It always makes me chuckle when people ask for gluten-free gift suggestions.  Sure, they probably mean something involving gluten-free food, but there are many gift items that fall under the ‘gluten-free’ label.  Books are gluten-free but I wouldn’t suggest eating them.  I love reading just as much as I love cooking and I spend a good deal of time thinking about what I want to read next.  While I tend to be over eager, I’m hopeful nonetheless that I will read everything on my list.  I was inspired by Moxie’s post, “I Heart Books” so I thought I’d tell you what’s on my bedside table right now.

Some of these are just finished, others I’m halfway through, and a few are waiting to be opened.  I tend to read multiple books at once, so it’s no surprise that my list is lengthy, yet hopeful.  Have you read any on my list?  Thoughts?  What are you reading?  What’s on your reading list?

The Righteous Porkchop, Nicolette Niman: Niman addresses the history of the farming industry in America and the ethical (or lack thereof) practices in agriculture.

A Place of my Own: The Architecture of Daydreams, Michael Pollan: One of the earlier books by the author of Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Beatrice & Virgil, Yann Martel: The newest novel by the author of Life of Pi.  Finished it last week.  Completely fascinating yet quite disturbing.  Please let me know if you’ve read it because I’m yet to find someone to ‘debrief’ this book.

Terra Madre, Carlo Petrini: Founder of Slow Food, Petrini discusses global solutions to the food crises.

Local Flavors, Deborah Madison: I’m always reading cookbooks and this is my most recent love.  Great photos and beautiful stories.

Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott: I genuinely don’t want this book to end so I’m slowly making my way through it.  If you like writing, this is a must-read.

A Soft Place to Land, Susan Rebecca White: Young, local Atlanta author.  I’m reading this book with my summer book club.

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith: I’m reading this with my 8^th graders that I tutor and really enjoying it.  A great summer read!

Food Rules, Michael Pollan: Can you tell I love Michael Pollan? A great gift and easy read, this book offers simple tips regarding our relationship with and attitude towards food.

A Year Without ‘Made in China,’ Sara Bongiorni: The author documents the year her family spent challenging themselves not to buy products made in China.

I love writing.  Each day I try to write something, not just emails or incessant lists, but something with more substance.  It’s never brilliant or earth shattering, but each day I return to my computer, ready to write something new, not always sure in which direction I’m going.  Even when I fear I have nothing to say, I hold myself accountable to write.

Occasionally I think to myself, “What am I doing?”  Why am I writing each day?  The answer is, I’m not totally sure what or why.  I will never pay the bills by doing this, but in my writing, I’ve discovered that I love creating, exploring and putting thoughts into words.  Two years ago, I would never have told you I love to write or even imagine that I would have a blog that receives a significant amount of my time.  This blog and my discovery of writing have been unexpected blessings of my celiac diagnosis.  Who knew that a disease would result in good things?  It does and it has.

I’m particularly excited about my writing today because this week, my first magazine article is “hot off the presses.”  (Yes, I can be a cheesy writer too.)  My article, “Atlanta Restaurants Offer Many Options for Gluten-Free Diners” can now be found around town in Atlanta’s Finest Dining Magazine and for those of you non-Atlantans, you can check it out at this link.

I’m thrilled.  It makes me smile to see it.  It makes me want to write more.

“E.L. Doctorow once said that ‘Writing is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.’ You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.”

- from Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing & Life

This week, my friend, Peyten, invited us over for dinner.  I know Peyten from my college days as she was my little sister in my sorority.  Ah, college…But I digress.  Back to food.  I emailed Peyten earlier in the week to ask if she had any questions about cooking gluten-free.  She said she would use my blog as a reference for recipes.  Now that’s intimidating.

Sure, I write recipes and cook all the time but there’s a part of me that fears other people reading and using my recipes.  What if the food tastes terrible?  What if the cooking time is totally wrong?  What if it just doesn’t make sense?  (Peyten’s an English teacher so I was also worried about grammar and parallel structure.)  I actually felt like I was back in middle school, getting my essay read and ripped apart by my teacher.  Do you remember that feeling of dread when the teacher told you she was returning your paper?  Same feeling, only this time the success or failure of the assignment would be on display in front of five other people.

