Taste gluten-free cinnamon buns at Whole Foods this week!

The owner of Sweet Odelle's bakery contacted me to let me know she will be sampling her tasty gluten-free cinnamon buns at the Buckhead location of Whole Foods this Thursday, August 2nd. It's kind of a try before your buy demo so if you want to try the tasty sweet treat for free, be sure to get to Whole Foods between 10 am and 12 noon. The tasting time might run long, based on traffic that day. You can find my review of the hand rolled cinnamon buns here. Be sure to look for Sweet Odelle's table at the upcoming Atlanta gluten-free vendor fair as well!    

UPDATE: This event has been moved back to Saturday, Sept. 4th. It will run  from 2 pm to approximately 5 pm. Hopefully more people can stop by on the weekend anyway!

Sugar Shack in ATL has gluten-free cupcakes

I'm on Metrotainment's mailing list and they sent out a note about their new Brookhaven establishment, Sugar Shack, yesterday. I called the place and found out they have chocolate cupcakes daily (until they sell out). I've not been or tried the cupcakes, nor do I know what their cross contamination prevention procedures are. I just wanted people to know about the gluten-free offerings. Just because Sugar Shack primarily bakes gluten items doesn't mean they can't safely produce something that is gluten-free. It does mean that it takes a lot of work on their part to do so.

Some bakeries that are now offering gluten-free items are catering to the trendy gf-ers. Those are people who typically would not know if they ate something than contained gluten. Many bakeries know what the deal is and how sick people can get if they unknowingly consume gluten by a so-called gluten-free bakery treat. As always, ask questions before ordering or buying gluten-free baked goods that are not made in a dedicated gluten-free facility.
           

Mellow Mushroom near Colonial 18 Theatres has gluten-free pizza

My husband's co-worker went to the location on Highway 120 in Lawrenceville for lunch and noticed they had gluten-free pizza. He was thoughtful to tell my husband about it....it's so nice when that happens. Unfortunately for me, they are serving a brand of crust I don't care for at all. It's the one used at Pizza Fusion so if you liked the gluten-free pizza there, you'll likely enjoy it at MM. It's too bad that that the deal for the chain to use a crust from Domata fell through. That pizza crust runs circles around the one MM ended up going with - in my opinion, anyway.

We drove all the way to Conyers to try the gluten-free pizza at Mellow Mushroom months ago. I almost cried thinking of the time and money wasted for a pizza that wasn't as half as good as one I could make at home. Maybe MM should consider using the crust from Udi's. I found a way to make that crust taste like a pizzeria pizza pie...my post about that will hit next week on Celiac-Disease.com. It will be nice when Blue Moon Pizza finally opens up in Gwinnett!

Hopefully, people that like the gluten-free pizza at Mellow Mushroom will go out and support the effort of the chain to cater to our market. I'm super picky - most people seem to like the crust fine.


 

Gluten-free find of the week!

Onion & Chive seeded corn crackers under Trader Joe's label. I found the crackers in the Buckhead store for only $1.29 a box. I'm fairly certain that the same item retails for over $3 under another brand name. Score! In addition to the "no gluten ingredients" symbol, the low sodium logo is also on the box. Spread some Peachtree Pimento on the crackers and you are living the good life - no doubt!  

Examiner.com pages interrupted

Some of you might know that my gluten-free career began when I started writing on Examiner.com. That site offered me a great platform to get my writing feet wet and I'll always appreciate the opportunity afforded me by the website. When I left the site, I went onto better and much more fulfilling positions and I've just taken on an exciting new position that I can't actually talk about yet. Anyone and everyone that has ever followed my work is in part responsible for my success and I can't thank you all enough for making my dream of helping others living gluten-free come true!

Recently, someone contacted me asking why I had taken their website link down from my Examiner.com page. Well, since I don't go on the site anymore - and can't access the pub tool - I was totally taken aback by this question. Sure enough, almost all the link boxes (that took many hours to post) were missing from my Atlanta and Travel pages on the site. At last check, there was a B&B link box still up on the travel page so I'm not sure what's up there. In any case, I assumed that someone (likely an editor) changed the pages because I don't write there anymore. Then I decided to check the page of a current writer on the site and sure enough - all their links were also gone. In the case of that person, all the links went to the Examiner's own work on the site so it made no sense that those links were down. Finally, through people I know from the site (not gluten-free people by the way), I found out that there are some technical difficulties going on with the website.

