Monday, March 25, 2013

Easter Sunday Feast

Easter is next Sunday. After Christmas, it is our largest holiday for food. In Ireland, we wake up to find large chocolate eggs have been deposited by our beds by the Easter Bunny, then church, then the whole family come together for Easter dinner.

Our Easter dinner would usually be a smoked salmon starter, a leg of lamb or a ham with mashed potatoes, carrots and parsnips for our main course and then dessert! Dessert in our house was usually pavlova, a delicious meringue, cream and fruit concoction that is the one thing that instils silence at the table while we eat!

I, personally, find it very difficult to make a pavlova. Every time I do it is either overcooked or raw. There is a knack to it that I do not have. However, I have discovered a recipe that is fool proof and is impressive enough to serve at any dinner party and is totally gluten free, and if you use a non dairy cool whip type of cream it can also be dairy free.

This is my rolled over pavlova. It is like a Swiss roll made with meringue. Delicious! In case you are looking a great dessert to bring to your Easter feast, here is my recipe for Rolled Over Pavlova.

Rolled Over Pavlova

5 egg whites
5 oz extra fine sugar
5 oz confectioners sugar
2 tsp corn starch

Line a baking tray (about 9 x 13) with parchment paper and spray with Pam. Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Beat the egg whites and extra fine sugar together until you have stiff peaks. Be patient, it must be very stiff. Fold in the confectioners sugar and corn starch.

Gently put the mixture into the baking tray and spread out to corners. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes. The top will be a little crispy and the inside will still be soft and gooey.

Let the pavlova cool in the tray and then turn out carefully onto another sheet of parchment paper. Gently remove the original parchment paper from the pavlova. Spread whipped cream or whipped filling over the pavlova and then drop in fruit of your choice. I love raspberries or strawberries but I have used kiwis, blueberries or pineapple.

Now take one short edge of the parchment paper and gently roll the pavlova over and over to make a pavlova Swiss roll. On the last roll, place the edge of the pavlova at the edge of your place and roll the pavlova onto your display plate.

If this sounds a little too difficult the first time out, just cut the pavlova in thirds and gently place one layer on top of the other and turn the top layer cream side down to create a layered pavlova dessert.

Decorate the pavlova with blobs of cream and fruit along the top of the roll.

It is easier than it sounds when I write it out1 Try it, you'll enjoy it.


Monday, March 18, 2013

Ireland- Home of the Celiacs!!!

I am back from Ireland a week now. What a great trip! So relaxing!

I went straight from the airport to a hotel with my mother and sisters. How nice to be able to tell the staff at the hotel that we had a number of celiacs in the party and then forget about it for the weekend. At every meal, gluten free bread rolls were placed at our table and every waiter and waitress was knowledgeable about what on the menu was gluten free and what could be adapted to make it gluten free.

After the weekend, I went home to visit my parents. Again, when we went out to eat at two local restaurants, we just let them know we were celiacs and gluten free food was readily available and delicious!

Finally, we went to the grocery store. Gluten free products were part of the normal inventory. A fresh bakery had a dedicated gluten free oven from which we bought a multi seed fresh loaf of bread and some freshly made hi fibre bread rolls. Fantastic!

The relaxing thing about the trip was not so much that gluten free food was available everywhere we went, but more that I never had to worry about somebody misunderstanding what I needed. That I could trust that what I received would be gluten free.

It is such a weight off your shoulders not to have to consider what you are going to eat, how they are going to prepare, whether it would be completely gluten free. To order something and enjoy it like a normal person was such a treat! I know that having celiac disease is a very mild problem to have compared to many other illnesses I could have, but it was so nice and relaxing to be almost normal for a couple of weeks.

As a recipe for this week, I am giving you a real Irish soda bread. A little late for St Patricks Day, but delicious any time!

White Soda Bread

10 oz rice flour
4 oz tapioca flour (or 14 oz of gluten free flour mix)
2 oz dried milk
1 tsp bread soda
1 heaped tsp gf baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 Tblsp sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
10-12 fl oz buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Sift all the dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Lightly whisk the egg and buttermilk together.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in most of the egg and buttermilk at once. Using one hand, with your fingers stiff and outstretched (like a claw), stir in a full circular movement from the center to the outside of the bowl in ever-increasing circles, adding a little morej buttermilk if necessary. The dough should be softish but not too wet and sticky.

