Holiday Menu at Sally's Bakery

Sally's Bakery - now with two locations in the Atlanta area - still has their Holiday gluten-free menu available so be sure to place your order soon. Many of the special items on the menu are only available for the holiday season.  Whether you need desserts, breads or dinner rolls - Sally's has you covered!

Even though it's not on the holiday menu, the Sweet Potato quick bread is a wonderful addition to your holiday breakfast menu.  Thankfully, this delicious and flavor-packed bread is available year round!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a deliciously gluten-free, happy and healthy New Year!!!
     

More gluten-free dining options in the ATL

There is a new, upscale wine bar in the ATL worth checking out.  Vino Venue, a division of the Atlanta Wine School, in the Dunwoody area is conveniently located just off 285.  Though the focus of this hot spot is wine - the small plates menu has plenty of gluten-free offerings.  We had pimento cheese stuffed peppers, an incredible (perfectly dressed!) salad, the cheese plate and the chocolate bacon dessert.  The cheese plate was the most impressive and value priced I've had in a long while and everything else was delicious!  If it's still on the menu when I return, I'll definitely try the Truffle Popcorn! Obviously, the wine selection is impressive and there is unique way to taste several wines without breaking the bank.  Find out more about this unique place by visiting Vino Venue's website.    

Next up is Dal Cuore in the Johns Creek area.  While our first visit there was more impressive than the next one, we'll definitely go back.  The gluten-free selections include pasta, pizza and at times dessert.  We had Tiramisu there once which was incredible, as were their gluten-free dinner rolls! During our last visit, there were no rolls to be had and I later found out they no longer serve them (as of late Nov. 2012).  That unfortunate news prompted a party of six of us to move our recent dinner reservation to a more gluten-free friendly venue on the other side of town.

Enter Sprig - a darling local bistro located near Northlake Mall.  We enjoyed gluten-free cornbread as our table bread.  There is gluten-free bread for the gluten-free appetizer options (we loved the smoked trout dip!), gluten-free pasta and hamburger buns (when available) and a killer molten chocolate cake that alone is worth going there for!  There is a nice wine selection and the place has a comfortable neighborhood feel.  We can't wait to go back for brunch!  Check out the Sprig menus here.

Atlanta is definitely the gluten-free dining capital of the South!  That fact is something I try to remember to be thankful for all year long.

Happy gluten-free dining and holidays to all!  

Special Thanksgiving options at Sally's Bakery

My apologies for the tardiness of this post.  I've been meaning to get this up for the past two weeks.  If you haven't yet ordered your special Thanksgiving items from Sally's Gluten-Free Bakery in Atlanta, there is still (very little) time to do so!  Here is their Thanksgiving menu.

There are now two locations of Sally's Bakery in the metro Atlanta area. Check out where they are on the company's website.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Don't miss Dr. Rudert in Atlanta!

Dr. Rudert's office recently contacted me to let me know that Dr. Cynthia Rudert is speaking in Atlanta at the GIG meeting on September 15.  If you haven't seen this entertaining celiac specialist speak before, I highly recommend you take advantage of this FREE opportunity to do so!

Please visit gigofatlanta.com for details.

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND!


        

Gluten-free finds at Natural Foods Warehouse

The only pasta I find edible for cold pasta salad recipes is the blend made by Andean Dream. I've even passed it off to people who will do everything possible to avoid gluten-free replacement foods and they had no idea it was gluten-free. Until now, the only store I could find it at previously was very difficult to get to, but they finally have it at Natural Foods Warehouse in Duluth! They even have small shells which I've never seen before.

This might not be new at this store, but the gluten-free mac-n-cheese in a cup (from Pastariso) is  $.85 at NFW. I've not tried it yet, but many people I know really love it. It seems like a perfect item for travel when staying with friends/family that are not gluten-free. Just add water, nuke for a bit and you have gluten-free mac-n-cheese.

Last, but not least, the new SOFT white hamburger and hotdog buns as well as the new multi-grain bread from Kinnikinnick have arrived at NFW in Duluth! The White Bread is still on back order from the distributor. The buns are only $2.83 (for 4) right now, but that might be an introductory price. If you liked soft white buns that didn't require toasting when you ate gluten, you might want to give these new game-changing products a try.  

Gluten-Free at The Grove Park Inn

The first time I dined at The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC, it was during the Christmas holidays. I was not gluten-free back then and the holiday buffet we enjoyed was spectacular in terms of taste and visually amazing as well. Seeing the impressive holiday themed ice sculpture alone was worth the price of the meal!

During the last week of December last year, we popped over to Asheville from TN after spending  Christmas with family. We enjoyed viewing the wonderful Gingerbread House Competition entries at the inn before heading to feast on a gourmet meal at Horizons - the high end dining room at the resort. The sprawling property is always busy, especially so during the holidays, and this year was no exception. We were glad to get away from the crowds and enter the relaxed atmosphere inside Horizons.

