Farm Table Celebration at Evening Star

When David graduated from law school this spring, we wanted to find a place to celebrate with our families and share a delicious meal together. The owners of Evening Star in Del Ray (one of our favorite restaurants) also own a wine shop next door, called Planet Wine. This shop is beautiful, with dark wood shelves and wines displayed throughout and covering the walls. The owners have put a huge table in Planet Wine, naming it Farm Table. You can reserve the Farm Table for a night and get a special meal created by Evening Star chef, Will Artley, composed of seasonally fresh and local food.

David and I decided to see if we could get a gluten free Farm Table meal for our family during his graduation weekend. I contacted Clare Parker, who organizes reservations for Farm Table and she assured us that Will would be happy to create a gluten free meal for our law school celebration. Clare was super friendly and helpful throughout the reservation and menu planning process.

On Saturday, May 16th we arrived at Planet Wine with parents, brothers, sisters and spouses, and shared an absolutely delicious meal. Even though the meal was over a month ago, I remember it so well. The flavors came together perfectly and we had a great evening of food and togetherness. I have to tell you about the food itself, but just writing about it, will not sufficiently explain just how good it was.

We started with champagne and a canapé of Virginia Oysters on the half shell and beef tartare with spicy jicama and crispy yucca. I must admit that I was a little nervous about beef tartare but it was delicious and the different flavors and textures were perfect. The jicama and yucca acted like a crisp cracker that held the beef tartare.

After the canapé, we sat down and Chef Will Artley came out to chat with us and introduce the meal to us. The first course was a bibb salad with grilled asparagus, caramelized shallots and pancetta deviled egg. Wow! The deviled egg flavor was strong but went perfectly when combined with the asparagus.

For the main course, diners had the two options: grilled sea scallops with spring succotash and carrot emulsion or forever braised lamb shanks with fava bean ristotto. mushrooms and green peppercorn sauce. I went with the lamb shanks and it was quite possibly one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. Will did a nice job of providing two very different options, so that everyone could find something they would enjoy.

The best part of the meal was dessert, which was of course gluten free! The baker at Buzz made strawberry rhubarb shortcake with vanilla ice cream. What a great finish to the meal!

So now that David’s buried in his study for the Bar Exam, I can’t help but think back to what a fun night we had at Farm Table. A meal made of fresh, delicious, gluten free food and our families together in one place. I love how food brings people together and Farm Table provided the perfect back drop for an evening of celebration.

Thai Shirlington Offers Many GF Options

Thai Shirlington is another wonderful discovery in the gluten free dining world! The other night I decided to call the restaurant and see if they were familiar with a gluten free diet. Tthe manager I spoke with on the phone told me that they had many gluten free diners and she assured me that they could accommodate my diet.

Thrilled by this news, my friends and I went to Thai Shirlington that evening and the manager was so helpful. She took me through every item on the menu and told me what I could and couldn't have. This was so helpful and it allowed me to know what all of my options were from the beginning. I went with the Panang Perfect and it was delicious as well as naturally gluten free. This meal comes with rice, but their rice noodles are also gluten free. She also knew that soy sauce has gluten in it. Some of the other gluten free items on the menu that I'm eager to try are the green curry chicken and chicken pad thai.

If you go to Thai Shirlington, and I encourage you to do so, just ask for the manager to help you through the menu. They're extremely friendly and the manager assured me that once the waiter took my order, she would follow up with the kitchen.

My friends have gone to many restaurants with me since I started my gluten free life, and one of my friends who was at dinner with me commented that this was one of the best and most helpful restaurants she'd been to with me and she's right! I highly recommend Thai Shirlington if you're in the mood for yummy (and reliably gluten free) Thai food at a very reasonable price!

Thai Shirlington Website

THAI in Shirlington
4029 Campbell Ave
Arlington, VA 22206

703.931.3203

Making Trash with Gluten Free Chex

Good news! Rice Chex are now officially gluten free, as General Mills has replaced barley malt with molasses in the recipe. Chex also mentions on their website that they actively prevent cross contamination and have tested their Rice Chex for gluten. Thank you, General Mills!

While it’s always nice to have yet another cereal option, I’m even more excited about the fact that I can make one of my favorite and easy to makesweet snacks: Trash.

Yes, the name is a bit odd, but it’s oh so good! You may remember this chocolate, peanut butter, crunchy treat from your childhood, but if you’re not familiar with this simple recipe, you should definitely try it.

