happy birthday ngr!

5 years ago I was diagnosed with celiac disease. 4 years ago I decided to blog about the good stuff: awesome recipes, naturally gluten free foods, replacement foods that taste as good or better than the gluten-y kind, and post about the oops-es too. Somewhere along the way I got a bit more political, ok a lot more political and started posting about news stories, studies, restaurants that do it right, oh and beer.

Last year I got a little weepy and shared some feelings. This year, NGR totalled over 100,000 hits! And it is the first time I feel like there are so many new gluten free products and options that I am wondering if this "trend" will be sustainable. And what does it mean to be sustainable? I cannot subsist on gluten-free crackers (nor would I want to), but I think it is time for us to have more frank discussions about feeling the need and want to try out every new product on the market, and every new gluten free menu. A lot of times I feel compelled to try or buy something just because there is FINALLY a gluten-free option. I am not sure this is the best for my health or my wallet.

So I am not sure what this new gluten free year is or should look like. I have a CSA. This feels like a good start. I am excited to face the challenges of cooking locally and opening up a bag and trying to figure out what to do with it - rather than roaming store isles for ingredients. I am excited to share more experiments. I am excited to push into baking again and explore those things that are really hard to make gluten free.

What are you excited about this summer?

gluten free lemon poppyseed muffins

These are almost ready for prime time. I will keep you updated with a recipe for round two.

learning to find and love clams

I had an adventure on Cape Cod. Two overly generous friends offered to take me out clamming. Ok, first off, you should know that I cannot swim and getting me into water is sort of a feat in and of itself. I don't hate water, I just hate being in it above my knees and at the mercy of waves. Luckily it was low tide and the adventure of digging up dinner made me more confident. (The fact that both were lifeguards... well that didn't hurt.)

This is when I raked up 4 keepers in one pass!

Perhaps the very best part of this was that I learned that I do not dislike clams!! I always thought they were rubbery and weird tasting. We grilled up half of these guys and they were AWESOME. Cleaning them is easier than muscles and the flavor is less intense too.

After scrubbing off the extra sand, I sauteed the small ones (little necks - ok there is one big guy on the right) in garlic oil. Once they popped open, I pulled them out and sprinkled lemon zest over the top. A few squeezes of lemon and a beautiful dinner was born!