Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc.

gluten free a go go

2008-04-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

You can't imagine what a busy month it has been since my last post. I feel badly for the thousands of you that look forward to my updates and have had to wait a month to find out what has been going on.

Well to put it briefly, I have been on the go. It all started with the largest Natural Food Show in the country. Expo West located in Anaheim, CA saw 52,000 attendees parading up and down aisle after aisle. And it seemed like most of them stopped at our booth.

Yvonne, Jessica and I wore ourselves out baking and handing out cookies.

The response to the two new flavors was terrific. We have added a Sugar Kookie and a SnickerPoodle. Watch for them in a store near you. They should be available for our Distributors in the next few weeks.

I have to tell you that I was planning on going to Disneyland while in the neighborhood, but after 10 hours on my feet the energy just wasn't there. I did make it to Downtown Disney for dinner one night, so I was able to do a little people watching. Folks that are at the magical kingdom really are a happy lot.

So no sooner were we back from the show and we had to take a trip to central Oregon. What I thought was a 4 hour drive, turned into a sojourn of more than 7 hours, plus we had to stop in Seattle on the way to deliver our little Yorkshire Terrior (Spike) to the animal hospital.

The poor little guy has been eating the BARF diet for a number of years and thriving on it. However we introduced a new dog a few months back and now they horde food from each other. It seems that there was a bone left out and it dried. Spike swallowed it and it lodged in his throat.

They had to go in with an endoscope and remove it, so he was hospitalized for a couple of days. All is well now and he will celebrate his 13th birthday in June.

So while we are in Eugene we need to find a place for a celiac to eat. McMiniman's was across the street from the hotel and actually fed Yvonne a nice meal.

On our return trip we hit rain, wind, hail, snow, sunshine and just about every other kind of weather you can imagine. It was bizarre to be driving in sunshine and then a mile down the road have hail coming down so hard it was difficult to see. At one point there was up to an inch or more of hail on the freeway and cars were reduced to 10 mph.

We made it back and after driving back to Seattle the next day to pick up Spike it was time to get ready for another food show in Vancouver BC. Although not as large as Anaheim it was just as busy for Yvonne and I. We stayed right at the event with the dogs

This is Klondike and she is suffering from an injured ACL (from chasing deer on the property) so we have to be careful with her.

As soon as the bank account recovers from Spike's little adventure Klondike will go in for surgery on her knee. Oh the joys of parenthood.

So we stop in a little town right on the Canadian border for dinner and we served a down right delightful meal. It was presented beautifully (although it was slow to arrive), and the flavors were superb. If you are ever in White Rock BC be sure and look up the Giraffe. It is small, cozy and well worth the wait. I can't wait to go back when I have more time to enjoy.

We get back to the States and it looks like we may have a moment or two and then realize we have a meeting in Portland, OR so it is back in the car and off we go. Fortunately this trip we were able to stay with my sister who I hadn't seen in awhile. We were going to stay with her on the trip the week before, but Spike had us late so we pushed on to Eugene and spent the night there.

For dinner we found a fish and chip house. I know you are thinking, how can a celiac eat fish and chips at a restaurant. Surprise, little sister had done some research and found Corbett's Fish House. It uses a rice batter and advertises gluten free fish and chips and to make it even better they served Redhook beer. Yvonne was in heaven. It had been 9 years since she had order fish and chips with beer. I had a fish platter with the gluten free coating and have to say it was tasty.

If you are ever in Portland, look them up you won't be disappointed.

If you can't make it to Portland try this recipe from http://www.glutenfreeda.com/ for a close facimile.

Serves 4
Difficulty Medium
Ingredients
3/4 cup gf mayonaise
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
1 cup gf flour
1-1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
1-1/4 cups gf beer
Vegetable oil for frying
1-1/2 lbs halibut

For potatoes:
8 russet potatoes
Peanut oil for frying
Salt

Directions
For mayo: Whisk mayonaise, tarragon and vinegar in a small bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper.

For french fries: Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees F. Peel potatoes and cut into 1/4" slices and then cut each slice into 1/4" strips. Place potato strips into a large bowl of cold water. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Pour about 3" of peanut oil into a dutch oven/deep fryer and heat to 300 degrees F. Drain potatoes and dry with a paper towel. Working in batches, carefully slide potatoes into hot oil and fry for about 5-8 minutes. Potatoes should just start to turn golden. Remove potatoes with a large slotted spoon onto paper towels. Just before serving time, bring oil back to 300 degree F temperature and fry potatoes for about 5 minutes, until browned. Drain and salt. Transfer french fries to oven to keep warm.

For fish: Add flour and Old Bay seasoning to a medium bowl and blend. Add beer and whisk until blended. Pour 1" deep oil into large heavy skillet to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle halibut filets with salt and pepper. Dip fish into batter and then carefully into hot oil. Fry pieces until golden, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer fish to paper towel to drain. Serve with potatoes and tarragon mayonnaise.

Finally a weekend at home. For me it had been a couple of weeks since I had slept in our bed and it felt good. It was also time to move the chicks which are now looking like full blown chickens, into their new home. But first I had to finish the Chicken Cathedral. I'll post pictures after I take some. We have lost a number of flocks to predators, so this time I rebuilt the entire pen complete with aviary. I went to the beach and brought back logs for support and then tied it all to the horse shed and strung netting over it all. This hopefully will keep all the ravens, raccoons and fox out and the chickens alive. Did I mention that one of the Barred Rock chickens was a rooster so we have a complete flock? We are attempting to make them tame so are hand raising them. We got a couple of camping chairs for the Cathedral and sit with the chickens. We try to hold one or two each trip so they get used to use and are friendly when the grow up. We'll see how that goes.