Recipe for Trash:

1 stick butter
12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. peanut butter
9 c. Gluten Free Rice Chex
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 white kitchen trash bag (new & clean)

Melt butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter in 3 quart saucepan. Pour cereal into a large bowl. Pour chocolate mixture slowly over cereal. Gently fold mixture over until all the cereal is covered.

In a medium size trash bag pour 1/2 of the powdered sugar. Put cereal mixture on it and pour in the rest of the powdered sugar. Tie top of bag securely and gently shake bag until each cereal is covered with powdered sugar and chocolate. After cooling, place in an airtight container. Will keep for several weeks.

Enjoy!

A Local Treat: The Dairy Godmother

Today I was craving a delicious frozen treat and I remembered a cute and yummy frozen custard shop in Del Ray called the Dairy Godmother. Since I hadn’t been to the Dairy Godmother since I was diagnosed with celiac, I wasn’t sure exactly what ingredients go into the custard so I decided to email them directly. Within 15 minutes, I had a response from the Dairy Godmother and it was great news!

Here’s the email I received directly from Liz, the owner of the Dairy Godmother:

The custard and sorbets ARE gluten-free.We often have gluten-free cookies such as macaroons and marshmallows that we make.We usually have gluten-free cones as well.

My kids could not have dairy or gluten when they were small so I am very conscious of having something for everyone.

I have quite a few requests for gluten free items. Sometimes the flavor of the day has cake or something with gluten in it so the customer should ask if it has gluten but the gluten is not hidden. It will say "with vanilla wafers" so that people who are used to checking will not be surprised.

Thanks a bunch for asking, Liz

I always love such a confident and thoughtful response! Needless to say I went to the Dairy Godmother last night and it was just as delicious as I remember from my pre-celiac days. I kept it simple, ordering just the chocolate and I brought my own homemade gluten free granola as my topping. While they have M&Ms as a topping I think I’ll just bring my own, out of fear of cross contamination with other toppings. The marshmallows and macaroons looked yummy so I’ll have to go back and try them!

Every day The Dairy Godmother serves chocolate and vanilla custard, but you can check out their adorable website for the flavor of the day. The Dairy Godmother is a great local spot with lots of personality. When you’re looking for a summer treat, The Dairy Godmother is the perfect stop, regardless of whether or not you’re gluten free!

www.thedairygodmother.com

The Dairy Godmother
2310 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301
703.683.7767

Founding Farmers: Bringing local food to the DC restaurant scene

Having only been open for the past four months, Founding Farmers is already getting a lot of attention from DC diners. I read and heard a lot about Founding Farmers, which boasts its connection to the farmers that harvest the restaurant’s food as well as being a LEED Certified Green Restaurant. When I first learned about Founding Farmers, I knew I wanted to check it out and learn more about their goals as well as sample their potentially celiac-friendly food.

I love the idea of knowing where my food comes from and how an entrée literally gets ‘from farm to table.’ I’m definitely one of those suckers for books like Omnivore’s Dilemma (Michael Pollan) and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barbara Kingsolver) and my dream is to start a restaurant/gluten free bakery in Charlottesville or Linden, VA that only uses local produce and meat. So Founding Farmers is the fancy-urbanite version of my dream life.

My love for things natural and local definitely became much more pronounced after my celiac diagnosis because I immediately began to think more about:

1. What was in my food
2. Where my food came from
3. The flavors of the food I could eat

Upon learning about Founding Farmers, my hope was that they would be able and willing to accommodate my gluten free diet. I figured anyone who cares so much about ingredients and farms should be willing to make adjustments for those with allergies and be knowledgeable about the ingredients in their dishes. Fortunately, my assumption was correct!

David called early in the week to make reservations for Friday night. They only offered 5:30 and 9:00 reservations so we decided just to go without reservations and we were seated in under 30 minutes. We had a drink at the bar while we waited and it was very crowded and a bit difficult to get a drink, but not obnoxiously crowded and everyone was friendly so I didn’t mind too much. All of FF’s wines are organic and they have a lot of fun drinks. They even serve absinthe…I didn’t know if that was gluten free or not. An added bonus about Founding Farmers is that it was easy to find street parking, which is not always the case when going to DC restaurants.

Despite it being a busy Friday night, the wait staff was extremely friendly and chatty. I definitely felt good about their knowledge of gluten as well as their understanding of what was in the food. For example, the waiter immediately knew that I could not have the tomato soup. Our waiter(s) encouraged me to choose what I wanted and they would work hard to make changes to it so that it could be gluten free. I always love that response!

