar in the West Village.  I'd never been and I'm really not sure why.  Who doesn't like cheese?!  The menu has many different cheeses broken up into: fresh, soft-ripened, washed rind, semi-firm and firm, and blue. They also have several kinds of meats.  If you aren't in the mood for just cheese and meat standing on their own, they also have sandwiches, fondue, mac & cheese, enchiladas, and salads.

I opted to have two cheeses and a meat.  With all the different cheeses on the menu I wasn't sure what to get and let the cheesemonger (yes, that's a real word) choose for me.  I ended up with a Rainbeau Ride Meridian fresh cheese, Ewephoria Gouda semi-firm, and Creminelli Wild Boar Salami.  It was excellent and I really liked the cute slate it was served on.  I would definitely go back.  My picture turned out terribly but Mallory captured a photo of someone else's that was very nice:

Not only was the food good, but so was the company.  I met a few nice people with food blogs and some that are interested in starting food blogs.  I look forward to our future events.  If you have a food blog and live in NYC, come join us!

Check out Mallory's review on Total Noms and my new blogger friend Rechelle's on Romio.

Cereal Envy

I don't know about everyone else, but I really love cereal.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, it doesn't matter the time of day.  Pre-gluten free I ate a lot of cereal: Kix, Cheerio's, Grape Nuts, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Smart Start, Chex, Frosted Mini Wheats, Granola, and the list of delicious cereals goes on and on.  Gluten free me sometimes just stands in the cereal aisle at my local grocery store dreaming and reminiscing.  That sounds creepy, so just kidding (not kidding at all).

One of my favorite cereals was Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds.  You know what the Honey Bunches of Oats site says about it's cereal?  "Bunches of Love".  I want bunches of love!  Instead of feeling badly for myself about not having delicious bunches of love, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  You know what they say, "When life hands you Celiac, make your own Honey Bunches of Oats".  Or something like that.

I came across this cereal at my local health food store:

Perfect!  Then I made half a batch of this granola without the pumpkin and cranberry parts.  Then I just mixed it all together.      I was a bit weary of it dry, but with milk this morning it was pretty good.  Not the same of course, but I felt good about it.  Next time: more honey.