Gluten Free in Belgium/ Sans gluten en Belgique

I spent 4 days this week in Belgium, which was amazing! So here are the gf spots I discovered. Brugge Gluten Free beer at the bar 2be! It looks like a grocery store, but if you go past the store towards the back there is a bar with an amazing outdoor patio. Just ask for the gluten free beer. It is called Mongozo. 2be: Wollestraat 53 Restaurants: 't Grillkasteeltje: Gevangenisstraat 1 This restaurant offers meat options accompanied by fries and a salad. This restaurant was highly recommended on Tripadvisor. I am not sure if their fries are fried in dedicated fryers, as I am usually not too sensitive with that. So I would ask if this is an issue for you! The food, ambiance, and servers were great here. However, when you ask for your steak make sure to ask for exactly what you want. I asked for medium because in France often times the steaks are not cooked enough. But I found my steak exactly to be medium, which is in fact too cooked for me! They also unfortunately didn't offer any deserts here. I also found online that the Park Restaurant and the Gruthouse Hef can do gluten free. We wanted to eat at the Park Restaurant, but they were full. You must make reservations in advance. Ghent Ghent is a very beautiful city, but I really recommend Brugge if you are hesitately between the two. We only spent a couple hours in Ghent and I found it less touristic than Brugge. Brasserie Savarin: Vrijdagsmarkt 17 I had the waterzooi chicken here which was quite good and gluten free! I have heard that this dish is often gf, you just need to make sure they don't put flour in it. Brussels Gluten Free Beer! Bar delirium: Impasse de la Fidélité 4A. This place will please your gf and gluten drinking friends! They have over 2,000 varieties of beer! They serve the same gf beer here as in Brussels, Mongozo. Restaurants: Publico: Kartuizerstraat 32 I had a great risotto here that was gf! There were not a lot of options for me, as it was mostly a pasta place, but the food was amazing and the service outstanding. Just be aware that they don't take credit cards. Comics Cafe: Place du Grand Sablon 8 I had a hamburger with fries here (no bread). It was the best cheeseburger I've had in a while. Again not sure about the fries if they are friend in a dedicated fryer, but I didn't have any problems. Toscana 21: Rollebeekstraat 21 GREAT gf pasta here. They were very aware and gave me all my options for pasta and for dessert. Bed and Breakfast: 7 rue de L'eclipse I highly recommend this B&B! Owned by Italians, it was really new, clean, and had a great atmosphere. They have some gf options for breakfast, yogurt, cheese, hard boiled eggs, and then I brought my own bread. It is centrally located and cost 170 euros for two nights. You can find it on booking.com Other advice: I read that most of the street fries are gf and fried in dedicated fryers. I didn't try any but this is an option for some food on the go!

Gluten Free travel in Malta, Norway, and Spain

Found this interesting document on celiac disease in different countries. There is also some travel info for Malta, Norway, and Spain. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-YcMX3HL0NNZzhEcDk4cGFnZDQ/edit?pli=1&fb_source=message

Gluten free in London

At the beginning of December we decided to take a quick trip to London since we are basically just across the English Channel from London! Here are some of my recommendations for restaurants.

Mermaid's Tail

Gluten free fish and chips here! However staff does not speak very good English. My husband and I both ordered fish and chips (one obviously GF) and when they delivered them to us, the server was unable to tell which one was gf. But thankfully the chef came out to show me. I am not sure if they fry it in a dedicated fryer, so I might be weary of cross contamination. I was just so excited to eat gf fish and chips that I was willing to risk a little cc. However, I didn't feel sick at all afterwards. And the fish and chips are DELICIOUS!

Muffinski
This place offers gf muffins, which I was so excited about. I don't think I have ever had a gf muffin that wasn't made either in my house or a friend’s house. However, the muffin was honestly disgusting. If it hadn't have had chocolate chips in it I probably would have thrown it away after taking the first bite. Yes it was that bad. Not sure if any of you have tried any of their other muffins or have different reviews, but this is my opinion. Also I am not sure how careful they are with cc. This is an unfortunate side effect of eating gf getting so trendy. Many places are able to boast that they serve gf meals, but you aren't exactly sure if they understand the dangers of cc for us with celiac disease, intolerances, or allergies. So my view, skip this one.

Chiquito(leicester square)
This is a tex mex place right on Leicester square. Honestly we were a bit weary that it might be a tourist trap, meaning high prices, bad food. But it was amazing! They had gluten free enchiladas on the meaning and the food was authentic Mexican in my opinion. It was such a nice change from the oh so French cuisine in France! Mostly we were impressed with actually getting to eat REAL sour cream! The staff was really friendly and he prices were affordable. I HIGHLY recommend this place.

Carluccio's
Great staff, great Italian food. This place has wonderful homemade good quality Italian food. The staff was incredibly friendly and very knowledgeable about gf. We stopped here for lunch and really enjoyed the atmosphere as well.

Masala Zone
Amazing gf Indian food here. Upon saying I needed to eat gf, the manager came right over and explained what dishes I could have, which was most of the menu. You get a great mix of dishes here and you get a lot of bang for your buck! I felt very comfortable eating here and the food was some of the best Indian I have had EVER!

Itsu
Japanese take away restaurant with gf options. I was given a list of items I could and couldn't eat. Not a whole lot of options. The sushi was sub-par, but the soup I had was incredible. I would go back again just for the soup, but stay away from the sushi.

Hotel:

We also stayed at an amazing hotel that had gf options. It is called the London Elizabeth hotel right in front of Hyde park and steps away from the metro. They were able to provide me with gf bread for breakfast. They also had a selection of boiled eggs, fruit, and yogurt. I didn't have the English breakfast, but I am sure they have gf options for that as well. It is a bit pricey, but we were able to get a great deal on lastminute.com.

Gluten free air travel: which company to take!

"Living" in three different locations I travel a lot. My new routine has become spending 10 months in France, 1 month in Alaska (sometimes fitting in a trip to see my relatives in Washington), and 1 month in Quebec. Unfortunately all of these trips require travelling by plane and spending time in airports, which is always difficult for celiacs. However, after travelling so much I have some tips on which airlines provide can off you a good gf experience

Airline companies:

Alaska Airlines: Do not provide free meals anymore, but what airline does?? However, they do offer a gluten free option. Check out the link below! I am pretty excited about this option, as I frequently use this airline to travel between Alaska and Montreal.
http://glutenfreeappetite.com/blog/item/alaska-airlines-goes-gluten-free

KLM: This company provides gf meals and they are very careful about CC. They give you your meal before anyone else, it is completely wrapped in plastic and takes a bit of time to open! I have flown this company two separate times. Once to Africa, and once to Dallas, TX. The first time to Africa the food was amazing. However, this last time, which was only 3 weeks ago, the food was almost to the point of disgusting. Definitely gf, but I had to force myself to eat some of it so I wouldn't be hungry on the 10 hour flight.

