On Friday night the GF Lab met at Pizzavino 707 on the plaza in Sebtown – prior to our December 3 dinner event – to taste what has become of our pizza dough recipe in the hands of Chef Andrew, in the environs of a commercial kitchen, and in the heat of a blazing wood-fired oven.
November 29, 2009
I’m not a big fan of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey? Mmeh. Mashed potatoes? Mmeh. Green bean casserole? Mmeh. But ask me about my mom’s famous ginger-spiked cranberry relish or a well-made pumpkin pie and I’ll start waving my arms around and jumping up and down, screaming “Yes, yes! Over here!”
November 25, 2009
These days I have a hard time even thinking the word “squash” without uttering under my breath “it’s decorative gourd season, motherf***ers” (and I’ll take this opportunity to issue a crude content warning for this hilarious McSweeney’s piece). Squash is a word that comes up frequently in our household, though, since we grew several varieties of winter squash in this year’s garden – one of them springing up completely on its own accord, which has been hereby dubbed The Strangest Mystery Squash Ever to Grow in Our Garden. So we have a lot of squash to eat this year. Last night’s meal was one of our standby favorites. It’s simple, it’s tasty, it’s naturally GF.
November 24, 2009
The Gluten Free Lab is walking on sunshine! Starting Thursday, December 3, our GF pizza dough will be on the menu at Pizzavino 707 in Sebastopol. Come join us for the pizza’s debut, we’ll be there from 6–9 p.m. Just call ahead and mention The Gluten Free Lab to reserve your table.
November 19, 2009
I’m not sure why I continue to make the choice to drive anywhere in town. As soon as I leave my parking space, I immediately regret the seeming convenience, cursing myself for not remembering that walking is infinitely easier (and faster) than trying to maneuver a hulking auto through a town where the pedestrian clearly rules. It was the very slowness of driving, though, that pointed my head in the right direction, my eyes following the string of west-bound pedestrians crossing illegally toward Screamin’ Mimi’s (our town’s favorite ice cream shop, which also happens to be completely addictive. Hence the string of people crossing illegally and lining up out the door. IT’S WORTH BEING ILLEGAL FOR.). With my head pointing in the right direction, I spotted a delivery van parked at the curb – legally, I might add – with three very magical words: Gluten. Free. Goodies.
3 Comments November 18, 2009
Remember earlier in the season when The Lab was all optimistic about canning? I had envisioned rows upon rows of jewel-toned jams, rich ruby tomato sauces, half-moons of peaches…and that pleased me. But come September when no canning had been done, I started to panic. I flashed-forward to bleak winter nights stretching on endlessly (and this is California we live in, so I use the term “bleak” with a heavy dose of relativity), my husband and I chewing on a bland stick of potato with nary a burst of fresh flavor in sight.
November 17, 2009
If Trader Joe’s were a man I would want to be his woman. Apologies to my husband, but it’s Joe that fulfills my GF snacking needs. One taste of these brand-spanking-new sesame seaweed rice balls (I like to call them space balls on account of the wacky packaging) and I was hooked.
10 Comments November 16, 2009
We sincerely hope to meet you tomorrow TODAY!! at The Gluten Free Lab’s maiden event, the Gluten-Free Meet & Greet, in Sebastopol. If you need more than one reason to hit the town (which you shouldn’t, because our event will rock your gluten-free world!) here are some other GF happenings scheduled for tomorrow night – that’s Wednesday, November 11. We encourage event-hopping!
2 Comments November 10, 2009
I don’t have a particular affinity to any one cocktail. Dry martini, up, olives; Maker’s Mark, neat; margarita, on the rocks, salted rim. Each one fills a niche on my personal tongue map of flavor. But after a day spent outside – hiking half the time, working around the property the other half – only one type of cocktail would do. It would be a juicy refresher-of-an-adult-beverage, cool and languid over the tongue, slightly warming as it eases down the gullet. Come five o’clock, my husband invented the Ruby Tuesday.
2 Comments November 9, 2009
The Gluten Free Lab