The trick with white sode bread is not to over-mix the dough. Mix it as quickly and as gently as possible. When the dough all comes together turn it out onto a rice-floured work surface.

Wash and dry your hands. With rice-floured finglers, roll lightly for a few seconds - just enough to tidy it up. Pat the dough into al round, pressing to about 2 inches in height.

Place the dough on floured baking tray. With a sharp knife cut a deep cross in it. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F for a further 25-30 minutes or until cooked. If in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread. If it is cooked, it will sound hollow. Cool on a wire rack.

Note: Soda bread is best served the day it is made. However, it tastes great toasted the next day. Any bread left over on the third day can be made into breadcrumbs.


Thursday, March 14, 2013

Is Rice Safe?

The nutritionist at the meeting is a celiac herself and had, in fact, attended one of my cooking classes last year. Rather than giving a speech, she asked if anybody had any worries or issues that they wanted answered.

Daniel asked about good food for endurance athletes and she gave him good advice regarding that.

Then somebody asked about rice. There have been reports recently that rice has large amounts of arsenic in it and should not be eaten too much. However, we all use rice flour in our cooking and many of us drink rice milk if we have problems with dairy.

The nutritionist acknowledged that it is a problem with many areas of the country that used pesticides during the seventies. She suggested that people limit their use of rice milk and rice, if they also use it as flour in baking. However, she said that as with all things, moderation is the answer and that we do not really have to worry unless we are using rice excessively.

I have to say, that since the meeting I have changed to eating quinoa (one of the ancient grains that she recommended) instead of rice with our stir fries and I am using almond and coconut milk as well as rice milk for Daniel's smoothies. But that could be because I really like quinoa and just needed an excuse to feed it to the family!

One thing I was surprised about was when one of the attendees said that she always used brown rice to try to improve her fibre intake but the nutritionist said that brown rice has minimally more fibre than white rice and that she would be better off just eating beans for fibre. In fact, she said that when she has patients, she encourages them to eat beans regularly for very good fibre intake.

I really enjoyed the meeting and got a lot of good information. Even if you are gluten free for a long time, it is good to attend these support meetings every now and then. New information is always emerging and new products arriving ready to be discussed. The meetings take place in the cafeteria of Rex Hospital on the third Thursday of every month. Hopefully I will see you there!

Back at Last!

Apologies to all for my blogging absence the past two weeks. I have been away in Ireland, enjoying family, delicious gluten free food and researching gluten free food providers. However, all that is for another blog entry as I do want to talk about the Raleigh Celiac Society meeting I mentioned in my last blog. I think I will be writing a couple of blogs this week to catch up.

As I had mentioned, Daniel and I were attending the celiac society meeting as they were having a pharmacist and a nutritionist in to speak.

The first speaker was the pharmacist who freely admitted that until she was asked to speak about gluten free drugs, she hadn't really considered how drugs would impact gluten intolerant patients.

Her main advice was to look up your drugs on a list that is available on the internet at www.glutenfreedrugs.com/Glutenlist.htm and if they are not there, you need to call the drug company and confirm that they are gluten free.

The ingredients that you read on the side of the packet do not consist of ALL the ingredients in the medicine. Sometimes there are fillers and things to help the active drug work that are not on the ingredient list. The drug company will be able to look up all the ingredients for the drug and confirm that it is gluten free.

A problem can arise when generic drugs are used, but if you cannot confirm that your drugs are gluten free, the pharmacist recommended that you ask your doctor to prescribe the brand name drug that you know is gluten free and to send a letter to your insurance stating that you must have the brand name drug due to your specific health issues. Many of the people at the meeting did not know you could do that and were very relieved with the information.

Luckily, at this moment, I do not have any prescription issues but many celiacs have to think about this every time they go to a doctor. It is always good to go to a doctor armed with information so you can get the medical care that you need.

Come back tomorrow for the nutritionist info.

Non Responsive Celiac Disease

I am looking forward to this week. Daniel and I will be attending the Raleigh Celiac Society meeting on Thursday where there will be a nutritionist and a pharmacist talking with us regarding celiac disease.