As I walked into Peyten’s house on Tuesday night, I didn’t know what she was making or what to expect.  I was amazed when I saw the bustle in her kitchen and all of the delicious things being prepared.  And everything looked like it should look.  I breathed a sigh of relief and was ready to enjoy the gluten-free meal.

Here’s what Peyten made.  Quite a feast and everything was delicious.

Roasted Rack of Lamb with Pesto Crust

Risotto

Roasted Asparagus

Ice Cream & Chocolate Sauce

Peyten’s boyfriend, Stan, added his own component to the meal, grilled fruit.  It was a unique and flavorful addition, especially the pineapple.  It would be a perfect dessert too.

It always means so much to me when people invite me to dinner and want to cook for me.  It’s intimidating to cook for anyone, but especially a person who’s gluten-free.  I’m amazed anytime a friend or family member welcomes me into their home and wants to give “gluten-free cooking” a try.  The time and energy that Peyten must have spent researching, planning and shopping for this meal is much more than cooking for a gluten-eating group.  People have no idea just how moving it is for me to eat outside of my house, but it’s huge.  Our lives can actually be normal, something I doubted would ever be possible when I was first diagnosed.

While Peyten’s use of my recipes intimidated me, this exercise of having other people make my dishes was definitely good and I should really do it more often to get feedback on what works and doesn’t work.  Also, since I’ve been gluten-free for almost three years, sometimes I take for granted the things that I just know and consequently don’t clearly explain in my posts.  I want Gluten Freedom not just to be useful for those who are gluten-free.  I want to provide a resource for gluten-eating people that are hosting a GF person in their home.  I hope to create clear, manageable recipes that will make GF guests feel comfortable, but also minimize stress for the host by using simple ingredients and directions.

While at Peyten’s, I was reminded of a couple of tricky gluten-topics that I should discuss:

• Chicken broth/stock sometimes contains gluten.  Yes, I know.  It’s absolutely ridiculous.  Some of the brands that I use are Pacific and Imagine.
• When buying ice cream, you obviously want to stay away from Cookies ‘n Cream and Cookie Dough, but I also avoid generic brands that have a ton of ingredients, making it difficult to determine whether or not there’s gluten.  When I buy ice cream, I go with Edy’s or Breyer’s.
• Vanilla extract (for the chocolate sauce) can be controversial in regards to gluten content.  While vanilla does contain grain alcohol, it should be gluten-free, since the alcohol has gone through a distillation process.  The same thinking applies with vinegar and liquor.  Beer, however, still contains gluten because it has not been distilled.

So, did the recipes pass the test?  Everything tasted yummy and I woke up the next day feeling great!  (This doesn’t always happen when I eat outside of my home.)  Hopefully my grammar and sentence structure passed too!

Thank you, Peyten, and the many others who have hosted me in the past and those who will have me in the future.

Note: Photos are from when I made these dishes previously.  Peyten’s looked very similar though!  I’m not yet quite tacky enough to take my camera to someone else’s home but I have a feeling I will soon.

Another sighting of mainstream magazines giving attention to us gluten-free eaters.  Check out Real Simple Magazine’s 8 Gluten-Free Goodies.  The editors even picked two of my favorite gluten-free snacks: Glutino Pretzels and Mary’s Gone Crackers.  Glutino pretzels are perfect with hummus and my gluten-eating friends love them more than regular pretzels.  The delicious buttery taste and the light, crispiness is so much tastier than an Utz pretzel, I promise.

I’ve also converted many people to Mary’s Gone Crackers.  My mom always keeps them in the house, even though I no longer live in the same state.  Real Simple recommends the Onion flavor of Mary’s, but I have to disagree.  The Original flavor is definitely my Mary’s of choice.  The other flavors are a bit too overpowering for me.  I prefer the Original cracker with a yummy brie or gouda.  Perfect for cocktail time!

Mary's Gone Crackers are the speckled brown crackers. They add great color to your platter!

Have you tried any of the items that made the list?  Do they make your list?  Are there any that you think were left out that should have made the list of eight?  I do find it a little odd that Real Simple didn’t just make a “Top 10” list.  Seriously, couldn’t they find two more gluten-free treats?

