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.

This weekend I’m heading back to Washington, D.C. and Annapolis, Maryland for my friend, Becky’s, bachelorette party and wedding shower.   The final trip in a month full of busy travel.  Yes, I was just up in the Northern Virginia area a month ago saying goodbye to my brother, Rob, and his family before they moved to Japan.  While I was in NOVA in late February, not only did I get to hang out with my adorable nephew, but I went to one of my favorite bakeries, Buzz Bakery and enjoyed an amazing gluten-free cupcake.

Doesn’t it look delicious?  Not only is Buzz’s icing plentiful and oh, so buttery and creamy, but the cake part of the GF cupcake actually tastes like cake.  Of course I love the bee on top, as a reminder that spring might get here some day. (Note: bee is not edible.)  And if this yummy goodness that you see in the photo isn’t enough, when I dove into the cupcake with my fork (yes, I eat my cupcakes with a fork because I want to savor every bite), I found chocolate filling in the middle.  Basically an added bonus of icing.  Amazing.

I’m so glad I showed up at Buzz when I did because I got the sole, remaining GF cupcake for that Saturday.  (My apologies to folks who came after me looking for the same gluten-free treat.)  Buzz makes gluten-free brownies too, but while still yummy, the brownie’s just not the same as getting a cupcake.  The gluten-free gods looked out for me that day.  If there were no gluten-free cupcakes awaiting me in the glass case at Buzz, I would have felt a little bit like Clark Griswold in National Lampoons Vacation, driving across the country to Wally World, only to find Wally World closed.

Despite cloudier weather, our second day in San Diego was still filled with good food and even some activity that went beyond lying by the pool.  After a delicious Friday night dinner that kept me safe from gluten, I woke up bright and early Saturday morning, due to A) my inability to sleep in, ever and B) the fact that the west coast is three hours behind my east coast brain.  I will say Coronado Bay is quite lovely at 5:30 in the morning and I had the opportunity to enjoy it wandering outside.  By 7, Brittanny was ready for the day too so we enjoyed some coffee and fruit at The Market at Loews, while reading the less than impressive local paper.

Saturday was not going to be optimal tanning weather, so we decided to be touristy and check out the San Diego Zoo instead of tanning and reading, my preferred vacation activities.  Many people recommended that we check out the SD Zoo and I must say, it lived up to expectations, and the $37 (!!) price of admission.  (We DC folks are spoiled by all of the free museums we have so the ticket cost caused a bit of sticker shock for me.)

After deciding to venture to the zoo, we then chose our mode of transportation.  Being that our hotel was in Coronado, cab rides getting into the city are pretty pricey and since Britt used to work for the American Bus Association, it only seemed fitting to take advantage of the public bus system.  We were quite successful in navigating the city via bus.  It took a little longer than a direct cab ride but our wallets thanked us.

Our bus route required us to switch buses so we stopped at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to get a coffee.  Apparently Coffee Bean is a very trendy spot for Hollywood celebs, but we didn’t see any at 9am on a Saturday morning.  I, of course being less than trendy, had never heard of Coffee Bean but loved the coffee. and Britt’s smoothie looked great.  I’ve since learned from the website, Gluten Free in SD, that all of Coffee Bean’s, “Coffees and Teas are Gluten Free. Our Special Dutch Chocolate Powder, and our French Deluxe Vanilla Powder are both Gluten Free, so any drinks made with these powders are gluten free as well. Our Caramel sauce is also gluten free.  My guess is that their smoothies are probably GF too, but I’m not sure.

Once we arrived at the zoo, Britt and I took advantage of all of the perks that came with our ticket, including the guided bus tour and tram ride over the park.  Call me a tourist, but I loved getting to see the zoo and the amazing number and variety of animals.  My favorite zoo residents were definitely the meerkats.  They even had little baby meerkats.  Isn’t it amazing how the zoo can make you feel like a kid again?  Other highlights included the giraffes, sea otters, and reptile house.  The koalas were not that exciting since they sleep 22 hours out of the day, but still very cute asleep in the trees.

After a busy morning, it was time for lunch so we wandered around Balboa Park, the area surrounding the zoo, and decided to eat at The Prado.  For those of you who know me, I’m always thinking about my next meal.  So after our early breakfast we investigated potential lunch possibilities in the zoo vicinity since I knew I wouldn’t be able to just grab a hot dog at the zoo.  The Prado is part of the Cohn Restaurant group, and their menu looked awesome, full of lots of fresh, potentially gf choices.  We sat outside and even though it was a little cloudy, the cool air was perfect.

