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Well it was a marathon 4th with me throwing a gluten-free dinner party and BBQ over the holiday weekend.  Normally I have both gluten and gluten-free options carefully segregated for guest but this time it was gluten-free all the way and I have to say no one was the wiser.  I always smile when I think back to my initial diagnosis more than six years ago and the amount of products (more importantly good tasting products) that were available back then.  When I would entertain, and people heard gluten-free and if offered something they would actually cringe and say that’s okay, those are for you.  Funny thing is, I felt the same way but had not other choice.

Fast forward to the present and in the last year we have seen gluten-free begin to mainstream and a plethora of products, great tasting products, hit the market.  Now when I am eating something gluten-free everyone wants to try it – even if there are a hundred other options in front of them they somehow still want the gluten-free version.  I’ll never forget a little do that we had at the office with pizza and cocktails.  There were literally 10-15 pizzas from the famed Patsy’s here in New York City and I had my special gluten-free version that was ordered for me from another place on the counter and everyone kept going for it.  It really tickled me that even with fabulous gluten-filled really pizza in front of them, everyone wanted mine.

The fact that rice crackers and other gluten-free nibbles have become popular outside of the gluten-free world makes it so much easier when entertaining.  People don’t even give a second glance when presented with a cheese selection with rice or gluten-free crackers.  The selection of gluten-free chips has also come a long way and there is something to please everyone’s taste on the market today.  As for main courses when entertaining – a few simple tweaks is often all it takes to make any dish you want gluten-free.  The gluten-free replacements for things like flour or bread crumbs are really up to par with their gluten-filled counterparts from a taste and functionality standpoint.  Also, there are so many fabulous gluten-free pastas out there that we are no longer relegated to sticky white rice pasta that essentially turned into glue if you left it too long.

So what’s my point with all this?  Don’t let Celiac limit how you live your life.  If you want to be a social butterfly than by all means fly my fellow Celiacs…fly.  Just make smart decisions and go with your gut when it going to both entertaining and dining out.  It’s a big world out there…get out an explore it.  Oh, and don’t forget to get those entries in for my ultra-fabulous gluten-free giveaway.
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GFM is entertaining again this weekend, though not in Halloween mode.  I was never a huge costume person, which is surprising actually.  I am however, VERY much looking forward to seeing my identical twin nieces (1 year old next month) dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 with their older brother (4) as the Cat in the Hat. 

So what’s new with GFM?  Well, this weekend sees my partner and I entertaining yet again…quelle surprise!  We have actually enjoyed relatively quiet weekends as of late which were most welcome.  Our vacation to Switzerland is now less than three weeks away and I am looking forward to a bit of well-deserved R&R.  My gluten-free behind will be firmly ensconced at the Spa at Le Montreux Palace (one of my all time favorite great hotels) for the duration.  Well that’s not entirely true, I will be leaving for a fabulous once in a lifetime concert and party for one of the greatest sopranos of the 20th century. 

The pace of Montreux is what you make it and as long as you go before or after the famed Jazz Festival, you are treated to a wonderfully sleepy little town on the banks of Lac Leman that is the perfect hub for exploring the region.  I remember skiing just on the other side of the Alps that flank the city as a teenager and hope to revisit some of my old haunts with my partner.  Though every time we are in Montreux we say we are going to make a plethora of side-trips but just get so caught up in Montreux and its environs that we never leave until it is time to board the train back to Geneva.

For this weekend’s festivities, I am trying to plan my menu for the weekend festivities which is proving challenging as I never serve the same thing to recurring guests.  So I am running through, in my mind, everything that our guests have had during previous visits.  The hors d'œuvre portion of the evening always proves easy as I can rotate through my preferred cheese and nibbles portfolio.  The appetizer, main course, sides, and desserts remain elusive at this point.  I know in the end it will all come together so I am just going with the flow at the moment.  So stay tuned for the recipes from whatever I end up serving.

On Monday I am sampling a new gluten-free restaurant downtown for dinner with a dear colleague from the office (who selected it because of my Celiac) so look for a review soon thereafter.  I have already had a peek of their menu and am SO excited to sample what look to be fantastic gluten-free options.  The place has good buzz going on so it should be a great evening. 
 