For a fancy restaurant, the menu is quite large and there are overwhelmingly, many options from which to choose. The menu also changes frequently so you’ll just have to communicate with the waiter about your options, but I can guarantee you there will be plenty of choices for entrees. (Appetizers were a bit more limited.) I selected the lemon meuniere diver scallops with pumpkin risotto for my dinner and I was not disappointed. The only change the chef had to make was not to use flour when searing the scallops. The sauce was naturally GF as was the risotto! The sauce was full of flavor and it mixed perfectly with the risotto. I ate every bite of my dish but did not feel too full when I finished.

I strongly recommend Founding Farmers as the staff was extremely friendly and willing to provide me with the food I wanted to eat. We had multiple waiters over the course of the evening but they all knew my dietary needs and didn’t seem to mind, despite it being a busy night. Some people have criticized the menu being too big, but I think a lengthy menu is a good thing for gluten free diners because it gives us more options!

And of course the "wanna be, organic farmer/baker" in me loves the idea of natural and simple foods that haven’t traveled across the globe to get to my plate.
Enjoy Founding Farmers for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Founding Farmers:

1924 Pennsylvania Ave, NW (IMF HQ2)
Washington DC 20006
202.822.TRUE (8783)

www.wearefoundingfarmers.com

It's not about what I can't have...

When people first learn about the restrictive diet I must follow due to my celiac diagnosis, they often give one of the following responses: “That’s awful!” or “I can’t think of anything worse!” Even though the diet can be tricky, there are many worse diagnoses than celiac disease and I feel blessed to have my health back (most of the time) and a disease that I can control simply by my diet.

Instead of spending time thinking about the foods that I can no longer eat, I try to embrace the delicious items that I can enjoy that make me feel good!

My diagnosis has made me appreciate food more than I ever did, particularly now that I don’t live in fear of being sick every time I eat. David and I love being in the kitchen and we definitely keep a stocked pantry of naturally gluten free foods. I’m now a firm believer in getting quality foods and ingredients that will provide the most flavor.

Here are some of my favorite foods to have in the house:

Blanchard’s Coffee: There’s nothing I enjoy more than a lazy morning with a good cup(s) of coffee. I’ve definitely become a coffee snob and I love freshly roasted coffee. My favorite coffee brand is Blanchard’s Coffee. They’re located in Richmond, VA and they freshly roast all of their coffee. You can order their very reasonably priced coffee online or if you’re lucky enough to live in Richmond, they sell it in Ukrop’s. The flavor and aroma of Blanchard’s coffee puts Starbuck’s to shame! The Ethiopian Yergacheffe is my personal favorite.

Check out the Blanchard’s Coffee website: Blanchard's Coffee


Blueberries: In the final stretch of winter, I long for the summer farmer’s markets and the fresh fruits and vegetables to be purchased! In the cold winter months, I’m still happy to splurge on a container of blueberries at the grocery store. While the flavor is not quite the same as local produce, I love any snack or meal with blueberries. Yogurt (I use Stonyfield Farms brand) and blueberries topped with granola is a favorite snack, but my all time favorite food with blueberries are pancakes.

I’m inspired to write today because of the blueberry pancakes David made this morning using Pamela’s Baking Mix. The pancakes are delicious and a perfect way to spend a morning on spring break! David has mastered the art of gluten free pancake making and today he made waffles for the first time as well. Of course we enjoyed Blanchard’s Coffee with the pancakes! (If we don’t have blueberries in the house when making pancakes, David adds bananas and chocolate chips to the mix.)

Aunt Ruby’s Peanuts: I love peanuts and I don’t know what I would do if peanuts weren’t gluten free! Aunt Ruby’s peanuts are crunchy, salty and very flavorful. This North Carolina company sells peanuts that are packed with yumminess! Their prices are very reasonable and you can freeze them so they last for a long time if you buy in bulk for the best prices. The Country Style peanuts are a staple cocktail hour snack for us.

Aunt Ruby’s: Aunt Ruby's Peanuts

Feel free to share some of the many foods you enjoy! Remember, it’s not about what we can’t have; it’s about embracing all of the delicious food we can eat.

Traveling? Your guide to gluten free blogs!

I must give my husband, David, credit for this discovery. If you click on the following link, it will show you a map that's marked with the location of gluten free blogs throughout the country. When you click on the link below, it will look like it's just a blank map, but if you click on the map, then thumbtacks will provide you with the locations and you can click on the individual thumbtacks for details.