While I was chatting with a client about this meeting, she mentioned that she is still having some gastronomical symptoms even while she is on her gluten free diet. I have heard this, over and over, from many of my clients both in my cooking class and when they are ordering their cakes. Many are wondering if they have something other than gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

I decided to research the phenomenon and got some very interesting information. While there are a couple of conditions that can cause the continuation of symptoms such as colitis, bacterial overgrowth and in very rare cases, cancer, the overwhelming cause of non-responsive celiac disease is ingestion of gluten.

In a study of 112 people, 12 people did not have celiac disease. 10 had irritable bowel disease, others had colitis, medication induced diarrhea, lactose intolerance and bacterial overgrowth but the largest number of 45 turned out to be ingesting gluten either inadvertently or through carelessness. (The World Journal of Gastroenterology)

The study showed that breakfast cereals, beer, cooking sauces and processed foods are the main source of accidental gluten ingestion. Misunderstanding labels or contamination in the factory is commonplace and if your gluten free diet contains a large amount of processed or factory made foods, the likelihood is that you may be ingesting gluten.

For this reason I am convinced that it is vital to continue to educate yourself about gluten free ingredients, about the best dedicated gluten free products.

If you are experiencing symptoms while you feel you are gluten free a visit to a knowledgeable dietitian to check what you are eating might be a good idea and finally cooking at home in a clean, gluten free kitchen where you can check all the ingredients that you use is a great way to maintain and improve your health.

Below is a quick recipe for you to have something nice with your cup of coffee so you are not tempted by glutenous treats. This cake lasts for 4-5 days in a plastic container or for 4-6 weeks in the freezer.

Cinnamon Raisin Coffee Cake

8 oz gluten free all purpose flour
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
4 oz butter, diced
4 oz light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 oz raisins (I often use craisins instead)
4 oz walnuts (or chopped almonds)
2 eggs beaten
150 ml milk

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 2lb loaf tin. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and lightly rub in the butter. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon and dried fruit.

Add the eggs and milk and mix together until thoroughly combined. Spoon the mixture in the loaf tin and level the surface.

Bake the loaf for about 1 hour or until firm to the touch and lightly brown. Cover the cake loosely with foil towards the end if browning too quickly.

Remove cake from oven and cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out.

(please note that weighing gluten free ingredients instead of measuring with cups tends to produce better and more consistent results)


Proud Mama

I am so proud this week. When my son was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, we were not surprised. It runs in the family and was familiar to me.

However, Daniel was the first of our family to be diagnosed as a child and I did not, at that time, understand some of the challenges we would face keeping a very ambitiously athletic child and then teenager healthy and fit enough to compete at the high levels he is capable of.

Some of these issues I talked about in earlier blogs, with the breakfast calzones and the smoothies and homemade energy bars. With every rise in activity level we had to adjust the foods, the vitamins etc. But these past two weekends, all our work came to fruition as Daniels swim relay team won two medals at the regional competition and one medal at State! Daniel swam his two fastest times and had the energy and strength be at his best!

Celiac Disease is not easy for children and teenagers to live with and I am proud that Daniel doesn't use it as an excuse not to do his very best at whatever he is doing. Next year he heads to college to study nutrition and dietetics and he hopes to specialize in Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance so he can share what he has learned with others.

Practice makes Perfect

This week has been a bit like a country song, my car broke down, my kid got sick and my poor dog died! However, we got through it all to be here to write today.

This week I got a request from a client to try to make croissants. Her son has autism, is gluten free and he loves croissants so I said I would try. I researched various recipes and chatted on line to a number of bakers and their advice was basically, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

The first batch was terrible, a total disaster! They didn't rise and the dough was totally unmanageable. The second batch was more successful but they had a crescent roll texture rather than a croissant texture. But I feel that I know what might have gone wrong and I am looking forward to trying again tomorrow.

The problem with experimenting with gluten free breads is that it can be expensive! The flour and other ingredients cost a lot and you hate to throw food away. However, how do you ever get good at something unless you practice?

I have a couple of things that I do with failed breads. Of course, you can always turn your failure into breadcrumbs, dry in the oven and keep in the cupboard for meatballs and meatloaf recipes. You can make croutons for your salads by cutting the bread into cubes, sprinkle with herbs or garlic salt and again dry out in the oven. Store in sealed bag. Both of these methods are great for using up old bread or baking disasters. However, this week I had enough croutons and breadcrumbs (a sign of a humid baking week) so I looked for other ways to use up my croissant experiments.

