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GFAF Expo: Dallas Recap

I have been back from the GFAF Expo in Dallas for about 2 weeks – and they have been a little crazy.

There was some drama getting off the ground to get to Dallas. Wonky internet connections and way too much to do in not a lot of time. And a couple of huge projects at my day job. And lots of travel. I have been home less time this month than I have been away. So, there has been little time to actually write this post.

But, there were so many great products & companies that were there. I had some amazing new treats (many that I can’t get where I live, but that’s what you get when you move to the middle of nowhere).

I also got to meet some of my favorite gluten-free bloggers. Brittany from Real Sustenance, Iris from the Daily Dietribe, Lauren-Lucille from the Celiac Diva, Silvana from Silvana’s Kitchen & Easy Eats, Amy from The Healthy Apple, Gluten Free Dee, Rockin GF Gal as well as Pete Bronsky from No Gluten, No Problem and Laura Russel the author of the Gluten Free Asain Kitchen.

Plus, there are some great new things to eat out there. Hail Merry makes this awesome buckwheat granola – now I have to order it online in the midwest, but it is totally worth ordering a whole case.

Wholesome Foods Bakery is a local dallas bakery with some really awesome cookies. I mean awesome. They will even ship cookie dough around the country.

If you can have oats, love grown foods makes a really delicious granola. And the owner of the company was quite sweet. I have eaten a few of the sample packs and really need to order some of this for myself. It is like the granola I like to make for myself, without having to take the time to make it.

Rudi’s bread was there, and so was Udi’s and there was even someone sampling that new Genius bread from Glutino. Here is what I know about these sandwich breads: 1. If you want white sandwich bread, don’t waste your money on the Genius bread. It was really just not good. 2. If you want a good, all-purpose sandwich bread, go with the Rudi’s multi-grain. 3. If you want a great pre-made pizza crust, get the one from Udi’s.

I had a few new beers, and the jury is still out on if I like them as much or better than the others.

Enjoy Life was there sharing some of there awesome trail mix – I wish they would sell it in the small sample packs that they were passing out and their new crunchy cookies – try the sugar cookies, you will love them! I also got my hands on (finally! because I live in the middle of nowhere) the mega chocolate chunks from them. I see some baking in my future!

I also gave a talk on fearless baking. I will post the video online for you all to see soon – I just have to edit it first!

 

gluten free lemon thyme shortbread with cup 4 cup flour from williams sonoma

Lemon Thyme Shortbread & C4C flour review

cup 4 cup gluten free flour from williams sonomaThere was a bit of hubub on twitter over this flour. Mostly it was about the price – not sure why. 3lbs of the King Arthur Gluten Free Flour is $16 and 3lbs of Jules Nearly Normal flour comes out to about $12 (she sells 5lb bags). It is a little more expensive, but not horribly so. It is a product sold at Williams Sonoma, they sell premium cookware and foods. Pasta sauce from there is expensive too ($12 a jar!). It is a premium store that sells premium products. Call me snooty, but I love shopping there. And I am ok with paying a price for luxury/ premium goods.

And yes, the flour is fairly pricey. But, is it good? Yes. Very.

Blondie and I got up early last Sunday and went to a gluten-free baking technique class. Ours was taught by a delightful pastry chef who gave some good tips for baking – and taught Blondie quite a bit about gluten-free ingredients and baking. I even learned a trick about baking cookies.

The whole point of this class was to sample their new brownie & cookie mixes (which don’t taste like they came from a box at all – but I still think they are cheating). And to demo their new flour. (Williams-Sonoma, please have more Gluten-Free technique classes!)

Cup4Cup is a gluten-free flour blend developed by Chef Thomas Keller of French Laundry and Bouchon Bakery fame. And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the flour. I baked some shortbread cookies to test it out. I have had some disappointments in the past when it comes to gluten-free flour blends. And there are very few that I recommend without hesitation. This one is now on that list.

The batter seemed a little gummier than I am used to, but the cookies are a little chewy (but not gummy) and did not turn to dust when I touched them (this has happened). There were no strange flavors (which some brands AP blends have) and the texture of the baked good was spot on. Sometimes when you bake gluten free cookies, you need to substitute shortening for some of the butter so that they do not spread into one giant cookie. This flour held its shape in baking, a major plus.