The issues should be resolved soon (with improvement to the site), but if my links don't reappear on the pages I used to maintain on Examiner.com, I won't be able to put them back up. You need access to the pub tool in order to do that and truthfully, I can't spare the hours it would take to re-do the links if I could get into the site. So, I apologize for this situation which is annoying to say the least. As I have time, I'll be creating some new link lists on this site. I'm sorry for any inconvenience to companies, bloggers, bakeries, authors, restaurants and the like - and thanks for understanding.  

 

     

Download Back-to-School ebook from Jules Gluten-Free!

The deadline to download this FREE ebook is tomorrow so take advantage of the offer from Jules Shepard of Jules Gluten Free flour!

Even if you're not sending a gluten-free child to school - or going to school yourself - you can still benefit by downloading this great guide! Deadline for free download is August 17th, 2010. Enter coupon code b2s (case sensitive).

Excerpt from the Jules Gluten Free website about what you can learn from the ebook:

How and when to talk to teachers and school administrators How to handle birthdays (your child's and others') What responsibilities your school has for accommodating special diets Creative lunchbox ideas for mains, desserts, and snacks The Top Ten college tips, like talking to roommates, talking to dining hall staff, creating short explanations about gluten free eating styles, and meeting gluten free friends.

Win a celiac disease DVD!

Read my review of a touching DVD about celiac disease here. Everyone who enters a comment (by 8-19) is eligible to win one of two DVD's we're giving away. You can also find out how you can help get the film's creator/director on Good Morning America. Even if you don't win, I hope you'll consider supporting this great effort by director Susan Cohen to help spread awareness about celiac disease in the U.S. It's definitely $4.95 very well spent!
    

Fabulous new gluten-free English muffins!

The Celiac Maniac recently sent me some products to review. They sent me both their plain and cinnamon raisin English muffins. None of their products are sold in this area yet. The reason I'm posting my review here is that Kim beat me to it on Celiac-Disease.com. Not surprisingly, she and I agree about how great these things are. You can read her review here.

The English muffins from The Celiac Maniac are exceptional tasting and it's hard to determine which type I like best! To get the best results, I wrapped the fork split muffin in foil and heated until soft. Then I unwrapped the foil to toast it. This is definitely a product line to watch. I hope they get national distribution soon so I can try their cookie doughs and quick breads too!

These English muffins are shipped frozen and need to be re-frozen and kept that way before toasting them. They are good enough to serve picky gluten eaters and they are better than many gluten English muffins I ate in the past. I think McDonald's should use the plain version of The Celiac Maniac English muffin to make gluten-free Egg McMuffins. Yes - they are that fabulous! 

*Special thanks to The Celiac Maniac for my review samples. You really have something special and I hope you are aptly rewarded for your efforts!  

Delight gluten-free magazine on sale now

OK - I'll admit this is a shameless plug for the gluten-free magazine I write for. To be honest, I don't care what magazine people in the gluten-free community read - as long as they read one of them. It is so sad that so people contact me about the most outdated info regarding the same ingredients over and over and over again. We have to avoid enough already - why make it  harder than it has to be? If someone was told to follow the gluten-free diet ten years ago, and they have not kept up to date on the most current news available, they are likely eating cardboard tasting bread and drinking potato vodka (assuming they like vodka). In the Fall issue of Delight gluten-free, Shelley Case addresses some of the most commonly confused gluten-free ingredients. Look for the "Ask the Expert" article in the next issue.

In the current (Summer) issue of Delight gluten-free, you'll find so many gluten-free recipes your head will be spinning. There is a recipe guide so that you can look for recipes that suit your own needs - gluten, dairy, corn and egg free - for example. I'm actually quite surprised by how many egg free recipes are in the new issue of the magazine. Several are even in the dessert section. There are budget friendly recipes and many cool summer salads and treats for those scorching summer days. I'm planning on making the Key Lime Shooters soon!

