HOLIDAY COOKING CLASS

On Monday, December 3, 2007, from 6:30 pm until 9:30 pm, the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University (CDCCU) will host a gluten-free holiday cooking class at Cooking by the Book (13 Worth Street, New York, NY).

The event includes a talk from Dr. Peter Green plus a Wine and Hors d'Oeuvres Reception, a Three-Course Gluten-Free Meal with Seasonal Wines, Professional Cooking Instruction, Personalized Aprons, and Gluten-Free Recipes. Cooking by the Book and its director, Suzen O'Rourke, were involved in the celiac disease episode of Keeping Kids Healthy that aired in the metropolitan area over the weekend.

Tickets costs $220 per person, with a percentage going to The Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. To register, contact Cynthia Beckman at 212-342-4529 or cb2280@columbia.edu.

ADDENDUM (November 28, 2007) Thanks to Ben on the NYC Celiac Disease Meetup Group message board, I see that The New York Times says the dishes will include a chocolate roulade with mocha-whipped cream filling and that $55 of the cost goes to the CDCCU.

GLUTEN-FREE TV: KEEPING KIDS HEALTHY


















Some publicity came in recently from the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University (CDCCU):

Keeping Kids Healthy, a children’s health television series produced in association with Thirteen/WNET New York, will air a segment on Celiac Disease (Show #807) featuring the Teitelbaum family, the Leslie family, and Dr. Peter Green. Many of the air dates are below. Please check your local station for additional programming.

11/24 Saturday 6:30am WNET (NY, NJ, CT)

11/24 Saturday 7:30am WLIW (NY, NJ, CT) [unconfirmed]

11/24 Saturday 8:00am/4:00pm WCNY2 (Syracuse, NY)

11/26 Monday 11:30am KRCB (San Francisco, CA)

12/01 Saturday 4:30am WTVS (Detroit, MI)

12/01 Saturday 9:00am WHUT (Washington, DC)

12/06 Thursday 9:00am WYBE (Philadelphia, PA)

12/06 Thursday 6:30am KRSC (Tulsa, OK)

12/09 Sunday 11:00am KRSC (Tulsa, OK)

12/16 Sunday 10:00am WFYI (Indianapolis, IN)

12/23 Thursday 10:30am KUEN (Salt Lake City, UT)

Photo: David Marc Fischer

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: PREGNANT AND CRAVING!

Plus Sex and the City [spoiler alert]

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, due with her second child in November, recently revealed her cravings to People (September 24, 2007): "Cheese, gluten-free cookies—I have celiac disease—a lot of chocolate and watermelon with salt and lime on it. It's weird but refreshing. You should try it!"

Hm. Watermelon with salt and lime. I wonder whether that culinary combination will be served to Hasselbeck when she is honored at the October benefit for the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. Anyway, thanks to Sarah at Celebrity Baby Blog for the lead.

In barely related news, it looks like GFRAP restaurant Lumi is set to appear in the Sex and the City movie (with a preggers-looking Charlotte). Thanks to Jillian of the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group for noticing and sharing!

MEETINGS AND SUCH

I recently received announcements about upcoming meetings that are not Sunday's gathering of the Westchester Celiac Sprue Support Group.

The Greater New York City Celiac Support Group (CSA/USA, Inc.) will have its next dinner at Bistango (415 Third Avenue at East 29th Street) on Thursday, September 20, at 6:30 pm. (6:15 pm arrivals are encouraged.) Reserve by Tuesday, September 18 by calling Merle at 212-662-2464 or Mary at 212-304-1026.

And, at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, October 2, Dr. Peter Green will offer a lecture and a Q&A appear at a fundraising meeting of the Suffolk County Celiac Group at

West Islip Community Center Auditorium (front entrance)
90 Higbie Lane (between Sunrise Hwy & Montauk Hwy)
West Islip

The $5 admission will be matched by the Suffolk County Celiacs, with the total going to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia Presbyterian University. Seating is limited to the first 150 people.

