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The cakes range from a delightful tower of cocoa-and-mocha colored tiers to a rose-festooned white creamy dream that looks good enough to wear as a corsage. There is an island-themed cake with subtle green stencils that calls to mind gentle waves and palm trees; and a concoction formed of thin, delicate strawberry-colored and cream tiers that looks both modern and delicate.

Sensitive Sweets Owner & Head Baker Melanie Hohman started the business to help her son --and others -- with severe food allergies. Before she learned to bake without gluten or other allergens, she relates a story on her website about how she had to decorate a cantaloupe to use as a cake for her son's first birthday.

Melanie told me in an email that Sensitive Sweets caters to all allergies, although most of the requests they receive are for gluten-free items. Besides cake, Sensitive Sweets makes a variety of other baked goodies, including cupcakes, cookies, breads, and breakfast bars, among others.

The shop ships all over the country: however, as might be expected, wedding cakes per se are not shipped. However --if a small one-tier cake will do, cakes are shipped if they are ten inches or less.

"I do this because I love helping people, especially those with food sensitivities," Melanie said. 

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​It's been said that simple pleasures are the best. Whether you're straining pasta, chopping red peppers, crushing garlic, swirling olive oil, or baking a gluten free pizza crust, it always helps to be using utensils and implements that look and act as good as your food tastes!
Maybe I just need to get out more, but I love using my strainer! And my cutting board! And my spatulas!
So what kinds of things does this humble gluten free cook use, and why? A quick list:

1. Stainless steel strainer. I spend more time reaching for my strainer than almost anything else in the kitchen, and I really need to invest in a few more. Go with the best! Stainless steel through and through just looks better than  plastic. I like this one.

2. Cutting board. I've read that plastic cutting boards are more sanitary than wood or bamboo. Plus, plastic cutting boards can be tossed into the dishwasher! Still, I like wood or bamboo, even though they often have to be rubbed with oil so that they don't split or lose their luster. There's also another alternative by Epicurean: it's made of sustainably harvested wood and recycled materials -- and, significantly -- it's dishwasher safe!

3. Spatulas. Really small spatulas are super super utilitarian -- and cute! I love colored spatulas, like the one pictured below!

4. Kitchen towels. My favorite kitchen towels are still those in a pale sunflower yellow and white cross-hatch that I purchased years ago at Williams-Sonoma. Spend a few dollars more for towels you love that can be tossed in the wash in hot water, along with everything else! Some nifty ones pictured below.

5. Garlic crusher. A good garlic crusher can save you more time than its weight in gold (well, O.k., not its weight in gold; but, really, in this second millennium, isn't is amazing that garlic still has to be either crushed or chopped by hand? (One can buy a bottle of crushed garlic at Trader Joe's, but I like ensuring that my garlic is grown in the U.S. (much garlic is grown in China), and I often buy organic.)  
The garlic crusher that I use was a gift; and the brand isn't indicated anywhere on it! However, thispress by Aoailion looks of similar quality to mine, is reasonably priced, and has three excellent customer reviews.

More later! What are your fave kitchen swag items? Let us know by leaving a comment, below (it's super easy, no registration, passwords, etc).

​

It's a congenial group: you may be clustered in an office at work, powering through a project, and someone suggests that box lunches are ordered from the place down the street. Or, you are at a conference and the registration said that lunch would  be provided. Exactly what that lunch is wasn't specified.  
But, for you, the gluten free diner, ensuring that the lunch is at least mostly gluten free is the difference between nibbling -- stomach growling -- on a few undressed lettuce leaves; or, the sheer satisfaction of munching on substantial food with actual calories!
And it makes a lot of difference!
As they say, the best defense is a good offense. 

I have attended various Seder dinners to celebrate Passover, and they are all marvelous and special. Even better is when some of the traditional elements -- such as matzo (or matzah; I have seen it spelled various ways) can be made gluten free, although from what I have been able to gather, gluten free matzo is not really a dietarily correct choice for the meal, which touches on a variety of religious traditions and requirements with respect to food preparation and ingredients.

As two traditional elements of the meal are also egg and lamb shank (lamb shank is a traditional part of the meal from what I have read, though I don't remember ever eating it at a Passover meal), the holiday can be challenging for vegans.

Here are a few articles I have found re gluten free or vegan Passover Seder meals!

Note: I am far from an expert regarding dietary advice for a Seder dinner! (Also, reference to other sites/links does not imply endorsement of Gluten Free Safari by those sites.)

Vegan passover, L.A. Times article

A round-up of recipes from The Spruce website

Several recipes from GF Jules

Excellent article from Chabad.org specifically re how matzo can be made gluten free (oats are the best alternative) and the various religious approaches to this issue.

Easter article to follow tomorrow!

 What a marvelous dessert! For years, crème brûlée was my go-to dessert when out to eat.

Before imbibing at a restaurant, however, one must be sure that the dessert is made only with the standard ingredients -- that is, eggs, vanilla, cream or heavy cream, and sugar (which are usually always gluten free. I have a few posts on my site devoted to heavy cream, or whipping cream, as I have noticed that some brands contain mono and di-glycerides, and I am still a little bit finicky about consuming these, as, I believe, at one time, they might possibly have been made from gluten ingredients.