Back to routine this week. We are testing new products for a summer launch, sent out another truckload to Trader Joe's today. You are aware that we supply them their gluten free peanut butter cookies dough, I hope. It would be greatly appreciated if you get up right now and go to your local store and look for our Real Cookies, if they are not available in your area then go to Trader Joe's and get them their. Either way you are in for a treat.

This has been too long of a post so I will leave you now. But remember to well and eat often and always finish with a gluten free cookie.

TTYL

Gluten free Broiled Salmon with Ginger and Scallions

2008-03-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

Writing yesterday's blog got me thinking that Yvonne has made a ton of good salmon dishes and some of you probably are not taking the time to visit http://www.glutenfreeda.com/ to see the wide variety offered there (for free I might add). So I am giving you one of my favorites.

Now we live in the Pacific Northwest so are kinda spoiled when it comes to salmon. We get fresh, line caught fish often. As a matter of fact we get most of our seafood from a small fish shop located on the docks in Friday Harbor, WA. I believe it is the only floating fish store in the state. I'll post a picture of it one of these days.

Serves 4

Difficulty Easy
Ingredients:
For fish:4 salmon filets

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon gf catsup

1 teaspoon gf soy sauce

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1" piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

For scallions:

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

3 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

For garnish:

2 Tablespoon peanuts, chopped

Directions
In a shallow pan mix together salt, pepper, fish sauce, catsup, soy sauce, oil and ginger. Add salmon and marinate for 10 minutes.

Set oven to broil. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat, adding scallions and onions. Saute for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside. Broil salmon for 5 minutes or until done. Serve, topped with sauted scallions and onions. Garnish with chopped nuts.

Now doesn't that sound easy? Believe me it will be a hit at any dinner party.

Now I need to get a fishing boat so I can go catch my own.

TTYL

A gluten free spring and white salmon

2008-03-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

I must apologize for not posting sooner, but I still haven't decided whether anyone cares if I spend my time doing this or not.
Spring looks to be here. Finally!! The daffodils are about to burst into bloom and I have been spending time working in the yard and garden.
You know this is the time of year when you need to do you planning for a healthy, gluten free summer. Onions, peas, and other hearty vegetables should be in the ground. All are gluten free and very tasty, much better than what you pick up at the supermarket. Follow these with other garden fare and you are in for a delicious six to eight months, not to mention the health benefits of getting outdoors and doing some gardening.
I am sure most of you are aware that the wife and daughter are avid chefs and they spend a considerable amount of time working up recipes that take advantage of the seasonal gifts delivered to the garden. If you keep watch at Glutenfreeda.com you will see an enormous assortment of dinner, lunch and breakfast treats.
I am the one who does most of the gardening (short of the daily watering that Yvonne handles). It is up to me to turn the soil, work in the composted horse manure (of which we have an ample supply) and in general get this ready for the growing season. This year is destined to be our best as Yvonne's mother is joining us for the summer and she has plans to visit the garden on a daily basis. My experience shows that fifteen to twenty minutes a day is more than enough to keep a garden in top notch shape. Pull those pesky little weeds often and soon there are none. Of course we have to deal with mass quantities of deer who love to snack on our labor. If I can find the time I will fence the garden area this year.
I am really jazzed about having chickens again. We went out and purchased 18 chicks and are raising them. They started in the garage and have feathered out enough to move into a small building next to the house. I am working on enclosing the chicken coup and run so in a few weeks they will move down to the barn and be given free range of a sizeable area. The are so cute when they are small. We purchased six different kinds of birds (three each). So far we have lost one to a birth defect (believe this, Yvonne took it to a Vet and had it examined and then euthanized). So come August you may start seeing lots of recipes using eggs. And the eggs are like nothing you have ever tasted before. Dark orange yolks and a flavor that is out of this world. I have sorely missed having them.
BTW have you ever tried white salmon? I had not heard of it before and our neighbor who runs a smoked salmon business (Cannery Row) gave me some. When we went to the beach we made a delicious meal of part of it and when we returned to the island we went to some friends and baked up the rest. I was surprised to find it flakey (almost like halibut) but flavorful. I am a convert. It is wild Alaska and line caught. I recommend it to you. I'm not sure whether Yvonne added it to http://www.glutenfreeda.com/ or not.
We are back into full production again and are hard pressed to make another deadline for a big order. Couple that with the big Anaheim, CA natural food show coming up this weekend and it all makes for some busy days. If I get a chance I'll post again before flying out, otherwise see you after the show.
TTYL