 
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One of the fabulous views from the locale
Two years ago my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and my brother and I thought what better way to celebrate this milestone than an all out blow-out here in Manhattan.  Now, I come from a long line of party throwers.  My parents would throw parties at the drop of a hat and we are not talking about backyard BBQs though we had those as well, but rather proper parties that required thought and planning.  I supposed the proverbial apple does not fall far from the tree because I love entertaining and throwing a fantastic bash.  For most major events in the past I was not diagnosed Celiac nor had I developed my shellfish allergy.  This would really be the first event I would be planning with both my allergies in full-force and quite frankly I wondered how I would navigate the planning process.  I am happy to report that will a little creative thinking, I was able to effectively plan and execute a truly wonderful evening.  So how did I do it?

It took well over a year of planning but I am going to spare the boring logistics of selecting a venue and the like and focus more on how my allergies affected the planning and the evening itself.  Here is a bit of background to help frame the process.  I wanted a unique locale that was old New York.  I wanted a deliciously deco spot that oozed a New York of yesteryear to transport my parents back to a time when they were two young teenagers in love. 

After much searching, I ended up deciding on the Top of the Tower, high above the Beekman Tower Hotel next to the United Nations on the River.  It changed ownership during my planning which was fun.  I wanted something that was grand but still intimate as there would be only about 100 guests.  If you have not been, I highly recommend popping over for a drink as the ambience and panoramic views are magical.  I had the locale in mind but you need to have a tasting to see if the food is up to snuff and get an idea of what the chef can and cannot do.

So how exactly does a Celiac with a shellfish allergy handle a tasting?  He brings his partner along (but anyone with good taste and few allergies will work fineJ).  First, I let my coordinator who was arranging the tasting know exactly what my allergies were.  Second, the chef was alerted and would let me know what I could and could not sample during the tasting (remember ingredients and preparations are sometimes tricky so let the one who is preparing the food guide you).  Finally, I relied on my partner’s opinions to help guide me keeping in mind what I thought guests would enjoy most. 

This was no small task as the evening would consist of 10 types of passed hors d'oeuvres as well as a few nibble stations.  The sit down dinner was a three course meal that required what salad (yes, there were many choices), main courses, and dessert would be offered.  We sampled so many different variations that the decision was very difficult in the end.  After much back and forth, there were two hors d'oeuvres I selected that were safe for me (without my shellfish allergy my options would have increased dramatically) along with some nice nibbles at the small stations being set up.  So it would be just the caviar (yes, I can still eat that) in potato cups with crème fraîche and prosciutto with melon for me.  The salad and entrée selections would also ensure I would not go hungry.  Dessert, well, I had to think of my guests and it was not GF but quite frankly after all the food and me monitoring to make sure everything was going according to plan, I had little time to actually eat, LOL. 

The evening was a complete success.  We had a truly fabulous piano player for cocktails and a famous New York band for dancing.  The evening flowed seamlessly and party goers danced into the evening.  A few fun ideas came out of this.   First, I sent a cryptic save the date postcard out well in advance.  It featured only a photo of the deco elevator doors at the venue and a riddle.  Guests would have to wait until their received their invitations to find out the locale.  The invitations were presented in high gloss black boxes containing custom New York skyline invitations in gold (for the golden anniversary) fabric envelopes and tied in gold ribbon imprinted with my parent’s names and 50 years together.  These were then shipped in boxes to all the guests across the country.  The seating cards were affixed to custom bottles of wine that were labeled to celebrate and remind guests of the event.  This made for a unique favor and way to present the seating cards. 
 
 
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Let’s face it, being gluten free and fabulous is a lot of work and try as I might to squeeze everything in to a mere 24 hours it is a challenge.  My day job is quite hectic and requires focus and quite frankly allows me to maintain my gluten free and fabulous lifestyle to which I am accustomed.  Oh, I am not going to sugar coat it; GFM is HIGH maintenance but as you know makes no apologies.  Work hard, play harder…what a great mantra.

