Gluten Freebird

Travel was one of the first things that sprang to mind when I first learned about gluten. I figured that if I still wanted to travel, I’d have to learn the words for wheat and gluten in every language.

Not the most adept at languages, I figured my best bet might be traveling with a suitcase full of snacks (oh, the melodrama).

There are some solid (often free) resources for help when traveling with allergies.

Selectwisely.com has a very intensive list of cards available for purchase. You can select a single allergy or dietary need – vegetarian and vegan cards are available – then translate the need into one of several languages. The words are bold and printed with a corresponding picture.

Celiactravel.com is a donation-based site specifically for gluten intolerance. The site has PDFs of celiac restaurant cards in 48 languages and welcomes translations for other languages. It’s a bit more DIY than the laminated card, but has a better range of languages.

Glutenfreepassport.com also has free, printable cards for several languages.

Old pet peeve: When wedding couples would sacrifice the flavor of their nuptial cake for the appearance. Cake is meant to be tasted.

New pet peeve: When I end up with ice cream, pudding, or sorbet in lieu of cake.

I know: It’s not fair to expect people to come up with a gluten-free cake just because I can’t eat the regular cake, but I propose a solution.

Cherry Blossom Cakes (written up in DailyCandy).
[Read more →]

D.C. foodies have been drooling over Buzz’s cupcake of the month, a muffin of devil’s food cake frosted with a luscious peanut butter and bacon marriage.

courtesy of buzz

Since I worship chocolate, eat enough peanut butter to be considered part of the Jiff family, and dream about bacon, this cupcake was meant for me.

Only it wasn’t available to those of us who can’t have muffins. But wait no longer: tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 21), Buzz will have the little darlings ready for the gluten-impaired. Flecks of bacon, heaps of peanut butter, and a chocolate muffin will be mine, all mine.

The NY Times is on a roll with gluten. I was really interested to read about today’s gluten-free patients blowing their budgets on ingredients.

I’m astounded by the high prices of gluten-free ingredients. The alternative of eliminating starch-based foods means a healthier, but also costly diet of proteins and vegetables. Sure, you’ll spend $12 on a package of xanthan gum, but here are my main gripes: [Read more →]

The corporate sweet tooth is catching up with us.

Diner’s Journal at nytimes.com blogged yesterday about Betty Crocker’s new gluten-free mixes. They haven’t shown up on any shelves near me, but soon?

When I went gluten-free, I felt somewhat glad to get away from the boxed mixes, which I’d grown up loving. Those mixes were the easy route and I knew I could do better making them from scratch, but I am tickled by the idea of the ease (and yes, I loved canned frosting, too).

Sure, there are plenty of GF mixes out there, but they don’t feel nearly as cheap as the mass market products. Gluten-free products used to seem more healthy. Not anymore! But I am definitely not above testing a batch to see if from-scratch prevails.

Here’s hoping the cheapie make-and-bake coffee cakes are next?

If you happen to find yourself in upstate NY (as I did over the weekend), rest assured that there’s plenty of gluten-free love.

Gluteneer and I ambled into New Paltz for the night. My urban side dreamed of a country afternoon spent wading through the river, but really we just hung out with wine and relived college days with a room in the local hostel. (Yes, really.)

There are two notable food perks for this area. [Read more →]

I’ve been away (from the blog) on my annual cleanse of no meat/dairy/caffeine/alcohol. Clean and refreshing? Yes. Inspiring of blog posts? Not quite. But I’m back on the wagon, which means my first stop was the dessert aisle.

I busted over to the Old Town Whole Foods in search of some new treasures. Wandering the frozen aisle in search of treats, I noticed some packages from Moondance Heavenly Desserts.

The Ohio-based company bakes gluten-free products that don’t hold back on the other goodness.

These little treats are stuffed with dairy, butter, and richness. [Read more →]