Airtransat: GF meal available upon request. However it is also the kosher meal. For breakfast I was served veggies, cheese and NON gf crackers. I was also served a meal for dinner, which was decent and I didn't get sick, so I am assuming it was gf even if there was a mix up wiht the crackers.

XL Airways: No gf meals available. Bring your own snacks!!

British Airways: Good gf meals available. However, they forgot my meal on one flight (Seattle to London). Instead, they offered me a really good salad from business class, which did kind of make up for it and thankfully I had eaten before getting on the plane. But I was left with just a yogurt and gf brownie that some lady gave me in the plane. However, had no problems on the return flight.

Luftansa: Good food, great service. But forgot one of my gf meals on the flight Frankfurt to Seattle. Found another meal and made sure it was gf, so I was able to have something thankfully.

Condor: AMAZING gf meals. You pay extra for them, but definitely worth it. I had a way better meal than my husband. In fact he wished he was eating mine!

Kenyan airways: GF option available.

Gluten free eats in Anchorage, AK

Let's be honest...I love to eat. I really think eating is one of my favorite activities in life. So being gluten free, I really look to obtain that ultimate gf eating experience. Sure now at most restaurants you can easily eat gluten free. But does that mean you are eating the same thing as the person next to you? Probably not. Often times you are served a chicken breast with nothing else, maybe some sautéed veggies if you are lucky. Which makes me immediately think "why did I eat here and why am I paying 15 dollars for this??" So over the past couple years I have eaten my way (gluten free of course) through my hometown of Anchorage. Now whenever I head home each summer I know exactly where to eat and I have secretly made a list of places that I have to eat at before I leave. Although I can't guarantee this mad rush of restaurant eating as healthy, I can guarantee that it is absolutely worth the experience. So folks here is my "secret" must eat at restaurant list in Anchorage.

Kinley's
This place has NEVER let me down. You can really order whatever you want and if it isn't gluten free, they will deliciously modify it to be gf. And trust me it is pretty much the same thing if not better than what the person next to you is eating! I recommend the bacon wrapped dates and any fish dish.

Ginger
I have eaten a lot at this place since being diagnosed. They have always catered to my needs and now they have a whole gf menu! Great atmosphere and great location downtown. I recommend the red curry dish.

Bear tooth
Moose's tooth's brother. This place probably will go even more gf in the next year since Moose's tooth now offers gf pizza. I imagine Bear Tooth will integrate it shortly. However, as of now you can get a lot of gf dishes at this place, without modifications. Just ask and the server will be able to check for you. On the grill side I enjoy the enchiladas. However on the theater pub side I recommend the Mandarin Chicken Salad. Seriously where else can you eat gf while watching a movie for 3 bucks?

Snow City Cafe
The BEST breakfast place ever. And now they mark which items are gf on their menu! There is a big wait time for this place, especially on weekends. But you can choose to do the call ahead option (call and put your name on the list as you leave your house). This usually saves you about 20 or 30 minutes of waiting.

Ray's Place
Great Vietnamese restaurant where you can bring your own soy sauce! They will cook with it to make your dish gf. Just make sure to ask them to use clean utensils, and avoid cross contamination. I recommend their Pho soup, it is to die for!

Crow's Nest
Great place for a romantic evening. The chef will cater to your needs. It is a bit pricy, but between the delectable treats and breathtaking view, you won't be disappointed.

Orso's
Even though this place is Italian and Italian for me flashes a big read NO sign, this place is very aware of catering to gf needs and allergies. They have delicious food and an awesome bar atmosphere. Great bar area to go on a date or meet up with friends.

And finally for Mexican food you can really eat anywhere. Alaska has the most amazing Mexican restaurants. Waiters are usually very knowledgeable and I can almost always eat fajitas or enchiladas (just ask about the sauces). I recommend La Cabana in downtown or Hacienda. For those of you who live in AK you can always find great coupons for these places on the backs of receipts. So enjoy and don't be afraid to eat your gluten free way through Anchorage!!

Gluten Free/ Sans Gluten in downtown Montreal

Ahh the McGill ghetto. For those of you who are familiar with Montreal, you know exactly what I am talking about! Well tucked away in the McGill ghetto is a little Jem called the Lola Rosa Cafe....

I ate at this place last summer when I was downtown and could not have been happier with the place. It is a cute little cafe tucked away on a street next to McGill. The vegetarian menu provides healthy meals, plus they label their menus for GF items, which is ALWAYS a plus in my book. It makes it a breeze to order rather than playing 20 questions with the waiter. So I highly recommend this ethincally influenced vegetarian's dream.

The best way to get there is get off at the McGill metro stop on the green line. Walk up University st and take a right on Milton. You will see it on the left with the big open windows in the front. Enjoy!

Note-French and English spoken here!

Montreal: must try this bread!

For me gluten free bread has just never been that unbelievable. It is kind of like a vessel that you put delicious things on so that it somehow tastes better. In fact I never really used to put so many things on my sandwiches, hamburgers, etc, but that was BEFORE I was celiac and forced to eat this "bread" which is somewhat reminiscent of cardboard.

However, my annual trip to Montreal has changed my mind. My mother in law bought me some bread before my arrival and informed me that it was the new "hot" gf bread in town. So I smiled and nodded thank you, but really in my mind I thought uh yeah right, it probably tastes just like all the other ones.....nope, I was wrong. It is seriously that good and when it thaws out it is actually moist like normal bread. And no, I am not joking. So now you are probably dying to know the name! It is called Maison Cannelle. I have been able to find it at most natural food or bio stores and even grocery stores!

Besides the bread, the compagne is my favorite kind, you MUST try their kaiser rolls. They are legit hamburger buns that do not crumble and fall apart after the first bite. And the best part is they aren't 3 inches high, so that by the time you put your stuff in there you can actually take a bite without having your mouth as wide open as you can get it.