(Please note that neither my answer nor my website is a substitute for, and can’t be used as, medical advice, and if I have referred to other sites/links that does not imply endorsement of my site or my advice by those sites. )

There are other brands heavy cream which contain only cream — yet do not say “gluten free” on the container — perhaps because they are not produced in gluten free facilities.

There are still other brands which are thickened with carrageenan, which I’ve read is made from red seaweed. Carrageenan in its pure form is gluten free. However, some natural health commentators do not recommend ingesting carrageenan on a regular basis as they believe it may lead to inflammation. (Of course, most people do not eat crème brûlée on a regular basis!!) Please see Dr. Weil’s article about carrageenan, here.

​Note: This post was originally a Quora query - see more of my Quora answers, here.

We'd love to hear about your favorite crème brûlée dessert experiences!

At a recent lecture by a leading world authority on chocolate (more on that in another post), the expert spoke fleetingly about tasting -- and liking -- camel milk.
Camel milk?
My curiosity piqued, the speaker related how she had sampled camel milk in one of her international trips to a chocolate-related conference or similar envy-inspiring event. Not only was it supposed to be more nutritious than cow milk, she said, but it also was supposed to be better for allergic, autoimmune, and related issues.

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As those behind Gluten Free Safari hail from a region of great coffee and coffee roasters; home of the “Triple, Venti, Soy, No Foam Latte” and “Grande, Iced, Sugar-Free, Vanilla Latte With Soy Milk,” we know our coffee. And coffee is one thing, in its pure form, that is gluten free (however, syrups and coffee variations may not be; more on that later).
Another bonus? Coffee looks great held against the background of a steely grey sky — so helpful in a region where grey is often the norm!
So it was with anticipation that I ground the Out of the Grey beans provided to me in a sample by “Java Jack,” Jack E. Barton, Founder/CEO of Out of the Grey Coffee (I haven’t yet seen any on the store shelves in my region).
The Congo Bongo Zulu beans (Tanzanian Pea Berry/Kenyan AA) were smooth, of medium strength — and, most importantly, just like in the tasting of any complex beverage — the coffee “finish” contained several different notes, one after the other. It was smooth yet robust.
The Congo Bongo Zulu showed its strength mainly in the complexity. It was not bitter, as is some stronger coffee.
Out of the Grey uses 56 distinct organic coffees from around the world (per the website) and are Fairly Traded and Rain Forest Alliance certified.
I love the fact that  Out of the Grey is a small-batch roaster based in Fairview and Erie, Pennsylvania. For me, these names conjure up images of railroads and other Main Line American towns. 
More on this interesting company/roaster later!

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I haven't yet made a trip into Ten Thousand Villages: stores located in several different cities that feature fair trade and handmade cookware, gifts, jewelry, clothing, food and accessories. A friend of mine, however, does recommend them, and I have seen many positive reviews. 
I had a chance to chat with the helpful person at the store today and asked specifically about gluten free food items carried in the store.
She mentioned several: Olive oil from Palestine --hand-crushed from 700-1,000 year-old olive trees -- as well as popular bean-based soup mixes, a gluten free golden cornbread mix, chocolate handmade in Austria, dried fruit, and coffee.
Although food items are not for the most part available online, unusual cookware, tableware, napkins, towels, drinkware, and cookbooks -- as well as a number of other items to make your cooking prettier and more fun -- are available online. Below I have included an ad for a wooden cutting board that will get you into the online portal. More on this interesting store later! Please note that photo is not affiliated with Ten Thousand Villages: it is from Creative Commons (attribution link below in footer).

It's an idea that I had years ago. And it seems that this idea has also been floated (no pun intended) by others recently.
I searched "polar bears" and "food drops" and arrived at an article just a few days old on an NBC news site. The article by David Cox discusses proposals by scientists -- including University of Alberta biologist Andrew Derocher -- to  air drop food to bears (to maintain 5,000 bears would cost the Canadian government $2 million per month, according to the article).
This article from World Wildlife Fund talks about the polar bear diet
More on this later!
If you have ideas about how to save the polar bear population, or an inside line to any of the scientists and conservationists trying to do so, I would love to know; please comment, below!
(Links to web pages/videos to not imply endorsement of Gluten Free Safari by the given publication/organization).

Was thrilled to stop in on a multi-course vegetarian feast being served in an art gallery with a food-themed exhibit. 
We watched as a group of six covered vast conversational territory: everything from the dangers of proselytizing the vegetarian lifesstyle  to eating together as a family and whether any electronic devices (even television) should be allowed.
Courses included a robust, hearty-looking shepherd's pie (need to find a gf recipe!); a selection of large olives dripping with luscious oil, wine, and what appeared to be  buckwheat noodles. (As spectators, we were also served some courses).
Other performance art dining experiences include a dinner in New York replete with luscious renditions of the color red, referenced on the Edible Manhattan website.  More later!
Has anyone else experienced dinner by performance?

(Links to other websites do not imply endorsement of Gluten Free Safari by those websites)