Our extremely helpful waitress  went back to the kitchen multiple times to check with the chef about my gluten-free options.  I decided to go with the “Prado Pressed Salad,” a beautiful array of baby arugula, shaved asiago cheese, strawberries, figs, and candied walnuts with a sherry shallot vinaigrette.  I couldn’t get the candied walnuts because they sprinkle them with flour, but the salad was still yummy. It was a tough call between the salad and the naturally GF fish tacos, but since I’d eaten Mexican the night before, I went with the pressed salad (And I’m a sucker for figs and arugula!)With the guidance of our server, I got grilled shrimp on top of my salad and the combination provided a refreshing and flavorful meal.  Delicious! After enjoying an outdoor lunch, we began our trek back to the hotel via the bus.  While not the most time efficient, we minimized our carbon footprint and our spending.  We returned to Loew’s with enough time to catch up on the college basketball scores for the day, and get ready for our evening in downtown San Diego.

Our bus stop near the hotel. Even though we had to wait awhile, you can't complain about the view!

Ahh, it’s a rough life.  I am one lucky girl.  In the last two weeks I’ve been in Naples, Florida and San Diego, California.  Both places provided a great escape from cold, rainy Atlanta.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Atlanta, but it was time to have a little distance from the Peach State.

Yes, in the same week, I got to see beautiful sunsets in Florida and California.

After five days in Naples, I flew briefly back to Atlanta on Wednesday night.  Enough time to celebrate my birthday (28…AAH!) with David, do laundry and repack.  Bright and early Friday morning, I set out for sunny San Diego to meet up with my high school roommate/best friend/maid of honor/personal fashion consultant, Brittanny.  David and Brittanny planned this girls’ weekend back in the fall and it was a perfect treat for my birthday weekend.

I had never been to San Diego before so I was a little nervous about the food situation, but I figured people on the west coast have a good grasp on healthy eating so I was hopeful that we would find places that understood all things gluten.  During my Naples trip, I had been spoiled because Jen and I had access to a full kitchen so most of our meals were made by us.  In San Diego I would not have that luxury, making my gluten-anxiety levels rise.

If there’s one thing Brittanny and I love to do, it’s lay out.  Yes, I know it’s bad for me, but I love getting tan.  Fortunately we stayed on Coronado Bay at the Loew’s Beach Resort so we had ample sun time in a beautiful setting.  We spent a lot of quality time at the pool, reading and soaking up rays, but we also did some touristy things, including the San Diego Zoo.  Even though the Loews is about 20 minutes from downtown San Diego, I would definitely recommend this hotel if you enjoy relaxing and not being too active on your vacation. If you’re looking for more action, I would recommend staying downtown at the W, where we went for drinks one night at their swanky rooftop ‘beach bar,’ complete with fire pits and heated sand.

Brittanny and I arrived in San Diego in the early afternoon on Friday and immediately checked into our room, ordered a tasty adult beverage and went to the pool.  Isn’t vacation wonderful?  After a relaxing afternoon we headed into the town of Coronado Bay for the evening.  We ordered a drink at Tent City, a cute wine bar downtown.  It was so great to be able to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine.  I can definitely see how people who move to the west coast never come back!

After a leisurely drink we went to Miguel’s, a Mexican restaurant in Coronado Bay for dinner.  Brittanny called ahead to inquire about gluten-free food and sure enough, they were willing to accommodate me.  I was a little nervous because the restaurant was super busy on a Friday night and our waiter can most nicely be described as flaky.  He giggled a lot…very weird.  The hostess was confident that I could be helped and once I spoke with the manager, I felt at ease about safely ordering.  The folks at Miguel’s understood contamination and the manager made clear to me that they would cook my meal on a separate and cleaned surface.  Sadly, I could not eat the chips and salsa but they brought me a cheese quesadilla on corn tortillas as an appetizer with my own salsa.

For my entrée I ordered the chicken and steak fajitas, with corn tortillas, that they grilled specially for me.  The manager even brought mine out separately from the rest of our food, taking care to make sure I received the correct dish.  Britt ordered fajitas too and mine definitely looked different from hers.  This visual distinction is always a comfort for me because I know they restaurant has taken care to ensure my safety.  My meal came with black beans instead of refried beans.  (I prefer black beans anyways.)  The Miguel’s folks did not give me rice, and I’m not sure if this omission was because they add flour to their rice or if they thought rice contained gluten.  (Clarification: plain rice does not contain gluten.)  I didn’t think to ask.  The fajitas came with yummy grilled vegetables, including mushrooms, onions and peppers.  My meal was delicious and it sufficiently accommodated my craving for Mexican.