“Find the shortest, simplest way between the earth, the hands and the mouth.” – Lanza del Vasto

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) groups are a great way to get access to delicious, fresh, local produce and connect with local farms.  As the weather gets warmer, many CSAs are getting started and looking for members.  If you haven’t yet found a CSA, the Small Farms CSA runs from May 2^nd through August 15^th.  Operated by Judith Winfrey and Joe Reynolds of Love is Love Farm, they will bring your fresh produce from their farm and a few other local farms.  You receive a weekly shipment of veggies and you can also choose to add meat to your CSA from Riverview Farms.  The Small Farms CSA offers two pick up locations:

-        The Universalist Unitarian Church on Cliff Valley Sunday mornings from 10am to 12:30pm.  http://www.uuca.org

-        The East Atlanta Village Farmers Market on Thursday evenings from 4pm to 8pm.  http://www.farmeav.com

Here’s a list of items you might find in the CSA:

Arugula, Basil, Bush and Pole Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Carrots, Cherry Tomatoes, Collard Greens, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Fennel, Field Peas, Green Garlic, Heirloom Tomatoes, Leeks, Lettuce Heads, Kale, Okra, Pac Choi, Pears, Salad Greens, Salad Radishes, Spinach, Strawberries, Sweet Turnips, Sweet Onions, Sweet Peppers, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, and Watermelons.

Boxes may also include: Free range eggs, Local goat cheese, Locally milled corn grits and corn meal, Local, raw honey

And of course, everything in the CSA is naturally gluten-free!

Last fall I mentioned that the Atlanta Braves’ Turner Field was introducing a gluten-free concession stand.  Well, good news, folks!  The gluten-free treats will be returning to Turner Field for the Braves’ 2010 season.

Thanks to my friend, Jonathan, for sending this article by Tiffany James of the GF Examiner, my way.  The article gives more details about the gluten-free stand and a photo of last year’s GF stand.  The Braves’ season opens on April 6^th so head to the stadium and support Aramark’s efforts to provide gluten-free options for Braves’ sports fans.  Enjoy Redbridge Beer, as well as chicken sandwiches and hot dogs with gluten-free buns.  Let me know if you’ve tried the food at Turner Field and what you think of the various GF options.  It’s always nice to have a cold beer at a baseball game, right?   This warm weather is perfect for going to a ball game.  Anyone interested?

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, including my wonderful San Diego trip.  Our last full day in Coronado was amazingly sunny and relaxing.  In our usual fashion, we spent at the pool and the spa.  Such a rough life, I know.  Brittanny and I even splurged and got wonderful massages at Loew’s.  After our hour-long massages, we headed back to the pool for a late lunch and an afternoon in the sun.  We ordered take out from The Market at Loew’s and I enjoyed a delicious cobb salad with balsamic vinaigrette, instead of ranch.  (Clearly, we didn’t want to miss any precious sun time.)  While we waited for our orders, the chef even came out and spoke with me to double check what I could and could not eat.  They were amazingly attentive considering that we were just ordering take out in the midst of their crazy and huge Sunday brunch.   Since I didn’t get blue cheese on my cobb salad, they doubled the amount of avocado on mine.  Yummy!

For our last dinner in San Diego, Brittanny and I went to the Hotel del Coronado, in the town of Coronado Bay.  Built in 1888, this historic hotel looks Victorian and opens up onto the water.  Because of daylight savings, we got to watch a beautiful sunset at the hotel while we enjoyed cocktails at the Babcock & Story Bar with a great view of the water.  For dinner we chose to eat at the more casual, Sheerwater Restaurant, as opposed to 1500 Ocean, Hotel del Coronado’s fine dining establishment.  I must clarify that Sheerwater is not a sports bar or a Chili’s by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact the entrees are quite fancy and not cheap.  Sheerwater’s decor is a bit more casual and beachy than the rest of the stunning and dramatic hotel.  We even sat outside, under heat lamps.  (San Diego restaurants and bars are all about the heat lamps.)  Sheerwater’s menu reminded me of a steakhouse, with an array of meat and seafood options with sides that can be ordered in addition.  All entrees come with a delicious, and flavorful, array of mixed veggies, including cauliflower, broccoli and baby carrots.

