Salty or sweet?

Why choose? Yes, I'm going to talk about dessert. Again.What is it this time? Salted Caramel Gelato. This stuff is hard to describe, especially since once you start eating it the only sounds you make will be little moans of food bliss, so I guess you just have to try it for yourself. 

Sorry folks, that's the best picture you're going to get, there is just never enough left for a fancy picture by the time I get home.  I think I need to limit myself to just the junior size of this stuff, it's just so dangerously delicious. 

I've had a heck of a week. Tuesday was the official close of my third course in my accelerated teacher education program, but due to an extensive project, we had a bit of an extension into the weekend. We were working on creating, administering, and assessing a test on one chapter of our text. That doesn't sound too bad, right? The difficult part came in due to the fact that this was an online course and we were required to do all our collaborating via an online discussion board, which meant that we had to wait for responses and then wait again for our groupmates to see our subsequent posts. 

Once we got to the analysis stage, we could interact in person if we wanted or needed to, since the "group" portion of the project was over and any discussions at that point would solely be one classmate helping another classmate understand an assignment. Since I'm good at math I've been fielding texts and iMessages all week about how to compute parts of the data we had to include in our analysis. With that in mind, when one of my groupmates contacted me today, I suggested a meeting at Panera, where they have WiFi and caffeine, and we got together to get stuff done. 

By the time we got out of there, I had only a little bit left to write (hmmm, unintentional homophone pun), and got back in the car for the trek back home. As I drove off toward home I had thought that it would be nice to treat myself to something tasty as a reward for working hard and taking time to help a classmate. That's where the gelato comes in.

If you know me, or have been reading past posts, you already know where to find it, but just in case I'm going to tell you anyway. Zarlengo's Italian Ice and Gelato, of course! 

Besides great desserts, you'll always get great service, often straight from a Zarlengo. My gelato came out to me by way of my friend Todd, son of the owner, but you don't have to know somebody to get a free smile with your order. 

In case you're wondering, I don't get paid to carry on like this, I'm just a loyal Zarlengo's addict customer and I figure sending more customers their way helps a great business grow, which means they stick around so I can feed my addiction face. 

That's the way the cookie crumbles

Last night I attended the June meeting of the Celiac Support Group for the south suburbs. We meet once a month on a Tuesday to discuss events, food, products and issues related to eating and living gluten free.

Recently, the meetings have been held at varying locations. P.F. Chang's, OMG It's Gluten Free, and last night, Lil's Dietary Shop Lil's is in a plaza on 111th, west of Western Ave, in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood. Although a bit of a drive from my south suburban home, the trip was well worth the ride. Marcie, the owner, stocks an entire shop full of a large and diverse quantity of of gluten free products, as well as a new expansion which contains products for other special dietary needs. Between the gift bags which Marcie provided to everyone in attendance, the free raffle items, and those which I purchased, I went home with quite a haul.

At the end of the night, a theme seemed to have appeared. Cookies. One of the items in my gift bag was a box of peanut butter cookies by Tree of Life. Once home, I was talked into opening the box and trying one, by my peanut butter loving, wheat eating father. Weighing my opinion against other products I've tried, I reached into the package and pulled out two cookies. Dad and I each bit into one of the crisp cookies and savored the full, yet not overpowering, taste of peanut butter. These cookies do have a bit of what I refer to as the "gluten free grit," that somewhat grainy texture that can sometimes make you fell as if you've eaten a spoonful of sand, but with this type of cookie, it somehow doesn't detract from the experience. Perhaps the memory of Pecan Sandies aligned my brain to a positive association between grit and nut cookies, but for whatever reason, they worked.

During the meeting, Marcie provided us with some fantastic samples straight off the shelves. The group favorite, a coconut macaroon by Mrs. Crimble's, was indeed an AMAZING treat. So good in fact, that I had to buy some :) These smooth and chewy cookies have the strong flavor of toasted coconuts and dreamy chocolate of a certain type of cookies sold by young girls all across the country, but way, WAY better. Now the only problems is that, with only six in a package, I'm afraid if I open them, I'll eat them all!

