LI News and Vendor Fair 2009 Lookback

With Many Thanks to Erin Smith and Gluten-Free Fun

Thanks to Erin Smith at Gluten-Free Fun, I see that the 2009 L. Lodico Walk for Celiac Disease (LLWCD) scored television coverage on NY1.

Also thanks to Gluten-Free Fun, I see that Long Island gluten-free bakery Joan's GF Great Bakes (JGFGB) got very positive coverage in The Washington Post.

And thanks to the message board of the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group (NYCCDMG)—which Erin organizes—I see that Joan herself will be at Plainview, Long Island's Get Healthy America (GHA) (148 Manetto Hill Road, 516-931-1900) on Saturday, June 13, 2009.

But Gluten-Free Fun also informs me that before then—tomorrow evening from 7 to 8, actually—Michael Thorn will give a talk about celiac disease at the Wild by Nature (WBN) store in Huntington, Long Island. Having met Michael and heard him interviewed on the radio (here's a recent talk), I think this sounds like a very worthwhile event, especially for GF newbies on LI.

I most recently saw Michael at the 2009 Gluten-Free Vendor Fair on Long Island (GFVFLI). Amidst all the hubbub, I savored the yummy strawberry cake samples from Get Healthy America...


















...and enjoyed talking with Michael and special guest Cynthia Kupper of GIG (below). Don't blame them if they don't seem especially cheery—they were trying to be patient with my photographic skills—or lack thereof!

















Besides the strawberry cake and bagels and English muffins from Joan's GF Great Bakes, my other LI favorites at the fair included the artisanal chocolates from Centerport's Azure Chocolate, crusty bread from Everybody Eats of Brooklyn, cannoli from Mama's of Oakdale, desserts from Buena Sera Restaurant/The Gluten-Free Solution, and the BBQ offerings from Northport's Smokin' Sloe's.

Photos: David Marc Fischer

S'MAC Sale!

15% Off on February 9-12, 2009


















Double-plus good news! GFRAP restaurant S'MAC is offering 15% off its menu items Monday through Thursday of this week! And it's opened a takeout/delivery storefront next to its East Village location! The former promotes the latter, which should help speed up the service considerably.

Remember: It doesn't hurt to double-check with the staff to make sure that you've gotten the gluten-free noodles in your order.

Also, GFRAP really really really wants your feedback, positive as well as negative.

Thanks to Erin of the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group (NYCCDMG) and Gluten-Free Fun for spreading the news!

Photo: David S'MARC Fischer

Mary's Gold Crackers

Plus Award-Winning Recipes
























The above picture shows renowned chef Jacques Pépin with Mary's Gone Crackers co-founder Mary Waldner at this summer's Fancy Food Show hosted in Manhattan by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade's (NASFT). At the food show, Mary's Gone Crackers won the Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation, Gold Award for Outstanding Cracker of 2008.

Yes, that's right: Gluten-free crackers got the gold in the cracker category! Will wonders never cease? (I hope not.)

While they were in town for the food show, Mary and her husband and partner, Dale Rodrigues, hosted a dinner (chaperoned courtesy of publicist Rachel Kay) at the GFRAP restaurant Lumi that was attended by myself, Erin Smith of Gluten-Free Fun and the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group (NYCCDMG), Nancy Lapid of About.com, and Cynthia Beckman and Dr. Peter Green of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University (CDCCU). While we waited for our orders, we munched on sticks and twigs piled atop our table. That might sound a little primitive unless you know that Mary and Dale recently branched out and added Sticks & Twigs to their product line. The "gluten equivalent" of these hearty and crisp snacks might be sesame sticks—so keep them in mind for dips and appetizers as well as attacks of the munchies.

A funny thing about our get-together was how some of us were virtually bubbling over with ideas about Mary's Gone Crackers—they should be vitamin fortified, they should come with something to educate people about what "gluten-free" means, etc. But the bottom line is that Mary's Gone Crackers are fine as they are—and that Mary's Gone Crackers has a very good track record in terms of working with reputable gluten-free causes, including the Celiac Disease Foundation (CDF).

In fact, I think I first tasted the crackers because they'd been donated as refreshments at an event featuring Dr. Green (more recently, Sticks & Twigs samples were in the goody bags at the recent "Chill and Grill" CDCCU fundraiser in Queens), but the products really won me over after I used a coupon to buy some for myself at my local health food store. A 13-cracker serving contains 12% of the daily value of dietary fiber, 6% of the daily value of iron, and 4% of the daily value of calcium. And, as I've just learned this week, the Herb flavor goes well with peanut butter.

I've also heard some musings of combining the crackers with chocolate, but I haven't gone there yet.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Coeliac UK (CUK) named two winners in its Gluten-Free Chef of the Year competition, part of its Food Without Fear campaign. Vanessa Scott, of the Norfolk hotel-and-restaurant Strattons, won with her cheesy Twice-Baked Binham Blue & Potato soufflé [PDF]; Christine Bailey, a journalist and chef trainer [see article here], won with her Apricot and Orange Polenta Cake [PDF]. Catering student Sophie Haskins received "outstanding achievement" recognition for her Oshi Sushi [PDF].

Congrats to all!

Photo courtesy of the NASFT