As I enjoyed seafood the previous night at Osetra, I decided to go the ‘meat route’ at Sheerwater.  I ordered California Rack of Lamb and Braised Shank with Natural jus.  Yes, the rack and shank of the lamb both came as a part of my entrée.  My meat was so tender and the natural jus added a nice sauce that complimented the flavor of the meat well without overpowering the protein.  Brittanny and I decided to share a side of the Yukon gold mashed potatoes.  I consider myself to be something of an expert on mashed potatoes and Sheerwater’s might have been the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever eaten.  Creamy and buttery, but not bland.  The perfect amount of salt gave these mashed potatoes great flavor and using Yukon golds added a nice dimension to the flavor and texture components.  I could have gotten two orders of the potatoes for dinner and been totally happy.

The view of the water from Hotel del Coronado

The next day Brittanny and I awoke early and took advantage of a few hours of morning sunshine before going to the airport to head back east.  A great vacation full of delicious restaurants, beautiful weather, sight seeing, massages and reading time.  It didn’t even bother me that I missed most of the ACC Tournament games.  I’ll take sunny San Diego any day.

Wow!  An entire vacation without getting sick.  In fact, I was out of town for a total of 17 days during the last month and didn’t get sick or contamination once!  Amazing.  Traveling always comes with a side of anxiety for those of us with celiac.  Dining out and eating in the homes of others makes me vulnerable and nervous.  I don’t get as much anxiety as I used to, but I must admit that I was a little on edge about being away from my kitchen for over half the month.  Thanks to great friends, family and overly accommodating restaurants, I stayed gluten-safe and feeling healthy.  I still traveled with snacks, packed my own lunches when flying, and ate lots of M&Ms, but overall, I felt very well taken care of throughout my marathon travel.  Being away is fun but it’s time to be back in my own kitchen, cooking and creating dishes to share with David and friends.

After a day at the San Diego Zoo, on Saturday night, Brittanny and I headed downtown for the evening.  We went to the Beach Bar at The W Hotel, decorated with heated sand, huge TV screens, and private cabanas you can rent.  Apparently it’s quite the hot spot and Adrian Grenier, the actor who plays Vincent Chase on Entourage was even going to be there later that night.  After a drink and some delicious edamame, we moved on to the Gaslamp Quarter, a historic district with lots of restaurants and bars.  Our dinner reservations were at Osetra Water Grill (formerly the Fish House) and the ambiance inside the restaurant was very cool.  Osetra has really high ceilings surrounding the bar and they store all of their wine in a “three-story wine tower” that extends up to the ceiling.  The bartenders get harnessed in and are basically suspended in air when they need to retrieve a bottle of wine.  (I feel like there was a photo shoot once on America’s Next Top Model with a similar theme.  Am I right?)

The Beach Bar at The W Hotel

Osetra was not very crowded so we got good attention and our waiter served us pretty quickly, maybe too quickly.  Our waiter made it clear from the beginning that I would not be able to have any of the sauces because they thicken them with flour.  I’m ok with that, but I don’t really understand why some restaurants still feel the need to thicken all of their sauces with flour.  There are so many good alternatives to a roux and a floured-sauce.  In my culinary opinion, flourless sauces have better flavors and show off a higher level of cooking.  Anyways, I’ll step down from my soap box now because I can’t complain too much about the meal, since it was still quite tasty, even without a sauce.  For a first course, I ordered the organic greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette.  A nice, simple salad but nothing fancy.  For my main course, I ordered the pan seared salmon (sans chive buerre blanc) with sautéed spinach and herb-roasted fingerling potatoes. The chef cooked the salmon perfectly and the spinach and potatoes complemented the salmon well.

Osetra's Bar & Wine Tower

If you’re looking for a nice seafood restaurant (with items on the menu for meat eaters as well) in the Gaslamp District, I would definitely recommend Osetra.  The menu was pretty predictable, but both of our dishes were well made and flavorful.  The service was good and they kept me gluten-free.

After dinner we went across the street to the wine bar, Vin de Syrah, for a drink.  This bar was so cool for many reasons.  I won’t give away all of their secrets but it very much has an Alice in Wonderland theme going on.  You enter on the ground level and go down a stair case to enter the actual bar.  Once you get downstairs, you enter another room to get into the bar.  Let’s just say the entrance is difficult to find, and leads to a little embarrassment once discovered.  The décor inside is full of upside down umbrellas large fake flowers and other trippy decorations.  As I’m reading what I’ve written, this description makes Vin de Syrah sound cheesy, but I promise, on the inside it does not feel like you’re at Disney Land. This ‘parlor’ as its name describes it, gives off a distinctly unique vibe, while remaining classy.

