Gluten Free Bounty

Summer magic

We have at last returned from our Pacific Northwest vacation and I have to apologize for going offline for three weeks. Traveling with toddlers turned out to be a bit more challenging that we’d expected, so we didn’t end up doing much gourmet cooking.

That said, I am so happy to report that our family was able to eat gluten free with surprisingly little difficulty all the way along our journey. We found Whole Foods and Capers markets in every major city throughout California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. We discovered gluten free bakeries in Vancouver, BC and an excellent gluten free fish and chips restaurant in Portland, OR. Even our out of town friends who hosted us for meals at their homes prepared delicious gluten free meals for us to enjoy. Eating gluten free turned out to be the very least of our travel worries.

Now that we have arrived home, I will be updating this blog again regularly. I am thrilled to report that while we were out of town my new photography lights (Lowel Ego) arrived and I have begun to experiment with them. These first photos seem a bit washed out to me, but I hope that as time passes and I become better versed in the art of photography I will be able to provide you readers with mouth-watering food photos to accompany the recipes.

Here are some sample photos taken with the new lights:

Trout, a little blurry... still working on the lighting

Lucky to have a husband who cooks!

Lastly, I want to report about a recent discovery. While restocking our refrigerator at my small local market yesterday I was stunned and thrilled to see the words Gluten Free pop out at me from a magazine on the rack at the check-out stand. The magazine, Living Without is apparently celebrating its 10th year in operation. This is the first time my market has carried it, so perhaps as food intolerances and allergies are discovered more frequently their circulation and readership are expanding into new territories.

Living Without

I purchased a copy and after reading many of the articles and recipes have decided to become a subscriber. I was especially impressed with their comprehensive one page Gluten-Free Diet Quick Start Guide which gives a concise description of celiac disease and all of the foods allowed and not allowed, or those that may contain gluten. I can’t wait to Xerox this for my close friends and family members who have expressed a desire to cook for us but worry that they don’t understand the boundaries of a gluten free diet. The magazine also contains an equally great quick start guide for a casein free diet.

My only suggestion for this great and worthy publication would be that its title seems to me a bit dour... out of touch with the health benefits and other delights of a gluten free lifestyle. I don’t mean to sound like Pollyanna, but "Living Without" sounds like it describes hardship. Going gluten-free has been so liberating for me, and so great for my own physical and emotional health – I feel like a magazine publicizing the benefits of a gluten free diet and wonderful gf products could better be called Gluten Free Bounty!

That said, I’m very excited to experiment with their tasty sounding recipes for Mediterranean Stuffed Zucchini, fresh-baked gluten free bread and low sugar jam... will let you know how they turn out! It’s nice to be home, and great to be back in the kitchen!