The Suffolk County Celiac Group also announced that it will host its next Vendor Fair in 2009, not 2008.

And Sunday, October 14, 2007 remains the date for the next Colin Leslie Walk for Celiac Disease, an all-in-one event where funds will be raised, Dr. Green and nutritionist Anne Lee will speak, and a Vendor Fair will take place.

ALL HAIL THE BREADLESS HORSEMAN!

Well, he did it!

Gordon McLeod Jenkins, The Breadlesss Horseman, went for a little walk in Georgia on March 17, and by the time he finished on August 22, he had hiked all the way to Maine via the Appalachian Trail, with a side trip to the Big Apple!

What a great accomplishment—and what a great gesture to make the 2175-mile walk a fundraiser for the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University!

Don't you think the effort deserves at least a $21.75 donation? I do!

Here's another hiker's virtual trip on the Appalachian Trail...in less than 90 seconds!



Source (1:29)

FAMILY SCREENING AND FUNDRAISING EVENT

Please note that the screening information is VERY time sensitive!

First- and second-degree relatives of people with celiac disease are at an above-average risk of having the condition themselves. The longer an undiagnosed person goes untreated, the more that person may be exposed to related health problems, some of them very serious.

So it's good that the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University is offering family screening at Rye High School on Sunday, October 14, 2007 from 9 am to 5 pm. Registration is $25 per person and the following testing criteria must be met:

You must be on a regular gluten-containing diet for at least 60 days prior to testing.

You must be 6+ years old.

You must be a first- or second-degree relative of someone with celiac disease.

You must pre-register online before Monday, October 1, 2007 at www.celiacdiseasecenter.org. (FYI, I don't think the pre-registration is up-and-running at the time of this post.)

The family screening is just one of several activities taking place at Rye High that day. The other big event is the Colin Leslie Walk for Celiac Disease, which will raise money for the Celiac Disease Center. Pre-registration is $15 for each child 17 and under and $20 for each adult. You will receive a free t-shirt for registering for the walk by Monday, October 1, 2007.

And that's not all! There will also be exhibits, entertainment, cooking demonstrations, a gluten-free vendor fair, and gluten-free lunch available for purchase.

OCTOBER BENEFIT: CELIAC DISEASE CENTER AT COLUMBIA

The 6th Annual Celiac Disease Center Gala Reception to benefit the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University is scheduled for Wednesday, October 24, 2007 from 6:30-9:30 pm.

The honorees include Elisabeth Hasselbeck (pictured), Prometheus Labs, and INOVA Diagnostics. Cocktails, supper, and dessert will be served at the Metropolitan Club (1 East 60th Street) in Manhattan.

Tickets are $350. For more information, conduct Cynthia Beckmann at cb2280 @ columbia.edu.

AMERICAN CELIAC DISEASE ALLIANCE GROWS

The Westchester Celiac Sprue Support Group and Foods by George are among the eight new members of the American Celiac Disease Alliance (ACDA), the advocacy organization announced in a press release today.

Other ACDA members associated with the greater New York metropolitan area are Gluten-Free Living and the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. The group's President is Beth Hillson, founder of The Gluten-Free Pantry and a Vice President of Glutino USA/Gluten-Free Pantry.

BREADLESS HORSEMAN, BIG CITY

Gordon McLeod Jenkins, a.k.a. The Breadless Horseman, is living one of my dreams: He's walking the length of the Appalachian Trail—the 2175 mile footpath that stretches from Georgia to Maine! Plus, he's doing it to raise money for the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University.

And I think he's making the trek with impressive speed! Keeping track of his progress on his blog, The Gluten-Free AT, I thought there was plenty of time before his arrival in the greater metropolitan area. But now I see that he's already arrived in New York City!

So congrats to Gordon (pictured) on making it this far! (Actually, I think NYC is a detour.) I wonder if he's still in the city, or at least relatively close....

And thanks to the CeliacChicks for bringing Gordon's long walk to my attention!