The first batch was turned into a bread pudding. Nothing tastes bad when it has been soaked in a tasty custard and because it was croissants I added chocolate chips to the pudding and it was delicious.

The second batch was turned into stuffing for a roast chicken and also into a very handy recipe I have for an orange cake. We had it for dessert tonight and it was delicious.

You need to practice your baking when you are gluten free. It rarely works out properly the first time but it is nice to know that you don't have to throw out the results of your efforts and can make some nice desserts from your failures!

In fact, you can take this a little further. We have all had experiences of buying gluten free breads and cakes that turned out to be dry and flavorless. The first impulse from your initial disappointment is to dump it in the trash. Don't do it! Transform them yourself into something you can enjoy!

It is important when you are gluten free to feel that you are in control. When you can use all the food you buy and bake, that is how you feel and it is good!
Tunisian Orange Cake

2 oz bread crumbs
7 oz sugar
3 1/2 oz almond meal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
7 fl oz vegetable oil
4 large eggs
zest of 1 large orange
zest of 1/2 lemon (or grapefruit)

Citrus Syrup
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1/2 lemon (or grapefruit)
3 oz sugar
2 cloves

Grease 8” springform pan.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the sugar, almonds and baking powder. Whisk the oil with the eggs, pour into the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the orange and lemon zest. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Put the pan into a cold oven and turn on with the heat set to 350 F.

Bake for 45-60 minutes or until cake is golden brown. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a plate.

Meanwhile make the citrus syrup. Put all the ingredients into a stainless steel saucepan and bring gently to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved completely. Simmer for 3 minutes. while the cake is still warm, spoon the hot syrup over the cake until it is absorbed.


Bread Pudding

12 Slices of Bread (or equivalent in chunks of bread
1/2 cup raisins (or chocolate chips)
4 large eggs
24 fl oz milk (or non dairy milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Grease the 8 in square glass dish. Arrange four slices of bread in a single layer in the dish. Sprinkle the bread with half the raisins. Repeat and cover with the final four slices of bread. If you are using chunks of bread just mix with the raisins and pour all the mix into the glass bowl.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs and add the milk, vanilla extract, sugar and salt. Mix well! Pour the mixture over the bread through a fine sieve. Sprinkle top with sugar. Cover loosely and let the mixture stand, at room temperature for at least one hour or chill overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place in a bain marie - the water should go half way up the sides of the baking dish and bake in the middle of the oven for about one hour until the top is crisp and golden.


What a Scam!

Well, my on line bakery is finally getting noticed! This weekend somebody tried to scam me through the bakery.

I received a strange email, very badly phrased, badly typed looking for a price for 500 cupcakes. This was so odd that I emailed back and asked the client to call me on the telephone. I then received another email, stating that he was hearing impaired so could only email. Of course, then I felt guilty for being suspicious and sent him a price and details. THEN, of course, I got the scam email.

He wanted to order the cupcakes for that price on his credit card but could I also charge him another $450.00 so when the private carrier came to pick up the cakes I could pay him $450.00 in cash OR I could buy a money order in Western Union and give the carrier that!!!

Luckily I had just seen a notice on my bank warning about anybody looking for a money order from Western Union! Seriously, how stupid would I have felt to have handed over 500 cupcakes and $450.00 to some stranger who arrived at my door! Be careful out there!

Anyway, with the cold weather out there, I made a delicious potato and leek soup with brown scones for lunch on Friday and gave some to a sick neighbor. The next day she was at the door looking for the recipe so I thought I would give it to all my friends in the blog world. Both these recipes come from Ireland, from the queen of Irish cooking, Darina Allen.

Potato and Leek Soup

1/2 stick butter
1 cup diced onion (1/4 inch dice)
1 cup diced potato
3 cups white part of leeks, sliced
2 pints chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup of milk to taste ( I don't usually use this)

Melt the butter in pan. When it foams, add the potatoes, onions and leeks. Turn them in the butter , add salt and pepper. Put on the saucepan lid and let the vegetables sweat for 10 minutes on a very low heat. Then add the stock and boil until vegetables are just cooked. Liquidity until smooth and silky. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add milk to taste. Delicious and without the milk, freezes really well.