This is so useful if you're planning on traveling and want to find restaurants, stores, or resources that are accommodating for the gluten free diet. Since I'm going to Atlanta next week, I just found multiple Atlanta gluten free blogs that will help me make my dinner plans!

Gluten Free Blogs across the country

Check it out and let me know what you find!

Gluten Free Cupcakes in Shirlington

Great news! The bakery, CakeLove, is now offering gluten free cupcakes at their Shirlington location. This fancy bakery sells four varieties of gluten free cupcakes (chocolate or yellow cake and vanilla or chocolate icing). These cupcakes taste different from Buzz cupcakes as the icing is a bit denser and the texture of the cake itself is different. The cupcakes are also bigger than Buzz, which I like! That being said, I enjoy both stores’ baked goods so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend one over the other.

The people that work at CakeLove also know to put the GF cupcakes in a separate container if you order them with glutinous cupcakes so they are aware of contamination.

Having now sampled all of the flavor varieties at CakeLove, my preference is the chocolate cake with vanilla icing. You should refrigerate the cupcakes until you eat them. I like to take thecupcakes out of the fridge in advance or put it in the microwave for a few seconds. (Don’t microwave for too long because the icing will melt!)

Individual cupcakes cost $3.50 each. You may also order two layer gluten free cakes, but they ask for four days notice. Enjoy!

Here’s what they say on the CakeLove website about gluten free baking:

"Baking without wheat flour, the very foundation of baking, was a real challenge. My goal was to create not just gluten-free* sweets, but gluten-free sweets that tasted just as good as any other CakeLove product. Happily, during the process I produced great gluten-free cakes and pastries, and I became a better baker." - Mary

About Gluten-Free products: Celiac disease, also known as gluten allergy, is a genetic disorder that causes gas and severe pain in the stomach and intestines. Those affected are not able to break down gluten, a protein that's in wheat flour, oats, and barley. The only treatment for this disorder is to totally avoid foods with gluten. Our regular products are made with wheat flour and have gluten. On our Green Label we use our own custom mix of starches and non-gluten flours. Recipes may contain: potato starch, brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, rice flour, sweet rice flour or tapioca flour.

Cake Love:
4150 Campbell Ave. Suite 105
(formerly South 28th St.)*
Arlington, Virginia 22206

Z Pizza in Alexandria Goes Gluten Free

Great news! Z Pizza now has a gluten free pie crust. The crust is light and delicious. While I love the Rustico crust as well, Z Pizza's seems to be more of a rice flour as opposed to the chickpea flour crust at Rustico. The Z Pizza crust is thinner and lighter in texture.

Z Pizza is not serving gluten free crusts at all of their locations yet, but their Alexandria franchise on Duke Street now has it. David and I were particularly excited about this new food option because Z Pizza offers takeout and my family loves Z Pizza. When people invite us over for dinner, I often feel like I don't have good options to tell them of things they can feed me, so Z Pizza is a perfect option, particularly for friends who don't cook much.

We ordered Z Pizza last week and asked all of the usual 'gluten free questions' of the manager. They make and bake their gluten free crusts in a separate part of the store AND they use separate toppings to put on the pizzas. I didn't inquire as to whether all of the topping options are gluten free, so I kept it simple and ordered a pizza with veggies (the California pizza). Z Pizza uses fresh ingredients, many of which are organic. The pizza was flavorful, delicious and I didn't get sick! The pizza also reheated well the next day so I enjoyed it for lunch too.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try any of the other toppings offered at Z Pizza.

Z Pizza
3217 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703.600.1193
www.zpizza.com

Honey Mustard Chicken: A simple winter dish

If you’ve ever eaten at my house or my mother’s, you’ve probably enjoyed honey mustard chicken. This dish is so easy and naturally gluten free! It’s a perfect meal for a winter evening, and takes very little prep time. I often serve this when entertaining because once you get it in the oven, there’s very little work to be done.

Ingredients:
2-6 Boneless chicken breasts (depending on how many people you’re hosting)
½ stick butter
¼ cup honey
¼ cup Dijon mustard
½ -1 teaspoon curry powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.
Melt butter over low heat. Remove from burner.
While melted butter is still warm, stir in honey until it mixes with butter. Repeat with mustard. Stir in curry powder.
Place chicken breasts in a Pyrex dish. Pour mixture over chicken. Put in oven and let cook (uncovered) for 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes. If mixture gets a little sticky, just add some water.
Remove from oven and serve with rice. Use the sauce from the dish on the rice as well. Enjoy!