Finally since becoming celiac I have not been a huge muffin eater. I thought most of the ones I tried were dry, crumbly, bland, half to a quarter the normal size, you know what I am talking about. Well again my mother in law bought me some muffins and I thought hmm ok the bread was good and these guys are BIG, so let’s try them out. I wasn't disappointed, in fact both my husband and mother in law thought they were delicious. I insisted after I tried one that they must try a bite to confirm my hypothesis that this muffin in fact tasted like a "normal" muffin. And they agreed with seriousness (I can usually tell when they are just saying yes to make me feel better!). So all I can say is go out, try this product, and promote it because all the Celiac's and intolerants and allergic folks need to know about this!!!!

I have also included their website, although it is in French.


http://www.maisoncannelle.com/

Gluten free pizza and beer at the same restaurant?

Oh yeah, that's right. Seriously, I am not trying to tempt you into thinking of your non-celiac days of gorging on pizza and beer; I am stating the absolute truth. I recently made a month long trip back to the great state of Alaska, my home. Each year that I return I am joyous with the new developments in not only gluten free products, but in all the locally owned restaurants in Anchorage. I love spending the first couple of days browsing the stores for new gf products, new gf producers, and purchasing some of my favorite gf products that I simply cannot find in France. I also eat out way too much, insisting almost every night on hitting one of my fav restos for dinner and lets just say the list isn't short. For me, eating out gf in Anchorage has become a breeze.

Let me also bring up why eating gf has become so well-known in really, well the last year in Anchorage. For this, I would like to thank all the doctors, especially my doctor, who continue to diagnose people with celiac disease, gluten allergies, and gluten intolerances. I would like to thank Mrs. Alaska 2011 for bringing Celiac awareness to the community of Anchorage (she also has an excellent blog!). I would like to thank the world renowned tennis player Novak Djokovic who eats gf due to a gluten intolerance (although now everything thinks a gf diet is the breakfast of champions), and I hesitantly thank those who have made the gf diet so "hot" right now. Yes gf has become the new fad diet, with this diet came many new gf products and now many other products are starting to put gf labels on! So this is a positive thing. However, one must be careful at the restaurant when ordering gf, as waiters think it is a weight loss diet, rather than a lifetime, no choice diet. So cross contamination is probably not the first thing on their mind.

Ok enough about eating gf being the new atkins diet. Back to pizza and beer! In Anchorage there is a wonderful place set in mid-town overlooking the mountains to the East, that brings back so many memories for me and that place is called The Moose's Tooth. It is a locally owned pizza place with pizzas to die for that come with every topping imaginable. Not to mention the homemade sauce is in a league of its own. I can specifically remember the last time I ate Moose's Tooth pizza before realizing I was Celiac. It was a cool spring day spent at my Aunt's house up by Flattop Mountain. We all gorged ourselves on "backpacker" and "white pizza". I drove home contentedly full until about half way to my house I almost had to pull over from the pain in my belly. Literally I was almost in tears, sound familiar anyone? I arrived home, rolled around on the floor in front of my parents, and finally that is when my dad said "we have got to send her to the gastroenterologist". So yes, that was my very last memory of my beloved Moose's Tooth pizza....UNTIL 3 weeks ago! Oh yeah, that's right. The Moose's Tooth has jumped on the gf bandwagon and I could not be happier. I learned about this life changing news from one of my best friends who sent me a text something like this "by the way, Moose's Tooth has gf pizza now". This was my reaction.... WHHHHHATTTTTTT! Upon learning this news I quickly googled the website, found nothing. But then found a link to Mrs. Alaska's blog and she had thankfully written about the new gf pizza. So what did I do after this? I promptly informed my husband and family that we were going to Moose's Tooth that night, no questions asked.

So now you are wondering how my experience went? Let me just say it is one of my top three gf eating experiences. Upon entering the restaurant, I sat down to the smells I thought would never snuggle into my nose again. I quickly found the gf menu and was giddy as a child on Christmas. Gluten free salads (I quickly moved on, as I did not come there for a salad) followed by gf pizza choices and I mean choices upon choices!!! Followed by a gf dessert, chocolate cake no less, and wait, wait, gf BELGIUM beer. Oh yeah, it was official. I was in a gf heaven! My mom decided to also order a gf pizza, so we shared both an Aloha and Backpacker pizza, definitely two of my past favorites! And let me just say I was not disappointed with the beer or the pizza. In fact our server gave me a whole other pizza for free because apparently the first one that came out stuck to the pan a bit, so the chef wasn't happy?! Little do they know that gf cooking never comes out normal haha. But hey, I wasn't one to complain since I received 3 small gf pizzas for the price of two!! Unfortunately, after stuffing myself I was too full to try the delicious chocolate cake complete with coconut frosting, but on a separate occasion I did try it and it was by far one of the best cakes ever. So my hats off to you Moose's Tooth! And to everyone else, your days of pining for Moose's Tooth pizza are over, so get your butts down there STAT!!!

Thailand, a paradise for Celiacs

Well I just got back from the vacation of a lifetime. Yup, that's right, Thailand! One of those places you dream about but think you will never really have the opportunity to go to. Well thanks to living in Europe and for cheap flights, it is possible!!! So after the long and wonderful hockey season, we decided to celebrate not only my husband's team winning the cup, but also the fact that he got a 3 year contract deal. So that means we get to stay here for another three years, which I could not be more thrilled about! I have a job and most importantly I have made a life here.

Ok now back to Thailand. This place is paradise and an EATING paradise for Celiacs. Thanks to the Thai diet which mostly consists of rice based things, you can eat without any major worries. I will say though that before I embarked on this journey I did quite a bit of research. My biggest question was does Thai soy sauce really contain gluten?? Well I couldn't answer that before I left and I still can't answer it after coming back! I would also like to thank my fellow Celiacs who have posted about visiting Thailand, especially the blogger from Fort Worth who blogged about her experience. All of it was very helpful.

Now down to the details.....We got a package deal, so that meant the flight, transfers, hotel, and breakfast were included. The airline was low cost, so unfortunately no GF meals were available. But I survived by bringing lots of snacks, a sandwich for dinner, and a PB and J sandwich for breakfast. For the way back I was able to bring some thai food with me, that was still just as delicious cold. The hotel was right across from Nai Harn beach. I spent the days sitting in my beach chair eating gf pad thai and drinking numerous banana smoothies. With that being said, here are my tips, thoughts, and experiences on visiting Thailand and most importantly on EATING GF in Thailand.

1. Bring your own bread! I didn't even attempt to look for anything GF there. I brought some bread for breakfast, some crackers (which I never needed), and some of these breakfast biscuit things that British people seem to love. Breakfast at the hotel was completely managable as they provided lot's of fresh fruit, eggs cooked to order, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, a delicious thai porridge made of rice and chicken, and even gf fried rice (although make sure you always ask!!).

