Snacks

Thumbnail image for gluten-free in airports

gluten-free in airports

When the airplane’s wheels left the land, I looked over to see Lu’s eyes wide. Danny and I both smiled. She has been on a lot of airplane trips, this kid, but not in awhile. This is the first time, it seems, she was able to take it in. Flying. We were actually flying in [...]

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Thumbnail image for roasted tofu with dipping sauce

roasted tofu with dipping sauce

Tofu and I have a long, sometimes fractious relationship. We didn’t start off well. When I was in high school, I decided to become a vegetarian. Suddenly disgusted by meat, I announced to my mother that I didn’t want to eat it. My brother joined along too. Mom announced that I would be cooking my [...]

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Thumbnail image for gluten-free soft pretzels

gluten-free soft pretzels

I’ve been waiting awhile to post this recipe for gluten-free pretzels. It’s not just that I have been making batch after batch with various recipes until I found the combination of flours and techniques that made them look like this (and taste as good as you imagine from the photo). That’s the usual routine around [...]

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Thumbnail image for making homemade yogurt

making homemade yogurt

Most of my life, I have thought, “I’m just not crafty.” I watch other women knit sweaters while talking with friends, or see the dramatic swirls of art projects other moms have done with their kids, or look at the clothes that dear Amanda Soule makes for her kids, and I think, “Well. That’s just [...]

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Thumbnail image for black bean roasted poblano hummus

black bean roasted poblano hummus

I got some gluten by mistake a few weeks ago. If you read this site, you might have heard about this already, on Twitter or Facebook just after. I was angry, I was in pain, and I wanted everyone to know what had happened so you wouldn’t have to go through what I went through [...]

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Thumbnail image for gluten-free onion rings

gluten-free onion rings

Within the first two weeks of knowing each other, Danny and I were in a kitchen together, standing side by side, chopping and talking about what we were going to eat. He was sort of horrified by how badly I mangled the onions when I cut them up into giant hacking pieces, but he refrained [...]

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Thumbnail image for quinoa crackers with seeds

quinoa crackers with seeds

Even when I could eat gluten, I was never that big a fan of crackers. Oh sure, the occasional saltine with a swig of ginger ale when I wasn’t feeling well satisfied a need. But no one really enjoys those moments, do they? When I lived in London, a Jacob’s cream cracker could sometimes captivate [...]

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Thumbnail image for peace comes dropping slow in the desert

peace comes dropping slow in the desert

Sunlight. An open book about to be picked up again. A hot cup of coffee. A toddler playing happily by herself. Still in our pajamas at nearly noon. This must be vacation. For five full and loving days, Danny, Little Bean, and I were in Arizona, visiting Danny’s parents. They doted on their granddaughter, she [...]

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Thumbnail image for corn tortillas

corn tortillas

People, I have a problem. I’m in love with corn tortillas. Oh, I’m still in love with my wonderful husband, who takes our daughter to the playspace on the island — to climb jungle gym equipment and feed pretend tea to her dolly — every morning about this time so I can settle in front [...]

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Thumbnail image for baked kale chips

baked kale chips

I don’t know why I resisted making kale chips for so long. For months, even years, I’ve been reading raves of this healthy snack from bloggers across the country, and the world. Maybe it’s this stubborn quirk I have. If too many people extol the virtues of something, I resist it. This is why I [...]

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Thumbnail image for So Easy by Ellie Krieger

So Easy by Ellie Krieger

When my friend Sharon and I were in our early twenties, she lived with my family for a summer. There was no work in Ashland, where she was living between her freshman and sophomore years in college. She has always been the sister I never had. My family feels the same. So, she moved into [...]

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Thumbnail image for I made pickles.

I made pickles.

There’s something satisfying about a kitchen project. Instead of racing to the next place we have to be, or sitting hunched at the computer completing another assignment, or trying to figure out what to have for dinner in ten minutes, a big project forces us to slow down. Focus. Be there. All that work can [...]

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Thumbnail image for goat cheese

goat cheese

When I was in the 9th grade, I had fairly safe music favorites. My parents introduced me to the Beatles before I could walk, and I wore out my father’s copy of Sgt. Pepper’s on my Fisher Price record player before I was 8. We grooved out to Barry Manilow (oh Mandy), Peter Paul and [...]

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Thumbnail image for all the candy we ate as kids

all the candy we ate as kids

At Halloween, I always fumed when I reached the bottom of my bag and found Smarties. Ugh. Little discs of sugar in a twist-on cellophane wrapper. At least SweeTarts had a bit of tartness, but they didn’t have much pucker. Nothing but sugar. Does it make any sense to me, therefore, that I loved Pixy [...]

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Thumbnail image for granola bars are for grabbing

granola bars are for grabbing

For years, my brother has made fun of my father. About string cheese. You see, my father simply grabs a stick of string cheese and takes bites. To my brother, this is ridiculous. “Why buy string cheese, then?” he queries, a little querulously. The point of string cheese is not the taste, which is bland [...]