I also used this while testing my fried doughnut recipe that will be live on Wednesday for the Gluten Free Ratio Rally. It actually seems to be working (the dough is raising now, but the texture seemed spot on. The dough had stretch and absorbed the right amount of moisture). I will have to try a loaf of bread with this next…

I also love that I can pick up a bag of this stuff when I am wandering around Williams-Sonoma ogling the kitchen goods that I am going to register for when I get married. I also am really impressed that a fancy-schmancy player has entered the game.

This blend will not work for those of you who also have problems with dairy or gums, as this blend has both. My only aversion to dairy is that I don’t like the way that milk tastes.

I am going to make sure that Blondie has a bag of this in his pantry for when I come to town. (Especially now that he finally has measuring cups and spoons – I can deal with not having a scale for our weekends together)

I would definitely put this as one of my preferred store-bought blends. I think it might have worked its way up to second favorite blend.

There are some limitations to using a prepared flour blend. You can’t change the ratio of grains to starches depending on what you are baking. (So no whole grain breads). You also can’t change the amount of the binding agent (xantham gum, guar gum, flax, expandex, etc.) But, you can make your grandma’s famous chocolate cake without doing math.

This blend beats out my other favorite blend in one aspect, I can just go into a store and pick it up. (Maybe not in Champaign, but in Chicago). No expensive shipping because flour weighs alot!

If you are baking a recipe from a gluten free site (such as this), just total all the flours and use this in it’s place. It works as a weight substitution and as a  volume substitution.

So, thank you Williams-Sonoma and Chef Thomas Keller for this flour.

gluten free lemon thyme shortbread with cup 4 cup flour from williams sonoma

Gluten Lemon-Thyme Shortbread
#ratingval# from #reviews# reviews
Print
Recipe Type: Cookie
Author: Mary Fran Wiley
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 30
These are a light, summery cookie. They are not too sweet, but they are tangy with an herb kick. They would go great with some vanilla ice cream for a summer dessert.
Ingredients
  • 230 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 100 grams (½ cup) sugar
  • 340 grams (2 ½ cups) gluten-free all purpose flour blend
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice (the juice from 1 large lemon)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
  1. Cream together the butter and sugar until it is just blended.
  2. Add the flour in 2 batches, scraping down the sides of your mixer after each addition.
  3. Add the lemon juice and mix to combine.
  4. Stir in the lemon zest and thyme.
  5. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.About halfway through this time, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  6. Roll the dough out and cut into the desired shape (I did 3 inch circles).
  7. Arrange about a half inch apart on a greased cookie sheets and bake for 13-17 minutes.
Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe
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salted caramel swirls

No, we didn’t win that ring.

salted caramel swirls

It was kind of a busy weekend.

Blondie and I saw friends, had dinner with my family (because my cousin got engaged!), went to a baking demo, went out for lunch, managed to get in a few photos for my class and I made caramels.

Blondie and I were going to do a scavenger hunt/race for an engagement ring on Sunday. But we skipped it. To go to a gluten free baking demo at Williams Sonoma. But I will tell you more about that tomorrow, once I bake something with their new gluten free flour.

jam sessionBlondie graciously jammed on his guitar so I could do some homework. (Rapid fire shots combined into one swell image).

The real story is this caramel recipe. And a cookbook that I think you need.

You see, I was that strange kid that absolutely adored bulls eyes and cow tail candies. The chewy caramel filled with the creamy crumbly white sugar stuff.

This was my second time making the recipe, and it is divine.  (It sure made my dad happy too, he is the one who got me hooked on this type of candy as a kid).

Let me start with the book.

It is Sugar Baby by Gesine Bullock-Prado. Now, before you get all conspiracy theorist on me, yes, she is Sandra’s sister. I refuse to hold this against her (mostly because Sandra was super gracious to the neighborhood kids when she filmed While You Were Sleeping).

Almost the entire cookbook is gluten free. Simply because when you are cooking with sugar and making candies, you don’t need flour. (There are a half dozen recipes at the back of the book, but you could substitute your favorite cake, crepe or pâte à choux recipe for hers and just follow the technique and recipes for frosting and and other bits).

There are recipes for several different fudges, marshmallows, rock candy, milk candy and to top it off, cotton candy.

Another bonus? The ingredients are listed in both US measurements and by weight. (I made the caramels using both sets of measurements). For those of you afraid of relinquishing your measuring cups, the conversions are there. For those of you not in the states or who have started to use scales for baking, the weights are right there for you.

