Gluten Free Girl and the Chef | Playing With Our Food

May 16, 2013

life throws you curveballs sometimes

Life throws you curveballs sometimes.

We’ve been creating, thinking, shooting video, and imagining our Kickstarter for three months. After we launched it, your kind responses have been overwhelming.

And then come the curveballs. Sometimes life throws them at your head.

Due to unforseen circumstances out of our control — and we’ll have to leave it at that — we’re forced to put an end to our Kickstarter.

We’re re-thinking how to approach this. The clarity we found about our project and what we want to do is what matters. We can’t fund it this way? We’re going to figure out another way to fund these trips, somehow. We’re still going to make it on the road to meet you and share good food with you.

In the meantime, we want to thank every one of you who helped to fund the Kickstarter in its first week. Thank you also to everyone who sent us sweet messages of support. Those we’ll hold in our hearts.

Tomorrow, we leave for Italy. There will be sunshine, fresh cherries, cooking classes with people eager to be there, and some new adventures. We’ll be back here on May 26^th, with new recipes, stories, and little glimpses of light.

Thank you.

May 11, 2013

a word from our sponsors: Rudi’s Gluten-Free

We’ve been fans of Rudi’s gluten-free bread for years. Their tortillas and wraps are great, especially the spinach tortillas. (Those are Lu’s favorite quesadillas.) Their frozen pizza crusts are good for a last-minute dinner on a weeknight. But it’s their breads that really impress us.

Their multigrain bread is wholesome. Their cinnamon raisin bread with peanut butter and honey is one of my favorite Saturday morning breakfasts. And Rudi’s gluten-free white bread has been reworked to be softer and fluffier. It makes a great grilled cheese sandwich.

(This one was aged cheddar, chevre, watercress, and Earl Grey Chutney. I recommend it.)

We’re happy to announce that Rudi’s Gluten-Free has become our latest sponsor.

(We’re also happy to say that Rudi’s is offering scholarships for 10 lucky kids to attend gluten-free camps this summer.)

We like to let our sponsors speak for themselves. This gives you an idea of why we have chosen to work with Rudi’s Bakery.

Why did Rudi’s start making gluten-free bread?

“What is now Rudi’s Organic Bakery began in 1976 as Rudi’s Bakery, a small local bakery in Boulder, Colo. Rudi’s Bakery soon gained a reputation for nutritious, flavorful, preservative-free breads, rolls and buns.

From its founding in 1976, Rudi’s Organic Bakery has been about baking better breads for families. At the heart of it all, we believe that living a healthy life leads to happiness. The launch of Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery is a natural extension of our commitment to baking on the bright side by creating healthy and wholesome breads the whole family can enjoy. We hope we will give families that suffer from celiac disease and gluten intolerances a healthy, brighter outlook by letting them truly enjoy bread again.”

Why does Rudi’s continue making new gluten-free products for people?

“We believe people shouldn’t have to compromise on taste or texture to enjoy gluten-free products. The passionate gluten-free community inspires us to continue to create and improve our recipes to taste and feel like the real thing. Our breads come packed with gluten-free goodness because we use only the highest quality, wholesome, all natural and organic ingredients. You won’t find any modified starches or preservatives in our gluten-free breads. Our all-natural gluten-free products feature a variety of healthy ingredients, like sunflower seeds, millet, fiber and flax. And, our products are certified gluten-free by the Gluten Free Certification Organization.”

Can you share a story of a customer letting you know how your breads have made his or her life better?

“Our customer service department gets calls and emails every week from consumers who have been gluten-free for years and had given up on being able to eat bread or tortillas that tasted good, until they tried Rudi’s Gluten-Free products. We’re always touched by how thankful our customers are for gluten-free products that taste and feel like the real thing.

One of our favorite stories is from a grandmother who called to tell us that she served her gluten-free grandson a sandwich with Rudi’s Gluten-Free Original bread. Her grandson took a bite and became scared because he thought she accidentally gave him regular bread. He told her it tasted too good to be gluten-free and wouldn’t eat it until the grandmother showed him the bag.”

What’s on the horizon for Rudi’s?

“We’re seeing growth and increased demand for both our Organic and Gluten-Free products, which is exciting for the company. In fact, we just completed a bakery remodel in April 2013. The new remodel allows for increased production of both Rudi’s Organic and Rudi’s Gluten-Free products to better meet growing retailer demands for Rudi’s Bakery products. The bakery remodel added more than 10,000 square feet of space, which is expected to nearly double the weekly output of both the organic and gluten-free production lines.

Part of the remodel was adding a dedicated gluten-free facility, which shifted production schedules so both organic and gluten-free products could be produced every day of the week, rather than having to rotate between the two brands and having to thoroughly clean the facility to ensure zero cross-contamination.”

We appreciate that Rudi’s Bakery takes such great care in making good gluten-free breads. We think you will too.

Rudi’s is giving away product coupons — much easier to find the bread yourself than have it shipped — to 3 lucky readers. Leave a comment about why you’d like to try Rudi’s breads and make sure your email address is easy to find! This giveaway is open to only U.S. residents. Winners will be chosen at random by Wednesday, May 15^th.