Durham's Gluten Free Network

Modified, Photo by Henri Mathieu-Saint-Laurent from Pexels   During Celiac Awareness Month, I think it's important that we also call out the bad products.  Like Williams Sonoma's Gluten Free Artisan French Bread Mix .  Not only is it not really gluten free, there are no safeguards in place, like batch testing, and it clearly states that they use the same machine as products that contain wheat flour.  On top of everything else, it costs a whopping $15 a loaf and you have to make it yourself.  Not only is is highway robbery, but it's dangerous. It's not: Gluten free, it's clearly cross contaminated Batch tested Certified Gluten Free Affordable Whole Grain Free of excessive gums Easy to use So I  attempted to post a review on their site, explaining all this.   Not gluten free -- Clearly states this product is cross contaminated. Do not buy this if you have Celiac Disease, Gluten Ataxia, EDS, or any other medical reason why you need gluten free

 Happy Celiac Disease Awareness Month!!   I can think of no better ambassadors for Celiac Disease than the darling children who have to deal with this as they grow up.  In a way I was lucky the disease didn't activate until I was older.  The message is clear, We need something better than just a strict diet.  The isolation is harmful and we could all live more confident lives without having to worry every time we eat.   Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSySXOE17k8     If you're just starting out, begin with my Resources page.  It's long and jam packed with info, but hopefully you can find what you need. Don't hesitate to get in touch if you need help.  A videographer did an excellent job expressing the social difficulties surrounding Celiac disease.  Watch:  https://vimeo.com/486284734 Stay safe and well.

 This Gluten Free Cookie mix won't cause you to pull a face.  This is chocolate chip cookies the way they should be.  This is a reliable mix that you don't need to modify.  I always sneak a little extra water in it, so it ends up being about 1/4 cup water, but besides that I don't meddle.  I made a pan of wide lovely, crispy edged, soft in the middle cookies that I'd been dreaming of.  I don't have any illusions that this is somehow good for me, but a good treat is good for the soul.   Here's how, easy directions.. and like all baking, warm everything up in the microwave for 20-30 sec to take the refrigerator chill out of it.  I baked another batch with cold eggs and it was all lumpy and drier.  So don't do that. 👵  I used parchment paper to make it easy to shift the baked ones out of the pan and put new batter in for the next batch. (Don't use wax paper, it will burn.) Enjoy!  Ahh normalcy!!

  Did you ever just want some junk food and Celiac makes that complicated?  I was missing things like Entenman's Raspberry Danish.  It's one thing to stay away from junk food.  It's another thing entirely to never have junk food again because you can't have the gluten.  So when I noticed that Krusteaz now has a line of GF flour, cake and a GF version of their beloved Crumb Cake, I bought a few to test it out.   Result?  It's honestly, truly, really, better than the gluten version was.   The instructions on the box are great, but here's a few tweaks: don't add an oil with flavor, this is not a good time to add evoo, because it will flavor the cake very srongly, use flavorless refined vegetable oil, melted butter, or liquid coconut oil add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the cake mix sprinkle some cinnamon on the cake mix layer before applying the crumb mixture, it won't sink that way you can optionally, use stewed apples instead of water, the cake will be softe

  Here's a ray of sunshine!  #BobsRedMill #GlutenFree #Bread Mix worked much better than I expected.  It produced a loaf that has classic size and shape, doesn't shrink as much as many homemade loaves, and has a great deal of firmness so you can make sandwiches that don't fall apart in your hands.  In fact the crust is crispy, even crunchy on top, and the crumb middle is soft and fluffy like ordinary white bread.  The smell is "normal" since it's a yeast bread.  It uses Saf brand yeast, Saf also makes Red Star yeast.   Since it's a mix, it has simple instructions on the back and I'm pleased to mention, that I've added two simplifications and it worked perfectly well.  The instructions say to use 1 egg and 3 egg whites.  I used two eggs and it was fine.  It also says to use room temp ingredients, but chances are this is a risky thing to do, liquids and eggs may be forgotten too long.  What I did was, I mixed eggs, water, oil, and then microwaved for

 Updated! I was occasionally buying meat, especially "forest finished pork" from Nature's Roots Farm ( archived ) ( historical archived ) and suddenly received their email saying they'd closed.  They provided A2 milk, better than Organic meat and farm products and were all around a fun farming family in NC. I'm really sorry to hear that they're leaving.   If you're also a customer and looking for continuity, the new source is Farm to Fork Meat Riot .  What an amusing name. :)  And for A2 milk it will probably be Grass Grazed . I got in touch by email eventually and this is the reply to some questions about their decision:    Would you be willing to be quoted regarding a few questions?  1.  Your idea for forest-fed better than Organic pork was innovative and unique, is anyone taking over it?  People always ask us if we are certified organic and we tell them if we went by certified organic standards we would have to lower our standards.  So we would refe