Being gluten-free can still be challenging at times

After being gluten-free for over a decade, one would think there's nothing that would throw me.  From weddings to funerals to holiday parties to business functions and non-celiac in-law holidays...I've done it all gluten-free.  For the most part, I've done well when not in charge of where we're eating out.  I do my due diligence, as always, so I pretty much know what to expect on arrival to a restaurant I didn't have the option to choose myself.   

On a recent trip to celebrate an in-laws milestone birthday, I had one of the worst experiences I've had in years.  After contacting the chosen b-day dinner restaurant about what I could safely order, I felt good about the options.  While the email message I got from some manager at the place was rather curt, I chalked it up to them being from New York and didn't think much more of it.

We arrived with a group of 9 to an overly crowded and noisy place...the latter being a blessing in the end.  After I asked the server if they had a gluten-free menu, his demeanor changed in a bad way.  A minute later, some woman who claimed to be the owner of the place was quickly shoving a gluten-free menu in my face and rambling - quite rudely - that they "knew what they were doing and I could ask her if I had any questions".  My husband and I were stunned at the behavior, tone and comments and had no idea why this happened.  I review the limited gf menu and quickly decide that I just want to order seafood (we are at the beach after all) instead of gf pasta or anything else that is considered a replacement item.

When I try to order one of the shrimp entrees, I'm told I can't have it.  That's okay...I'm ready with a back up option, as anyone ordering a at new place better be.  Garlic butter shrimp was said to be fine - no modifications were mentioned.  I was told I could not have the whipped potatoes and would get a baked potato instead.  No question about what the other options might be...  It's right about this point, that in any other situation, we're out of the chairs and headed for the door.  I wouldn't initiate this decision to leave...my husband would have.  But we are not in the position to get up and leave, of course.

When our food comes, I'm given whipped potatoes...which I'd earlier been told - rather rudely - that I could not have.  Then my entree is put down and it looks like plain shrimp with a lemon wedge.  It doesn't look like it's sauteed - nor is any garlic butter sauce to be found.  My husband waives over the server and we ask about the garlic butter.  He snaps that the sauce isn't gluten-free and quickly disappears from the table.  In any other situation, we're asking for my entree to be removed from the check, as I would not want to overpay that much for a bland meal.  But again, we don't have that option.

It turned out that the shrimp had been steamed.  There was no seasoning...no salt or pepper.  I was in a state of shock and my husband was concerned that the potatoes might not be safe.  I was so hungry that I could have eaten the tablecloth so if I threw up later, oh well.  The decent tasting potatoes were in fact, gluten-free.  The unimaginably bland shrimp were also fine - not good - just gluten-free fine.  The place did have good gf crackers so I slathered too many of them with butter in order to get full.

In the end, I didn't get sick and I also didn't have a nice meal.  My husband ordered poorly - that was on him since he can order anything - and didn't enjoy his meal either.  We obviously won't ever go back to the Beachcomber in southwest FL.  At least that's something positive that came from this shockingly disappointing experience :)





  
    

Gluten-free means never not having to question everything

Remember the movie Love Story?  In it, there's a somewhat ridiculous line, though it's sweet in the film, "love means never having to say you're sorry".  I told you it was ridiculous.... Anyway, I was thinking recently about what gluten-free really means.  Of course, it means different things to different people.  There are some, or rather, many of us that are gluten-free because we have celiac, a gluten intolerance issue or worse, a wheat allergy (gluten-free is wheat free, but wheat free doesn't mean gluten-free, BTW).  Then there are hoards of other people that couldn't explain what gluten-free actually means for a million bucks.

I think we've all been guilty of being glad that so many people have jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon in the last several years. It's hard not to get excited when you can find a gluten-free version of apple fritters, battered fish and even "fried onions" at your local supermarket.  Today in fact, there are more gluten-free versions of things I can have than I can't.  Over a decade ago, I never thought I'd be able to say that.

Recently, I attended a charity event (which I didn't buy tickets for, but went as a guest) and beforehand I checked to see if any of the "finger food" served at the venue would be gluten-free. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly based on the town I was in, I found out I could eat something from the saute station and nothing else.  I didn't realize until we arrived that some cheese grits with spinach dish was the ONLY thing at the saute station.  Oh well, that's why I had cheese crackers, almonds and yogurt pretzels in my bag...lol!

We were going out to dinner after the event so I just needed something to nibble on while tasting many delicious wines. But my husband, who gets way more annoyed about me not finding safe food at such events than I do, was determined to find something else for me to enjoy. In checking out the mostly gluten-filled buffet station options, he noticed individual servings of what looked like a berries and cream dessert. Surely, he thought, this must be gluten-free. He excitedly told me about what he'd found and decided we should find out if I could enjoy this lovely treat.

Mind you, we're in a hotel ballroom so there aren't servers and employees running around just anywhere. We had to wait for a while until we finally found someone to ask.  The guy dressed in kitchen garb, including a "chef's jacket", that I decided to ask about the dessert seemed put off by being disturbed. That's fine by me - I just had a quick question that he could answer easily with a "yes, no or I don't know". His answer didn't bring much confidence that the dessert was gluten-free.  In the end, he determined that it was.  And if I was new to the gluten-free game, I would have made myself very sick away from home - not cool.

Trusting my instinct instead of the questionable (and somewhat questionable) answer from the restaurant staffer, I asked my husband to eat the dessert first.  If he determined that it tasted like berries and cream (all that was supposedly in it), then I would have gladly tried it myself. But guess what?  There were TINY pieces of cake in the dessert!  That's right - cake - and it was NOT gluten-free cake, obviously. How ridiculous is that?  I honestly had a hard time believing it happened!

