Can I ever eat out again?

reposted from 6-17-05

"No." The answer is short and simple. "...at least never again with the ease you did in the past." With that said, I would add, "That's a GF Reality."

My doctor said, "It is what it is." I didn't realize then how right he was (or actually what he meant.)

I like to imagine life with CD (celiac disease) as a whole new adventure. I think of myself as a jet-setter visiting a foreign country, speaking a language no one understands, with a strange disinclination to eat that country's favorite food. This food item is included in, on, and around every menu choice and I get to educate the hostess, waitstaff, and chef.

Still, after all that, I might fail. And I get to pay for this pleasure, not only monetarily but physically for weeks afterward.

See how things go on a first date here: http://glu-teenfree.blogspot.com/2010/03/gf-ninja.html

Yet, the payoff can worth it and I can continue to have a life and socialize with friends if I take a few precautions in advance.

#1 Call ahead and ask about a GF menu and GF options.

#2 I review the menu again and take with me a dining card explaining CD.

#3 Talk to the server--(get them on your side).
#3 Review the preparation when the meal comes with the server.

Payoff can be so worthwhile. (Like the Thunder-Down-Under dessert I stumbled on at Outback Steak House.) http://www.outback.com/foodandmenus/pdf/glutenfree.pdf

Go there and eat dessert first.

Helpful sites:
Food allergy dining cards to hand to waitstaff at http://www.foodallergybuddy.com/

Triumph dining cards: http://www.triumphdining.com/

My son took these to Europe on a school trip and came home relatively unscathed. (Italy really knows their gluten-free pasta. Asking for no bread in France is anti-cultural and they are insulted enough to start a war--which, the son assures me, given their military history, they would lose.)

Other side benefits: The fifteen-year old could say "No bread," in four different languages.

GF Chocolate Pudding Mix

This mix makes one delicious pie filling . I found it in the Make A Mix Cookbook by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward and Madeline Westover. I can firmly recommend it!

Chocolate Pudding and Pie Filling Mix

1 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder

3 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/3 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

to that mix, I add 1 package (5 oz) Jello chocolate fudge cook and serve pudding/pie filling. (It just makes the Hershey Cocoa taste better.)

Use one cup of this mix with 2 3/4 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir together and continue stirring until the mix boils. Cool, stirring often, put into a cooked, cooled pie crust. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

GF Chocolate Truffles

How can this recipe be so delicious? Fat and Sugar always works.

3 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 pound Chocolate chips (high quality)

In a heat-proof bowl, heat cream and butter in the microwave until butter is melted and cream is steaming, add chocolate chips and gently stir until creamy and smooth. Pour into an 8x12 pan and refrigerate. You'll know when it's just right to scoop when the metal melon baller scoops balls nicely and drops off nicely. If it's too hard, leave it out to soften a moment.

Roll balls in chopped nuts, coconut, or powdered sugar. I added four drops of peppermint extract and the mint ones were extra delicious!

Store in the fridge, serve at room temperature.

( Not a chocolate connoisseur, I prefer milk chocolate, but the bittersweets are recommended.)

Joi Gin Baih Baih--Bye, Bye, The Kids are Gone

If that is as easy to pronounce as it looks, Baih, Baih is one Cantonese word I can remember!

The college kids are gone. They missed their 6 a.m. flight (on Sunday, the busiest flying day of the year,) but they connected up eventually and made it home by midnight.

With them went my reason to bake, but the TSA guy thought that the college guy's seven pounds of ham steak was a pretty great carry on. I thought about sending a pie, but that fit the "no gels" category and I couldn't picture it smashed inside a quart sized ziplock.

The daughter's flight hair-do was the funniest. Picture a tousled blond afro. Why don't I ever take pictures of these things? I was there in my painting sweatpants and my husband's gardening shoes. Travelers were thinking, "If anyone fits the homeless bomber profile, she's it."

GF Turkey Dressing I'm stuffed!

The GF turkey dressing was delicious. I thought it wouldn't be good the second and third days, but we ate it every day 'til it was gone. I was going to bake bread to dry out, but it turns out that there is always gluten free bread in one's freezer from all the failed loaves. I emptied it out and used it up!

I used Grandma's recipe, sauted onion and celery in butter, added poultry seasoning and sage and a little salt and pepper and a can of chicken broth, tossed in the bread crumbs and baked about an hour until hot throughout.

I did make one modification, I stirred in an egg after adding the cool chicken broth, (MARTHA Stewart's recommendation that morning on TV) and it seems to keep it moist longer.

TriPumplmon GF Pies & Crust

My version of cherpumple. Looks and tastes so much better! The GF crusts were delectable

The family downed the two chocolate pies before Thanksgiving started, and I had to mark the third with a note: Do Not Touch--This one is to give away. It's so fun to hear a G-F friend so excited over the phone, "Yeah, I want a pie. Want me to come get it?"

But the best, the pie' de' resistance? It was the banana cream again this year. It was gone before I could even get a picture, but it's because it's Grandma's recipe for filling and real whipping cream atop.

GF Chinese Snacking

I'm getting my daily Asian insight on Wiki. Today:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-spice_powder

Chinese Five Spice Nuts

Peanuts are a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture. I experimented with walnuts and peanuts and added more spice. Makes lots, I'm saving some in the freezer for Christmas parties.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unsalted nuts
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder

Preparation:

Line a baking sheet with foil or wax paper, or spray with non-stick cooking spray I stirred all the ingredients in a bowl and dumped tem onto a baking sheet. I baked them for 20 minutes at 300 and then cooled and stored in a sealed canister.

Hot Mug of Happiness GF Tea

Hot Ginger Tea just ginger root, lemon and honey.

I've been drinking this stuff for a week and I'm hooked. If I don't have a pot simmering, I'm unhappy, ergo, this must be Happiness. It's just what I need to make that motherly connection so that I can send my daughter off to the Orient in peace.

It's great hot, but delightful cold too. This comfort may have to persist for the entire eighteen months. My added G-F consolation is that ginger has ancient healing powers for the digestion too.

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/morerecipes/r/GingerTea.htm

GF Soup TZaar Turkey Corn Chowder

Turkey Corn Chowder

Today's masterpiece is leftovers the college daughter calls Pottage. Everything leftover tossed into the pot.

The rules for inventing soup are simple: Start with a mire poix of vegetables (a plethora) and saute lightly in oil (fat collects flavor and disburses it thoughout the dish) then add the meat, simmer in stock until meat is almost cooked and the veggies are tender, add seasonings. VOILA, soup!

I saute'd onion and celery, threw in instant rice, cooked turkey, chicken boullion, toss in frozen corn, some of my chicken soup seasoning, dry mustard, curry, then simmered for ten minutes! I poured a little heavy cream at the last minute and it was delicious served with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Invent a soup, become a SOUP TZAAR!!