A Look at Vin de Syrah: This photo doesn't do it justice!

Vin de Syrah has a plethora of fun drinks and a great wine selection.  We each enjoyed a drink, did some great people watching and headed back to Coronado Bay.  If you’re staying in Coronado Bay, it’s definitely worth spending at least one night down town in Gaslamp, as it’s an entirely different feel, and the average age drops by about 30 years when you migrate downtown.

Guest blogger, Lucy Glaize, used her first hand experience to respond to the points I made in my earlier post, Dorms, Tailgating & Cafeterias: Gluten-Free College Advice.  Lucy continues to make the most of her college experience, and does not let celiac get in the way of enjoying University of Vermont.  I am amazed by her positive attitude and the proactive way she embraces her gluten-free life.  From leading the UVM celiac group to running marathons, Lucy doesn’t let anything stop her.

Be Prepared: I always keep a simple and easy snack like rice cakes and peanut butter in my room.  They are easy and tasty!  I bring rice cakes with peanut butter to class with me when I do not have time to sit down for lunch on campus.  I also like to mix it up and top this snack with raisins, chocolate chips, banana slices, etc.  Cereal is also a necessity to have on hand in the dorm room.  My favorite cereal combination is Nature’s Path Whole O’s mixed with Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise.  I also enjoy the GF Cinnamon Chex when I have a sweet tooth. I keep milk in my mini-fridge for when I want a full bowl of cereal, but also take dry cereal with me sometimes as a snack.  My roommate and I also have two “food baskets” in our room- one gluten free and one for her gluten-filled snacks.

Late Night Snacks: This is one of the harder parts of being gluten free at college.  Watching friends devour late night snacks like pizza definitely requires self-control!  My all time favorite “late night snack” to have on hand in my dorm room, is the Thai Kitchen instant soup.  It is essentially the gluten free version of Ramen.  There is a microwave in the common room on my hall that I use to make the Thai Kitchen easily in just minutes.  There is also a pizza place in downtown Burlington called Mr. Mike’s that is open late night.  Mr. Mike’s serves all sorts of sports-pub food and appetizers along with their pizza, including the tastiest sweet potato french fries.  I have been there during slower hours to discover that they fry their potatoes and their battered foods in separate oils at a decent distance from each other in order to keep the french fries gluten free!

Make Friends With The People Who Make Your Food: This is one part of having Celiac that I am good at doing!  It may be hard at first, but being confident about what you want to (and, more importantly, what you can) eat is very important.  The good news is most people now know a good bit about Celiac Disease or have at least heard of it.  Whenever I come across someone who doesn’t know too much about it, I take the opportunity to teach him or her about celiac in a way that makes them eager to help me out. I briefly describe gluten intolerances, explain in detail what exactly gluten is, and I add a couple examples of foods that unexpectedly contain gluten, such as soy sauce.  When I was a freshman at boarding school, I even printed out some info about Celiac for the cooks in the dining hall to post.  After establishing a good friendship with the people who cooked my food, they wanted to feed me exactly what I was comfortable eating.

The University of Vermont does an amazing job supporting a gluten-free diet.  Each dining hall has a gluten free section.  There is gluten free cereal, bread, frozen waffles, bagels, and cookies.  There are also separate jelly bins and a separate toaster reserved to be 100% gluten free.  The other dining services at UVM serve special gluten-free foods like falafels, soup, sandwiches, and corn tortilla quesadillas and tacos.  The people in the deli line are required to change their gloves and have a clean surface to prepare the gluten-free meals.  I also made friends with the man who makes sautéed vegetable wraps at one of my favorite places to eat.  He knows me now, and understands the importance of replacing the wrap with rice or quinoa then serve it all piled together on a plate.

If dining services at other colleges or boarding schools do not have these options, I suggest speaking directly to the chefs during slow hours, not at mealtime.  In high school, the chefs let me keep my own gluten-free bread and cereal in the dining hall.  The most important part to me about making friends with the people who cook your food is to get them excited about making gluten-free options available.  After exploring different places to eat on campus, you will find steady gluten-free options that you trust.  You should have the same opportunities to eat on campuses that other students do!

