gluten free a go go

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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