As I have been gaining more and more readers, I though it might be a good time to do a Best of GFM’s blog posts.  So, I selected some of my favorite posts and thought the best way to share was to shove them right in all of your facesJ.  To my new readers, I hope you will find them both entertaining and useful.  To my regulars, isn’t the second time around always best?  Here are my top 10 favs, in no particular order because quite frankly can you really pick a favorite child:

1.       A Tale of Two Allergies

2.       I'm Not Hungry. I'll Just Pick

3.       Fait Accompli, Gluten Free

4.       Sometimes the Most Delicious Things in Life are the Most Dangereuse Dahlings

5.       Not in My Backyard

6.       Living Well in a World Full of Gluten

7.       A Family Affair

8.       Knowledge is Power

9.       Gluten Free at the Office

10.   Fly Me to the Moon
 
 
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Last evening’s entertaining went off without a hitch.  We were just having a dear friend of our over for a belated birthday dinner as he just got back from Newport.  It was a simple evening that consisted of a small selection of cocktail nibbles (crackers, cheeses, and dips).   Gin and tonic, Rum and seltzer, and some fantastic white wine were the beverages of choice.  For starters a guests were offered a choice of gluten free (penne) or regular (rigatoni) in a wonderfully delicious broccoli rabe and sausage sauce topped with freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese (recipe will soon  follow).  For the main course was an organic seasoned turkey breast paired with organic mixed greens with my famous salad dressing (working on getting permission from my other half whose uncle originated the recipe to post on my site, I added my own twist, but don’t want to give away any family secrets, LOL).  For dessert a simple vanilla ice cream was paired with a rich chocolate sauce for just a little bit of additional sweet on sweet goodness.

Now, yes, I normally do not prepare gluten free and gluten dishes for entertaining (it is just a lot of work and quite frankly there are enough gluten free options out the that it is not a problem) but had some pasta from when my parents were visiting that needed to be used.  It really was not a big deal to have two pots boiling away and just remember to stir with separate utensils AND strain the gluten free pasta first.
 
A Family Affair 09/10/2009
 
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GFM is hosting his parents this weekend (actually starting today).  It is great to see them and if you did not see my status update on Facebook the other day I count myself very lucky to have them here.  About a year and a half ago my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that was found really as a fluke as there is no proper test for this type of highly aggressive cancer.  Long story short, after a major surgery (8.5 hours), chemo, and radiation he is still here and, cancer free. 

I supposed I was waxing nostalgic yesterday as it was his birthday – one I in all honesty did not think I would see.  When all of this first happened, my brother who is a medical doctor, helped keep me grounded and realistic as to my father’s prognosis.  Sometimes the truth is harsh and not what we want to hear but, alas, looking back I am glad to have prepared for the worse and hoped for the best.  I was able to move to the West Coast (where my parents were for the surgery) and work remotely the entire time thanks to my company (a great one by the way).  Throughout it all my father never once complained, other than he was “too thin” proving that heroes are, in fact, right in front of our eyes and we just need to open them.

 Both my parents have actually had bouts with cancer.  My mother had breast cancer and prior to this last bout my father had prostate cancer.  It is experiences like this that make me realize my food allergies are really insignificant in the broader spectrum of life and quite frankly if they are the only hurdles I must leap through, I count myself lucky.

Anyway, we are an extremely close knit family and my parents have been married more than 50 years now.  I will dedicate a post to the fabulous party my brother and I threw for them high above Manhattan soon because it was a lesson in gluten free party planning on a truly grand scale so stay tuned.
 
 
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The other evening saw me entertaining once again.  It has been a busy summer socially but I do like having friends and family over and engaging in great food, drink, and conversation.  I normally have both gluten and gluten free options available for guests but this time I figured why not just go completely gluten free?  And did I ever.  There were wonderful cheese presentations, dips and spreads, wonderfully piquant olives stuffed with jalapenos and garlic, but perhaps the piece de resistance was a magnificent gluten free Stromboli from a bakery located on Staten Island (which another gf-blogger turned me onto and friends of mine picked up for me and delivered to my office).

Dinner was pulled pork cooked for 8 hours and then sauced with my favorite North Carolina BBQ sauce that I buy by the case when down there.  It was paired with a wild rice medley and a cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, grape tomatoes, scallion stir fry.  Dessert was a homemade gluten free brownie with creamy vanilla ice cream topping it off.

Sometimes the most delicious and satisfying meals are the most simple.  When I entertain I don’t like to be away from my guests so when not catered, simplicity is key.  Remember, your guests came to see you so don’t spend the evening slaving away in the kitchen.
 