High price of gluten free food

2008-02-20T14:39:00.000-08:00

Have you been to the grocery store lately? Can you believe what is happening to the price of food? It used to be that gluten free foods we thought to be high priced, but today it seems everything is going up up and away.
In the manufacturing business it is our job to source the best ingredients at the best possible price. That requires us to shop for suppliers who meet our specifications and pricing. Both are getting more difficult to accomplish.
As an example, walnuts. We use a fair amount of walnuts in our Chip Chip Hooray cookie dough. Since October our wholesale price has increased 61%. Now I know that our valued inhalers of our fabulous cookie dough will not stand for those kind of increases, so I have had to find other ways to save. We have increased efficiencies and are constantly looking for better values, again without sacrificing anything in quality and taste.
By the way, you should all be aware that there are a number of large sugar (brown sugar) growers who are going to start using GMO sugar beets in their products. Now there is quite a debate going on as to the pros and cons of using GMO (genetically modified organisims) plants. The real rub here is there is no requirement for these growers and manufacturers to tell you they are using GMO's. So you will have no idea whether they are in your food or not. We have instructed our supplier to source our brown and white sugar from companies that only use non-GMO products. Please contact your sugar company and request they do not use GMO.
Back to the pricing issue. A lot of the reason for the increase in prices is being blamed on the government subsidies on corn. Subsidies that were being paid to peanut farmers, dairies and others are being redirected to corn production in hopes it will stimulate the production of ethonol. The result is more acreage is being pulled from producing other products and is being converted to corn. The taking of subsidies has forced those farmers to increase prices and the increase in corn acreage has taken acres away from other crops. The impact is at the checkout counter in higher prices. The double whammy is the increase in oil prices which has driven up the cost to farm an acre. All in all the forecast is for food prices to rise rather steeply and they may never come down. Time will tell.
If you are a gluten free consumer this may have a slight advantage. It is possible that the price increases will affect the mainstream market more than the gluten free market. Grain prices are rising, and that will raise the price of staples such as bread. Soon we may be paying more in parity with mainstream products. Our products won't come down, but hopefully they will not rise as quickly as traditional wheat based products.
If you have any other information concerning this topic, please post it here. It is nice to get other input.
TTYL

Gaining weight while gluten free

2008-02-04T14:49:00.000-08:00

Hey what's the story here? I have been going mostly gluten free for quite a while now and I was hopeful that some weight may shed from this "Oh you're not obese" body. But noooo! Instead I am still fighting the weight problem.

Now I'm not exceedingly overweight. I'm 6'2" and top the scales at 225. Ideally I would be around 190, but I haven't seen under 200 in decades (yeah I'm no spring chicken either). I have successfully tried the Atkins diet twice. Both times I knocked off 20 plus pounds and they stayed off for more than a year each time. This time it isn't working.

Maybe its being around cookies all day. I don't indulge often, but when we bake them up I often can't resist, but never more than one a day (okay occassionally two).

I am in a weight loss contest that I initiated in November. We need to lose 25 pounds by the end of Febraury. In past times that would have been a shoe in. This time it is just not coming off. I have less than 4 weeks and have lost only 5 pounds. Now 10 days ago I had that number down to 12 to 13 pounds, but Yvonne and I spent most of those days together and she is one who believes in 3 squares a day. For me 3 squares equals one big round (all around my middle).

You know many think that going gluten free is going to give them an Atkins like result. The truth is gluten free does not mean calorie or fat free. Gourmet is gourmet, whether you add grain or not.

So what is the answer? I know you're going to say, eat less, exercise more and keep the stress down. Well I can eat less, if I have to cook for myself on the boat (it's tough in a one butt kitchen that is usually sitting at a 30 degree angle). I can exercise more, but only if I want to go to the club after 11 hours at the plant (and that cuts into my cigar time), and as for stress, try starting a new food company, living away from home 4 days a week, away from the wife and pets and not enjoy a modicum of stress.

So I guess the time has come to go naturally gluten free. Nothing will pass these robust lips except seafood, vegetables and the occassional Real Cookie (its work related).

If you find yourself in need of shedding a few inches, don't think that going gluten free is the panacea, even gluten free you will have to watch what you eat.

On a different subject, Yvonne and I do not get television. It's been over 6 years now since we received a signal at the house (or boat). But we do watch a lot of DVD's. I understand that Lost began season four this week. So in celebration we are starting to rewatch season 1 and 2. Surprisingly I have forgotten much of what went on way back then and I hope to be back on top of things by the time I purchase season 3. If you're a fan, keep me posted on any new happenings.

TTYL

Cure for gluten intolerance?

2008-01-31T08:18:00.001-08:00

I was looking over my Google alerts today and see that there may be an enzyme that may help gluten intolerant people. Here is the article from Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An enzyme has been recently identified that is able to degrade gluten in a laboratory simulation of the gastrointestinal tract.
If clinical trials bear out the findings, adding the enzyme to gluten-containing meals "might eliminate gluten toxicity, thus offering patients the possibility of abandoning (occasionally) their strict gluten-free diet," write the authors.
The enzyme, a prolyl endoprotease from Aspergillus niger, was recently shown to efficiently degrade gluten peptides and proteins in laboratory experiments, the authors explain. The enyzme's pH is compatible with that found in the stomach, and it is not broken down by gastric acid in the stomach.
Dr. C. Mitea from Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands and associates tested the enzyme in a system designed to closely mimic the human gastrointestinal tract, according to their report, published in the medical journal Gut.
The enzyme accelerated the digestion of glutenins and gliadins that are found in white bread, the authors report. After 90 minutes, the gluten proteins could no longer be detected. Without the enzyme, glutens persisted in the stomach for at least 120 minutes.
Similar results were obtained when a fast food meal was tested instead of white bread alone, the investigators say.
This enzyme treatment also completely abolished T-cell stimulatory activity found in untreated samples, the report indicates.
The results demonstrate that in the time that food is normally in the stomach, the enyzme led to "a complete disappearance of T-cell stimulatory peptides of gliadins and glutenins," the authors conclude.
They believe that this enzyme is a good candidate for clinical trials to see if it can remove all gluten toxicity, the researchers conclude. They add that the enzyme is available on an industrial scale.
SOURCE: Gut, January 2008.