Miguel’s was a great start to our San Diego weekend, filled with delicious food, gorgeous weather and rest.  I did not get contamination the entire weekend, which is such a relief and allowed me to fully enjoy the trip.  Stay tuned for more details about the great places we ate in San Diego.

Sun, books, writing, cooking, and rest. Glorious vacation. After a few days in Naples, Florida with Jen I’m feeling totally relaxed and in the groove of vacation. We wake up with no alarm, eat breakfast with a beautiful view of the water, gather our things and head out for a few hours of writing. Yes, it’s a total nerd fest. We spend most of the morning writing and drinking coffee. Around noon we head home for lunch, and then an afternoon of sun and books. The big decisions of the day include, pool or beach and which book to read? Lots of great conversation during and in between all of these. A late afternoon “wog” (walk/jog) followed by cocktails, appetizers and delicious gluten-free dinner. Perfect day.

Our gluten-free menu this week:
“Smorgasbord” of appetizers including hummus, Farmstand carrots, dates & parmesan, chips & salsa

Gluten-free pizza (Bob’s Red Mill) with pears, goat cheese, rosemary and caramelized onions

Farmstand salad mix with watermelon radishes, pears, red onions, & dried cranberries

Barefoot Contessa’s Roast Chicken with onions, rutabegas & sweet potatoes

GF Fusili pasta with tomato sauce, garlic, ground turkey, onions and oregano

Betty Crocker Gluten-free Brownies

Tonight’s my last night in Naples. So sad. For the final night, we’re going out on the town for dinner in Old Naples at Café Lurcat. So we’re not being totally anti-social this vacation. We even went to hear live music at the beach club the other night. We didn’t dance, but we enjoyed watching the odd (and most likely drugged) man dance. (See photo below.)

Each gluten-free vacation gets easier and easier for me. I continue to learn more about traveling gluten-free and how to stay healthy away from home. Of course it helps to have a gluten-free travel buddy who likes to cook just as much as I do.

Yesterday, my friend Jen, and I drove from Atlanta to Naples, Florida for spring break.  In case you’re wondering, this drive takes about ten hours.  Nine hours and 50 minutes of the drive takes place on I-75.  Beautiful?  Not so much.  I can’t take too much credit since I didn’t do any of the driving but it was a pretty painless day of travel through scenic Florida.

Traveling always raises questions and stress for us gluten-free eaters, and anxiety levels start to rise with concerns of ‘Where am I going to eat?’ and “How will I stay healthy?”  Even though I’m traveling without my biggest supporter, David, this week, I feel very safe as Jen, too, is gluten-free.

During our car ride, we ate lots of GF snacks and managed to avoid buying any mediocre fast food along the way.  Here are some of my favorite travel snacks that we ate:

• Peanut butter and jelly on rice cakes: I use two rice cakes and compose it like a sandwich.  Just make it before you hit the road, put it in a zip lock bag and it’s ready for lunch time.
• Stonyfield yogurt with homemade granola: just don’t forget to pack a spoon!
• Popcorn Indiana Kettle Corn: the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and healthy.

• Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips: I don’t turn down anything involving sweet potatoes.  And you can find them at Starbuck’s!
• Bananas
• Trader Joe’s gluten-free ginger snaps: a great sweat snack for the car or packing a lunch for a gluten-free child.  These are some of my favorite store bought GF cookies

• La Croix sparkling water: I prefer the grapefruit and lime flavors

Not only is the food good, but it saves money along the way.  Yes, you feel like you’re carrying a small grocery store in your car but it’s so worth the extra preparation ahead of time, I promise.  When we arrived in Naples late last night, we were tired from traveling, but before heading to bed, we enjoyed a slice of delicious gluten-free chocolate chip cake that my friend, Maury, so sweetly made me for my birthday.  She’s the first non-gluten free person to ever bake me a cake.  Amazing!  Birthday cake and red wine…a great start to spring break.  So, it’s not quite MTV spring break, but it’s perfect for me.

I just learned from my gluten-free buddy, Jennifer Harris of the Gwinnett Gluten-Free Examiner, that select Starbuck’s are going to start offering new snacks on January 12^th that are 220 calories or less per serving and 8 of the 9 items are gluten-free!

What great news!  After the gluten-free orange Valencia cakes flopped last spring, I’m excited that Starbuck’s is giving gluten-free products another try.  I hope that this attempt will be more successful.  I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely more likely to buy these new snacks than an orange cake. (If I’m eating cake, I want to to be chocolate!)  All of these snacks are pre-packaged so you don’t have to worry about contamination AND there is such a variety so you can satisfy your sweet tooth or your salt craving while enjoying your tasty, hot beverage.

