Blog Posts - gluten free safari™

Camel milk?

3/22/2018

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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.

"Out of the Grey" Coffee: Good coffee from good people

3/12/2018

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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!

Ten Thousand Villages: Free trade, handmade, cookware, clothing, gifts, jewely, housewares, etc.

3/4/2018

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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).

Decorative Or Functional Mixed Woods Paddle Cutting Board 18" - The Nomad's Cutting Board
from: Ten Thousand Villages

Save polar bears with food drops?

3/2/2018

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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).

A vegetarian feast as performance art? A great concept; and very tasty

3/1/2018

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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?

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Would love to hear of your experiences eating gluten free in a foreign continent/country: Africa, Asia, South America, Greenland, Iceland, Europe, you name it!

2/23/2018

Image: Annie Spratt via Unsplash

People seem to be traveling more widely than ever: several in my community have recently returned from Africa, Antartica, Asia and Europe. If you eat gluten free and have an interesting dining experience from abroad, I would love to interview you -- or at least to post your comment -- about the gluten free food you experienced there.
Was it easy to eat gluten free? Did you find gluten free menus? Gluten free bread? Were restaurants accommodating? And, what of bed and breakfasts? Were you able to imbibe in anything for breakfast beyond coffee and fruit? What was your favorite gluten free meal?
If you would like to share, you may either comment at the bottom of this post ("comment" button is in a small font) or send me an email: gfsafari at protonmail dot com.
Thanks and happy traveling!

Meatloaf recipe (Saturday night, Olympics): Gluten free, dairy free, egg free

2/18/2018

Photo Credit: Marco Verch, Creative Commons, ”Meatloaf on a white plate," link to license (does not imply endorsement of GF Safari); https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://foto.wuestenigel.com/chicken-nuggets-on-a-plate/&prev=search.

It was a wintry night outside, cozy inside, and time to use some ground meat from one of my favorite meat/seafood stores: it's local, it's small, it's friendly, and they make their own brätwurst! However -- and this is a big caveat -- it's very important to ensure that the ingredients are gluten free!
Oh! Please note that this post may include affiliate links or ads. If you click on them/view, I may receive a small commission.
Now, back to our example. I am standing at the meat counter, and I've just learned that the yummy looking brätwurst is homemade. But, as there was no ingredient list to check, the nice guy at the counter called the butcher on a Saturday to ask whether the homemade brätwurst was gluten free.
It wasn't!
So, this time I didn't purchase the brätwurst. Usually, I trust Hempler's brand sausage and bacon, as everything I've ever seen from Hempler's is gluten free and labelled as such.

What gluten free snacks do you nibble on at night?

2/12/2018

Photo by Rachael Gorjestani on Unsplash

What is your favorite gluten free "comfort food" at night?
Please note that this post may include affiliate links or ads. If you click on them/view, I may receive a small commission.
I looked around my supplementary "desk"/coffee table and observed:

-- a very small glass of red wine (I'm not really a drinker but every other week it seems there's a new study out extolling the benefits of wine -- and, of course, it's gluten free!);
-- 85% cocoa dark chocolate (this brand is Simple Truth Organic; it's made in Switzerland). It's actually labelled gluten free. The ingredients? Organic cocoa liquor; organic cocoa butter, organic cane sugar, organic vanilla pods. This is one of the few chocolate bars -- even among dark chocolate bars -- that doesn't contain dairy. My relationship with dairy ebbs and flows: long story short, I try to avoid milk and cream -- but, because cheese contains enzymes -- and because I'm not convinced that one can get all one's calcium from dark leafy greens and oranges -- I eat cheese.

gluten free oats -- Trader Joe's brand. Trader Joe's sells a two-pound bag of gluten free oats (a product of Canada) for $3.99. That's a much better price per pound than any of the other Gf oat manufacturers out there. When TJ's first started carrying the oats, they sold very quickly and I often had to call in advance to reserve a few bags. I eat the oats with soy or nut milk (soy milk generally has about 7% protein, I get the enhanced nut milks I have seen in the stores recently that have about 10% protein.) I drizzle with honey.
gluten free brownie experiment. At an event recently, I ate some amazing gluten free brownies -- major ingredients were an entire bar of dark chocolate, sour cream, and some kind of chili pepper. When I tried my own version at home - well, let's just say it was very chocolat-ey, but missing enough moisture and zing. I will refine the experiment and post it eventually!

Catalina Crunch Low Carb Cereal

On Thanksgiving, let's count our blessings: and here's a poem!

11/23/2017

How was your Thanksgiving? What were the standout dishes? For gluten free me, it was the garlic-y sour cream mashed potatoes at one dinner, and the filling (avoiding the crust) from a homemade blueberry pie at another friend's home! (If I'm lucky, my friend might be able to learn the secret ingredient from the pie maker, who bakes pies professionally.)

My friend Michael Magee is an excellent poet, and generously agreed to share a nourishment-oriented poem!

Real whipped cream: could it possibly contain gluten? Part 2

9/7/2017

Photo by Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash

In Part 1 of this post, I compared different brands and wondered whether mono and diglycerides in certain brands of heavy whipping cream -- which I speculated help the cream to become heavier more quickly -- might contain gluten. Sometimes, from what I know, mono and diglycerides can be made from wheat.
When researching this issue anew, I ran across this highly technical article by the F.D.A.
The article, essentially, doesn't make mono and diglycerides sound very appealing, and also says that they can be a factor in hardening of the arteries.
I also consulted the Gluten Intolerance Group website. A Quick Reference Guide on that site does not list mono and diglycerides as a verboten ingredient; however, I know that in the past mono and diglycerides were included in various lists of ingredients for gluten free folks to avoid.

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