I felt really badly that I let this incident pretty much ruin the rest of my night.  Not because I ate something that made me sick - I was vigilant enough to keep that from happening.  Not because I wanted the dessert either.  It just infuriates me that so MANY people in the U.S. still DO NOT get what food allergies are or - or know what gluten-free means.  Honestly, only third world countries are behind us on this issue.  It's completely embarrassing how misinformed (or totally uninformed) the majority of food service workers are in this country.   

#SICKOFGLUTENFREEIGNORANCE!    


       

Gluten-free events at Whole Foods

There is a gluten-free event at the Buckhead location of Whole Foods Market this weekend.  I'm not why the location is not listed on the above flyer that the demo manager sent me.  Look for details on the store's website.

There is also an August event coming up at the Harry's Whole Foods store in Marietta.  Click this link and scroll down for the gluten-free event info for that store.

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!


        

Whole Foods event in Atlanta - May 21st

The above event is at the Buckhead (Atlanta) location of Whole Foods Market on May 21st. Tom Flynn from Atlanta Metro Celiacs will be there giving a    Gluten-Free 101 class in the cafe at 2 pm.  

Yes - I worked the ATL gluten-free vendor fair

The recent gluten-free vendor fair was definitely the best event we've ever had in Atlanta. Because I worked the show, the only speaker I got to see was Cynthia Kupper from GIG. She spoke before the show started and was amazing. We were so lucky to have her attend the event this year!

To those of you who looked for my table and never found it, I apologize that my table location was out in the hall. Some vendors even asked me after the show why I didn't work the show since they could not find my table in the main ballroom. One of the exit doors dumped out right in front of our space, but some people went in and out the other door and never got down to our side of the hall. I sincerely apologize to anyone who thought I didn't show up. Wild horses could not keep me away from the wonderful event!

Regardless of our table location, we ended up selling almost all our t-shirts and ran out of three sizes of them at the show.  Many kids wanted a shirt but we didn't have anything but adult sizes. All sizes are in stock at my Cafe Press Store, Make Mine Gluten Free. The new edition of the Triumph Dining Restaurant Guide has over 6500 restaurants listed and many people were excited to find out such a book exists. I would never have survived my first gluten-free year without the dining cards and restaurant guide from the line. Thanks to all who helped make it worth our while to work the show this year!

I must admit that I'm looking forward to next year when I won't be working the show. There is just too much going on for me to be stuck behind the table for most of the event. Some of the local vendors I didn't get to see asked me to come to their businesses to get samples of things to review. The products I picked up at the show will be reviewed on Celiac-Disease.com starting next week.

Tomorrow is a big day in the ATL!

Don't forget - THE gluten-free event of the year (in the South) is tomorrow in Norcross. If you're in the Atlanta area and are living gluten-free for any reason, there is no place else to be except this amazing show! Stop by my table (in the front hall) and say hello if you attend. And remember to come VERY hungry!

In addition to selling all the Triumph Dining items and Shelley Case's must-have book, I'll also have some cute t-shirts and hats at my table. The $10 shirts are Hanes Beefy-T's and I have just a few of each (adult) size S-XXL. The $5 hats are embroidered with the slogan "Just say NO to gluten!". If you buy both the price is only $12 - what a deal! *cash and check only for all items.  

For more info on the local vendors that will be exhibiting, check out this post.

Atlanta's GF Vendor Fair is just around the corner!

Remember everyone - the most amazing gluten-free event of the year (in the entire Southeast) is just two weeks away. The AMC Gluten-Free Vendor Fair is September 26th in Norcross, GA. There is a $5 charge to attend (payable in cash only) and unlike previous events here, there are amazing speakers and even a cooking class by Jules of Jules Gluten Free!*. If someone wanted to try everything sampled at the event and had to buy it all themselves, the cost would be in the hundreds of dollars so it's an incredible value, to say the least!

I'll be selling the line of fabulous products from Triumph Dining, Shelley Case's amazing must have book and some cute t-shirts and hats. More details about that coming next week. For now, please read all about the wonderful event here.

*Cooking class not included in admission and is a pre-paid event requiring online registration. You can find details about the class here. 

 

Gluten-free Week in Atlanta!

The creator of some pretty good gluten-free baked goods and some incredible gluten-free mixes, Lee Tobin of Whole Foods, is teaching a gluten-free cooking class this Friday in Atlanta. There are still some spots left, so please sign up soon if you're interested in attending.

Here are the details from the website-

October 16th / 6:30 - 8:30pm / Whole Foods Alpharetta / $35

After years of perfecting gluten-free recipes, Lee Tobin developed the idea
for Whole Foods Market Gluten-Free Bake House, producing delicious gluten-free
products including breads, cookies, scones, biscuits, pizza crusts, pies and
brownies. Join Lee for an entertaining and informative look at the gluten-free
diet and learn some delicious recipes to savor at home this holiday
season.

Menu: Turkey Pot Pie; Roasted Squash Stuffed with Quinoa; Mini Yucca
Cakes; Caesar Salad with Croutons; and Sweet Potato Pie

Instructor: Lee Tobin of Whole Foods Market


This class is a pre-paid event. Please sign up here to attend -www.wholefoodsmarket.com/saludalpharetta

Don't forget this Saturday is the gluten-free event of the year in the Southeast. Here are just a few of the great vendors that will be exhibiting at the AMC Gluten-Free Vendor Fair:

Food:
Namaste / Kettle Cuisine / Domata Living Flour / Kitchen Table Bakers / Caesar's Pasta Products / Gluten-Free Naturals / Gluten-Free Bakehouse / The Free Cookie / Sweet Oven and Company / Pamela's Products

Books:

Gluten-Free Passport / Triumph Dining (yours truly at this table)