This list of new products include some of my personal favorite gluten-free snacks, including:

Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips: I discovered these this summer and they are delicious.  As you know, I love all things sweet potato and these are great with hummus or plain.

Lucy’s Cookies: These cookies are also dairy-free, egg-free and nut-free. The woman who created this line is from Norfolk, Virginia, my birthplace and home state.  I love these cookies because they actually taste like real cookies and I have always enjoyed eating them with coffee or tea. Perfect for Starbuck’s!  I prefer the cinnamon variety.  My gluten-eating mom enjoys these cookies with her tea too.

Kind Bars: if you’re in need of an energy boost while on the go, these fruit and nut bars have lots of protein, fiber and all natural ingredients.  I prefer the ‘Fruit & Nut’ variety.  I really enjoy the texture and crunch of these bars.  If I’m traveling I always carry Kind Bars and Lara Bars in case I’m caught without a food option on the plane or on a layover in the airport.

For a full list of Starbuck’s new products, check out Jennifer’s post on the Examiner.

As I write this post, I’m at the Starbuck’s on Howell Mill Road in Atlanta’s Westside and I just asked them if they’ll be carrying this new line of snacks starting tomorrow and they said, ‘Yes!’  They told me they’ll actually have them out this afternoon.

These treats are great whether you’re gluten-free or not and much healthier than the tempting baked goods behind that glass wall.  Let me know what Starbuck’s locations are offering these new snacks.

This weekend I headed north to the Washington, D.C. area for a visit.  It was my first time back since we moved in early August and it was great to see everyone, catch up with students, family and friends.  Of course I didn’t miss the opportunity to go to some of my favorite restaurants and bakeries to get my fill of all my gluten-free favorites in the nation’s capital.  While many others on my flight were up here to run the Marine Corps Marathon, I was here to visit and eat!

Gluten Freedom’s Northern VA/DC Area Favorites (Click on the links to check out previous posts I wrote about these yummy places.):

Evening Star: My all time favorite restaurant in northern Virginia, they just created a new fall menu and I enjoyed the pork tenderloin with creamy polenta, walnuts and mushroom gravy.  All naturally gluten-free of course!  The waiters are great at Evening Star and I always feel well taken care of at this great restaurant in Del Ray.

Buzz Bakery: I got my birthday cake here this year and I love their gluten-free baked goods.  On this visit I got the chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting and a brownie for the plane ride home (well, I ate most of it before I left town actually)

Tortilla Coast: I called ahead and they made me a batch of tortilla chips before the fryer oil got contaminated with glutenous items; chicken fajitas with corn tortillas

Cake Love: A great spot in Shirlington to get baked goods to go.  I ordered the yellow cake with vanilla butter cream frosting and enjoyed my treats at home with mom and dad on Sunday afternoon.

Thai Shirlington: Of course I had to get the panang perfect!

What a great weekend!  I came back to Atlanta well fed after a fun weekend with family and friends.  I miss them already.

As many of you know, one of the toughest times to have celiac disease or a gluten allergy can be at special events, especially weddings.  In the two years that I’ve been diagnosed, I’ve become very good at planning ahead, eating peanut butter rice cakes between the wedding and reception and stuffing David’s suit pockets with Lara Bars and nuts, knowing that I will not be able to partake in the buffet or the seated meal.  I have even searched high and low for a semi-fancy, semi-cute large purse that I can carry my food in to these events.  Let me know if you’ve found any cute bags that would do the job.

When people ask me what the hardest thing is about having celiac, the thing that comes to my mind is weddings.  Food is such a large part of these celebrations and no matter how many years I’m gluten free, it will always be awkward to watch other people eat, meanwhile getting funny looks from guests who don’t know me, and having to explain why I’m not eating.  (A note of warning: be careful about consuming too much alcohol at events such as these. While all of your friends are eating, it’s easy to have one too many glasses of wine.)

This is not a pity post, however.  I don’t expect any bride or groom to consider me when they’re planning their big day and there was most likely someone at my wedding reception who couldn’t eat anything because they had a food allergy that I overlooked.  Also, there are probably some things at receptions and events that I could eat, but I don’t feel like weddings are the right time to be in the back of the kitchen, demanding to know from the chef whether or not the filet was marinated in soy sauce or if the gratin has bread crumbs.  It’s someone else’s day, not mine, so I usually stay quiet about my dietary needs at wedding receptions.