Besides the peanut butter cookie, I also tried some cinnamon thins, which my parent's picked up at... (drumroll..) STARBUCK'S! For those of you unfamiliar with the plight of the Celiac at Starbuck's, let me fill you in. Last summer, only two month's after its introduction, Starbuck's removed from their shelves the one and only gluten free baked good, an orange cake which was supposed to have been delicious. I say "supposed to have been," because I never had the opportunity to try it. Problems with limited demand and short shelf life caused the company to abandon the idea rather than work out a solution. Personally, I would have frozen the cakes, put a note in the display case to say they were available, and served them warm from the microwave. Anyhow, back to the cookies. My beloved snickerdoodles need not be far from my taste memory with these on the market. Lucy's has managed to create a crisp but buttery cookie, without the gluten free grit, which taste so good, wheat eaters and gf diners alike will love them. Oh, and for those with additional dietary restrictions, Lucy's cookies are also milk, egg, peanut, and tree nut free as well as vegan!

All told, it was a good day for the discovery of quality premade cookies. Now, if I could just call up the courage to buy various flours and make my own...

It's my party and I'll sigh if I want to

Today, my family went out to celebrate my brother's and my birthday. I was quite excited to try the gluten free menu at Outback steakhouse, and it did not fail to please.

Contrary to my experiences at some restaurants with gluten free options, I actually had a difficult time deciding what to order, as there were so many good choices. As I also do not eat red meat or pork, often my choices are limited to plain grilled chicken and steamed vegetables. While that is not a bad option, it is always nice to be allowed the indulgence of indecision. While both the Grilled Chicken on the Barbie (BBQ grilled chicken) and the Norwegian Salmon sounded quite tempting, I settled on the Alice Springs Chicken®, described online as:

Chicken breast flame grilled and topped with sautéed mushrooms, crisp bacon, melted Monterey Jack and Cheddar and finished with our honey mustard sauce. (Outback Menu)

I nixed the bacon and substituted Aussie Fries (not GF) for a baked potato. The strings of melted cheese blended perfectly with the sharp bite of the honey mustard and the slippery, chewy flesh of mushrooms.

My meal was complemented not only by a bottomless glass of cool, refreshing iced tea, but by the love and company of my parents, grandmothers, aunt and uncle, brother and his girlfriend. Without the anxiety of what I might eat that wouldn't make me sick, and knowing the wait- and kitchen staff were knowledgeable about my needs, I was able to sit back and simply enjoy my meal and conversation.

What birthday would be complete without a sweet treat? I asked to go to Outback, not just for the dinner options, but because they have a GF dessert. The Chocolate Thunder From Down Under® was a perfect end to a wonderful meal:

An extra generous pecan brownie is crowned with rich vanilla ice cream, drizzled with our classic warm chocolate sauce and finished with chocolate shavings and whipped cream. A chocolate lover's dream. (Outback Menu)

And a dream it was. The first bite, warm and chewy, soaked with creamy melted ice cream and heavy, sweet whipped cream, had a "fresh from the oven, served with a hug from Grandma," feel to it. It was not hard to imagine that I was sitting around a kitchen table with my loved ones rather than in the middle of a public restaurant. I actually stopped for a moment, just tasting, closed my eyes and sighed. Happy Birthday to me.

Summer on a spoon

I love summer. Perhaps being born in June predisposed me to enjoy the warm weather and bask in the summer sunshine. Whatever the reason, I love it. One of my favorite things about summer is fresh produce, either grown in our garden or picked up at a farmstand. Even produce from the grocery store just seems better in the summer.

Over the weekend, Mom and I went grocery shopping and picked up a good sized watermelon. Is there a more classic summer experience than the crunch of a crisp yet juicy slice of watermelon as it dribbles down your chin? I decided to experiment, since it wouldn't all fit in the large Lock & Lock in which I was storing it.

The result, a somewhat difficult to serve, but easy to make, frozen treat, did not disappoint.

Raspberry Watermelon Shaved Ice

• 4 c of watermelon, pureed
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1-2T lime juice
• 1/2t natural raspberry extract*
• 3t Half & Half
• 2T cornstarch

*you can omit/change this, I just had some and thought I'd try it

1. In a saucepan, combine all but the watermelon
2. Cook on low heat until you have a smooth liquid, do not boil
3. Add watermelon and allow to cool
4. Pour into an appropriate container and freeze
5. SCRAPE, S C R A P E, S C R A P E this cool frozen treat into a dish and enjoy!
   
   

If you're going have time to check on it, you can probably catch the ice in a less than rock hard, frozen solid state which make for easier serving.

When I finally got to eat it, this was well worth the wait, and the scraping. When I eat watermelon, I can almost taste the warm rain and recall the smell of fresh cut grass. Raspberries evoke the feeling of sun warming my face and soft summer breezes blowing through my hair. Combining them, especially frozen, results in concentrated summer on a spoon.