It will probably take years for this to hit the market, even if it does prove to be successful, but it does show promise. But from a personal perspective I don't see what the big deal is. After living mostly gluten free for the past 9 years I can say that I don't miss gluten all that much. Sure I can take down a pizza, piece of chocolate pumpkin cake or burger if I want, but I find it increasingly rare when I do have such urges.

Eating gluten free, especially when I have Yvonne creating such scrumptous meals, is a joy. Our meals are more varied than before, I eat more things that are healthy and I feel better. Yvonne, being celiac, is under the constant burden of guilt, thinking I am forced to suffer because of her disease. The opposite is true. I feel worse when I eat things with gluten (other than soy sauce at a sushi bar) than I do when I eat gluten free.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "The best day of my culinary life was when she was diagnosed with ceilac." I hope the rest of you can experience the same.

TTYL

New gluten free products coming

2008-01-24T07:59:00.000-08:00

The weather is cold, but the days are getting longer, so at least we are on the right side of winter. Up here in the chilly northwest our days differ greatly as the seasons change. One of the benefits of long nights is the great visibility of the moon. The last few nights the moon has been full and the nights are bathed in moonlight. At the marina it has been calm, clear and cold. Not many folks moving about and no wildlife is visible.
At the cookie plant things are humming. While packing pallets, trying to make enough cookies to keep up with orders, we trying to perfect the new and exciting flavors. Come spring we are anticipating adding two new delicacies to our family of pre formed cookie doughs. I am not at liberty to say exactly what they will be just yet, but I can guarantee you will be more than pleased with the choices.
We have been going through the processes it takes to perfect the new flavors. It is time consuming and in some cases difficult. After making small batches for months in the test kitchen, we now have to move to the production floor and see what modification we have to make to scale the recipes. Once that step is complete we have to make further adjustments to allow our equipment to properly work the dough and form it in a mannet suitable for your table.
The first of the two new flavors is nearing completion. The second will be worked on in the coming weeks. The photo shoot is scheduled for the labeling, the models are chosen and the label has been designed.
Once the label design in finalized, the photos chosen and sized, it will be sent to the printers. Initially we will apply labels to containers. Once the first runs are shipped we will pre print the containers for distribution.
It is a long process and I am happy to announce it is nearly complete. The goal is to introduce the new flavors at Expo West in March.
For those of you who are not familiar with Expo West, it is a food show held in Anaheim, CA that typically draws more than 45,000 attendees. That is a large show.
Last year gluten free products were an exciting part of the show and this year it looks like more additions will be there.
I am not sure how many people are following this blog, but if there is anything you would like me to include, please forward that on to me.
TTYL

Food Show

2008-01-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

Just returned from a trip to Portland for the NW Food Manufacturing Show at the Convention Center (for those of you on the East coast, that is Portland, Oregon). This was the first trip for the new Hyundai and it performed as advertised. I was a little disappointed in the gas mileage, but on the way back it hit 24 mpg.
Did some visiting and got educated on new machines and software for the plant. We are looking at bringing everything in house and that will entail adding an ERP solution. I have been searching for something online rather than purchasing software. If anyone knows of a good provider that can bring something similar to salesforce.com to the manufacturing world, please send it on.
Our plans this year are pretty aggressive and it will mean adding some significant pieces of machinery. We are going to move beyond cookies (but please look for some new delights that will hit the shelves in the next few months) and that means a complete revamp of the facility. I can't say just yet what the new additions will be, but rest assured they are something most of you will enjoy.