Irish Brown GF Scones (this recipe is in ounces as it is an Irish recipe)

2 oz sunflower seeds (finely ground in blender)
4 oz brown rice flour
2 1/2 oz rice bran
2 oz tapioca flour
1 oz buckwheat flour
1 oz dried milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
6-7 fl oz buttermilk ( I know it sounds like a lot of ingredients but its worth it for all the fibre you are getting)

Preheat oven to 450 F. Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl lightly whisk the eggs and add the buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add almost all the liquid at once. Mix until all flour is incorporated adding a little more buttermilk if necessary. The dough should be soft but not too wet and sticky.

Turn the dough out onto rice floured board and bring the dough together a little. Flatten out until dough is about 1 inch thick and cut into rounds with cookie cutter.

Cook in oven for about 15 minutes until scones are cooked. Turn one scone upside down and tap bottom. If it sounds hollow it is done. Leave to cool on wire rack.

Power to the People

What a nice, busy week I just had. I baked for college age kids, for a teenager, for some adults and for a child. It just shows how the gluten free community continues to grow.

Friday evening, I decided to go out for a nice relaxing evening with my husband. We went to Winston's Grille on Falls of Neuse Road where I enjoyed a delicious club sandwich made with really good gluten free bread. How nice to be able to order a sandwich again! ....

On our way out I met the restaurant manager and thanked him for offering gluten free options and especially for the great bread I had in my sandwich! And it occurred to me that this is what we, as a gluten free community should be doing as often as we can.

The restaurants review how much they sell either weekly or monthly but think how much more powerful it would be to have personal, one on one feedback. It would demonstrate the impact that gluten-free options have on real customers, real people.

I believe that if we take the time to recognize those that take the time and effort to provide meaningful options (i.e. not salad), and ask for gluten-free food even where we think it will not be available, we can have an impact.

I recently reached out to a small number of locally owned coffee shops to see if I could help in providing gluten free options that they do not provide today. They expressed no interest, I can only assume, because they anticipated little demand.

But, when you think about it, how can they know what demand there could be if, when I go in, I just look at what they offer, decide they have nothing for me and I never say anything. So come on people, let's ask every time and see if we can move the needle in our favor.

Brain Fog?

I had an interesting conversation with a client today. Her 23 year old has been gluten free for a year and a half after being diagnosed with celiac disease but is still tired, no energy and has "brain fog" all the time.

I asked if he takes vitamins and she said that when he was first diagnosed a doctor put him on a course of vitamin D, 2,000mg a day. The doctor assured them that there could be no bad side effects of taking vitamin D. Untrue, as we know, and he ended up with kidney stones. Horrible!

Unfortunately, due to this episode, her son now refuses to take any vitamins. A celiac diet does not supply us with all the vitamins and minerals that we need at a sufficient level. We are prone to anemia and a lack of B vitamins (the happy vitamins) can leave us feeling down, tired and unable to concentrate (brain fog).

However, curious to see if it is this tiredness and brain fog is a very common occurance (my son experiences it when he doesn't take his vitamins on a regular basis) I decided to research it on the internet. It turns out that many people experience these symptoms regularly and assume it means that they have been "glutenised" in some way. One post said that when she took out all processed food, removed Listerine from her daily hygiene ritual and and shopped in the farmers market and made all her own food, her symptoms disappeared!

The question is however, is she eating better, thereby providing herself with more of the nutrients that she needs or was she really being contaminated with trace amounts of gluten in all processed foods? I don't know and as with most of the questions about celiac disease, there is no right answer for everybody.

All I can suggest to my client's son is that if you won't take vitamins then you need to check what you are eating and try to ensure that your food intake includes lots of green vegetables, fruit, and iron and B vitamin rich foods.

I recommend green smoothies if you find it difficult to eat all the greens you need. They retain all the nutrients of the vegetables and fruit you use and still leave you hungry enough to be able to eat the meats and dairy that you need for your iron and other Bs.

I know I gave you a black bean smoothie recipe in the last blog. But I do find that with my teenager, it is easy to get him to drink smoothies a couple of times a day and that way I know he is getting all the nutrients he needs. We' ll try for a solid recipe next time out!

How to make a green smoothie. (this is from 10 dollar dinners cook book)
There are endless possibilities as to what fruits and vegetables can make a green smoothie. Just remember to keep the proportion of fruits to vegetable in check for a sweet flavor that everybody will love.