BEST DOCTORS 2007

The current issue of New York offers the 2007 update of its Best Doctors list. As far as search results under the keyword celiac are concerned, this year's area doctors form the same sextet as last year's set--see last year's post for a discussion of the list's reliability.

Dr. Peter Green
Gastroenterologist
New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia (Manhattan)

Dr. Philip Kazlow
Pediatric Gastroenterologist
New York-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital (Manhattan), Valley Hospital (Ridgewood, NJ)

Dr. Joseph Levy
Pediatric Gastroenterologist
NYU Medical Center (Manhattan)

Dr. Keith Benkov
Pediatric Gastroenterologist
Mount Sinai Medical Center (Manhattan), Englewood Hospital & Medical Center (Englewood, NJ)

Dr. Leonard Newman
Pediatric Gastroenterologist
Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla, NY), Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center (Bronx)

Dr. Michael Pettei
Pediatric Gastroenterologist
Schneider Children's Hospital, North Shore University Hospital (Manhasset/New Hyde Park, NY)

EVENTS PAST AND FUTURE

















See the above picture? That's the look of thousands of dollars being raised for the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University at last weekend's L. Lodico Walk for Celiac Disease. "We had about 90+ people and raised over $5900 (pledges are still coming in)," wrote organizer Lina Lodico on the message board of the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group. Congrats to Lina, who organized the walk with the support of the Long Island Celiac Sprue Support Group Chapter #23. She hopes to do even better next year.


The New York City Chapter of CSA/USA continues to hold its dinner get-togethers, with the next dinner scheduled for Gus' Place on Thursday, May 31, at 6:30 pm. Leaders Merle Cachia and Mary Ferry state that reservations must be made by Tuesday, May 29 and recommend arriving at 6:15 pm "in order to make a leisurely choice from the menu." For more information, call Merle at 212-662-2464 or Mary at 212-304-1026.


North of the city, there's another walk coming up on Sunday, June 3. This annual event, one of a nationwide series of walks overseen by the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research, will take place at Rockland Lake State Park (Parking Lot #1) in Congers, New York. Registration is at 9 am; the walk starts at 10 am. Proceeds will go to the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research and the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia. Erin's got the skinny at Gluten-Free Fun.


And coming up on the afternoon of Sunday, June 24 is the 9th Annual Family Picnic of the Westchester Celiac Sprue Support Group. It's scheduled for Sleepy Hollow's Kingsland Point Park, which adjoins Metro North's Philipse Manor Station. Phone 845-486-7088 if the weather is iffy. (There is no rain date.)

Photo: Lina Lodico

FUNDRAISING WALK IN QUEENS

The L. Lodico Walk for Celiac Disease is scheduled to take place at Little Bay Park in Queens on Sunday morning, May 20, 2007. (For the urban explorers who--like me--haven't yet been to the park: It offers a striking bridge view!)

The event organizer is Lina Lodico (who had a table at the recent Gluten-Free Vendor Fair), with sponsorship from the CSA's Long Island Celiac Sprue Support Group, Chapter 23. I understand that gluten-free vendors and other attractions will be at this event.

Registration materials can be found here. Participants are encouraged to arrive at 9 am on the day of the event; the walk lasts from 10 am to noon.

Proceeds go to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and the Celiac Sprue Association (CSA).

The event is listed on the calendar of the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group.

DÉJÀ VIEW?

If the clip below looks oddly familiar, don't panic: It's the Jan 26, 2007 View segment (blogged here) in which Elisabeth Hasselbeck and her co-hosts went over the basics of celiac disease.

The View is scheduled to follow up on the segment tomorrow, with coverage including talks with Dr. Peter Green of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and Alice Bast of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA).


Source (3:44)

FUNDRAISER: PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY

On Thursday, March 15, 2007, the CeliacChicks will host a reception and performance event tied in with the Paul Taylor Dance Company's 2007 season at New York City Center (55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). It's a fundraiser for the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University.