The instructions are clearly written in a friendly voice. She sounds like a friend teaching you how to do these things in the kitchen might sound. There are sweet stories in the recipe head notes and all the recipes look fabulous. (I would like an excuse to make fairy floss, so someone needs to have a party for me to bring it to).

I am sure this book is not dentist approved, but the recipes are fun and approachable. Plus, the author lists variations for each recipe.

Now, a few tips:

  1. Use a metal bowl for your stand mixer, if you have one of those beautiful Kitchen Aids with a glass bowl, whipping the fondant takes twice as long.
  2. The sharper your knife the better. I used a very sharp, serated knife.
  3. Cold caramel-fondant rolls smush less. Although, I think the smushed ones taste just fine.
  4. If it is super humid, you might need an extra tablespoon of cornstarch in your vanilla bean cream. It’s quite alright. It will still taste divine.
  5. Don’t use vanilla extract in the fondant. If you don’t have vanilla bean paste, scrape the seeds from a vanilla bean or use ground Tahitian vanilla beans (I used vanilla bean paste the first time and ground vanilla beans the second time).
  6. Consult the photo tutorial from the author. It helped me visualize many of the steps.

Finally, a recipe.

Salted Caramels with Vanilla Bean Cream
#ratingval# from #reviews# reviews
Print
Recipe Type: Candy
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 75 mins
Total time: 1 hour 20 mins
Serves: 40
This recipe is adapted from Sugar Baby by Gesine Bullock-Prado. This is a brilliant interpretation of one of my childhood favorites, and this recipe happens to be gluten free (unlike the industrial variety). These take a bit of time to prepare, and are a good Saturday afternoon project.
Ingredients

Caramel

  • 1½ cups heavy cream
  • 400 grams (2 cups) sugar
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • stick (55 grams) unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt

Vanilla Bean Cream

  • 2 cups sugar
  • cup water
  • 2 tablespoons corn syrup
  • pinch salt
  • stick (55 grams) unsalted butter
  • teaspoon vanilla bean paste or ground vanilla beans
  • 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch, plus additional to dust counter
Instructions
  1. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and grease well. Really, grease it. You do not want to end up with a sticky mess.
  2. Prepare your mise en place. (That means get your ingredients out and measured when you start). Cut both measures of butter into small pieces.
  3. Make the caramel. In a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom over medium heat, combine the cream, sugar and corn syrup. Clip a candy thermometer on your pot and stir the mixture gently. When it starts to boil, put your spoon down and step back from the stove. Wait while your sugar bubbles along. (If your pot is too small, it will boil over and make a huge mess. You are better off using a pot that is a little too big – as long as enough of your candy thermometer is submerged to effectively measure the temperature.) When it hits 257 degrees Fahrenheit, remove the pot from the heat, stir in the butter, vanilla extract and salt. Pour it into your prepared pan and spread evenly. Set aside.
  4. Make the vanilla bean cream. In the bowl of a stand mixer (preferably a metal bowl), place the chopped butter. In a clean pot, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup. Put the pot over medium heat, attach a candy thermometer and stir until the mixture becomes clear. Boil the mixture until it reaches 245 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour in the bowl of the stand mixer. Slowly bring the mixer to medium and mix until translucent. Add the salt and vanilla bean paste (or ground vanilla bean). Continue beating until the mixture is white, shiny and mostly opaque. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Raise the speed to high and beat like crazy. I beat it for about 10 minutes the first time I made these, and 20 minutes the second time. It was super humid, so I also added a little extra cornstarch to help the mixture dry out. Once the mixture looks like it is starting to dry, stop the mixer. It should hold its shape pretty well. Turn it out onto a cornstarch dusted surface and knead. You should have a soft, pliable dough.
  5. Assemble the rolls. Press the cream onto the caramel, leaving a half inch at each of the long ends. Remove the caramel from the pan and cut in half lengthwise (I used a pizza cutter for this). Roll the caramel and fondant into logs. Slice with a serrated knife. If your rolls smush or the fondant squeezes out, refrigerate the candies for about 10 mins. Then continue slicing.
Notes

Try using instant espresso powder in the fondant to create caramel frappucino candies.

You can make fat rolls (like the ones pictured), by leaving a half inch of fondant from the short sides, cutting the caramel in half lengthwise, and then in half crosswise to make 4 shorter, wider rolls.

Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe
1.2.4

 

Come meet me!

No, I am not bringing goodies to the market (maybe next year…). I am going to Dallas, baby!

GFAF Expo

Blondie and I are heading out there October 1st for the Gluten & Allergy Free Expo. I am really quite excited to go!

I went to my first one in 2010 in Chicago, after a friend of mine had told me she had found this amazing cupcake joint in Chicago because of the previous year’s GFAF Expo.

This year it was huge compared to last year. There was so much more food to sample and more things to learn. Heck, I even got to meet the Pamela. 

So, what exactly is it? There are a bazillion brands of foods and items you never knew you were missing, and there will be over 70 booths from manufacturers, restaurants, support groups and authors. The fair is completely gluten free. And many products are free of other allergens. My dad found breakfast cereal, chocolate chips, a peanut butter replacement, better pasta and even frozen pretzles to eat (his food allergy list is a mile long, so just one of these things would have made the trip worth it for him). My mom and I found a new hard cider to enjoy. Oh yeah, and gummy bears and sour worms.

The vendor fair includes all that plus a kids arts & crafts area and a stage with presentations. I will be there. Talking about how to approach allergy friendly baking with reckless abandon. No? How about just making it less scary.

[box type=”info”]October 1 & 2, 2011
10am-4pm
$20 at the door ($5 for children under 12)[/box]

There are also cooking classes taught by top gluten free bloggers and other food industry pros. Think Amy from Simply Sugar & Gluten Free, Brittany from Real Sustenance (I might have a blog crush on her – go make some of her food!), Silvana Nardone who wrote cooking for Isaiah, and Cybele Pascal. (I can’t wait to meet all of them myself)

Now, go buy your ticket or your cooking class, and I will see you in Dallas!

Artisan French loaf from GF Boulangerie

Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger : Bread

Artisan French loaf from GF BoulangerieArtisan bread is one of the things I miss most of all. In fact, I find gluten free bread to taste so terrible, that I hardly ever eat it (although my dad’s English Muffin Bread is quite alright). I think it tastes funny. I am not sure how to say it, but it just tastes off. The texture is dense and chewy. The bread frequently only tastes good warm. And, for the most part, I am really OK with not eating it.

But, I really do miss biting into a slice of bread with the right mouthfeel. You know the one – the insides are tender and moist but there is air in there to lighten things up. The outside is crusty and takes a good bite. I lost all those things when I lost wheat. And I stopped trying to find it.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that a twitter follower had a blog with the most amazing looking loaves of bread. I was hooked and had to bake one. I tried GF Boulangerie’s Artisan French Loaf. oh em gee. I made 2 loaves. I will be baking more. This girl is a gluten free bread savant. She explains why you do certain things, and how her bread differs from the gluten-y type.

Now, I couldn’t find expandex (which the recipe calls for) and my dad has a severe bean allergy, so I had to avoid the bean flour. But, since the recipe was by weight and not my volume, I used regular tapioca starch in place of the expandex and brown rice (because that is what was here) in place of the bean flour. If you need a guide, see my flour substitution chart.

I made this bread and thankfully made 2 batches at once. The first loaf was gone as soon as it was cool enough to eat. My parents (both gluten free) adored it. I couldn’t eat enough and it was 10pm. Now, go bake some bread and take back the dinner roll!

gluten free pretzels

Bavarian Breakfast

gluten free pretzelsThe first person to tell me that beer is not a breakfast food, needs to go to Munich in September and experience Oktoberfest. You will then know that, at times, beer is perfecctly acceptable, and possibly even necessary for breakfast.

This story begins with a trip to the University of Illinois’ Meat Sales Room. There was a large sign on the door advertising frankfurters and weiswurst. I had never eaten weiswurst, but they were loading up the cases with some of it, so of course, I had to try it. (Weis in weiswurst is for the color white, not the same as the weiss in weissbier which is wheat). The ingredients made it sound delicious, so of course I had to buy it. So, $3.50 later, I had a new kind of sausage to try. After some googling, I found out that you eat it for breakfast with a soft pretzel, mustard and beer. Blondie was coming to town for the weekend, so I knew what I had to do.