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Thumbnail image for popcorn

popcorn

My conception of popcorn may have changed over the years, but I have always loved it. Does anyone else remember Jiffy Pop popcorn? That stuff fascinated me when I was a kid. The kernels came bunched in a tinfoil pan, flimsy and destined to be trashed. I suppose it was intended for camping — popping [...]

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Thumbnail image for chickpeas

chickpeas

I’m pretty sure I didn’t eat my first chickpea until I was well in my 20s. How did I survive? The first taste came from a packaged container of hummus I bought at the Thriftway on Vashon. My little island was a bastion of hippiedom, and so the store stocked foods I had never seen [...]

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Thumbnail image for olives, of all kinds

olives, of all kinds

Oh lord, I love olives. The story in my family goes like this: the first time my father babysat me by himself, my mother came home to find me covered in hives. Why? Apparently, when my father wasn’t watching me, I toddled into the kitchen (was I 18 months old? 2 years old? Mom, help [...]

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Thumbnail image for quiet on Christmas eve.

quiet on Christmas eve.

Life’s pretty quiet around here. Oh, don’t misunderstand —there’s plenty to do. The Chef’s restaurant has been packed with people who leave the front door rubbing their bellies and proclaiming to the cold air how happily full they feel. I have been writing and planning and creating, to the point that it’s sometimes hard to [...]

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Thumbnail image for road food, gluten-free food

road food, gluten-free food

I’ve been spending a lot of time in cars lately. Breakfasts on the back porch, long lunches at the picnic table, snacks when I feel hungry and can simply walk into the kitchen? Those feel like words on a page right now. These days, I’m eating in the car. The two weddings required hours of [...]

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Thumbnail image for Marcona almonds are gluten-free.

Marcona almonds are gluten-free.

If I ever feel a twinge of feeling regret that I cannot eat gluten, I remember to treat myself with a bite of something truly tremendous. Marcona almonds — pop them in your mouth and crunch down on that creamy saltiness. Your disappointment at not being able to eat that hamburger bun will simply slide [...]

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Thumbnail image for every bite of food has a story

every bite of food has a story

No matter what I do, I cannot seem to take a bite of food and not taste a story. When the Chef ordered this cheese for the restaurant the first time, I couldn’t stop taking little nibbles. The tangy rind, the oozing smooth layer closest to that rind, and the flaky white center, standing firm. [...]

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Thumbnail image for daily gluten-free food photo: pine nuts

daily gluten-free food photo: pine nuts

Salty, creamy goodness.

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Thumbnail image for gluten-free bliss at Cafe Flora

gluten-free bliss at Cafe Flora

pomegranate salad, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. A clear diagnosis of celiac disease, finally made after years of indeterminate suffering, has brought me so much: fervent energy; an even mind; weight loss; a general feeling of exuberance; the cessation of pain. This website. All of you reading this right now. New friends. A return of my [...]

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Thumbnail image for the satisfying crunch of homemade potato chips

the satisfying crunch of homemade potato chips

quite a few potato chips, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Obviously, I’m in a potato mood. A few days ago, it was the potato gratin. A couple of days before that, it was some gorgeous horseradish potatoes at Buckley’s, on lower Queen Anne, so rich and happily gluten-free that I made noises as I ate. (That [...]

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Thumbnail image for look what I had for breakfast

look what I had for breakfast

broiled figs, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. The more I cook, the more I want to cook. It’s a self-regenerating process, deeply creative, and also fairly addictive. Thank goodness I’m addicted to figs, slow-roasted tomatoes, and fresh goat cheese instead of some other substance. And as I keep noticing, and remarking on in here, I’m paradoxically [...]

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Thumbnail image for It had to happen eventually….

It had to happen eventually….

MOROCCAN CARROT SALAD, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. This afternoon, I ventured downtown in the car, snaked around the streets in snarky traffic, and wandered down Virginia Street in the brilliant sunshine. And of course, I was headed to… Pike Place Market. I’ve been resisting writing about the Market here. It’s such a Seattle cliche. You’ve [...]

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Thumbnail image for making corn tortillas by hand

making corn tortillas by hand

homemade corn tortillas, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Okay, I admit it. I’m crazy. You want to know why? This morning, before the first pot of coffee had finished brewing, I made corn tortillas by hand. Let me back up. All during the week, I have been eating gorgeous food. Not just at home, where I [...]

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Thumbnail image for the joys of green-olive relish

the joys of green-olive relish

olives in bulk, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. There’s a story in my family told so often that it has become legend. When I was nearly two, my father babysat me by himself for the first time. Apparently he didn’t keep that close a watch over me, because I somehow wriggled my fingers into a jar [...]

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Thumbnail image for homemade hummus

homemade hummus

sea salt Originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Whoever invented hummus deserves my undying gratitude. Unfortunately, man or woman, I have no idea who it is. However, every time I take a generous mouthful, I bow to you. I could live off chickpeas every single day. Thankfully, now that I am living gluten-free, I am eating more [...]

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