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

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.