Tailgating:  To be honest, UVM does not have tailgating.  (In fact, it is the only Division I state university without a football team.)  However, I do like tailgating when visiting friends at other schools.  My mom also knows I enjoy events like this.  For example, at the Apple Blossom Festival parades in my hometown of Winchester, VA, all of the parade route yard parties have all sorts of delicious, open container snacks and hors d’oeuvres.  At Apple Blossom in 2004 (just one month after being diagnosed), my mom brought a bag of Lundberg gluten free rice chips with an attractive serving dish to some of the places we were invited.  The bowl of chips was set aside where no one else would contaminate them.  At first I was embarrassed to have a bowl set aside for my “special” snacks.  I quickly got over that, though, and was thankful not to have to carry my own snack or just not eat anything at all.   Keeping snacks off to the side or in my own bag is a discrete way of going about having gluten free treats at an event with lots of grab-and-go foods without having to ask or worry about cross contamination from foods I assumed would be gluten free.

Weekend Activities:  Whenever my friends and I take weekend trips to go skiing, hiking, etc., I always get a little apprehensive about meal times.  It is definitely necessary to bring my own breakfast.  It is easy to pack a box of cereal, and usually fruit and milk during a grocery store trip can be communal and remain uncontaminated during the weekend.  If we will not be cooking or if the group is too big to cook an entirely gluten free meal, I bring my own instant gluten free dinners.  Although they are not the tastiest, frozen Amy’s entrees and instant Thai Kitchen soups do the trick.  Of course for outdoor activities, fruit and nut bars are the perfect travel size snack packed with lots of energy.

I came along another bump in the road regarding easy, gluten free energy bars when I ran my first marathon in October 2009.  I definitely needed a little something to raise my blood sugar level during the race.  I do not prefer the small packs of energy “goo,” and of course could not have someone handing me bite size pieces of a peanut butter sandwich that would not crumble in a quick hand off.  The best option I came up with was having my sister pass me bite-size pieces of the gluten free bar made by Clif Bar called Clif Nectar. (I prefer the Lemon Vanilla Cashew flavor.)  It is much easier to chew (less crunchy) than the normal gluten free fruit and nut bars, but is still packed with lots of nutrients and energy!

Lucy, enjoying a Clif Nectar Bar, during her marathon

Adjusting to the gluten free college life definitely takes time, and doesn’t happen instantly.  Initially, I was very anxious and hesitant about eating food that I did not prepare or that was not clearly labeled “gluten free.”  I started off just eating simple, low ingredient foods like salad until I fell into the groove of my schedule to figure out when and where I needed to eat.  As increasingly more people discover gluten intolerances, more and more gluten free options become available.  Living gluten-free only gets easier each day, even for college students!

When I heard Anne Palmer, program director for Johns Hopkins’ Center for a Livable Future, speak at the Georgia Organics Conference a few weeks ago, she showed photos of all of the random places that sell food.  Think about it for a second…why does Petco sell soda?  Why does Office Depot offer an array of M&Ms and Starburst?  No one ventures out to Staples looking for a Diet Coke.  These items placed carefully at the front of the store are what we refer to in the Metcalf house as ‘impulse buys.’

I must say though, I enjoyed seeing Palmer’s photos of brightly packaged food in the oddest places.  I loved picturing her carrying her camera everywhere, waiting to photograph a random shelf of ‘food.’  I couldn’t help but think about my endless searches through stores for any gluten-free products.  In my own travls, or just around town, I scour any food store, airport, bakery, or restaurant for a possible GF treat.  Anyone who has traveled with me knows that I’m more interested in shopping at natural markets than clothing boutiques.

When my friend, Anne, sent me the photo above, I was also reminded of Palmer’s photo slide show.  Of course I’m much happier about the shelf of food displayed in the picture because it’s all gluten-free.  No, Anne didn’t find this plethora of GF items at Pet Smart or 7-Eleven, but she did find it at…Target!  The Atlantic Station Target now sells quite the selection of gluten-free products, including my favorite pretzels by Glutino, Bob’s Red Mill GF oats, and the Betty Crocker baking mixes.  I can’t wait to go stock up.

Does your Target sell gluten-free items yet?  Feel free to send me any of your discoveries of unlikely spots where you find GF items.  We all need a little guidance as we navigate the gluten-free world!

Target at Atlantic Station – 1375 18th Street – Atlanta, Georgia 30363