St Peter's Gluten Free Beer Review - pictured with pretzels & mustardI was prepared with a recipe for gluten-free soft pretzels from Gluten-Free Girl & the Chef, I had mustard that my mom had made in my fridge begging to be served with some sausage and I had one wheat beer from the last time Blondie & I did a pick a six at Friar Tucks. We went to go get a gluten free beer for me to have with our breakfast, and while looking for cider (what I normally pick over beer because of the awful flavor of some of the easiest to find gluten-free varieties), I found this ridiculously expensive sorghum beer ($4.99 for a pint). But, I had to try it because it came in such a fantastic bottle, and I wanted the bottle to be a little vase.

Turns out that the bottle is based on ones from the 1770s. This beer is imported from the UK, so it is only available at specialty liquor stores (and not your typical grocery store).

Sunday morning rolled around and we had home-made mustard, our pretzels and our beers. The beer was probably one of the most delicious ones I have tried since going gluten free. It was bright and hoppy. It had a great mouth feel and even Blondie wanted some of mine. I didn’t want to share. It is amazingly better than that mass-produced beer from St. Louis. And totally worth a treat. If you like a good beer, this one is labeled as a pilsner style sorghum beer and is worth every delicious penny.

Review: On A Stick

On A Stick CoverI love cookbooks. I love cookbooks even better when they are filled with amazing photos. I love them the most when there are recipes that are inherently gluten free or require simply choosing one’s ingredients carefully. This is one of those books. Now, if you want to make the fried chicken & waffles on a stick, you are going to have to do some thinking & planning, but for most of the recipes, they were either inherently gluten free or could be made gluten free by using a gluten free equivalent (bread crumbs, soy sauce, etc.).

Orange Beef on a stickIn the introduction of the book, On a Stick, the author (food blogger & photographer Matt Armendariz) states that food just tastes better on a stick. And judging by just how fast the food that I made out of his cookbook for a party this weekend dissappeared, he was right.

For the most part the food in this book is fun and inventive. And the recipes are simple. I made 2 things out of the book for a meat-themed party on Saturday, and as I was frying my orange beef on a stick, people were taking them before I could even get the sauce on them.

I am sure part of the flavor success was the $15/lb flank steak that I used for the meat skewers, but really the sauce made the meat sing. It was orangey & soy-y in the right proportions and made my mouth sing. And it made all the boys drool. I might even make it off the stick (gasp!) as a dinner partner with rice.Grilled fruit salad

I also made the grilled fruit, although that failed and the fruits fell off the stick. But the mint-lime syrup was delightful and I ended up with a grilled fruit salad. Yum!

And yes, there is even a cake pop recipe in this book. Although, I am waiting for an excuse to make the sangria on a stick (maybe it will work in my Zoku….) and the margarita jello shots on a stick. I should stop myself now, because there are so many more recipes that I want to try.

Although I received a free copy of this book to review, I would definitely say that it is a keeper and great addition to my cookbook collection.

Girls eating orange beef on a stick

frannycakes as a child

Thanks, mom!

frannycakes as a childI have re-written this post 4 times (which is why it is no longer Mother’s Day). My words don’t seem to do my mom justice.

You see, she is an amazing woman. She had a 15 minute conversation with the editor in chief of a national magazine about how talented she thinks I am (while wearing a tshirt for this website). I am not so sure that she realizes that the only reason I am successful is because of her.

In our house, the kitchen was the center of the universe. We gathered there, we learned there, we played games there, we cooked there. My mom taught me math problems sitting at the kitchen table while I earned pennies for each problem correct. She practiced French vocabulary with me, and she doesn’t speak a word of it. We cut out the patterns for all the dresses that I wore to dances. Her patience helped me get through everything.

All through high school she thought I was a lost cause. I refused to cook. I told her I was going to be rich and have a chef. Or she was going to have to live with me living at home my whole life. It wasn’t until I got my first apartment in college that I realized that I loved cooking. Or that I thought it was important to gather for meals. Or even that I could make a batch of chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies without having the recipe on hand. I know what to do if I am out of baking powder and don’t have time to run to the store. I know how to pull a meal from a pantry full of unrelated ingredients. I know what spices complement each other. I know how to stretch expensive ingredients and I know what things you just can’t substitute in the kitchen.

I also know that nothing tastes good unless you add a healthy dose of love.