I spent the first night in Portland with my father who was visiting my younger sister, or so he thought. Just before Christmas my sister and partner drove to Walla Walla (yes people actually live in Walla Walla, Washington) and returned with the parents under the guise of spending Christmas and a few weeks away from the cold weather. Turns out my older sister had arranged for a week respite for the girls in Hawaii, leaving my dad under the watchful eye of Dave.
Now my father has been suffering from a degenerative bone disease for a few years (he is approaching 87) and it has progressed to where it is very painful for him to move around much. I think he has been celiac as he has many of the symptoms, but the doctors in Walla Walla say they have tested him and the results were negative. But for those of you "in the know" doesn't someone who has never been over 140 pounds (at 6 foot tall), had chronic diarrhea, is aenemic, and now has osteoporosis, sound like they are celiac? Sure does to me.
Anyway the trip to Hawaii was a big success and mother came back feeling much better and relaxed.
So after an all night flight from Honolulu to Portland, I bundled the folks up and drove them to Walla Walla. While they were away there was a huge windstorm that took down many branches from their trees, but thanks to great neighbors, when we pulled up it looked like the lawn man had just driven away. Everything was in order and no damage was reported. That is the way this world should work, with neighbor looking after neighbor. I was impressed and grateful.
After returning the next day to Portland (a 4 hour drive) I returned to my sister's and had a wonderful salmon dinner.
The next day I was up early and at the Convention Center for what was billed as a Big Show! Well big is was not. I walked the entire show at least 3 times and talked to a number of companies and still was out the door before 3pm.
I did learn a number of things and got some great information on the expansion we are planning.
It also freed me up for the next day to make some sales calls in the Portland area.
We are in all the Whole Foods, New Seasons and most of the Market of Choice stores in the area, in addition to others. I was encourged to see the product on the shelf in the frozen dessert sections of these fine establishments. Our new packaging is starting to arrive with the Chip Chip Hooray in all stores and it should be followed soon by the other three flavors.
I saw around a dozen stores and was gratified to see not only ours, but a growing number of other gluten free products. Our industry is becoming more mainstream. I like to say that our cookies will stand toe-to-toe with a gluten infested product any day of the week. Our flavor is better and nothing beats a Real Cookie fresh from the oven.
I left Portland and had a beautiful drive back to Anacortes, WA where I spend many nights aboard our sailboat. The wind has been constant this year and I've had too many nights where I have been awakened by the howling of rigging, tossing of the boat, and general melee of a storm to deal with. Lat night was none of that, it was calm, cool and delivered a restful night sleep. I hope to enjoy another of those tonight.
Here at the plant we have been making a lot of peanut butter cookies. Our crew has been making and packing thousands of these little gems for a customer.
I have been looking into ways to do more recycling as we go through a lot of plastic pails (the peanut butter comes in 35 pound tubs) and ran across a company in northern California that may be the answer.
We are pretty keen on doing as much as we can to recycle and be as friendly as possible to our mother earth. BTW if any of you are in the area and are in need of a good plastic pail, don't go to Home Depot and buy one, just drop by and I'll give you as many as you can use.
I am looking forward to a weekend off to get a few projects done around the ranch. My finger is pretty well healed and I should be able to do some of the things I have been avoiding the last few weeks.
Hope your new year is starting off in a banner fashion.
TTYL

Happy New Year

2008-01-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

Well we're back. After a great trip seeing the children and grandchildren it is now time to get back to the old grindstone.

Went to the doctor yesterday to see how old age is affecting me. So far so good. I am trying to lose a few pounds (working in a cookie factory hasn't been the best for a diet) and I need to cut down on the salt. Oh well, that sounds pretty simple.

What is not quite as easy is finding a restaurant that serves food sans salt. At home we eat gourmet which means more calories, but even that is flexible. The doctor said the South Beach diet would be better than the Atkins diet for my body type. I have done the Atkins a few times with good results, I have never looked at the South Beach Diet.

He also suggested I eat a bran muffin every morning and I said that was not possible as my wife is celiac. His response was but you're not so what's the problem? I told him we had a gluten free household and cross contamination was an issue. He looked at me like I was the crazy one. I don't understand how a medical professional in today's society would not know that a lot of celiacs cannot stomach even a hint of gluten. I was going to give him the short lecture, but instead handed him a business card and said go the to site (http://www.glutenfreeda.com/) and see how well your wheat and gluten free patients can have it.

It is surprising how many people are becoming aware of celiac. Since Yvonne was diagnosed in 1999 things have really changed. I give out a card almost daily to someone who has or knows someone with celiac. It is heartening to see the change and be a part of it.

I'm not sure if any of you are aware of it, but we are now available in over 450 stores throughout the west and mountain states. We just were placed in the Fred Meyer stores in the NW in a new gluten free section. Please go out and support us. It is to your benefit to have as many successful items in these sections as possible. The stores are trying to help us, but we need to support their efforts by purchasing the products. If they don't turn fast enough they will drop them for more conventional foods.

I am going to the Northwest Food Manufacturing and Packaging Exposition in Portland, Oregon this weekend. It should be interesting. I'll try to take a few photos and report on it when I return.

If you have any questions, please post them and I'll do my best to get an answer back to you.

TTYL

Christmas pictures

2007-12-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2007

2007-12-29T10:22:00.000-08:00

Well after a day's delay due to weather we finally arrived home from Colorado last night. We had a great time with the kids and grandchildren. We went to a wonderful restaurant that is accessed only by cross country skis, snowshoes or horsedrawn sleigh (you can guess which we took).
It was a cold and snowy night when we left the small shack that loads everyone onto the sleigh. Each sleigh holds around 20 people and is drawn by two enormous horses. It was a beautiful mile to mile and half run up to a log building that housed the restaurant (Pinecreek Cookhouse). There were six of us (our daughter, son-in-law and 2 grandchildren aged 10 and 6). We immediately went for hot chocolate, ours laced with Bailey's. The meal came and was delicious. Our son-in-law had called ahead and talked to the Chef about Yvonne's gluten issue and I was somewhat disappointed that they had done nothing to accomodate her. But we did find enough scrumptious items to satisfy everyone.
I was somewhat shocked when the time came to pay and they handed us a bill totally nearly $1,000. The grandchildren had mac and cheese and we were charged $65 per plate. That seemed really outrageous to me, especially when you consider we paid $25 each for the sleigh ride.
My broken finger and Yvonne's bum knee kept us off the ski slopes on Monday at Sunlight, but we made the best of it by having the kids around and playing Monopoly in the lodge. All in all a great day.
Christmas morning came early (around 5:30) as Hunter and Michal we up early looking to see what Santa had left.
Had a superb prime rib dinner with a couple of Jeff and Jessica's friends and topped off the evening with a nice chat with Jeff's friend Bobby who is somewhat of a landmark in Aspen. He used to ride his horse into bars back in the good old days.
I managed to slip into some mittens and ski Snowmass on Wednesday and had an Epic day on the slopes. Michal and Hunter are turning into real pros on the slopes. The last time I was able to ski was with them two years ago and it was their first day ever. Now they are both on the ski team and shooshing double black diamonds. Kind of intimidated me.
The weather moved in and our flights were cancelled on Thursday so I had to conduct a little business via phone and make sure our dogs were fine at the kennel. I had
Barbara send over more food and she actually picked them up for us on Friday and put them in our car so we could make it home last night, rather than stay a night apick them up this morning.
Pretty much a great Christmas. Unfortunately we have to cancel our New Year's plans on White Pass because of the delay and Yvonne is really sick. I beleive she caught something on the plane going down as there were lots of kids and most were coughing and hacking. We were going to friends who own a motel on the pass and have converted it to a private retreat of sorts. Last year they had about 60 people for New Year's and a few of us special ones had a room right on the river. I was really looking forward to repeating the experience. Oh well.
It is very nice to be back in the green northwest. The snow is nice, but as a rule I would rather live here and visit there.
Hope you holidays are going as well as ours.
TTYL

