I think I live in the best city in the world...

..for gluten-free food! My next few posts are going to debunk my previous declarations that I can never find a place to eat, or the information I need, or the food I like to buy. Today, we tackles the NYTimes.

Now, there are many cities in the continental US. LA has their foodies; Portland is all about organic awareness; I know that Chicago has their Gluten Free Expo. But New York has begun to flourish on their gluten-free awareness just in the past year. I moved here in October of 2009 and slowly immersed myself in the NY food scene, but there wasn't a lot of coverage on it- until now! I am ALL ABOUT the New York Times' new flourish of gluten free goodness.

Health section writer,Tara Paker-Pope, wrote this little blurb about recent gluten discoveries, linking in all the other NYT articles. My favorite one though is by well known food writer and author of In The Kitchen With A Good Appetite, Melissa Clark. I digg the part in her article about mixing your own all-purpose flour and measuring the different ingredients by weigh as opposed to by quantity. It's a duh-- it makes so much sense! That Melissa Clark knows what she's talking about.

So It's Been A While

I feel like sometimes people start blogs as a novelty and then they get bored and forget about them. So, maybe that kind of happened to me...

OK BUT I'M BACK FOR REAL NOW!

So one of my favorite (ok my top favorite) bloggers, Jordan Ferney posted  on her blog Oh HappyDay that she is giving away a trip for 2 to her new home city of Paris. She loves her followers and wants to give back. How incredible is that?

If you're reading this, you should absolutely go and enter. Though, now my chances are smaller of winning, at least you will go read her blog, which I'm sure you'll fall in love with
http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris

Ok let's tie this all together shall we?
GF en Paris? Can't be too hard with all the fresh markets, especially the one on rue Mouffetard. (love) Let's hope I get a chance to test it out!

Vietnamese for the Gluten-free, Soy-free, and Nut-free

I went out to dinner last night with my dear friend who also shares the inconvenience of food allergies. Between my Celiacs and (potential) IBS and her fructose intolerance and soy and nut allergy, we stick together in search of restaurants that cater to New York's allergics. We've exhausted Risottoria (sorry, but it's really not that great) and have taken our chances at pleading with disgruntled waiters to bear with we explain our pathetic requests to pretty much "hold everything". Feeling bad about dragging my other friends to gluten free restaurants for dinner, I have even come to terms with sitting politely while everyone else around me eats and I sip on my "are you sure all you want is" tea.

BUT NOW-- I am happy to report I have found a restaurant that everyone will enjoy! L'annam Vietnamese on University Place is SO delicious that I've been there twice this week already. They have separate, green colored, gluten-free menus and are incredibly helpful about telling you whether or not certain dishes have nuts or soy in them. And these menus aren't like 10 items and we're done. Nope, it's practically the same menu they just list what types of sauce you should request instead and they even will bring you a bottle of gluten free soy sauce!

So if you're in the area, definitely stop in. Everyone is very friendly and the service is great. They have other locations in the city, however this is the only one that has the gluten-free menu. Oh and did i mention they're part of the GFRAP?? Yeah.

So while I go and get fat off of Pad Thai and Pho soup, you all should stop by L'annam and do the same.

Enjoy!

helloooo GORGEOUS.

Coinciding with my new obsession of drinking mint tea at least twice a day.. I went to Argo Tea in the Flatiron building for my daily fix and I happened upon this delicious specimen. It's gluten and dairy free and it was delicious!

now if i could just get this as an app..

Another wonderful discovery I've stumbled across. This will save me from continuously googling "gluten-free" into google maps during my lunch break. Score!

GLUTEN FREE MAP NYC

celebrities, they're just like us

So who else out there has celiacs? That is, I mean other than all of us gluten-free bloggers and Whole Food enthusiasts. I know I haven't heard about anyone famous other than Elizabeth Hasselbeck and probably the only reason I've heard about her is because she is so vocal about it (among other things..). She definitely started a revolution so bravo to her.

So who else in the "public's eye" is dreaming about bread loaves at night?

After a bit of googling, and thanks to Jennifer Harris who is a Gluten-Free Product Specialist at Return to Eden in Atlanta, GA and whose articles i've been reading on Examiner.com, I've discovered a list of those celiacs among us. I also edited it down to those who I actually recognize:

• Sarah Joy Brown 
• Meg Cabot
• Zooey Deschanel  
• Scott Michael Foster 
• Jennifer Esposito
• Susie Essman
• Elizabeth Hasselback 
• Katherine, Duchess of Kent
• Dean McDermott
• Dannii Minogue
• Keith Olbermann
• Emmy Rossum
• Jane Swift
• Sarah Vowell
• Deborah Ann Woll

Always check the meds

I had a horrendous relapse last week. My gluten sensitivity is apparently so intense that any sort of cross contamination sends me into full blown food poisoning-like symptoms. I went to CVS to gather a supply of the necessary rations (Dramamine, Maloxx, Imodium, ginger ale) and realized I needed Ibuprofpen as well. In keeping with my new declaration to "read every and all labels", the pain reliever was no exception.
Then I came across this:
.. which stunned me. I took this box and a box of regular ibuprofen to the pharmacist counter and asked the man standing there if this meant that all other forms of their ibuprofen contain gluten? He answered that the brown coating on the pills does contain gluten.

!!??!?!

Great, which I have been taking for years, as has my dad.

So I guess the moral of my experience is that when it comes to meds, buy brand name. I checked on Advil (Canada?) website and it said:

Q: Is Advil gluten-free and is it safe for people with celiac disease to take?

A: Advil is gluten-free and is safe for individuals with celiac disease.

http://www.advil.ca/en/faqs/list/0/frequently-asked-questions.aspx

Promising, though I'm not sure if Canada's requirements are different than the US.

Conclusion- if Canada can do it, so can the US. I plan to investigate more meds considering I just spend $30 at CVS and I'm not sure I can even use half these things.