So, thanks, Mom. You made me who I am today

 

GFAF Expo Recap

Everyone loved my frannycakes tshirts! Although, everyone thought that I owned a bakery. Maybe someday, once I have become internet famous and have written a cookbook with my mom. I founnd so many new treats to eat, some new flour blends to try and loads of new brands to keep my eye on. I got to meet the editor of Living Without magazine, “The Pamela” of Pamela’s Products and a woman who is starting up a gluten-free deal site (similar to Groupon). I have to say that even though I was only able to be there for a few hours Saturday morning, I had a blast and learned a lot.

Allergy-friendly eating is a big deal in our family. Dad, the food allergy king, is allergic to wheat, oats, teff, pork, beans, peanuts and cashews. Mom can’t have gluten or teff. My sister is hugely allergic to nuts. I have wheat and shellfish allergies for sure and have an allergist appointment coming up to find out the true extent of mine. My poor boyfriend recently found out that he is lactose intolerant and has IBS. Needless to say, we easily get stuck in ruts because we eat what we know.

Saturday I brought my parents to the Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo put on by Jen Cafferty. I went last year with my boyfriend (from here on out, he will be refered to as Blondie – the name my girlfriends gave him when we first started dating). Blondie and I went on the Sunday afternoon last year and were completely overwhelmed by the shear awesomeness of the event. Naturally, as soon as the date for this year’s expo was released, I made plans with my cooking partner in crime (my mom) to go. We donned franncakes tshirts and brought along the boys for a ride.

My entourage and I spent 3 hours eating and shopping my way through the event. There were new products from some of our favorite brands and lots of new brands that I had never heard of before. We all had different missions for the event. My mission was to scope out gluten free flours and talk to companies about how they got their start in the Gluten Free market place. My mom’s mission was to wear a frannycakes shirt (it was her idea to order them) and try as many different foods as possible. Blondie’s mission was to taste everything and make sure it tasted good to a normal palate. My dad’s mission was the most specific: find gluten free soft pretzels.

Pretzels are one of those things that are not too difficult to make at home, but it is just my mom and dad now, so making a batch homemade isn’t always the most practical option. Needless to say, dad did not wait long to accomplish his mission. The father son team at Allerenergy had him with one of their pretzel bites. Our group’s first purchase was at the third table in the door and it couldn’t have been from better people.

We passed a few more tables and there were chicken nuggets. Immediately  after that were gluten free doughnuts (and gluten free sandwich cookies. We were drinking Woodchuck and Magner’s Irish Cider before noon. We found a perfect substitute for Ho-Hos. I found out that Costco sells a fantastic gluten free cracker. My favorite gluten free baguette manufacturer now has ready-made frozen pizzas. I FINALLY got to try Rudi’s gluten free bread. I got sour gummy bears (made with pectin) for my vegetarian cousin. I saw a couple of iphone/ ipad apps that look promising.

I will review individual products over the next couple of weeks, but for now, here are links to the companies that impressed me at this year’s expo and what product it was that caught my attention.

 

Takeout Tuesday: Pei Wei

So soon after a disastrous night out, I went out to eat. Twice. I know you all probably think that I am crazy, but the way my life works, eating out happens a lot more than it should.

Today was kind of a crazy over night jaunt to Chicago for a doctor visit, but it was also P’s birthday. So, we went out to eat. This time, we went to PeiWei instead of our favorite burger joint (because I made my mom take me there for lunch 🙂 ). PeiWei is an fast casual Asian restaurant thought up by the geniuses behind PF Changs (another gluten free favorite of mine).

I would go back just for the futuristic coke machine that had 8 kinds of Fanta Zero. P would go back for the excessive number of Powerade choices (I never said he had good taste).

We arrived right before closing – as happens with last minute trips – and were greated pleasantly. The gluten free menu, albeit short, was different enough from the salads with oil & vinegar dressing or burger no bun orders that I typically have that it was refreshing. The sweet and sour chicken was bright, fresh and not overly sweet. P seemed to enjoy his Pad Thai, but as that was not gluten free, I didn’t taste it.

I got to watch them cook my meal, as the kitchen is open (and, frankly, I am now paranoid). But the cooks communicated that the dish was gluten free several times once the ticket came up. They seemed to gave down what they could and could not do. All in all it was a refreshing experience.

I don’t think PeiWei is that new, my cousin who travels to North Carolina regularly says that it is one of his go-to favorites for gluten free dining. And now, there is one close to my parents’ house (too bad not in the small town that I live in 🙁 ).