Gluten Free Week at Camp Kanata Begins!

What an exciting week ahead for 30 some campers as they begin their adventure at Camp Kanata during the "Olympic Week Theme", June 27- July 1st, 2010. The gluten free kitchen has been cleaned, donations procured, menus and volunteer schedules confirmed. This will be my fourth year volunteering as a camp dietitian and working with camp director extraordinaire: Alanna Conder. This year Cynthia Kuppper also a dietitian and the executive director of the Gluten Intolerance Group will be sweating along with a great group of volunteers to serve our GF campers. There have been numerous local donations to help make this camp possible which I will recap at the close of camp, so as not to forget anyone that may fill a need this week. If you are reading this blog in the comfort of an air conditioned building please send some cool thoughts our way!

Twin Cakes update Durham Farmers Market

Here is an update from Twins related to their products and availablilty at the Durham Farmers Market over the next several weeks:



Your Allergy friendly bakery - we focus on gluten/wheat free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free, and more.


NEWS: Twin Cake Bakery will be at the two markets this weekend but after that plan to take a few weekends off. We will not be at the Carrboro or Durham markets on July 3rd and possibly July 10th. We might be back in time for the July 10th market but unsure at the moment. Please plan ahead for your orders this weekend. Thanks the twins J

Here is what we will have to sell this week at the Durham Farmers Market and the Carrboro Farmers Market.

Durham Wednesday Market:
Mint Brownies
Fudgy Brownies
Cinnamon Raisin Scone
Raw double layered cherry coconut bar with chocolate drizzle



Saturday Morning Markets menu:
Mint Brownies
Cardamom Brownies
Carrot cakes
Lemon blueberry scone
Cinnamon raisin scone
Lemon cherry scone
Orange Fig scone
Banana chocolate chip curry muffin
Cinnamon roll muffin (contains yeast)
Lemon raspberry bundt cake
And more




Here are some raw items that you might see at the markets:
Cheez cracker
Rosemary cracker
Herb cracker
Collard green onion cracker (contains onions)
*new item Spriulina swiss chard sunflower seed flatbread
Swiss chard black sesame chia flatbread (contains onions)
Boy choy sesame flatbread (contains onions)
Kale hempseed flatbread (contains onions)
Spirulina pumpkin seed flatbread
Chocolate chip cookie dough kreme cake bar
* new item Cherry double layered coconut with chocolate drizzle
Cardamom almond biscotti


www.twincakesbakery.com

Happy Tummy Pizza Crust

Many people who follow a gluten free diet long for pizza crust that tastes like what they remember. Well if you have to limit other ingredients besides gluten it gets even more difficult to find a suitable product. I was recently contacted by Maria Hopper, owner of Happy Tummy Baking Company. This is a local baking company devoted to developing tasty products for people with multiple food sensitivities. Their first product is a 12 inch pizza crust that contain no gluten, yeast or any of the 8 major allergens. The pizza crust comes ready to top and bake as you like. The crust is now available at our local Durham Whole Foods in the freezer section. Zach, over at Gluten Free Raleigh, wrote a nice review of the product here. The Pizza crust is available at Whole Foods and Harmony Farms in Raleigh.

Rita's Italian Ice, Restaurant Review

Looking for a cool summer treat? You will be happy to know that there are several Gluten Free offerings at Rita's Italian Ice. On a recent hot night my GF daughter and I ventured out for the little shop in southwest Durham. We chose Gelatis which are mixtures of their homemade Italian ice and soft serve frozen custard. I highly recommend the chocolate/berry flavor (yum!) The workers were helpful answering my questions about ingredients and showing me the custard carton mix so I could review the ingredients myself. I also received a prompt reply from corporate Rita's stating:

Rita’s has nutritional information available for our Guests on our website, www.ritasice.com. Please click the "Cool Treats" link on the top navigation pane and select "Nutritional Info" from the drop down menu, where you will find a link to an "Allergen Information" document.

Allergen information provided on our allergen chart is for the 8 major food groups that account for most food allergens as per the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004. Gluten is not considered to be among them, which is why it is not listed. allergen chart

Though we understand this is not inherent with all foods, for our purposes, anything we list with wheat content also includes gluten. Likewise, anything listed as not having any wheat content does not contain any gluten.

Therefore please refer to the “Wheat” category on our allergen chart to address your gluten concerns.

I have learned there are 500 Rita's in 18 states. I am glad to have one in Durham that clearly discloses their allergen information and offers great customer service!

Location:
Rita's
1125 W Nc Highway 54
Durham, NC 27707-5715
(919) 489-0888

Saigon Grill, Vietnamese Restaurant Review

I had my first experience at Vietnamese dining and was surprised to learn that there were many naturally gluten free items to choose from. A friend invited me to join her for lunch at one of her favorite spots "one of the best kept secrets in Durham"; is how she actually described the Saigon Grill.
Traditional Vietnamese cooking is greatly admired for freshness of the ingredients and for the healthy eating style. This was evident with the abundant fresh herbs that accompanied my lunch.
The most common meats used in Vietnamese cuisine are pork, chicken, fish, and various kinds of seafood. Vietnamese also have a strong vegetarian tradition
and offer lots of rice and rice noodles.
Our server was very knowledgeable and understood my gluten free requests. One that she said they get often. While not everything on the menu is gluten free it is easy to find something tasty and gluten free from the nearly 100 items offered on their menu.

Saigon Grill
2929 N. Roxboro St.
Durham, NC 27704
919-220-5979

Tuesday-Sundays: 11AM-9PM
closed Mondays