Gluten-Free Father’s Day Whether He Wants it or Not

Let’s face it, my husband is forced into a diet not of his choosing, and certainly not out of necessity. It seems to be a common thing in super supportive partners as I’ve met many of you all and your special friends who also go g-free. NICE.

So it’s only fitting that on Father’s Day I honor the dude who eats gluten-free pizza with glee, with a few of his favorite gluten-free dishes. Maybe the dad in your life will enjoy this biz as well! Try it, he’ll like it! Or at least pretend to, because he loves YOU. Win/Win.

Gluten-Free Los Angeles: Stout Burgers & Beers

A few weekends ago, my husband and I headed out to a super fun dinner with friends in Hollywood. While the company was top-notch, our dinner was a little shaken up by an insanely loud fire alarm that went on for at least 10 minutes, during which time the four of us were out on the fire escape/stairwell because the noise was too painful to endure back at our table. Sure our food got cold, and no discount was offered for our trouble, but I did get one tip that (almost) makes up for it: Stout Burgers & Beers.

Our waiter—who was lovely, other than that whole, what discount? thing—has  a wife with a gluten problem, so when I told him about my special needs, he knew exactly what I was talking about. He also recommended Stout for the gluten-free me and this was very exciting for my burger and beer loving family. Even with that thumbs up, I was still so pleasantly surprised by our dining experience when we went to a place that specializes in mad amounts of gluten. First, I saw this on the menu-

Gluten-Free Labor Day Should Include Tacos & Beer

I mean, duh. Quite frankly, every weekend should include this combo and it’s no mistake that the first meal I made when I got back stateside included both tacos and beer, since those were the two things I missed most. But of course finding gluten-free beer that keeps up with the gluten-filled Joneses can be difficult. Meet my new favorite brew, the Off Grid Pale Ale via New Planet. It’s almost totally like normal beer!

Tacos, of course, are not so difficult to enjoy gluten-free, but I did discover something that makes your tacos even more awesome: Stubb’s Green Chile Marinade.

This bit of awesomeness wound up in my mail on account of the gluten-freeness of it, and the fact that the nice people at Stubb’s found my blog. Plus, I used to spend an incredible amount of time at Stubb’s in Austin whether at a show or enjoying their Sunday gospel brunch. So I was already on board with just about anything Stubb’s had to offer.

This New Planet beer? Same kind of thing. I KNOW. I’m the luckiest blogger in the whole world. So naturally I put the two of these things together and had a kick-off in grand gluten-free style for the holiday weekend. Then, I passed right out because jet lag is hard.

So fire up the grill, celebrate America, work, and tacos with this super duper taco toppings that are soooo gluten-free.

Getting Gluten’d In Seattle Isn’t Easy

Well, hello there sunshine! I’ve missed you. Not that there wasn’t something amazingly romantically depressing about living, walking, and eating, all in the greyness of Seattle where the grunge movement began. There was. Also amazing? If you actually talked to people about your food sitch, they listened and took very good care of you in the Emerald City. Which means it was actually quite difficult to eat gluten if I didn’t want it. Yet, I did it. Of course I did. But first, let me wow you with tales of dining out that will make you want to book your next trip to Seattle, pronto.

The first event I went to was sponsored by Whole Foods, where we learned the sad plight of the honey bee. You guys, it’s scary. And awful, and we should all be constructing hives in our backyards if we want to keep eating food. I might be getting that wrong, so look here to learn more. And look here to see the very first thing I ate after arriving in Seattle.

So Here’s a Good Gluten-Free Beer

After my brief foray into testing wheat-free beer (that still had the barley) I’ve realized that’s a fool’s game, my friends. Partially because, why am I tempting fate? It’s not like beer is something I can eat for breakfast which is — let’s face it — the most annoying meal of the day when you’re gluten-free. Beer is just a sidecar to your cheeseburger on a gluten-free bun. Also, Gluten Dude totally bummed me out when he posted about an obituary of a 46-year-old woman with Celiac disease. Yeah, it kind of makes you rethink your cavalier barley drinking when you remember that people can actually die from the side effects of this whole disease.

But enough of that kind of talk, let’s meet my new beer friend, Gluten Free The People Dark Ale. I stumbled upon it at my local BevMo, and have not been able to find out one single thing about it since. No website that I an easily locate, no Twitter feed or Facebook page. It’s just kind of this thing that exists on the bottom shelf of BevMo. (I was going to say kind of like my sister-in-law but that only counts for the Twitter and the Facebook.) I hope they up their profile because this is a dang good beer, and here’s why.

I Ate Barley & Lived to Tell the Tale

Okay, drank barley. Thanks to a super commentor, I got a tip that many beers don’t actually contain wheat. Namely, the most awesome of all beer types, the IPA. Of course, barley is one of the things that make beers filled with gluten. And as all of us gluten-free types know — let’s all say it together – gluten is in wheat, rye, barley, and whatever the heck tricticale is. Sometimes oats. Sometimes just annoying people in line at the parking garage.

But I digress.

So here’s what I did. I had a Red Hook IPA. I know! Look at me.

Wherein I Risk My Life to Test a Theory

First of all let me just say that my GI doc would be APPALLED at what I did last night. I’m sorry Dr. Nowain. You are right, and I am wrong. I am the worst patient you have ever had, and you would be well within your rights to eject me from your roster. Still.

My sister-in-law told me — and I since verified and disproved it on the Internet — that Corona is wheat-free. After ascertaining that this beer does not contain wheat, but it does contain barley (thanks, Wikipedia! Ummmm….), I dismissed it as an option. After all, barley is all gluten, all the time. But then I had this thought: What if it’s only wheat gluten that bothers me? (I just heard Dr. Nowain sigh, and the Celiac Associations ban me from their secret meetings.)

I’ve seen people on various forums say they have no issue when drinking the Mexican lager, so my magical thinking made me give it a shot. After all, we have a ton left over from a taco party and my husband can’t drink it all, no matter how hard he tries. So I popped open a cold one and threw a lemon slice in and went to town.

An Apology to my Husband

Sorry, dude

Dear Husband,

As we dined out last night, and I fretted yet again that the waitress would spat in our appetizers of Brussels sprouts and brie (not mixed together, two separate apps, cuz’ that would be gross), I thought to myself: You don’t deserve this. You, who delight equally in chowing down at Jeane-Georges and on my homemade chicken fried steak. You who wined and dined me during our courtship and taught me the ways of the outer borough dive bars/edgy pub food. Who convinced me to travel to a hot, dry, soccer field in Red Hook for tacos. To the man who was my partner in eating our way through the five boroughs of New York (well, not Staten Island, never Staten Island).

I’m sorry.

Best Gluten-Free Beers for Summer Boozin’

Oh, beer. I miss you. Or rather, I miss the idea of you (but IPAs, I do actually miss the drinking of you, a hell of a lot).

But ever since I found out beer is chock full o’ gluten I’ve been gazing fondly at the Sierra Nevada, and lamenting the fact that I can never, truly, enjoy visiting Portland, Oregon again. Luckily in the ever-expanding world of gluten-free goodies, there are a few people out there making a valiant effort in the world of beer. Sorghum is usually the grain of choice, as you can see in this display at Whole Foods, which admittedly, made me a little giddy.

However, all beers are not created equal, and that goes for the healthy for celiac versions as well. In my expert opinion*, these are the tops.