2. Don't take your thai restaurant card. I believe that this will only confuse them more. Some thai people don't speak much English, so it is just easier I found to have someone at the hotel write in Thai: No soy sauce, No oyster sauce. I flashed this at the restaurant and food stands and it worked everytime. I was able to order pad thai, fried rice, stir fry, etc. I never got sick and it was much easier than trying to explain what I could and couldn't eat.

3. Most curries are naturally GF. I ate green curries, red curries, and even masaman curry. I even ate some fried spring rolls, which I was not completely sure about, but I didn't get sick afterwards! I believe that most of the wrappers are made from only rice, but you should make sure to ask.

4. Eat from food stands. I had wonderful BBQ chicken that was some of the best I have ever had. The more authentic the Thai food is, the less likely it is going to have gluten in it.

5. If you decide to take a boat trip, you can check ahead of time for what they will be serving for lunch. We did a tour to the Phi Phi Islands that included a buffet lunch. Upon arriving there I flashed my card to the thai waiters, who spoke no English, but they were able to point to things and say no. They had a green curry there, so I knew I wouldn't starve! I also took some snacks just in case. However, the tour itself was somewhat disappointing as our guide was terrible. However, the scenary was beautiful, but if you are looking for some killer snorkeling spots, I recommend somewhere else. The coral was mostly dead here. But if you want to see some white sand beaches and where "The Beach" was filmed, then the Phi Phi Islands are your destination!

6. Drink as many smoothies as you can, I recommend the banana one!

7. Treat yourself, get a massage! The oil massage I got cost something like 6 dollars for an hour. And if you are really feeling up to it you can go for the thai one. Although it is pretty intense!

8. You might feel sick, but remember you are in Thailand and stomach bugs are normal! Just because you are having some issues does not necessarily mean you have been glutenated!

9. Eat outside the hotel!! The hotel restaurants are expensive, westernized, and your chances are a lot higher of getting glutnated at your hotel vs at the Thai restaurant 200m away.

And finally my biggest tip of all is don't let being Celiac prevent you from visiting the world! So get going and pack your bag, book you flights, and enjoy a vacation of a lifetime!

Rouen!

Happy New Year! Wow, what a whirlwind these last couple of months have been. I have been neglecting my blog mostly due to the fact that 1. I am working as an English teacher, 2. I am taking French classes here at the university, 3. I am doing grad school online, and 4. FP is cooking more than me! So I have not come up with too many crazy new exciting recipes lately.

Another big thing to mention is that we are not in Briancon this year! Right before we were going to leave Quebec to come back to France, we found out the team in Briancon folded. So for obvious reasons we had to change teams. After a couple frantic days we were told that Rouen was interested in FP, so we packed our stuff and went north past Paris instead of south and into the mountains. Things have been wonderful here and I am enjoying the new experience. We have not eaten out much here, so I have no comments about the restaurants around town, but I do have to say that France is getting way ahead in the GF department. They now carry GF pasta, bread, crackers, cookies, etc at the normal supermarket for half the price of the stuff in the bio stores. I have also applied to the social security to get my reimbursement from the government for being Celiac. Yup, that is right. I am going to get paid 45 euros a month for my GF food! Thank you France!

So for those of you traveling to this area I can point you in the right direction for GF food! And I will include some recipes ASAP!!! But until than Happy New Year and I hope everyone had a good GF holiday season!

Headed back to France!

Ok ok, yes I am well aware of the fact that I have been on hiatus for quite some time. But things are soon to change. We are headed back to France in just 3 weeks, have an apartment to ourselves, and I will have ample and even more ample time for cooking (I am not even sure if you can say that!). I needless to say I am beyond thrilled. And there will be gluten free dishes being whipped up left and right seeing that there are a couple French dishes I did not get the opportunity to master, among those is the infamous chocolate mousse.

Now I know I could go on all day about the excuses of why have not written lately and bore you with the details, but I won't. I will just make it short and sweet. I was applying to a graduate program last spring, applying for jobs in France for this following year, skiing as much as possible, assisting in the local school, giving private english lesson, attending play offs, and squeezing in running and hiking with the dog. Unfortunately blogging ended up last on my list. With that being said, I got into the graduate program at Mcgill, did not get a job in France because French people are the most disorganized people in the world, enjoyed all the other stuff, and the boys did not make it to the finals, but lost in the semi finals. But not to worry this year is looking bright and I am sure I will need the occasional or not so occasional break from my online course to whip up a blog post.

On another note FP and I decided to get married this year! It was a wonderfully small wedding in Alaska with close family and friends. We also made all of our own wedding food! We had mac nut crusted halibut with a tropical salsa, grilled brown sugar salmon, many different kinds of salads, and a cake to die for that my friend made. I will post some recipes for the salmon soon. It was an amazing night and I will never forget it!

As of now I am in Montreal, well laval to be exact, staying with FP's parents until we go to France. And each time I visit this wonderful place known as quebec I learn something new. For instance, French Canadians love hot dogs and maple syrup more than I ever thought was possible. I am pretty sure it crosses FP's mind about twice a day or more as to whether or not he should indulge in a hot dog. Just last weekend we were invited to his uncles chalet for a weekend in the lake. I gladly accepted as it has been a massive heat wave here! And I bet you can guess what we had for lunch each day, yup you got it, hot dogs. Although they were not your run of the mill hot dogs, but some designer sausages, which actually was absolutely delicious! With that being said I would like to move on to talking about the types of hot dog buns you can find in quebec. You can find your designer bun, poofy and large (think one of those sub sandwich bun thingys) and you can find bread that is somehow made into a hot dog bun, which apparently made for grilling purposes. Seriously it is the weirdest hot dug bun I have ever seen and I hope that some of you have had the wonderful opportunity to see it too! AND I would also like to add that, drum roll please, they make gluten free hot dog buns! That is just how much they love hot dogs here! Moving on to maple syrup....Well there isn't much to say. French Canadians put it on everything, their beans, their toast, their eggs, their crepes. Really they probably just eat it plan! Just the other day I was eating some beans for breakfast, and FP's mom tells me there is some maple syrup on the counter and I am like "ok, oui", but really in my head I am like uhh yes ok why is she telling me this. Well turns out it was because she though I might like some on my beans!!! But who am I kidding I love maple syrup and it is a great excuse to use some. They even have a concentrated maple syrup spread for toast. I think my dad would be in heaven and probably never leave this country!

