Halloween!

Hi Friends.  Tomorrow is Halloween and I'm already dreaming of free snickers and peanut butter cups.  Without an office to go to (oh hey, I quit my job last month!) or kids to hang out with, I'm worried this might be a bit of a challenge. Not that worried though, it is Halloween after all.

I like to take this time each year to remind you there are plenty of gluten free Halloween treats.  Click here to see my original post with a super helpful list of safe and unsafe candy.

Also, in case you are wondering, I'll be hitting up a Halloween party in Philly on Friday with my best friend Madeline.  In general, I refuse to spend more that $20 on Halloween.  This year I think I'll be a ninja because most of my clothes are already black and I just need to procure a sword.  Anyone that knows me should realize this will be a problem because I will be trying to slash people with my fake sword all night.  Get ready Madeline.

Goldbaum's

A few weeks ago I received a box of samples from Goldbaum's.  I have to admit I had never heard of Goldbaum's, but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety I received from them.  They sent me: fettuccine, french onion flatbread crisps, two flavors of quinoa crisps, onion & garlic pop potato chips, ice cream cones, and chow mein noodles.  Ice cream cones and chow mein noodles?  You guys are already the coolest.

Last weekend I worked the New York City Wine and Food Festival.  It was a really fun few days but also long hours and very hectic.  These Goldbaum snacks really saved me.  I brought the flatbread crisps for lunch with some cheese and let me tell you, these crackers are delicious.  I would definitely buy them.

I also really liked the multigrain quinoa crisps.  They are only 100 calories a bag and come in barbecue, sea salt, and onion & garlic.  They are prefect for on the go snacking.  They also have popped potato crisps if that's more your thing.  The brown rice fettuccine came in super handy for quick dinners.

It isn't exactly ice cream season in New York anymore, but I can't wait to try the ice cream cones.  And I'm really not sure when I'm going to use the chow mein noodles, but believe me, that will happen.

Thank you Goldbaum's.  This box of goodies was a very pleasant surprise.

Tate's Bake Shop

Tate's cookies have been sold at gourmet markets in the city for as long as I can remember.  Mostly, I remember because my brother loves them.  He's tall and very thin, yet he has been known to eat an entire package in one sitting.  I recently got to try Tate's because they introduced a gluten free line and I saw them at a market in Astoria.  They have chocolate chip cookies, double chocolate chip cookies, ginger zinger cookies, and brownies.  I tried the chocolate chip and they were delicious.  All are baked in a dedicated gluten free facility.  I hope to see the brownies around sometime because I'd love to try them!

The Sandwich Bar

A few weeks ago I met a friend for lunch and we decided to check out Ditmars Boulevard.  I've lived in Astoria for over 5 years and have only ventured over to Ditmars twice.  We were walking past The Sandwich Bar and I stopped to look at the menu and briefly mourn the lack of sandwiches in my life.  Then I saw they can make their sandwiches on gluten free bread.  I was pretty excited.  I was even more excited when I saw they have a lunch special and hard cider on tap.  I got the pulled pork and cheddar pressed sandwich with a salad and a pint of hard cider.  I love pulled pork.  And cheddar cheese.  And hard cider.

The Sandwich Bar is located on Ditmars Boulevard at 33rd Street, off the Ditmars N or Q stop.  Go.

Crumbs Gluten Free

Cupcakes, as a rule, should be delicious.  I think we can all agree that cupcakes are the world's compromise on what kind of cake to eat.  Why choose one flavor of cake for a gathering when we can get a few of these, and a few of these, and a few of those?

However, as another harsh slap in the face to those of us with Celiac, sometimes gluten free cupcakes are down right bad.  A bad cupcake may sound like an oxymoron, but let me tell you, it's possible and they are lurking out there.  Even on the glossy streets of New York City.  I won't name names, because that's not my style, but they are there.

Crumbs cupcakes, also as a rule, are decadent and delicious.  But until this week, they were way off limits to those of us with Celiac as they were basically baseball sized hunks of gluten rolled in sugar and pretty colors and fairy dust.  Lucky for us, on October 3rd Crumbs opened it's first dedicated gluten and peanut free store.  Crumbs Gluten Free is located in New York City at 37 East 8th Street between Broadway and University.

I went on Thursday and was really impressed.  They had samples and I was able to try the vanilla coconut, red velvet, and some chocolate something or other.  I got a small carrot cake cupcake to take with me and it was really good.  So were the samples.  They have all their regular flavors and some other baked goods available that I did not try.

Thanks for making this happen Crumbs.  I'll definitely be back.