If you live in the ATL, you might find my article about gluten-free dining options in the area worth checking out. From high end to mid priced places to gluten-free BBQ to unique dining concepts - it's all covered. I'm so sorry that Blue Moon Pizza wasn't listed correctly in the article. Their name was bolded like the other options on my end and somehow the magazine's editing tool changed it (and a word - misspelling it). Gotta love technology...not...lol! My other article in the magazine is all about Asheville. If you live anywhere near there or even in Atlanta - it's worth taking a trip to Asheville to explore the great gluten-free offerings there.

There is now a Quick Guide for the Gluten-Free and Casein-Free Diet in every issue of the magazine. That's what our readers asked for so that's what they got! Hard Ciders are reviewed - so freshing on hot summer days! Custom Choice Cereal is featured as a great new gluten-free cereal option. Have you heard about it? It is an ingenious idea. Visit the Custom Choice Cereal website to find out how you can order your own customized gluten-free cereal! The company can not attend the upcoming Atlanta vendor fair due to a previous engagement, but I'm hoping to be able to hand out brochures for them at my table. I'll also be selling Shelley Case's book, all the Triumph Dinning products and my own t-shirts and hats. Stop by and say hello if you attend the gluten-free event of the year in the ATL!  

Delight gluten-free magazine is sold at Whole Foods, Barnes & Nobles and Borders book stores. It tends to sell out fairly quickly even though most of the stores increase their quantity orders with each issue. As with any magazine, it's more economical to subscribe to the magazine.    

       
 


   

Review: Glow Gluten Free cookies

Glow Gluten Free cookies have been available at Return to Eden for a while now, but I never picked them up. Truthfully, I've never been one to eat cookies as a snack that often. That's changed somewhat since I've been doing gluten-free product reviews, because I have cookies sent to me from time to time for that purpose. Such is the case with Glow Gluten Free cookies. I read one rave review after another about these cookies and finally decided to see what all the buzz was about.

Even though I'd seen so many glowing reviews for Glow's gluten-free goodies, I had never noticed that the ingredients included bean flours. Gosh - I never met a sweet made with such flours that I loved so when I read the ingredients on the sample boxes that arrived at my house last week, I was suddenly not so excited to try them. But of course, I had to. I'd been sent all four flavors to taste so I tried to be positive and gave one of the cookies a try.

First up was the Chocolate Chip cookie. The texture was definitely more crunchy than chewy, but the cookies are crunchy in a soft way...it's hard to explain actually. In any case, the good news is that the taste of the cookies was very good and best of all, there was NO bean flour taste to it. Whew - what a relief!

As the week progressed, we ended up getting into all four flavors of the Glow Gluten Free cookies. Here is how the rest of the flavors broke down at our house.

Snickerdoodles - excellent flavor; my second favorite flavor; my husband's least favorite.

Double Chocolate Chip - exceptional taste; my favorite of the bunch; my husband's second choice.

Ginger Snaps - exceptional texture and taste; my third choice only because I'm not a ginger snap person; my husband's favorite option (he ate four the night we opened them -  giving me one bite - and ate the last three cookies the next day at work).

If you ever watch the Rachel Ray show, you know that she has a "snack of the day" and Glow's Gluten Free cookies recently made the cut. You can watch the video clip here. According to Rachel, we're in the midst of a gluten-free movement. Hey - the more times gluten-free is mentioned on a mainstream cooking show - the better for all of us!

Glow Gluten Free cookies are all natural and free of casein, trans fats and preservative as well. You can view the impressive nutritional data here. The cookies from Glow carry GIG's trusted seal of approval. If you can't find Glow's cookies in your area, you can order them online. My favorite way to enjoy these cookies is to dunk them in hot tea or coffee. Give them a try and I bet they'll have you "glowing" too!

*Special thanks to Jill for my sample cookies and for making healthy gluten-free cookies that taste decadent!