To wrap that all up...I apologize for being MIA, don't forget to go to Quebec if you want a good hot dog, and don't feel guilty about dribbling maple syrup over everything on your plate! And while you are at it maybe just eat a basket of poutine as well!!!! à bientôt!

Marseille

This past weekend we packed up the car, threw the dogs in, and headed down to Marseille. It is about a three hour drive from here. You pass through the alps down into the wine country, so it really is an amazing drive. We arrived in Marseille three hours later and ended up sitting in traffic for about an hour, as we were never informed on the tourist website that it was the Redbull flugtag! The day where people try to fly their ``redbull`` machines into the water. It was also about 85 degrees out and Smiley was about to die of heat! We ended up bringing our own lunch and ate in a nice little park while watching some people play bocci ball, a favorite sport around this area. Then we spent the rest of the day out at one of the islands off Marseille.

As for eating gluten free in Marseille, it is quite possible. We ate dinner at this little Italian restaurant in the old port area, where I had grilled fish and a salad. It was nothing to call home about, but definitely filled me up. They also have a lot of specials to those who eat at 7pm. Many of the restaurants have a fixed menu that has many gf options available from salads, to grilled fish, cheese plates, etc. So don`t be nervous to travel to the French Riviera! However, I do have to say that I thought Marseille sits down in my bottom ten cities I have visited in Europe. The water and the islands off Marseille make up for the incredible dirty and run down city. I have heard though that some of the smaller cities around that area are a must. So if you are in the area and are dying to see Marseille, I recommend spending the day on the islands and not in the city! But keep in mind the city is great to grab a bite to eat!

Montréal- Sans gluten please!

Well I would first like to apologize for my non-existent self on the blog the past oh 3 or so months!!! I have been incredibly busy. When I first got back to AK I was welcomed home by my new puppy smiley, who took up ALL of my time. It is like having a baby, but you constantly have to drag them around the house on a rope toy and clean up all their accidents! Then in May I came down to Montreal to stay with my boyfriend, FP, for a couple months and go to school down here. I got a certificate to teach English as a foriegn language in the hopes that this next year in Europe I will have a job! FP signed in France this year, which is incredibly exciting as I will always have my very own personal translator everywhere I go! My French has also imptroved dramatically, so at least this year I will be able to say a bit more than just Questo!! Questo! NO questo! With that being said let me get down to business. This post is for all those Celiacs or gluten free people out there that may just want to travel to the lovely land of the French Canadians. I have eaten out quite a bit here and have some serious suggestions of where to go and where not to go!

FP and I sublet an apartment for the summer in Rosemont, which is about 20 minutes from the center of downtown, but still on the Island of Montreal. Montreal is absolutely abundant with ethnic restaurants, which is awesome! No where else have I seen so many Vietnamese restaurants. I swear you could probably find one every 5 blocks! Either the Vietnamese love the French Canadians or the French Canadians love to eat Vietnamese food! Anyway I love it here and I highly suggest for anyone to make a point of coming to visit Montreal and Quebec city, which is a very magical place.

Restaurants in Montreal sans gluten!

La Carreta (5 Stars!)
**English spoken
350 rue Saint-Zotique EstMontréal, QC H2S 1L7 (514) 273-8884
This place is my favorite place so far in Montreal! It is a little tiny restaurant with a wonderful ambiance where they serve Salvodorian food. Everything is gluten free on their menu, except for the burrito items (however, I think there are only 2 items that come with burritos!) The sangria is phenomenal and comes by the pitcher. The owner himself will greet you at the door and knows exactly how serious ingesting gluten is for us Celiacs! He also may make a couple suggestions about what to order, but don`t brush them away! We took his word and were speechless at how good the food was. If you are in the mood for South American food, then eat here!

Zero8 (3 stars)
http://www.zero8.com/
**English spoken
This place is ok. Everything is gluten free on their menu, but be aware everything is also soy free, casein free, egg free, etc. So it is great that you can eat with no hesitation, but I am going to be honest when I say I love to eat cheese! I had poutine here and well it wasn`t really poutine. They called it poutine, but yet there was no cheese on my poutine! For those of you who are unaware of what poutine is, well it is the love of quebecers! It consists of fries smothered in gravy and topped off with cheese curds. It sounds absolutely revolting, but lets be honest, it is absolutely delicious! Ok, back to Zero8. This place does have good food, but it is very overpriced and I wasn`t thoroughly impressed. I did not have dinner here, so I could be wrong, but I did have lunch and paid about 16 dollars for a small bowl of poutine and some bruchetta. Ì don`t believe it was worth the price, but then again a trendy little restaurant that is allergy free on one of the hot streets in Montreal is bound to be expensive. So for those of you that have the money and want a nice trendy restauruant, then I do suggest this one.

Sushi time (4 stars)
**English spoken
3129, Rue Masson, Montreal, QC H1Y 1X 514-725-8181
This place is a little hole in the wall that serves excellent sushi. It is incredibly cheap and two can eat for well under 40 dollars! Just bring your own soy sauce. The daughter of the restaurant is trilingual and seems to have a good understanding of what contains gluten and what doesn`t. However, make sure you always ask! The sushi was fresh and they even serve take out and deliver!

Dong Que (2 stars)
**English spoken
1210 boulevard RosemontMontréal, QC H2S 2A5
(514) 490-0770‎
This is one of the many Vietnamese restaurants in Montreal. However, I was slightly disappointed with this one. I read a couple reviews online and was told this place had the best spring rolls in Montreal. I completely disagree. I could make better ones at home! Along with better sauce! I had some pho soup, which was actually really good. My boyfriend had some sort of noodle dish that he wasn`t particulary crazy about. The owner was also very unclear about what gluten was and didn`t even try to read the vietnamese card I had with me, which was very upsetting. He simply told me all I could have was 2 of the pho soups, that was it! I was incredibly disappointed as I was really looking forward to eating here. With that being said, the prices are really cheap and we ate for under 40 dollars. But I am sure at most Vietnamese places in Montreal you can eat for 40 dolllars and have much better food! So I recommend trying another place!