We were seated by the window and had an incredible view of Asheville down below. Our friendly server introduced herself and someone delivered freshly made gluten-free savory mini biscuits to the table. I named the bread that because that's what it reminded me of. A bite of the tasty mini biscuit with a dab of butter on it and I knew I was in for a real treat!

Below are my selections from the printed gluten-free menu offered to me that evening. There are no photos posted because the ones I took did not turn out at all. I've spent way too much time trying to  make them viable to publish here, but I can't do that to the talented culinary team at Horizon's. Their dishes looked like artwork at times and the photos don't do the impressive meal any justice at all.


STARTER

Amuse Bouche - green tomato jam with blue crab salad atop lemon creme fraiche, garnished with shaved fennel, fennel fronds and spiced pumpkin seeds.  

FIRST COURSE

Butternut Squash Bisque - shaved dark chocolate and marshmallow fluff
        
SECOND COURSE

Slow Braised Hickory Nut Gap Pork Belly - quail egg, citrus confit and grilled scallion

MAIN COURSE

Pan Seared Diver Scallops - braised South Texas wild boar, Swiss chard and Hendersonville apple butter

DESSERT

Artisan Cheese Plate - served with gluten-free bread 


Most everything I had at Horizons was wonderful! The description of the bisque was so intruiguing that I could not pass on ordering it, and I was surprised that I actually quite enjoyed it. The pork belly was out of this world delicious and I was glad my husband doesn't care for that dish so I didn't have to share it.  The scallops were incredible as was the apple butter, but I don't care for Swiss chard at all.

There were three desserts on the gluten-free menu and I was in the mood for a cheese plate listed among the offerings.  The artisan cheeses served were all wonderful, and while I appreciated the gluten-free bread wedges served with them, I didn't have room much of it. It was similar to pita bread wedges and pretty tasty.

The menu changes at Horizons often so that the freshest and most local ingredients can be used. However, I want to share the other interesting dessert options available to me during our visit.

*Stirred Lemon Custard - torched meringue and blueberry sorbet
*Espresso Mousse - flourless cinnamon cake and chocolate-orange ice cream 
   

There are several restaurants at the resort, but we didn't inquire about other gluten-free options as we only visited for dinner one evening.  If you make reservations at Horizons, be sure to mention your gluten-free needs so the staff can accommodate you deliciously!
        

Review: GlutenTox Home gluten test kit

For whatever reason, I've never ordered, used or reviewed a gluten detection product in the past.  There have been a couple of such products on the market for a while now, but I've never felt the need to use one.  However, I was recently offered the chance to receive the newest gluten test kit for free, in exchange for a review of it.  Naturally, I accepted the offer!  I've always wondered how well such products work, but not enough to fork out good money to find out. 

My GlutenTox kit arrived just before Christmas and so far I've only tested one product.  I gave quite some thought to what products I would test.  I wanted to find something that I know some people are hesitant to try, for whatever reason.  I finally decided on the new Snickerdoodles cookies from Trader Joe's.  The reality is that GIG certifies the TJ gluten-free items (or at least some of them as shown in their current certified product handbook), but some people don't like the fact that the products carry only a 'g' symbol, which at TJ's denotes only that the product is made without gluten ingredients.  There is no mention of 'gluten-free' anywhere on the items.   

The packaging of GlutenTox is very professional and the instructions are VERY easy to understand and follow.  You basically follow the steps given, in order, and in about 20 minutes, you have your result.  You can test for either 20 ppm or for 5 ppm.  I chose to use the 20ppm method.  As expected, the Snickerdoodles from Trader Joe's (their store brand with the 'g' no gluten ingredients symbol on the box) tested gluten-free.  I was not surprised since I enjoy such items from that store on a regular basis.   

Since this is the only testing product I've ever used, I can't speak to how it stacks up to similar items.  I can only say that using this kit could not be easier and an intelligent six year old (who can read) could use it successfully.  It doesn't get much easier than that!

More about GlutenTox (and a discount code!) from the company:

With GlutenTox Home you can quickly and reliably check for gluten in foods, liquids, and personal products/cosmetics:

• Easily detect gluten from wheat, barley, rye and oat with the G12 antibody

• Adjustable sensitivity: choose 5ppm or 20ppm

• Results in less than 20 minutes

• No special equipment required

• Qualified Medical Expense for HSA, HRA, FSA account holders

GlutenTox Home is found in select stores, including New Vitality Health Foods in Orland Park, IL and Strictly Gluten Free in East Northport, NY. It's also available online at glutentox.com — where you can enter the code GF2012 to receive free shipping until noon (EST) on January 20th, 2012.