Day without Keta

2007-12-20T15:04:00.000-08:00

Thursday came bright and early. I was at the plant at 6:30AM getting paperwork done before the troops showed up. Keta, our floor manager, was not able to come in this morning, so that left me to run the cookie depositor. With a broken digit that becomes a problem. I needed to figure out how to get a glove over my hand so I could work around the food. I finally found a system that worked. I was able to take one of our larger gloves and put it carefully over my finger, then put the splint over that. I do not have to touch the dough so there are no health concerns, however I try to keep everything as far above the standards and humanly possible.
As I have stated before, we are meticulous about our plant. We strive to keep it absolutely clean at all times.
We run at maximum 50,000 cookies per day. That translates into 30 batches. Today we had 18 batches in before lunch, so I look to hit the 30 easy.
Christmas is next Tuesday and we are looking forward to the snow. I'm not nearly as excited about the 2 degree weather though. I kind of like the 40 degree weather offered here in the coastal area.
Yvonne flew from the island to the mainland yesterday and had quite a trip. The winds were picking up and she was in a four seater. She's not much for flying in small planes and was white as a ghost when she arrived. Her hands didn't stop shaking for half an hour.
We're closing in on the private label project and should have it out of here on schedule. That will be a big relief. Now we can concentrate on the new flavors and packaging and Canadian orders and rebuilding some inventory on the current four flavors, and, and, and, it just goes on and on.
I'd better go back out and check the floor. Enjoy the holidays if I don't talk to you before.
TTYL

A new week

2007-12-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

It's Monday and the plant is up and running once again. Not much to report on the cookie side. We are mixing and packing like little crazy elves. Last Friday we worked an extra shift and packed just under 3 pallets of cookies. This is the private label project and the pallets carry three times the product as our branded pack. 70 cases per pallet and 24 dozen per case. That translates into on heck of a lot of cookies.

I took the ferry home Friday and thought I would nurse my broken finger back to health, however the wife had different ideas. Spent a few hours bucking hay bales for the horses. Didn't seem to hurt anything so I guess I am on the mend. Today was the day to have the stitches come out. I was going to go back to the hospital, but the schedule would not allow the time, so I pulled out the trusty pocket knife (complete with scissors) and took them out myself. The cut healed just fine, but the finger is not moving at the joint and is still pretty swollen. I hope I do not lose mobility. Two of the finger nails are pretty black, so I suspect I will lose at least one if them.

We went and saw Will Smith in "I am Legend" yesterday. Pretty good movie. Scared the heck out of the wife (she said she had nightmares). I found it pretty predictable, but well acted. If only I hadn't eaten that box of Milk Duds. I felt sick all night.

We were going to have teppanyaki last night (yes we do have a teppanyaki table at our house), but after the movie, neither of us wanted to go to all the prep work, so we pan fried the filets, had some rice and wine and called it a night.

Had to get up at 4:30 this morning to make the ferry, and that still puts me at work a half an hour later than I would like.

We did ship the first pallets to Canada last Friday, so watch for us in the store near you soon. As soon as we get a list of the retail outlets, it will be posted on http://www.glutenfreeda.com

Going home last week I had my video iPod in my coat pocket and it must have gotten crushed by the seatbelt latch, because when I got home and went to fire it up the screen showed lines and what looked like ink spreading down and all over it. I was truly bummed. I have over 7000 songs on there (they are backed up on a hard drive). I was going to order a new iPod but thought I would see if this one could be repaired. I found a site online www.kopellimusic.us and it gives you options to fix the device yourself. I ordered a new screen and it is supposed to come with all the tools and instructions needed for the repair. They also give you the option to send it to them and they will repair it. I thought their prices were reasonable. I will update you when the screen arrives and I take a crack at the repair. I am not mechanically inclined, so if I can fix this anyone can.
The old broken finger is beginning to throb, so I guess I will sign off. BTW we are leaving for Colorado on Saturday to visit the kids and grandkids. Hopefully I will be able to get a few runs in on the slopes. I'll try to take pictures (not much of a camera bug any more).
TTYL