 
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The other evening my other half and I went out to dinner with some dear friends of ours.  No, nothing surprising about that but what was different was the fact that they went out of their way to provide a safe, gluten free evening for me.  Now, that they did this was not surprising – they are great people and would do anything to make someone feel welcome.  I just found it interesting that two people who are not Celiac took the time to better understand what I could and could not eat.  They even did a dry run to the restaurant we would be eating at (they are regulars there) and questioned the chef to ensure that I would be well fed without having to worry about my gluten and shellfish allergies.  Oh, and you might have seen my Tweets about the cocktails and nibbles we had before heading out – my one friend heard me mention a bakery near them that I heard had gluten free Stromboli.  Well, when I arrived for cocktails they had TWO of them heating in the oven and a selection of gluten free crackers that were segregated from the gluten options by a small napkin wall.  Yes, I probably at almost an entire meat-filled roll myself but what was interesting is that even my friends enjoyed it and said it was very close to the real thing.  Well, to me it WAS the real thing and out of this world!

It is times like these that make being a Celiac easy but it also goes to show you that people do care and a little bit of education about the disease can have a great impact in helping non-Celiacs to better understand us.  So to my dear friends, you have no idea how special you made me feel.  We all had a wonderful evening, the company was second to none, and I was overly full at the end of the evening, so success on all fronts. 
 
 
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Okay, I have been dangling the proverbial carrot in front of you for a while so thought I would reveal what was on the menu this past Saturday evening while entertaining some dear friends of GFM.  I said I was going to make it a gluten free evening and by George did I ever succeed (with none of my guests the wiser).

To start we had a presentation of hors d'oeuvres that included: Prosciutto and cornichon-wrapped dates (two different items); caramelized onion hummus, sundried tomato and feta dip; olive and onion tapenade; artichoke and feta dip; and artichoke tapenade.  We also had a delectable cheese presentation that included: a wonderfully gooey Brie, a five country English cheddar, a mild herbed chevre; a fantastic New York State aged cheddar; and a wonderfully mild Dutch goat’s milk cheese that was simply out of this world.  Accompanying this smorgasbord was a selection of crisps, crackers, and biscuits (of which 90% were GF options).  Now how do you prevent cross-contamination?  Cocktail plates my darlings.  This allows each guest to safely select the item they would like without having to dip into the communal vessel – which in and of itself is a very good thing.  There was other fringe nibbles circulating throughout the evening but I think I captured the main foci above.  Moving on to dinner…

After what seemed like a never-ending bacchanal of hors d’oeuvres and cocktails we retired to the dining room where chilled plates adorned with fresh mozzarella sandwiched between organic tomatoes and basil with a bit of my famous vinaigrette drizzled atop awaited (I promise to reveal this recipe one day).  And people, for the love of (insert your deity of choice) please, please, please chill your salad plates.  There is nothing worse than a nicely chilled salad placed atop a warm plate – this is July people but the rule applies all year round.

The main course was a delectable gluten free chicken cordon bleu paired with a porcini mushroom risotto and flash steamed broccoli tossed with a bit of olive oil, red onion and grape tomatoes.  During dinner the wine flowed and the conversation was engaging.  Perhaps the story of the evening was a friend sharing a story of grocery shopping with a well-known royal socialite who, for insurance reasons, decided to throw a small fortune of jewels into a shopping bag and proceed to wheel it around in their cart while navigating the aisles – too much!  I do not think I ever mentioned that my other half is in fact not American – so there will always be comical antidotes working their way into my posts – I apologize now.  After we finished the main course we retired to the living room for aperitifs prior to dessert.

Fully satiated, a relatively simple dessert of pure vanilla ice cream crowned with a GF Dulce de Leche sauce rounded out what turned into a 7-hour feast.  Everyone truly enjoyed themselves and so did their hosts.
 
 
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I just wanted to keep my readers informed that there are some exciting new posts in the works that will be posted to the site over the next couple of days.  The dinner party previously mentioned was a huge success and, if I might add, gluten free and FABULOUS!  Now I am not going to disclose who the guests were because that just is not GFM’s style but guests regaled wonderful experiences on topics from celebrities to royalty – and there were some that are still making me smile.  I will talk about the evening more in-depth when I reveal the fantastic (yet, simple) menu – from cocktails and hors d'oeuvres through appetizers and dessert.

I so look forward to sharing the evening with you but our dear friend who the evening was in honor of, decided to stay an extra night so GFM is still in entertaining mode.  I will be sneaking away from my hosting duties from time-to-time in order to compile my upcoming posts and will most definitely send out alerts once posted.

So stay-tuned my gluten free friends and keep living deliciously.