I say all of this because about a month ago my sister-in-law, Heidi, got married in Phippsburg, Maine at Sebasco Harbor Resort, about an hour drive from Portland.  I was so excited to be a bridesmaid, to celebrate with Heidi and her fiancé, Ross and to spend a long weekend in Maine with my family.  David grew up going to Maine with his family so it’s only fitting that Heidi got married in Maine.  The wedding was absolutely incredible and the whole weekend was so much fun.  Heidi was beautiful and her lucky groom, Ross, could not stop smiling at the reception.  Overall, a truly lovely weekend spent with friends and family, celebrating a wonderful couple.

In the midst of planning a destination wedding, working full time, and buying a new house, Heidi made sure that I was able to eat throughout the weekend.  Both my mother-in-law, Elaine, and Ross’ mom, Martha, worked hard with the staff at Sebasco to make sure that I was taken care of throughout the weekend.  For those of you with food allergies or celiac, you know how rare it is to be able to share food at the table with everyone for an entire destination wedding weekend so you can imagine how touched I was by the extensive efforts people went to for me.  I have to tell you about the wonderful staff at Sebasco and Mae’s Café, as well as the delicious food I enjoyed throughout the weekend.

If you love Maine, Sebasco is a perfect spot for a wedding.  Think Dirty Dancing meets Maine!  A beautiful backdrop, with adorable (and quite nice) cottages of all sizes all over the property.  Sebasco also has individual rooms available at their various inns on the property.  Right on the water, Sebasco also has a golf course, beautiful views, a game room (with bowling!), restaurants, a bar and event rooms.  They even make your bed every day!  I’ve never stayed in a cottage before that does that.

I arrived at Sebasco on Thursday afternoon and the first people I talked to were Marianne Vold (who’s in charge of all special events) and Chef Michael.  I’d already spoken with both of them over the phone in the weeks leading up to the wedding and they wanted to double check and make sure that I was taken care of for the rehearsal dinner and wedding.  What a good sign.  I immediately felt welcome at Sebasco and confident in these two people.

So let me tell you about the food!  On Thursday night Heidi and Ross’ two families had a pizza dinner in our cottage.  Even at this small family meal, Chef Michael brought me grilled chicken, baked potato and a separate salad from everyone else.  It was delicious and made me (and my digestive system) immediately feel comfortable at Sebasco.

On Friday, we had the bridesmaid’s luncheon off of the resort, in a small town called Bath at Mae’s Cafe.  Mae’s is an adorable lunch and breakfast spot and we had our own room for the event.  Heidi made sure in advance that I was able to eat everything in the meal.  We each had a plate with grilled vegetables, shrimp salad and chicken salad and mine was exactly the same as everyone else’s.  It was delicious and we enjoyed a leisurely afternoon sharing stories and our memories of Heidi.  At the end of the meal, I was served a piece of flourless chocolate cake.  I was already so touched that I got to eat lunch, but what a treat to actually get dessert!  The cake was so rich and delicious that I couldn’t eat all of it, so it provided me with something sweet for the rest of the weekend.

Back at the Sebasco Resort on Friday evening, the rehearsal dinner was a picture perfect lobster bake outside.  Chef Michael told me that I could have everything except the rolls and clam chowder at the rehearsal dinner so I enjoyed a whole lobster, potatoes and corn.  It was a great meal to eat outside in the cool, September Maine air!  Messy and fun.  Ross’ mother, Martha, really worked hard to make sure that I was able to enjoy this meal and feel confident that everything was ‘safe.’  And it was!

After a lovely ceremony on Saturday afternoon, the wedding reception on Saturday night provided a perfect venue to eat, drink, dance and continue celebrating Heidi and Ross. Chef Michael let me choose which entrée I wanted for the seated dinner.  I chose the steak (of course!) and he made me a separate steak with a different sauce because the one everyone else had contained soy sauce.  I was able to enjoy the earlier courses as well.  The first course was a nice salad (I just asked not to have blue cheese on mine) and the second course included a beautiful squash soup.  The waitress even brought me some espresso ice cream with a homemade blueberry compote while everyone else ate cake.  What a meal!  And the take home gift at the wedding reception were adorable mini-jars of homemade (gluten-free!) jam made using Elaine’s very own Linden, Virginia blueberries.

I can’t express enough to my family and the people at Sebasco and Mae’s how touched I was, and still am, that they went to such great lengths to include me in every dining experience that weekend.  The weekend would have still been such a great time, but the special meals and treatment only added to the fun.  I truly felt like I was part of the event and not watching from the sidelines.  Thanks again to Marianne, Chef Michael, Mae’s Café, Heidi, Ross, Elaine and Martha for going to such lengths for me!