Ottavios (5 stars!)
http://www.ottavio.ca/
This was the first restaurant I ate at in Montreal last year. This place is incredible. Their pasta dishes almost made me cry when I first had them and their mussels are to die for. I don`t really reccomend their gluten free pizzas. Frankly I think a good ol` Bob`s Red Mill crust is way better, but do eat their mussels, pasta dishes, salads, and even the dessert! The restaurant is very trendy and not horribly expensive. The waitstaff are great and I was even able to talk with the owner last time about why he decided to have a gluten free menu. They even have a whole section of their kitchen dedicated to staying gf. And you can also bring your own wine! They have two locations and if you don`t speak French, I recommend the Montreal location. In Laval you find English rarely spoken. So enjoy and bon appetito!

Quebec City

Kameleon (5+++ stars)
http://lekameleonrestosympatique.com/
This place understands what being gluten free is. It is a new restaurant that doesn`t quite have its business in full swing, but I perfered it that way because my boyfriend and I were able to have a nice quiet dinner and a couple nice chats with the waiter. The food was phenominal and in my opinion is closer to fine dining without the prices! I was able to order a 4 course meal for under 30 dollars. I had cream of mushroom soup, followed by the best caprese salad of my life. For my entree, I orderd veal that was done to perfection and was complimented with some incredible gluten free lemon pasta. Finally for dessert my boyfriend had the chocolate mousse, while I had cheesecak sans crust. I was able to sample both desserts and was literally in heaven. It was one of the best gluten free experiences of my life. So if you want to spend an amazing romantic dinner (gf of course) in the lovely city of Quebec, I can`t recommend this place enough!

Enjoy these recommendations and there are more to come next summer!!!

A short Hiatus to Malta

This post is slightly late and should have in fact been posted a couple weeks ago. But I am finally getting back into the groove of things. When my friend and cousin were here a couple weeks ago we decided to take a short trip out of Italy. We were looking at where we could take the train for a reasonable price, when it came to us, that maybe we could just fly somewhere instead! Because in all honesty, who wants to sit on the train for 10 hours. So we started checking out flights on Ryanair and realized we could go to Malta for two days! We also found a wonderful 5 star hotel that was renting hotel rooms for a quarter of the cost! After those finds, how could we pass up going to Malta! We immediately booked the flight, the hotel, and packed our bags for the next day.

Malta was incredible. It has so much history and the people are some of the friendliest people I have encountered in Europe. Our taxi driver even gave us a list of things to do during our two days in Malta! The price of food and other things is very reasonable, as they have just switched over to the Euro about a year ago. Public transportation there is also very efficient and you will have no problem getting around the island, and not to mention a bus trip only costs around 50 cents! The weather was mild and I was even able to strip down to a short sleeve t-shirt at one point. But make sure to bring warm clothes too, as the weather changes constantly. When it began to rain, the temperature dropped down into the high 30's. However, this trip was taken in February and the summers I have heard are quite hot.

The first day we arrived there we took a "hop on, hop off" tour bus, which I highly recommend. We were able to see many cities on the Island within a day. The cost is a bit stiff, so if you are on a budget I recommend not doing the tour and instead taking the public buses to the cities of Rabat and Mdina. And of course don't forget to go to Valletta! All three of those cities are some of the most beautiful cities I have seen in all of Europe. The second day we went to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, which is easily accessible by the public bus system. We had a wonderful lunch there at a cozy little restaurant right on the water. The owner was wonderful and even let us clamber up to the roof for some fabulous photos. Our lunch consisted of fresh fish, salad, and veggies for under 10 dollars. I had no problem eating gluten free in Malta, as almost everyone speaks fluent English. The only thing that I wish I would have been able to try, was some of their Maltese rabbit stew. I am not sure if this dish is gluten free, as we ran out of time and were not able to travel to the part of Malta that is home to this infamous stew. And unfortunately I can't seem to remember the name of the city! But if you ask, I am sure that someone will be able to point you in the right direction.

Finally, I highly recommend our hotel, The Corinthia Marina Hotel. It was right on the water and had an amazing buffet breakfast. I brought my own cereal and bread, but other than that I could eat many items provided in the buffet. The restaurant in our hotel also provided gluten free pasta! The first night we ate there I noticed that at the bottom of the menu it said to inform servers of any allergies or diet restrictions. I informed our waiter and he provided me with not only gluten free pasta, but warm gluten free bed! I would be back to this hotel in a heartbeat.

If you love the ocean, the salty air, fresh fish, some of the oldest history in Europe, friendly people, great food, and good nightlife, then make it a point to visit Malta.

Gluten Free on the tropical island of Zanzibar

I apologize that I have not posted more recipes this month, but as some of you know I was doing some serious traveling for the past month, therefore many of my posts are geared more towards traveling. But I personally feel that you can never have enough travel advice about countries when you are Celiac!

Zanzibar is a little island off Tanzania that is absolutely magical. It is surrounded by other little islands that are world renowned for their snorkeling. This island is home to many world famous spices such as, vanilla, cumin, cloves, pepper, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, and so many more. It is where I had some of the best Indian food in my life, swam in the warmest ocean, and saw dolphins out my breakfast window almost everyday. It was incredibly easy to find GF food here, as people in Africa view flour as a luxury, whereas people in America feel that they need to "Stretch" food to save money, so flour goes in almost everything! The cuisine in Zanzibar is highly influenced by Indian and Asian foods and if you are like me, this is the place you want to be! They also serve many fish and shellfish dishes that are caught daily. The portions are good sized and you can eat a wonderful meal for under 10 USD. My only advice is to bring an explanation of what Celiac disease is and the things you can and can not eat in Swahili. However, almost everyone speaks English, so questions are well understood. Below is a list of restaurants I ate at while staying in Stone Town, Zanzibar. My final advice is if you ever make the trip to Tanzania, do not miss out on going to Zanzibar!

Archipelago~5 out of 5

This restaurant was so incredibly good, that we ate here 3 times! I could not get enough of their dishes. The food here is cheap and amazing. They offer many grilled fish dishes and believe it or not they do not use flour in anything! They have GF cakes for dessert created with almond meal and date flour. You can easily eat 3 courses here for under 12 dollars. Another perk is the view here. The restaurant sits on the second story of a building overlooking the water and is perfect for a sunset meal.

Silk Route~4.5 out of 5

An Indian restaurant with a great atmosphere. Located on the very top of a building, you can overlook the streets of Stone Town. The waitstaff is amazing and they really catered to my needs. I was able to eat very easily here.

Freddie Mercury's~2 out of 5

This restaurant is named after one of the members of Queen, who was from Zanzibar. They are very proud of him and created this restaurant in honor of him. The food at this restaurant was horrible. However, it gets 2 stars for the incredible water front view it displays. The servers were quite confused about my needs and not very accommodating. I recommend this place for a drink at sunset, but for dinner, I highly suggest you go somewhere else.

