The end of apple season is here so its time to put away some goodies for the winter.

My first stop was Allenholm Farm. Run by Ray and Pam Allen, the farm is a true destination. The petting zoo is often wandering the yard and road out front. Make sure you say hi to Fergie, the highland cow. Kids will love the play structures and the animals to be fed. Chose to pick your own or buy from the farm store. Either way, don’t miss out on Ray’s handmade pie (ok, not for us Celiac’s but for everyone else!!!). For those who are gluten-free, ask if they have any gluten-free cones in stock. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. But in a cone or in a bowl, their maple creemees are AMAZING. Maple. Froyo. Winning combination. Another hit is their apple slushies. Yup, you heard right. Apple cider semi-frozen. Drink with a straw.

I picked up a half bushel of Courtland apples, at Pam’s suggestion for sauce and butter. The first step to making apple butter is making apple sauce. I borrowed an apple peeler/corer from a friend and went to town.

 Vermont Unsweetened Apple Sauce Proportions:

4 apples (cored, peeled, sliced)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup (optional)

Throw your ingredients in a large pot. I quadrupled this recipe and made two batches. Turn the burner on medium or high, let the water come to a simmer and then turn down the heat. I let my apples simmer about 30 minutes or until I could mash the apples with a wooden spoon. I mixed my apples occasionally just to see how it was going. Once the apples cool (you don’t want a steam burn!), mash them as you like. For chunkier apple sauce, use a wooden spoon to mash the apples until you get a consistency you like. For smoother sauce, use a food processor or an immersion blender (my favorite tool). Store in the fridge, freeze or can to have a treat later!

“The point is that a healthy gluten-free diet includes a nutrient dense, anti-inflammatory dose of healthy fats and proteins, organic produce and grain-free flour alternatives such as almond flour, coconut flour and hazelnut flour. When going gluten free is done wrong, it’s the overpriced food version of diet soda; just as unhealthy as the original, if not more.” Check out “Why Going Gluten Free Can be Unhealthy”.

A great lesson for everyone to remember! Replacements are just that! Often “fake” foods are just as unhealthy, or sometimes worse, than the foods they replace (if you don’t believe me, read this graphic Craig’s List post on Olean in Fat Free Pringles).

If you’re gluten-free, look for whole-grain foods. Build well-rounded nutrition. Avoid sweets that are often loaded with extra fats to make them taste more like their gluten counterparts.

xoxo

GFVT

The number of people eating gluten-free meals has reached an all-time high!

% of adults claiming “I’m trying to cut back/avoid Gluten in my diet.” (source: NPD)

A new restaurant in town is pretty exciting, especially when the owners are from one of your favorite restaurants. Soon, Burlington will have Lucky Next Door, a sister restaurant to the ever-so-popular Penny Cluse. Lucky should pick up some of the overflow from crowded hours at Penny Cluse, as well as offer evening hours and a cozy place for a drink. Awesome! However… first reports of their menu don’t look that great for Celiacs— pressed sandwiches, quesadillas (wheat), banana bread, home-made croutons. Hmmmm. I will still give it a try, if nothing else, they have local ciders! Penny Cluse is very good at gluten-free preparation so I will be cautiously optimistic that Lucky would hold something fun for us Celiacs to eat!

More news can be found here: http://7d.blogs.com/biteclub/2013/09/lucky-next-door-opens-next-week-in-burlington.html

XOXO

GFVT

In a long-overdue move, the FDA today released their definition for gluten-free foods. No longer will you wonder, it has no gluten ingredients but is it really free of gluten?

While labeling remains voluntary, it provides a uniform standard definition of “gluten-free” to aid the 3 million Americans with Celiac Disease.

The definition “gluten-free” requires that the food must contain less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. Anyone using the labels “no gluten,” “free of gluten” and “without gluten” must meet these same standards.

Manufacturers have one year to bring their products into compliance.

This move by the FDA was triggered by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, which requires that the FDA set guidelines for the use of the term “gluten free” to help people with Celiac disease maintain a gluten-free diet.

Not mentioned in the FDA announcement is the controversy over what level of gluten-exposure is safe for Celiac’s. Recommendations are often less than 5 ppm gluten. Most tests are sensitive to only 10 ppm gluten (hence the controversy over Omission beer, which removes gluten from beer to below 10 ppm but some report still triggers Celiac symptoms). Is 20 ppm really a safe definition for Celiac’s?

xoxo

Gluten Free Vermont

New about the FDA Guidelines:

FDA news release

New York Times

Celiac Central

Well, good news for those of us who were really questioning Dunkin’ Donuts GF products. They are using a dedicated facility and individually wrapping each item so there’s less worry about contamination in the retail outlets. The company explained this necessary protection in a Bloomberg Business article today. Additionally, Dunkin’ Donuts GF products are certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization. Their key to longevity and tastiness is rice flour and tapioca and potato starches (I mean, we didn’t expect them to be health food did we?! ;).

Anyone in Hartford tested them out yet?

A small, unassuming tea house in Multnomah Village holds a big surprise inside… All sorts of gluten-free options! We had our annual ladies brucheon there. Two of us were shocked and delighted to find that they will mix waffles or crepes up fresh using Bob’s Red Mills GF flour. We were there close to opening so they crepe plate/cooker/thingy hadn’t been used since being thoroughly cleaned the night before. When’s the last time I had a GF crepe? Hmmm… NEVER!!! It was a true delight. So scrumptious I didn’t even think about taking a picture until after it was gone. Support this new, independent restaurant in a cozy nook of town– and be assured you’ll have a great GF experience while also having a lovely tea. Check them out here: http://www.medleytea.com/

Menu and (formerly) crepes at Medly Tea House in Portland, OR