Tuesday

2007-12-11T16:57:00.000-08:00

Not much happening today. We built the Canadian pallets and the pallet for the NW region. No mishaps today and things are running smoothly. The parts came in for the Hobart and I have it back up and running.
Weather was cool today, but not cold. Did inventory this morning and made sure we had enough raw materials to keep us going. We have run out of the initial products with the first labeling and are now fully shipping the new labels. Again if you haven't seen them go to our home page and take a gander. I would appreciate your comments as we are about to do some more labeling and I would like to hear some comments from you.
Today was my son's birthday (he's 27) so wish him a happy birthday when you sit down to supper.
I see the Fed's have lowered interest rates by a quarter point. Boy I'll bet that really stimulates the economy :).
Have a great evening.
TTYL

Broken finger

2007-12-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a few days since the last update, but I have a good excuse. Last week while working in the plant I broke a finger on my right hand. If my typing is not so good that is the reason.
Here's the story. The day was going along fine. We were working on production for our Peanut Envy and the day was progressing on plan. Then we ran into some dry product that caused the dough to clog the cookie depositor. Now if you've never seen one of these machines operate, it is a marvel. The dough is mixed in a 140 quart Hobart mixer and wheeled into the warm room (a room we keep temperature controlled so the dough stays above 70 degrees). It is then placed in a hopper that feeds two grooved rollers that grab the dough and pull it down into dies cut to the right size. A wire cutter then moves forward and slices off the appropriate amount of dough and drops it onto a cookie sheet. There are a pre determined number of rows (programmable) per sheet. The operator then takes the sheet and places it on a rolling rack (stacked 20 high) and it is taken to the freezer.
Anyway, the dough was coming out dry and it was not allowing the wheels to grab it. So we had to make some adjustments for this. It is something that has happened before and we have a fix. However we lost a batch (140 quarts) due to the problem. Before discarding the dough I thought we would experiement to see if in the future we could save the product. So we wheeled the dough back to the mixer and my floor manager got it ready to remix. She doesn't run the Hobart often and forgot to secure the bowl. I was standing in front of the machine when she turned it on. As the beater turned it started to lift the bowl which in turn pushed on the safety shield. I saw it was going to break the shield and put my hand on it to keep it from breaking. At that moment the bowl lifted above where my hand was and three of my fingers where caught between the bowl and the shield. It hurt, but I thought it was not serious.
After work the third finger on my right hand was very swollen and the cut looked like it needed more than a bandage. So I went to the hospital and had it checked. Sure enough before I left it was discovered that I had broken the finger and I had 4 stitches in the cut. So now I have 4 to 6 weeks of wearing a finger splint. And this a couple of weeks before a trip to Colorado and some skiing. Bummer.
On the good side, Yvonne and I went to Seattle on Friday and saw "The Jersey Boys". Excellent show, especially if you are a fan of the Four Seasons. I grew up with that group and found the show and the music extremely entertaining. Had a nice time in Seattle on Saturday. I have wanted to go to the Experience Music Project for years and we finally made it. Wasn't overly impressed. They do have a Sci-fi exhibit that was interesting and there were parts of the music history section that were well done.
Back at work today getting ready to send the first order out to Canada. We are getting the containers ready (all new labeling for Canada). The order should be ready to go by Friday.
Hope you are all enjoying the holidays.
TTYL

High Winds

2007-12-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

Quite a ride in this morning. As I have mentioned earlier, we live on San Juan Island in Washington state. The only way to and from the island is by ferry. Our ferry ride is over 90 minutes, one way. Well this morning we woke to a low front blowing in from the Pacific. Winds are being clocked at over 80 mph on the coast. We are not far from the coast and I was anticipating a bumpy ride and was not disappointed.
I am a boater and used to the motion of a boat and I get excited when things get out of the ordinary. So this morning (I catch the 6am ferry) I was looking forward to the ride. The ferry tried to stay inside the islands as much as possible ( see a map at: http://www.guidetosanjuans.com/maps.htm). but had to take a detour south in order to stay faced into the waves. We leave from Friday Harbor and go to Anacortes. I am not sure the exact route we took as it was too dark to see until we were arriving in Anacortes.
For those of you who live in the southern climes. Here in the northwest are days get exceedingly short this time of year. The sun comes up around 7:30 am and goes down around 4pm. Contrast that with our summers when daylight lasts 18 hours. It is kind of depressing when you don't see the sun for a week or more (you go to work in the dark and leave work in the dark).
Anyway the ferry plowed into some sizable waves and the boat did some significant shuttering. These are not small boats and carry quite a few cars. This is the second such crossing I've made this year and the storm season is just beginning.
At the cookie plant we are expecting to get our container delivered tomorrow with the packaging for our private label project and the labels for Canada.
Canada is kinda interesting in labeling. Here we do everything bilingual in English and Spanish. Up north they require us to print in English and French. So that requires us to do all different packaging for our friends up there.
Canadians are ahead of us on the recognition of celiac and gluten intolerances. I assume that is because of their close ties to the EU.
We are scheduled to run 25, 140 quart batches today.
WAIT A MINUTE! Just received a call from the trucking lines and the container will be here today. Just ran out to the floor and adjusted everyone's schedule to make sure we have enough people on hand to unload (they only give you and hour to unload a 40 foot container, none of which is palletized).
This is a good thing and saves us an extra step in the packing process.
Enjoy your day everyone. TTYL