Al Jahar~2 out of 5

A fancy restaurant, with reasonable prices. Located on the top floor of a eye pleasing hotel, this restaurant has one of the best views in Zanzibar. Its bar has a very Schick, yet comfortable feel about it. They offer a wide array of drinks, but their mixed drinks lack in flavor. Their soups are incredible, but their food is sub par. I sampled the paella, a traditional Spanish dish, and was so disgusted by it, that I barely ate five bites of it. However, this is another restaurant that I highly recommend their bar for a beer or glass of wine, but really do go somewhere else for dinner.

Monsoon~4.5 out of 5

A unique restaurant where guests sit on pillows on the floor surrounded by low tables. A band plays typical Zanzibarian music in the corner, as you munch on local food. I was able to eat almost everything on the menu here and the staff was wonderful. The ambiance in this restaurant was the best of any of the other restaurants in Stone Town that I visited. It is great for an intimate setting or even a close family dinner.

Activities you can not miss in Zanzibar

~The spice tour

~The Red Colobus Monkey tour w/ a visit to the Green Sea Turtle Sanctuary and Mangrove swamp

~Prison Island

~Chumbe Island

The buoni ristoranti in Italy!

I have started to eat out more and more in Italy these days. I guess you can say I have attained experience in having no fear to tell the waiter exactly what I want! Also, I am able to spot places that can accommodate me better than others, call it a 6th sense if you like! haha, I am sure most Celiacs find they develop this "sense" with time.

Therefore, this post is dedicated to those Celiacs living in Italy and those Celiacs traveling to Italy. I have a list of places that I highly reccommend, and places that are Celiac friendly, but may not be my favorite place to find an Italian meal. I also have some advice to those coming to eat your way around Italy. Firstly don't assume that everyone in Italy knows what Celiac Disease is. I have found that many people look at me like a three headed monster when I say to them "Sono Celiachia!!!" But there have been other times where they knowingly nod their head. I have yet to find that dream place where they just made fresh GF gnocchi for me or where there is homemade GF tiramisu waiting in the fridge for me. There are places out there like this, but you may not find it every time! So I have become content with eating risotto, polenta, salads, delicious meats, and of course the to die for prosciutto di San Daniele! Secondly, most people in Northern Italy, located in the smaller towns(this is not including the big cities like Verona, Treviso, Venice, etc.) speak very little to no English, so your job is to either know the words such as NO Farina di Frumento!!! or have them written down. I have found that if I carry a Celiac explanation in Italiano, it helps immensely. Then I do not have to point to things, throw out Italian words, and scream the words NO FARINA!!! Now you may think you have been practicing your Italian and are confident enough to converse with a lovely non English speaking Mama Mia, but a lot of things get lost in translation. The last couple of times we have gone out, I have almost not brought along the translation card, but my boyfriend insisted that saying NO FARINA is not the answer! And he has always been right so far. So in all honesty, just bring an Italian translation and then you won't be sweating in your chair wondering whether your Italian and most importantly, your hand gestures were understood! Thirdly, if you are in a bind and didn't prepare a place to go ahead of time, do not worry. Find a restaurant that offers risotto or polenta for the primi piatti or first course. Then you can usually eat most anything for your secondo piatti, as most of the items are grilled meat. If the item has a sauce, simply just ask them to leave it out! If you can't find a restaurant that offers polenta or risotto, it is no problem, just order a insalata misto(mixed salad) for your first course, followed by a deliciously grilled roast beef! Trust me you won't go hungry in Italy, even if you are Celiac. And if you are in between meals, just pop into a farmacia and grab a gluten free snack! They have a wide array of snacks, cookies, crackers, pastas, breads, beer, etc in most Italian pharmacies.

Restaurants I highly recommend

Alte Hutte~5 stars out of 5!

via Lussari, 1 Camporosso 33018 Tarvisio

A cozy restaurant located by the ski slopes of Tarvisio. They do not have GF pasta, but if you bring your own they will cook it and add some delicious ragu sauce to it! They have a great 3 course meal for around 20 euros.

Moby Dicks~5 stars out of 5!

VIA MICHELANGELO 30, MORENA DI TRICESIMO, UD 33019

-DS pizza point

-GF pasta, pizzas, and desserts!!!

-Fast and good service

Liston~4 stars out of 5

Via Dietro Listone 19 Verona

Wonderful restaurant serving lots of risottos and dishes with polenta. They have the best mixed salad I have had in Italy! And make sure to try the risotto with radicchio!

Gelateria Emmanuel 4 stars out of 5

Via Roma, across from arena, Verona

GF gelatos available here! Lots of choices!

They even use seperate scoops for every ice cream, so no CC worries!

Restaurants that can accommodate GF, but are not my favorite

Al Porto~ 2 out of 5 stars

Muggia, UD

http://www.ristorantealporto.com/

This restaurant is located in the beautiful city of Muggia and has an incredible view. They offer GF pasta and pizza. Their pizza is sub par, but the view is worth it. If you really are looking for a good pizza place I recommend a DS pizza point, as this one tasted like a pizza made on soggy polenta!

Da Poggi~0 out of 5 stars

Venice

I have now tried to eat at Da Poggi, located on the famous street in Venice. The first time I made a reservation via email and did not receive a response until 3 am. I obviously did not check my email this late, nor in the morning at 6am before we left for Venice. I assumed there would be someone in the restaurant that I could talk to either during lunch hours or dinner hours. However, there was no one in this restaurant and absolutely no hours posted. I asked the shop next store if the restaurant would open later and they said "They open when they want". Obviously we did not want to wait for whatever time that would be, as we were starving. So we ate at another place and low and behold on our walk back, Da Poggi was open. The second time I tried to go with my parents. We sat outside the restaurant, as there was someone inside, for 1 hour. The man inside did not acknowledge us and proceeded to stock the fridge, wander around, turn on the outside lights, everything else possible but did not look at us. We finally knocked on the door, after 12 people had already tried the locked door in front of us. He then looked at me shrugged his shoulders and gave the signal for closed. I pointed to my imaginary watch implying what time they would open and he shrugged his shoulders and walked off. I absolutely do not recommend this restaurant, as they are very very rude in my opinion. Find somewhere else to eat in Venice, but not here!!!

~Also, you can visit the Italian website for more options

http://www.celiachia.it/

Just click on the AFC link with the Great Britain flag

~Or even the DS pizza points

http://www.dspizzapoint.com/

This list will be continually updated!