Base of Smoothie
3/4 cup of milk (rice, almond, soy, cow, whatever you use)
2 cups of any of the fruits
1 cup of any of the vegetables
1 tablespoon of liquid extras
1 tsp of dry extas
Just a touch of ginger

Fruits Green Vegetables Extras
Apples Celery Flax seed
Avocados Kale Fresh Ginger
Bananas Spinach Honey
Grapefruit Kale Maple Syrup
Green Grapes SwissChard Almond butter
Kiwis Parsley Gluten Free Oats
Nectarines (free, frozen) Carrots (not green) Vanilla Extract
Oranges Cucumbers White Beans
Peaches (fresh or frozen)
Pears
Pineapple

The Breakfast of Champions

Tomorrow the boys are heading back to school which means back to swim training. This means that I have to supply breakfast to my gluten free son. A breakfast that will give him all the nutrients that he needs, that will fill him before a day of school and is transportable.
So, I decided to make some breakfast calzones for him. These calzones are filled with sausage, bacon, cheese and an egg. Delicious! So each calzone is about 6 inches in length and 3 inches at its widest point. Plenty of food I think - until Daniel comes in today after his two hour afternoon swim session and devours a large bowl of cheese and broccoli soup and TWO calzones and is eying a third!
I have eight calzones left. Obviously, it will do for four mornings this week along with a black bean and chocolate smoothie AND THAT IS JUST BREAKFAST!!!


This is the problem with having a celiac kid. You can't just give them money and tell them to go and get breakfast bagels or pancakes. You have to supply all the food they need and you have to make sure that they are getting all the fibre and nutrients that they need to fuel their activities.
I have become an expert on snacks that appear to be just tasty but contain extra nutrients. I have "energy bars" made with koala krispies, nuts, chocolate, flaxseed, craisins and almond butter. I have gf oatmeal granola bars which include nuts, honey and flax and I have a delicious chocolate pudding that I saw on a Giada At Home programme which is made of bittersweet chocolate and avocados. The boys don't know about that ingredient!
After school smoothies contain vegetables and fruit, and the morning smoothie is made of black beans, banana, spinach and chocolate almond milk.

Its all about being inventive. Figure out what doesn't change the taste of an item and stick it in there. Daniel needs to eat about 4,000 calories a day to support his exercise programme and everything needs to be gluten free.
I like to take it as a personal challenge and an opportunity to try out new gluten free recipes!!

Here is the black bean and chocolate smoothie that Daniel has for breakfast. It really does taste very good!

Black Bean and Chocolate Smoothie Recipe
(Makes 2 average smoothies or 1 Daniel smoothie)

1 1/2 cups chocolate almond milk (or soy, or coconut or rice milk)
1/4 cup cooked black beans
1 banana, peeled
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant coffee (I use decaffeinated but it does help the flavor)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup baby spinach
3/4 cup ice cubes

Pour all the ingredients except the ice into the blender and blend on high until smooth. Add the ice cubes and blend again for about 45 seconds.

Holiday Time

Well, the holidays are almost over and looking back I would have to say that it was one of my more successful ones.

On a personal note, we have survived Thanksgiving, Christmas, the neighborhood party and New Year Eve without any gluten ingesting incidents. My latest gluten free pastry recipe, adapted from a recipe I found on the Whole Foods site, is so successful that my Irish mince pies tasted just like normal mince pies. My traditional plum pudding was delicious and my gluten free stuffing disappeared long before the turkey it stuffed. Why does this make me so happy?

Every year we have a crowd for Christmas dinner, anything from eight to fifteen depending on the year. Only Daniel (my son) and I are Celiac so in previous years I made separate food for us. This year, however, I decided that we would all eat my gluten free recipes and nobody could tell! Yeah, another point for gluten free food being tasty!!!

Business wise, I got an order from Carolina Ballet for cookies and brownies for their Christmas party. Why was I so excited about this? This is the first time I have received an order from a large organization who recognizes that it would be nice to provide gluten free desserts for their party.

How many times have you gone to a party with your gluten intolerant children and have had to steer them away from all the desserts available, leading to tears and disappointment (usually my tears and disappointment). Congratulations Carolina Ballet for your forethought and consideration of your ballet dancers and their families.