The reception, which will run from 5:30 to 6:45 pm, is sponsored by Foods by George, which just provided hors d'oeuvres and other goodies at last Friday's sprue spree.

The performance, which starts at 7:00 pm, features the works Polaris, Book of Beasts, and Promethean Fire.

Tickets for the event cost $35, $55, $70 and $85, with 25% going to the Celiac Disease Center. Save on service charges by going to the box office and mentioning code CEC, use the code to get the tickets over the phone at 212-581-1212, or click here and use code 2840.

Photo of Promethean Fire: Lois Greenfield

GLUTEN-FREE COOKING SPREE!

I just got the latest lineup for the Gluten-Free Cooking Spree--a fund-raising event organized by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA).

Hosted by CNN Newsroom anchor and NFCA spokesperson Heidi Collins and honoring Dr. Peter Green (right), the event matches up chefs with medical types in a competition to make the best gluten-free meal. Gluten-free food and drink will be served. There will be a raffle and a silent auction, with a donation going to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University.

The event is scheduled for Friday, March 2, 2007 from 6:30-9:00 pm at the Institute for Culinary Education at 50 West 23rd Street. Admission costs $50; for an additional $25 you can purchase a VIP ticket and attend a 6:00 pm "meet and greet" with the doctors and chefs.

Here's the current roster of chefs:

Carrie Levin, Good Enough to Eat
Julian Medina, Zócalo
Jehangir Mehta, Graffiti
Ralph Pagano, Hell's Kitchen
Brett Reichler, B.R. Guest
Aarón Sanchez, Centrico
Patricia Williams, District Restaurant

The medical types include celiac specialist Green of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center as well as fellow gastroenterologist Michael Blechman of Beth Israel Medical Center, registered nurse Maureen Higgins of Memorial Sloan-Kettering, pediatrician Suzanne Loiselle of Mt. Sinai Hospital, and pharmacist Robert Mangione of St. Johns University. From Westchester the attending physicians will be internist Michael Contillo of Lawrence Hospital, internist Rafael Soltren of Phelps Memorial Hospital, and internist Zoovia Hamid and pediatrician Marc Wager of Sound Shore Medical Center.

RSVP via this page. (At this time, nearly 20 members of The New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group have indicated that they would attend.)

BEST DOCTORS 2006

New York just released its Best Doctors update, a tie-in to the Top Doctors books published by Castle Connolly.

The Best/Top Doctors lists reflect a poll of doctors (not patients) in the metropolitan area. The list in New York is shorter and more selective (and currently more up-to-date) than the one in the book.

How reliable are the lists? At Slate, physician Ken Seplowitz prescribes taking them with a grain of a salt. "To my expert eye," he writes, "every year the New York survey gets it about half right: Half of the selections are first-rate doctors, no doubt about it. Another 25 percent are people whom I don't know well (though I have my doubts), and 25 percent are certifiable duds--doctors who (hopefully) haven't seen a patient in years but have risen to the lofty realm of high society and semi-celebrityhood."

I haven't charted my own experience with the list, but that sounds about right. I think that, when searching for a physician in the medically populous metropolitan area, it's good to seek and consider the advice of doctors you already trust, support group members, and friends in addition to the Best Doctor/Top Doctor guides. It's not easy to sort through all of that, but the method might give you the best odds of getting optimal results.

That said, searching at the new New York list yields six gastroenterologists under the keyword celiac. All but Peter Green are identified as pediatric gastroenterologists.

Half of the recommended celiac specialists are affiliated with the popular Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University: founder Peter Green, Joseph Levy, and Philip Kazlow, who is also affiliated with Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

In New York City as well as Englewood, New Jersey, there's Keith Benkov of Mount Sinai Medical Center/Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.

In Westchester, there's Leonard Newman of the Westchester Medical Center/Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center.

And on Long Island, there's Michael Pettei of Schneider Children's Hospital/North Shore University Hospital at Manhasset.