A gluten Free Safari in Tanzania

Jambo!!! I am finally home from my traveling across the world and I could not be happier. It was an amazing trip and full of wonderful memories, but lets face it...I am exhausted! I also just played host for the past week, as my cousin and friend were visiting. Now I have 3 whole days to myself before my boyfriend's Mom comes for a visit. So I am enjoying the quiet house while I can! As for my trip to Africa, where do I even begin!

My family, best friend from AK(who thankfully brought her Dad's huge professional camera), and I went on an 8 day safari across Tanzania. It was incredible. We saw everything from Leopard babies, A Cheetah catching a Hare, thousands of Zebras, Baboons climbing on our car, Lions right next to our car, and the list goes on and on forever. Our driver was wonderful and the accommodations were more then we could ask for. We stayed in tent camps for the majority of the time and were literally in the wild with the animals!! I woke up to an elephant pushing over a tree in the middle of the night right outside my tent! Now that is a memory! But one of the best parts of the trip was the food. It was the most delicious food I have ever had in my life and completely Gluten Free! The owner of the safari company was aware of my situation and informed all the tent camps and lodges we stayed at of my needs. They were so great about making sure my food was gluten free and I even got a couple special food items made for me! I just took along my own bread and cereal to eat in the morning. For lunch they always packed me a meal of chicken, boiled eggs, fresh fruit, nuts, and salad. For dinners I enjoyed Indian dishes, perfectly spiced chicken dishes, fresh fish, and many other wonderful items. I was even able to eat dessert every night, which consisted of fruit and custard toppings made with corn starch. I can not recommend this experience enough. It is a bit of a pricy endeavor, but if you are looking for a vacation never to forget this is it! Not once did I have to worry that I would go hungry and I got to see the most amazing wildlife and scenery possible in the world!!!

Safari Company:

Tanzania Adventures

Parks Visited:

Serengeti (both north and south)
Lake Manyara
Terengire
Ngorongoro Crater

Gluten Free in Tanzania

Jambo! For those of you who don't know, I am currently in Tanzania and just got back from a safari! It was amazing and completely gluten free. I will be here for another 2 weeks, so recipes will be postponed. However, I will update on my gluten free experiences and give all information about the safari company that provided me with the best gluten free experience ever!

Slovenia, an ideal place to visit.

This past week we have accumulated an incredible amount of snow here, to the point that the hockey game on Thursday was postponed. I felt that with all this snow, I should head to the ski slopes. So on Sunday I made the drive to Slovenia to check out the skiing areas there. I went to the resort area of Kranjska Gora, which is about 45 minutes from where I am living in Italy. This resort area is complete with spas, a decent sized ski area, 5 star hotels, and numerous cafes and bars. I spent the afternoon skiing the powder filled slopes and finished with a wonderful Slovenian dinner. I have decided after my three visits to Slovenia, that I absolutely love it! I recommend this country to anyone and everyone. You can't beat the national parks, the coastline, the crystal clear blue rivers, or the mountainous areas. Not to mention this country is completely suitable for Celiacs. The Slovenian people are some of the friendliest people I have met in Europe.

For dinner we went to a restaurant that was recommended by some of the other guys here on the team. I admit I was slightly nervous upon entering this restaurant and seeing on everyone's plate fried food, gravies, dumplings, and other inedible items for me. At this point I thought to myself that I would be enjoying a simple salad and maybe some potatoes if I was lucky! However, to my surprise the menu was great! I skimmed through looking for items that were suitable and found more than I could imagine. I always pick a couple items I believe to be gluten free and then will hand the server my celiac card (which unfortunately was not in Slovenian, but everyone in Slovenia speaks English, German, and Italian almost fluently), she took it and looked it over, consulted another fellow server, asked me a couple questions, and within 3 minutes I was set with a dinner of seafood risotto followed by trout served with boiled potatoes and spinach. The meal ended up being absolutely wonderful and was by far one of the best meals I have had so far this year in Europe. My seafood risotto was filled with fresh mussels, calamari, and even crab. My trout was baked to perfection in a salt filled pan, which is a very common way to cook fish in this area. The meat literally fell of the bones. The spinach was sautéed in garlic and salt and paired beautifully with the boiled potatoes. I must have said about ten times what a wonderful meal it was. And from now on I have no fear of eating in Slovenia!

I have begun to realize that food and meal times in Europe are very important. I have never gone hungry since I have been here. I have found that as long as you make yourself clear and have a nice little celiac card to take along with you, every restaurant will want to please you. I was very nervous the first couple times I ate out, but have begun to enjoy the adventure of going out to eat in different countries. Unlike Americans, who are often times uneducated with Celiac Disease and may think you are simply a picky eater; Europeans thrive on pleasing those that have restricted diets. Therefore, my advice to Celiacs is don't limit yourself, travel and experience what other cultures have to offer, because you may find their ways simply irresistible to your taste buds.

Living Gluten Free in the land of Pasta and Pizza

I decided to move to Italy because I needed some time off after spending the past four years of my life either working, in a library, in class, writing paper after paper, or getting what few hours of sleep I could. I needed a change of things. So after finding out that my boyfriend got an offer to play hockey in Northern Italy, I decided, hey why not take a year off! So this year has been dedicated to inventing gluten free recipes and traveling through Europe. At first I thought, What!!! I can not live in Italy and eat gluten free, all they do over here is eat Mama Mia's spaghetti and luigi's pizza. Well after some diligent research, I realized that Italy is full of Celiacs! That was heaven to my ears. Not only does Italy offer more gluten free food than you have ever seen in your life, but many restaurants offer gluten free options. It seems that almost all Italians are aware of Celiac Disease, as all children are tested for it at an early age. Upon arriving to Italy, I was completely prepared for the adventure, complete with my Gluten Free Guide to Italy book in hand and numerous sticky notes on food items and grocery stores. I have eaten out a couple times since being here and so far it has been a completely satisfying gluten free experience! I ate my first gluten free pizza in a restaurant while overlooking the bay of Trieste with tears of joy in my eyes. I also ate freshly caught fish complete with seafood risotto, that the owner of the restaurant kept reassuring me No Farina!!!, which means no flour in your food! He even made me a special dessert of fresh pineapple with Grand Marnier drizzled all over it, while the others got to eat tiramisu. Although I would have opted for the tiramisu, it was the gesture that made all the difference. It has been a wonderful, sometimes humorous adventure so far and I can't wait to share more.