Back to full production

2007-11-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

Boy is it good to have the holiday over and be back producing. I have the full crew here today and are busy mixing flour, pre mixing everything and are ready to make 4000 quarts of peanut butter cookies.
I'm not sure how many of you have worked around a bakery but it is indeed a fun place to be. I have people who arrive at work all nice and neat and within the hour they are covered in flour and smiling all the while.
We take great strides to make sure ours is a workplace that is spotless and of course gluten free. I do not allow any food on the production floor and when the team takes a lunch break they are directed to take off their aprons and hang them in a secure area, not to be put back on while in the break room, but only when they are heading back to the production floor.
The facility is 20,000 sf with high ceilings. It is too large for our current needs, but it does allow us the ability to grow. And grow is what we are doing. Every week brings new stores and we are continually opening new areas of North America.
In addition to the production area we also have a freezer the is around 45,000 cf. When we first had it erected I thought we would never be able to use all that space. However last month, just before sending out a large shipment, I was amazed to see that our floor space was 80% utilized and was considering adding a racking system.
On a personal note, my 1996 Mercury Mountaineer is about ready to give it up. It is pushing 180,000 miles and I am afraid it will not last much longer. After some cursory investigation I decided it was time to bite the bullet and spring for new wheels. So this afternoon I will take delivery of a new 2007 Hyundai Sante Fe.
From what I have read, Hyundai is producing one of the better quality vehicles and their prices are way below most of the competition. Time will tell if this was a good decision.
Have a great day. TTYL

On to the next one

2007-11-28T11:28:00.000-08:00

Well it's over. Thanksgiving has come and gone and all were well satisfied. It sure seems odd that year's fly by. The older one becomes, the quicker seasons seem to change. It was only last week that summer began and now here we are staring Christmas in the face.
I am way ahead of the game this year. I have done the vast majority of my shopping and even sent most of the packages home with the recipients. I still have the parents and finish buying for Yvonne. It feels good to have done this during the year so it is not so hectic now.
If your family is like ours they have everything they need and it is difficult to find things they want. It is a challenge.
Here at the cookie plant things are getting back to normal. We finally received the shipments of raw materials and are getting the staff back to ramp up production again.
I didn't say anything earlier, but we were having a bit of trouble with the peanut butter. Our source was just not coming through in a timely manner and it was putting a real strain on scheduling. Now I am buying direct from the manufacturer and hopefully will never experience the same delays again.
So today we start to make peanut butter cookies again. When we are running at full speed we can currently produce around 50,000 cookies per shift. When I structured the work week I went with a 4 day (Mon -Thur) 10 hour per day schedule. I have to say I love it. Having a 3 day weekend virtually every week is very nice.
I just received word from Sales and they say we are now available in over 400 locations. Not bad for a company that really only began full scale production a little less than a year ago.
If you haven't had a chance to check out the new packaging, please go to the website and post your impressions here. So far the response has been overwhelmingly favorable (barring one Buyer on the East Coast).
Time to go out and make some cookies, TTYL.

Thanksgiving feast

2007-11-23T11:13:00.000-08:00

Well it's the day after the feast. We had 10 for dinner and the lovely wife and I were up early yesterday getting ready. We live on an island so 6 of our guests had to rise at the crack of dawn to drive up and catch the ferry.

Yvonne and I we straining the soup, making mousse, and generally getting the table and fixings all pre done as much as possible.

We began to fill our plates around 4 o'clock with a great tasting appetizer. To see the entire menu you should check out Yvonne's blog at http://www.glutenfreeda.com/ look for the blog on the left hand nav bar.

Our meal went off flawlessly. There was not a hungry person still standing when people started to leave around 11pm. It is fun for the both of us to have new people over and see the looks on their faces when they see how well you can eat on a gluten free diet. There was not a single thing missing from a traditional Thanksgiving meal. We had stuffing, potatoes, gravy, an incredible chocolate and pumpkin mousse. And of course some great Pinot Noirs.

Today we are off to tour the island and hopefully see at least one pod of whales. As we get more familiar I'll fill you in on the many great aspects of living on San Juan Island. Take care and have a great day and remainder of the weekend.

First in manufacturing

2007-11-21T16:51:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Say I am new to this Blog thing. I have heard about them for years and have wanted to get one started, but business has been crazy and I have not carved out time to take on the learning curve.
But now here I am and I hope you find the blog an interesting place to visit.
We can talk about all sorts of things, from eating gluten free, to living with a celiac when you are not one yourself. My wife was diagnosed in 1999 and we have been gluten free at home ever since. Best day of my life was when she was diagnosed. We'll get into more of that later.
Currently my wife (Chef Yvonne from Glutenfreeda), daughter (Chef Jessica) and myself are running Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc. You may have heard of us. We started as an online magazine and have morphed into a full fledged company selling pre formed frozen cookie dough across the Western USA. Currently we are in over 350 stores with more coming on weekly.
It has been a challenge for me, as I have been tasked with running the production facility. We started in the garage kitchen with Yvonne, a part time employee and myself. Last month we had 12 line staff, a full time artist, two sales people, numerous brokers, and office personnel. Quite a change in a little over one year.
I supppose we should keep this short so there will be more to add in ensuing days. Tomorrow is the big T day (turkey that is) and we are going to have a feast for 10, all gluten free of course. I have to tell you, I believe we could sell tickets to celiacs just to come and experience one of Yvonne's spectaculars. Actually for a few summers ago we did exactly that, but that too will be another story.
So enjoy your Thanksgiving, I hope you can spend it with family and friends. Check in and see what we're up to. I hope to talk to you soon.